Arrow/Bolt Mass

[ingovenn]

Yep its me again, the South African Dude and proud owner of an Excalibur Ibex. Last weekend I met with a lot of other bow hunting guys mostly compund bows and traditional bows for a 3D shoot. They tell me for them the "ethical" thing with Arrow mass when hunting is to shoot with maximum momentum, thus Arrows which are at least 8 grain per pound of the pull of the bow. That principle for my Ibex @ would mean I would have to shoot a bolt of at least 1 400 grain......? I know our Bows have been designed to shoot Bolts not less than 350 grain ...but 1 400? I shoot Easton Powerbolts at about 450 grain with 125 grain Muzzies and doing very well. Is there somebody out there who can explain the difference between a crossbow and "normal" bow in this regard? As it is I get better penetration on targets with the above bolts than the guys with compounds and 500 to 600 grain arrows and thats on 40 and 50 yards. Is it the thickness and stiffness of our Bolts compared to their thinner and longer arrows? Hey I wish allo of you northern guys well in your hunting season, may your Bolts fly straight and true! Ingo

[old fart jim]

that is just a general rule of thumb. a more accurate way is to determine kinetic energy for your set up. for example a 400grn arrow at 250 ft per second produces 55.53 ft.pounds of energy which is more than adequate for most game. the set up you mentioned 450grn arrow at 240fps = 57.57ftpds. by the way 240fps would be a fairly slow bow. now for dangerous african game I would want the heaviest arrow out of the fastest bow I could shoot, or better yet a 416 rigby

[bob1961]

my arrows from my 200 lb exocet are 550 gr and cruz at 290 fps with 106 fp KE .......bob

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[Bill T]

Everybody who knows vertical archery seems to be an expert on crossbows these days.
The whole thing about momentum and it's proponents stems from an effort to maximize penetration on heavy skinned African game like Elephants and Buffs. If you are thinking about hunting this sort of critter you would do well to experiment with what arrow delivers maximum penetration with a reasonable trajectory. or Buffs I used 700 grains and Elephant I used 900 grains, but that's on an Exomax.
In the end all the hard, fast rules are useless, just remember that if you have 1 extra footpound of energy that it takes to get full penetration on your game, you sacrificed trajectory and flight time as a result.

[sumner4991]

Here's a pretty good article.

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/features/pra ... /index.cfm

[M&M]

They tell me for them the "ethical" thing with Arrow mass when hunting is to shoot with maximum momentum, thus Arrows which are at least 8 grain per pound of the pull of the bow. Holly smokes with that in mind with my exocet being 200lb draw I would have to shoot a 1600grn arrow!!!

[ingovenn]

Hi guys, many thanks for the ample and informative replies I got my answer ten times over. Thanks to "sumner" for the article on Arrow Penetration and Bill T, yep your African Experiences over the years show. My Ibex will and can handle all of this game, yes even Elephants, although I don't hunt them as I go for meat only thus a good Kudu or Eland is perfect. I will experiment with heavier Bolts though just to know and not to take a chance on that Buffalo.....trust me you don't want him irritated....no!.... nader.....never. Wounded and angry he is so mean as to run back on this spoor then double back and wait for you to follow his blood trail....I have seen Horse and Rider thrown six feet in the air by a wounded buff ...after a bad gun shot, yep with a rigby 416.....Tough stuff that. This is why this is the best Forum, thanks again!

Ingo

[secret]

You might want to try Gold Tip Lazer 2 kinetics...13.9 grains per inch. .200 spine. i built these shafts to 600grns they shoot great.

[sumner4991]

secret . . .best of my recollection . . .that's the first time anyone has posted a picture of their target and there are no holes outside the black circles.

Nice shooting and good looking arrows.

[secret]

Summer 4991, those were shot @ 30yrds heres another photo .