Arrow Speed vs Arrow Weight for Deer Hunting

Hey, thanks for tuning in today. We're going to talk about speed versus weight and how that corresponds to hunting white tail deer. So when I get a phone call and somebody says to me, hey, what's more important, speed or the weight of my arrow? My answer is always yes. And of course that causes some confusion, but the truth is there is a balance there that is very important for you to figure out, particularly to your certain, your own hunting setup, not what somebody else is shooting, not what your buddy down the road has, but what you are shooting specifically. So, you know, we know that the speed of sound is 1,125 feet per second, or roughly 670 miles an hour, somewhere in there, but that's pretty fast. So we know that if your arrow is going 300 feet per second, that that's plenty of time for the deer to hear your bow, your arrow and drop. So we know that speed is definitely an important factor. However, if you are sacrificing your arrow weight to get speed, you are also sacrificing penetration. And that's where you're really going to run into problems. So the balance point is to make sure that you have a heavy enough arrow to do the job and to do it well. The goal is a pass through, always remember that. So, you know, we want proper momentum, proper FOC. We want to have enough weight that that arrow is going to do the job without sacrificing a tremendous amount of speed. Now, I will say, as a matter of importance, personally, I will rule out your arrow weight, momentum and FOC being far more important than your speed, especially at the distance most of us hunt whitetails. Close range, tree stands, blinds, they're not all that far away. Most of it is under 30 yards. I know that gives the deer plenty of time to duck, but if you hit that deer with a mechanical broadhead with a too light of an arrow and that broadhead doesn't penetrate or do its job, then you've really lost the whole purpose of what you're doing. So it's important to remember some key factors. Yes, speed is important. It's important to you as an archer. It's important to get that arrow there before the deer can duck, but it's also important for you to learn the deer's behavior. What's it doing? Is it edgy? Should I even be shooting? Is the deer relaxed? Do I have plenty of time? What are the chances of it gonna jump the string, so to speak? So you wanna keep that in your mind as you're thinking about whether you're gonna release the arrow or not at that time. But when you're setting up prior to the hunt, you wanna make sure that you've got that balancing act where you have enough speed, but you're also gonna have enough penetration because your arrow has been set up properly. If you get concerned that your arrow is too heavy, what should your arrow be? I mean, because you don't wanna be shooting rainbows, right? So speed is gonna get you there faster. It's hopefully gonna help you eliminate some of that deer ducking your arrow, but you wanna make sure that, again, you are heavy enough to get that arrow through the deer. So what's too heavy? Is there a too heavy? Well, I think that if you're shooting rainbows at 30 yards, that you're probably too heavy. A lot of guys are building arrow setups that are well over 600 grains now. And look, if your draw weight is good enough that your speed is still high, more power to you. I think that's great. But some of you guys that are still pulling low poundage, have an injury and are pulling low poundage, and you wanna be shooting something that's upwards of 650 or greater, you're gonna be shooting rainbows in most cases. Now, if your shots are close, that's probably not gonna matter. But if you're going after some long range whitetail, that could be detrimental, and you could find yourself shooting over the deer's back a lot as they belly out because they heard things coming. So I really like that ideal weight for my setups, for just a typical archery setup, you know, 65 pound range, typical draw. I like that 550 range. I really think that that's ideal. Through a lot of our testing, that has proven to be a really good area in that hole area. So something to consider when you're setting up. So again, just make sure that you have the right balancing act to get the job done, to have a pass through, and get it there in time. So if you have any questions, just let us know at any time. Make sure you give us a thumbs up, follow us, that really helps us out. And again, leave us a comment.