Is trendy worth it?

[Shed Hunter]

I found an arrow in the woods the other day and had to consult my archery guy about it. I had never seen the weighted collars before, but this apparently is an ethics trend he isn't a big fan of

I decided to put it to the test. The arrow shaft is 1" longer than mine. Same brand and model arrow shaft except it is a 300 spine rather than 350. This guy was going for heavy. Really heavy. Obviously the idea is a pass through. The arrow is incredibly expensive so I assume it was lost with the lumenok-the deer likely went a long ways

I'm shooting a balance between speed and weight. My arrow weighs probably less than half of the other.

My question is what good is a heavy arrow that moves so slow it ultimately has less KE? Why would someone shoot an arrow like this?

30yard shot test. I shot the heavy arrow first. Even making contact with the other arrow you can see that the penetration difference is huge. I was actually expecting the arrow to blow through my target with ease.

 

[Shed Hunter]

Pics

 

[batten_down]

Pics

Look up a guy by the name of "Ranch Fairy" (funny name) on YouTube. He is one of the voices behind the trend toward heavier arrow builds for hunting. While I haven't fully made the jump myself, it's hard to argue with his reasoning. I'm kicking around the idea of a heavier arrow for the fall. Been watching his videos and playing with FOC calculators for a month or two now.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I got into heavy arrows this past season. Nothing crazy, but around 560 grains. I experienced what many experience, complete
pass through, deer acting like nothing ever happened, not going out of sight. I was having issues with not getting pass throughs even with fixed blades prior. I went through the entire tuning process and sharpen Magnus stingers myself to insanely sharp. Yes I get a lot of arrow drop, but I don't shoot far anyway. Am I fully on board? I honestly don't know, I don't have a large sample size yet. I definitely learned a lot more than I did know about bows and arrows just by going through the process.

 

[Shed Hunter]

Look up a guy by the name of "Ranch Fairy" (funny name) on YouTube. He is one of the voices behind the trend toward heavier arrow builds for hunting. While I haven't fully made the jump myself, it's hard to argue with his reasoning. I'm kicking around the idea of a heavier arrow for the fall. Been watching his videos and playing with FOC calculators for a month or two now.

I'll have to look into it. My arrows are a little on the heavier side than normal but a marginal amount-nothing extreme. The guy at the archery shop said my KE was pretty dang high and I'm still over 300fps. I figure a good medium is the correct choice. This particular arrow is way too slow for me to ever want to shoot. I like knowing I can kill a deer at 40 yards if needed without it hearing the arrow well before it arrives

 

[batten_down]

I'll have to look into it. My arrows are a little on the heavier side than normal but a marginal amount-nothing extreme. The guy at the archery shop said my KE was pretty dang high and I'm still over 300fps. I figure a good medium is the correct choice. This particular arrow is way too slow for me to ever want to shoot. I like knowing I can kill a deer at 40 yards if needed without it hearing the arrow well before it arrives

That's where I'm at. Trying to settle on something somewhere in the middle; don't want to sacrifice too much speed, but like the idea of hitting a little harder.

 

[Ski]

The only logical reason to hunt with an arrow like that in TN is because of low draw weight and/or a traditional bow. It's a no brainer that heavier arrow will penetrate better, but we're hunting TN whitetails. 200lbs is a very big animal here. Unfortunately the heavy arrow trend is largely Youtube driven and a lot of misconceptions come with it, such as guys thinking with a heavy arrow they can shoot at deer from any angle, even full frontal, and it's ok because their super arrow will get it done. I think there's merit to heavy arrows and a real benefit to some hunters, but I also think it gets blown way out of proportion with some guys who think it's a magic bullet. Truth is as it's always been. You have to make a good shot no matter what arrow or bullet you're using.

 

[Lost Lake]

I don't think trendy is worth it. I have nothing against super heavy arrows, but in my traditional bows, I've found the old advice of 9-10 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight to be perfect.

And Ski is right, it seems popular with trad shooters using lightweight bows, and having to use very heavy broad heads to decrease the stiffness of carbon arrows to get adequate flight and the gap sight picture they want. Those guys seem to do very well with those setups, but to each his own I guess.

 

[swd]

I get the logic behind it, especially for elk, moose, bear, and African hunts.

My issue is that I have no interest in being a bow tech. With that in mind, there's no way I can afford to get my setup right to find the sweet spot.

