sound & bolt/arrow?

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Deerstalker
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sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Deerstalker »

Speed of sound =340 M/Sec or 1126'/Sec.
My hunting distance = 35 yards or 420' and @ 300 FPS the bolt will take about 1.4 Sec to travel to the target. The sound will take about .38 Sec to make it to the deer or target. The delay between the sound & strike of the bolt is about 1 Sec at 35 yards. Do I have this about right?

(EDIT) - My math sucks @ 73 years of age & I feel embarrassed!!

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... ouspe.html
Last edited by Deerstalker on Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by HW »

35 yds equals 105' and at 300 fps it would take 0.35 of a second to reach the target. The sound would reach there in 0.09 seconds.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Hester0305 »

That looks about right. I always hold lower third of a deer when I shoot with a bow I'm going to do the same with my xbow also because of the sound of the xbow. If the deer ducks a little to get out of the way of the arrow you still get both lungs.

Sound will definitely get there faster than our arrows or bolts will and deer will react differently to each situation.
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Deerstalker
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Deerstalker »

Thanks HW & I feel so embarrassed about my math! The sound to strike difference looks to be about .25 (1/4) Sec at 35 yards. Not very much time for the deer to react.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Bones »

by wabi » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:24 pm

Deer at 30 yards (90') and arrow at 300 fps:
arrow time 90÷300 = .30 second
sound 90÷1125 = .08 second
.30-.08 = .22 second reaction time

40 yards:
120÷300 = .40 second
120÷1125 = .106666~ (.11)
.40-.11 = .29 second reaction time

In my experience the 30 yard shot doesn't give the deer time to react to the sound, but the 40 yard shot does. Be aware that sight (if the deer is lookings at you and sees the limbs move) gives it the full .30 second to react, and it will!
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by UPSMAN »

man, this bowhunting is way more complicated than I thought. Too much to think about. May have to go back to rifle hunting. (3350 fps) Don't think they can react that fast. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by wabi »

Took one long shot year before last (21 yards) and still got the deer. :lol:

I've shot the vast majority of my deer at under 20 yards simply because there is seldom a reason to push the range any farther. Sometimes it takes a lot of patience & self control to wait 'em out, but if you set up in the right spot and use the wind to your advantage it isn't all that hard to get them to come close. Hardest thing is the patience. It seems like they sometimes take forever to move 5 yards closer. :lol:

And the 21 yard shot - he was on a route through the food plot that I knew wasn't going to get him any closer to me (from the east entry trail to the south exit trail). When he hit the closest point I gave him a "baaaaaa" and sent the arrow on it's way when he stopped.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Cookies »

UPSMAN wrote:man, this bowhunting is way more complicated than I thought. Too much to think about. May have to go back to rifle hunting. (3350 fps) Don't think they can react that fast. :lol: :lol: :lol:
That's what I was thinking.. :D and I'm in my 40s and still didnt understand the math..never a great subject for me. :oops:
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Tennessee Tom »

The math is probably correct assuming the bolt doesn't slow down very much while traveling the 35 yards ,, and I may be wrong in assuming that lite bolts slow down quicker than a heavy one ??? I have a big Oak tree adjacent to my bag target , while a friend and I were shooting my Exomax one afternoon we decided to see if we could hear arrow release and then time until bolt impacted target ,, standing behind the tree ,string twang was very noticeable and blazers were quiter in flight than feathers ,, razers ,, but no deer that I have ever hunted could jump away before impact, on alert or not at the 30 yds to my bag !!! 524 grns at 305 or 306 ft per second ...
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by sumner4991 »

If you keep your shots under 40 yards, then don't even bother doing the math, unless you enjoy that stuff.

There are lucky deer, but, there are no super deer.

Human error will get you far quicker than a deer jumping the string. So, spend more time shooting and less time thinking about it. : )
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Boo »

If you are in the deer's peripheral view (and they do have a wide field of view) they will react the flex of your bow limbs on the shot. So fact the speed of light in you scenario.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by rej »

There is a story that Einstein was aksed what the result of 3 x 4 would be. He pulled out his slide rule, calculated and replied, "almost 12".We are dealing with minute times. As Don said the deer may see your limb flex :idea: but just for fun lets factor his reaction time in. If you have your range and aim point right you are going home with venison.
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by Big58cal »

Where my shooting bench is out back here, it's right up against a bunch of stacked wood under the edge of a shed. When I'm shooting, I'm always thinking, "Man! This thing is loud!" Yesterday morning when I dropped the hammer on that doe, I remembered thinking, "Man! This thing is quiet!" :lol:

It was quiet in the woods and all I remember hearing was just the dull "thump" of the string hitting the NGSS. At 30 yds, I shot and watched the arrow hit through the scope. The deer didn't react until the arrow hit, and by that time it was too late. :wink:
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Re: sound & bolt/arrow?

Post by nchunterkw »

Shooting at a calm deer is key too. My farthest shot was at 33 yards...and it was my first crossbow deer. It was reaching up to feed on some leaves and I was shooting horton bow that probably only threw that arrow at 265fps or so. It never moved until the arrow hit home. but since then I agree with wabi, choose the right stand and play the wind right and 20 yds or less can be your norm. I do this and I hunt from the ground. Shot several at under 10 yds.
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