Arrow weight for bears>
Contributors to this thread:Bears
From: TradbowBob
11-Apr-16
I was talking with a "wheelie" friend of mine about bear hunting. The subject of arrow weight came up. With a Montec CS on his arrows out of a 55 lb. compound he feels he has a good set up. I took him out to the range and we shot his bow at a foam target. 3 of his arrows and 3 of the 500 gr. weight. The 500's got about 6" more penetration than the 430's did.
The question came up of how much is enough? So I thought I'd ask you guys what you shoot. You must remember that I'm use to shooting a 600+ gr. arrow out of a 46# longbow, much slower, but very deadly.
Thanks,
TBB
From: brantman
11-Apr-16
you will be fine. with my wheel bow I used 10 grains a inch,went right thru the bear at 20 yards
From: milnrick
11-Apr-16
Millie, LadyBowhunter, has taken 6 bears with her compound bow, all using Montec 100 gr heads mounted on 55/65 goldtip, and Victory "pink" arrows. Bows used ranged from a Switchback to the Quest Bliss... all set at 50@26". All shots were pass-thru. Your friends set-up will work finem
From: Deathmoan
11-Apr-16
Black bears are not dense animals, and thin skinned. If you stay off bone there's really not a lot of resistance to them.
From: Beendare
11-Apr-16
Shooting into targets; Bales, foam, ballistic gel, etc doesn't tell you squat about an arrows performance on game.
Bears are soft....almost any setup with good arrow flight will work.
From: ElkNut1
11-Apr-16
At 55# I'd be more apt to use an arrow in the 475 - 500 grain range especially if I were using 3 or 4 bladed heads. I do the same with elk.
ElkNut1
From: Bear Track
11-Apr-16
Any set up good enough for deer is good enough for bear. I've had near 800 hunters from when we had the fly out camps to our camp today, and not one, ever thought or said, they did not have enough bow or arrow.
From: ElkNut1
11-Apr-16
My bad! After re-reading the original post I see it's a compound bow not Trad bow! For a compound at 55# 430 grains is a very good choice!
ElkNut1
From: Brotsky
11-Apr-16
My little lady killed a very nice bear last fall shooting 40# and using a 385 gr arrow. Her 100 gr slick trick standard was stuck in the hide on the far side after a quartered away shot. He's got plenty of bow and his arrow choice is great. I'd suspect he'll get a pass through on a good shot.
From: TradbowBob
11-Apr-16
Thanks guys. We all play the same game. just differently and it's nice to have a good source of information.
TBB
From: Ermine
14-Apr-16
I shoot the same setup I will for other animals. Currently shooting a 450 grain arrow at 71 lbs
From: MichaelArnette
14-Apr-16
With a compound he'll blow through any bear