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Total arrow weight

Micneador

Micneador

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
885
Location
Sapulpa, Ok
This not to start a pissing match about arrow weight, and I'm not asking what heads you're shooting. Just to get a general feel for what yall are shooting for whitetails. Post your bow specs, arrow specs, insert/point weight, and TAW.

The reason I'm doing doing this is I feel like may have gone too heavy and may be shooting myself in the foot.. My point on is 25 yards, 3 under directly under the nock. 55 ish pound draw at my draw length. Gold tip trad 400 spine, full length, 100gr insert, 200gr point. Around 660 TAW. It tunes near as perfect as I can shoot with my form. I'm not unhappy about the tune, but anything past 25yds it's dropping like a rock. 30yds I'm point on at the top of a deer's back (if that makes sense to yall) I've been shooting my recurve since mid May at least 4-5 times a week. My wheel bow probably feels like a step child right now but I've never been more confident in my shooting abilities under 25 yds. Almost so much so I don't want to shoot my compound anymore.

Backstory: The reason I went so heavy is I wanted enough oomph to penetrate if I screwed up on my end or the deer moves a ton in arrow flight. I wanted the utmost in penetration regardless of the shot placement.
 
I'm no expert but the general rule of thumb I always heard with trad bows was the arrow should be in the 10 to 12 grains per pound of bow draw weight. So, with a 55 pound bow, the arrow should be in the 550 to 660 grain range to match the bow.

My setup is a 56 pound Northern Mist American, total arrow weight (carbon) is about 650 grains with right at 30% FOC. These fly like darts and are dead silent. My wood arrows for the same bow are about the same at 670ish (wood varies more).

Most people today who hunt with trad will say that on an unwounded animal that 25 yards is about their max range so long-range flat trajectory is sort of a moot point. I try hard to stay within 20 as max and 10 to 12 yards is about ideal.

One advantage of a heavy arrow is it allows the bow to transfer the energy from the limbs to the arrow and there is a lot less left-over energy to make vibrations (noise). I find that a "heavy" arrow is a quiet arrow and I notice deer don't react nearly as much to a shot. I have seen this in both trad equipment as well as with my compound.
 
This year I’m shooting 49 pounds and a 515 gr arrow. Last year I was shooting 44 pounds and a 605 gr arrow. The year before I was shooting 52 pounds at a 590 gr arrow.

If you are comfortable with your shooting out to 25 yards you are shooting better than the vast majority of traditional shooters. My max range is 20 yards and I’ve been shooting for years. Actually the way I’ve been shooting this year it’s more like 15 yards
 
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54#@26" NM Shelton, tapered cedars at 525 grains. A little below 10 gr/lb but arrows fly great and bow is just a whisper...probably more a function of bow style than arrow weight, though.
 
72#@30”
Full length CX traditionals
TAW: 718gr
Its stout but shoots smooth out to 25, but drop dramatically after that, but with my recurve im not looking to kill past 15yds anyways.
 
I’m at 55# with 650 gr, I might step up to around 675 gr. Like other have said, I’m hopping to not shoot past 15 yds at deer but practice to about 25 yards. I think this is limitation you accept with a stick bow.
 
I wanted to set up heavier but this is what I ended up with this year and I am happy with it. My bow is 60lb at 28”, I draw 27.5 so prob right around 58lbs. I set this bow up with a 350spine, 50 gr inserts and 150 grain head, total of 200 up front. Arrows are 28.5 inches long (as short as I can go) I sit at 509 grain total with about a 16% FOC. I am right at my spine limit according to bare shaft tuning and if I go heavier up front I will need to bump up to a 300 spine. I backed myself into this when I got the 350s thinking it would give me some wiggle room with 200 up front but it did not

I am newer to traditional so feel free to tell me if I am doing something wrong, I wouldn’t follow my lead.

I shoot somewhat instinctively however, I do know my arrow drop: At 10 yards I have an 5” gap to my POI if I look at my arrow tip, At 15 a 3.5” gap, At 20 my POI is sitting just on top of my tip (about an inch or less over my tip) at 25 my arrow tip is 3” above POI. At 30 my POI is 15” below my tip so it’s heading down fast
 
I don't know why it bothers me that much anyway. Like most, 20 yds is about max on a deer, I'll sling one at a coyote at 30 yards fo sure, but not a deer. Looks like I'm around the same as a lot of folks arrow weight wise. I've string walked a little with my bow and can say if I know a deer is under 15yds I'll cheat down the string a touch. Those close shots screw with me pretty bad and I dont know why.
15-20 yard shots I can hammer all day.
 