I shoot a 400'ish grain arrow well over 300 fps. Pass throughs are not really an issue for me with a very standard setup that I can shoot well from 5 yards to 60 yards with a lot of practice.

 

[JeepKuntry]

I did increase the weight some, but not to crazy amounts. With 100 grain broadhead I am at 480. I have yet to kill a deer with this setup but I think it's gonna be the right blend. FOC is the trend.

 

[Bushape]

I'll have to look into it. My arrows are a little on the heavier side than normal but a marginal amount-nothing extreme. The guy at the archery shop said my KE was pretty dang high and I'm still over 300fps. I figure a good medium is the correct choice. This particular arrow is way too slow for me to ever want to shoot. I like knowing I can kill a deer at 40 yards if needed without it hearing the arrow well before it arrives

I have not made the jump to anything heavy. I find myself like you in that I am hesitant to lose the speed that I have. However, the ranch fairy, as well as THP, make pretty compelling cases that speed is irrelevant when it comes to shooting at whitetail deer. Especially outside of 25 yards.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I do have the potential to shoot a big hog, big bear, or deer from the same tree when hunting in my area of TN. Thats what got me into it. Either way, like it or not, going through the process of bare shaft tuning will teach you a ton and make you a better archer. Learning to hand sharpen broadheads will help you as well. I know some very successful bow hunters will says it's dumb, whatever. Good link to study. https://www.ashbybowhunting.org/

 

[TNDeerGuy]

I'm not a fan of Ranch Fairy, nor of this trend he is pushing, and of course he is making tons of money on this trend—it is why he is pushing it so hard. For big, western dangerous game I would add a little weight forward for FOC, but here in the east it is not needed. A average 400-450gr setup is all you need. His heavy weight tuning nonsense is just that....nonsense. Hyper-tuning isn't new and has been done for years with target archers and experinced hunters alike shooting anywhere from 350gr arrows to 500gr arrows—he isn't doing anything new.

 

[batten_down]

I'm not a fan of Ranch Fairy, nor of this trend he is pushing, and of course he is making tons of money on this trend—it is why he is pushing it so hard. For big, western dangerous game I would add a little weight forward for FOC, but here in the east it is not needed. A average 400-450gr setup is all you need. His heavy weight tuning nonsense is just that....nonsense. Hyper-tuning isn't new and has been done for years with target archers and experinced hunters alike shooting anywhere from 350gr arrows to 500gr arrows—he isn't doing anything new.

Genuinely curious how he's making a ton of money off of it? The videos I watched of his, he wasn't trying to sell anything as far as I could tell.

 

[Bushape]

Genuinely curious how he's making a ton of money off of it? The videos I watched of his, he wasn't trying to sell anything as far as I could tell.

Yeah the only thing I've seen him promote is that set of heavy grain points needed to get started but the best I can recall he doesn't link you to a site to buy them or anything.

 

[Rackseeker]

I never really bought into the heavy arrow logic when I bowhunted. I killed alot of deer with a smaller diameter, stiffer spine arrow at around 280 fps.

 

[TNDeerGuy]

Genuinely curious how he's making a ton of money off of it? The videos I watched of his, he wasn't trying to sell anything as far as I could tell.

Oh, he is making money off of the YouTube Channel and then he has hooked up with Sirius Archery and he has a full lines of "Adult Arrows" and a "Test Kit"... both of them feed each other and he is making money off of this and the hype is what is feeding it.

 

[BSK]

An interesting article on this topic:

Heavy vs. Light Arrows: Which Are Better for Deer Hunting? | National Deer Association

www.deerassociation.com

 

[gatodoc]

I'm certainly not an expert but I've killed two deer with my crossbow. The first was a small doe at 15 yards. The arrow went through the chest and broke her humerus on the opposite side. The other was a medium buck. Complete pass through at 25 yrds. I'm using standard weight crossbow bolts with 100 gr rage tips. I'm not sure I need any more than this. I'll never take a shot with a bow unless it's a "gimme". I'd rather just wait until gun season. Since I said that, the next deer I see bow hunting will probably be a 10 pt wall hanger and I'll graze his bisket....

 

[BSK]

I'll never take a shot with a bow unless it's a "gimme". I'd rather just wait until gun season. Since I said that, the next deer I see bow hunting will probably be a 10 pt wall hanger and I'll graze his bisket....

HA!

I gave up bowhunting many years ago. Way too many lost deer. And misses on my part...

Of course, I was shooting a Whitetail Hunter that shot arrows at about 125 fps, so...