Micneador said:
I don't know why it bothers me that much anyway. Like most, 20 yds is about max on a deer, I'll sling one at a coyote at 30 yards fo sure, but not a deer. Looks like I'm around the same as a lot of folks arrow weight wise. I've string walked a little with my bow and can say if I know a deer is under 15yds I'll cheat down the string a touch. Those close shots screw with me pretty bad and I dont know why.
15-20 yard shots I can hammer all day.
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What's your draw length? I'm shooting the same arrow cut to 29" out of roughly the same #. IMO, get rid of the extra arrow length unless you need it. Betcha it gives you another 5 yds, easy.

3 under I can hammer at med distance. Close is fine, far it falls apart, but probably cause I don't tune for it or practice it. I shoot split. I seldom range my practice shots, but consistently find that if I do, I'm around 22-25 yards. Anything inside should be a slam dunk.
 
kbetts said:
What's your draw length? I'm shooting the same arrow cut to 29" out of roughly the same #. IMO, get rid of the extra arrow length unless you need it. Betcha it gives you another 5 yds, easy.

3 under I can hammer at med distance. Close is fine, far it falls apart, but probably cause I don't tune for it or practice it. I shoot split. I seldom range my practice shots, but consistently find that if I do, I'm around 22-25 yards. Anything inside should be a slam dunk.
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You're probably right, I'm at 28.5. Just started tuning with the full length and 100gr insert, 200gr point tuned right so I went with it. No cutting, no hand squaring, simple and easy. I picked up cheap tab recently (looks like a Yost knockoff) just to try and my accuracy improved dramatically. I was shooting a glove for a while.
 
Micneador said:
You're probably right, I'm at 28.5. Just started tuning with the full length and 100gr insert, 200gr point tuned right so I went with it. No cutting, no hand squaring, simple and easy. I picked up cheap tab recently (looks like a Yost knockoff) just to try and my accuracy improved dramatically. I was shooting a glove for a while.
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I tried a glove. Nowhere near clean enough on the release for me.
 
I think modern bows get more out of 11gpp than 10 meaning the loss in speed is more than made up for by the gain in momentum going from 10 to 11 or even 12. Higher quality limbs seem to follow this rule even more so.
Personally I look at gpp for trajectory , but also have a lower limit of 500grains. My two options for this season are 475 and 645 grains out of a 42lb longbow and I choose the heavier. Total weight also helps reduce the noise of the shot.
 
kbetts said:
I tried a glove. Nowhere near clean enough on the release for me.
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Not all can be as clean with it as us glove shooters. I shoot split too. I can shoot with a tab ok, I just prefer a glove for now.
 
I shoot a recurve that’s around 45# or so and I shoot 400 spine black eagles with a 300 grain broadhead and I believe a 200 grain insert. Total arrow weight is around 740. I love it because my point on is around 23 yards And I struggle to aim way below my intended target. It only shoots around 140fps but that doesn’t bother me too much because I limit myself to 20 yards.
 
my set up is 50# sage TAW-540 grain, beman centershot 400, 75 gr insert, 150 head.

I Just ordered some more xx75 gamegetter 2117, 100 gr insert, 150gr head, TAW. around 650. They hit hard!!
 
Weldabeast said:
Are ur arrows real short? How did u achieve such a high forward if center
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They are 28.25 inches but are 500 spine so they are like 7.4 grains per inch. All that weight up front with a lightweight shaft and some tiny A&A feathers and standard nocks got me there.

arrow length to nock 28.375
balance point to nock 23.5
FOC=32.8

FOC CALCULATOR - Easton Archery
 
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Weldabeast said:
That gpi is it I guess....
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Yes, that is the key. The more of the arrows mass you can concentrate at the front the better. With a center shot compound I have to use a 300 spine shaft so the weight of the thicker shaft hurts FOC. Basically the same length shaft but somewhere around 11.5 or 12 grains per inch.
 
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