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It seems that most if not all pro-shops might ask what you want for draw weight, draw length, look at an arrow chart and say “These shafts will work. Let me throw on some vanes, glue in an insert, screw in a 100 Gr (mostly) or 125 Gr FP and say - Good luck”. And a lot of hunters have no idea what they’re shooting or if it’s good, bad or indifferent. Many don’t care, especially if they get decent groups at 20 yards after a quick sight in session.

I looked a little deeper into how to make my arrow/bow as efficient and effective as possible. I’ve shot deer. Lost deer. Missed deer. I always asked why did that work or not work and how can I minimize “mistakes” or maximize opportunities.

It would be cool to see what or why guys/gals shoot and how they know if that is the most efficient , effective,right at the point of diminishing returns setup. So let’s hear some questions or statements on what/why your arrow/bow combo makes you confident with hitting perfect shots and not so perfect shots that should end in success. Thanks.

Arrow mass/weight wins, it wins every time and I will fight anyone on this. I've done the math, I've done the math with LITERAL ROCKET SCIENTISTS (end of the day distractions).

But to put it simply, any arrow that passes through a deer has wasted momentum. There is force and work that was never put through that deer, it was all wasted. Ideally you want a hole through both sides, which is gonna happen, but you want it burring itself in the ground or tree behind it as little as possible because all of the kinetic energy when into the deer. Think 22-250 vs. 12ga slug.

"But in both cases the same hole is being made so why does it matter?" Because of the force it imparts, the shockwave to muscle and organs that one arrow will deliver vs. another. Why does this matter, because as a bow hunter, you want blood! Unless destroying a critical organ, arrows and bullets are all about exsanguination, and the heart in any animal is a wet pump, meaning it seizes when the fluid lines are dry just like any other wet pump (creates it's own vacuum lock). So you want your target to bleed out as fast as possible, regardless of where you put the arrow. You are more likely to do this with a heavier arrow. YAAAY!

I know most people have a differing opinion based on preference, and that's fine, ultimately all you need to know is the following: it takes 42ft-lbs of work to get a pass through on a deer, and I can't think of a single modern compound bow and arrow weight combination that won't just about double that every single time. So then it becomes about blood loss. So sure you have to shoot straight, but heavier arrows make bigger holes.

I put a link to a kinetic energy calc in this post so you can play with. Ultimately the answer to your question, and however you would modify it for clarity, is a simple "Yes".

Step away from the “heavy arrow” terminology. It’s being used incorrectly. It’s relative to how efficient your set up is.

The high GPI of a shaft isn’t how someone should be adding weight to their arrow. Adding point weight is a far more effective method to creating an arrow that weighs more. Increasing front (or forward) of center on your arrow will likely lead to more accuracy down range, less wind drift, and better performance. You can add point weight by heavier inserts, collars, or heavier broadheads.

There are also diminishing returns to using too light of an arrow or heavy draw weight in order to increase arrow speed. (Strain on bow or strain on joints!)

Decades ago, in the old AMMO established 9GPP as the balance point between the two extremes. Granted, this was in recurve and longbow only days but I think staying somewhere between 7 and 11 GPP should work well, depending on the game you're shooting at.

And in these days of laser range finders I don't see so much advantage to the old "light arrow flat trajectory" argument.

If the arrow is close to the suggested specs ... the experience we perceive is a mystical and somewhat unprovable event. It becomes a belief system, and our beliefs seem to have more impact than the minor variations do in real world applications. It isn't rocket science (there are/were several engineers in my family) . It's far more complex and maliable than an engineering computation because it has living, unpredictable variables that can't be factored in beyond the basics. And so, at some point after basics, it's really a belief based on probabilities that exist in the mind alone.

Everything is great with an arrow - Until it’s not. That’s what I have been learning more and more about. How do you know your arrow is strong, durable, efficient? You don’t, until it either fails or doesn’t.

Sosso, some of what you said is factual. However, a relatively fast “heavier” arrow loses speed much slower than a faster “lighter” arrow. IE - a 400gr @ 300 fps will lose speed faster than a 500gr @ 275 fps.

...You can pay me to dig dirt and move stones.

Division of labor in a free market works too.

Then you can start tweaking your setup and building an arrow that does what you want. Example - you can have two arrows that weigh the same, but perform much differently in tune and flight. Then you start the tuning process. Things to think about.

It 100% applies to broadhead flight, impact, effectiveness on penetration and driving through your intended target.

Here’s a tiny example. You need a certain amount of force to open a mechanical broadhead. You also need a certain amount of force with a fixed blade BH to cut through an animal. Your arrow also loses, let’s call it power, as it flies. So your arrow hits an animal, and it’s not driving straight ahead because your setup isn’t tuned (for whatever reason) - So you’ve immediately lost more “power”. Now you hit a rib or shoulder blade and this arrow, that already isn’t driving straight ahead immediately angles off and doesn’t go where you think it went. Ever had that happen?

I'm currently shooting a Mathews triax at 60#, 28" draw, 507 grain arrow. According to some online arrow speed calculators it should be traveling at 254 fps, although I've never verified with a Chrono. In my eyes this setup seems to be my most efficient to date. I started with pro shop arrows that were under 400 grains, then switched to arrows as heavy as 587 grains a few years back. Both extremes had tuning issues, penetration issues on the lighter end, and ridiculous pin gaps on the heavier end. The current arrow tunes both fixed and mechanicals fairly easyily, penetrates well and has a much more forgiving pin gap than the heavier arrow. My gut tells me heavier is not going to increase efficiency. I could easily take out a 25 grain weight at the point to decrease overall weight to 482, but I'm concerned about decreasing the foc.

Think about what your draw weight is. Draw length. FPS with an arrow. What’s your arrow weigh. What’s your component system. Can it withstand a hard impact like a leg bone or log on a 3D course. Can you build an arrow with more or less FOC to help with impact/flight forgiveness. What kind of vanes and vane configuration are you paying with. You want to maximize some of these first.

I helped another Bowsiter here that thought he was drawing 68-69 lbs and when we checked, he was at 62. We moved his draw weight up. He shot faster. So we made his arrows heavier and he shot better more consistent groups at the same speed he was at before. Nothing changed in dynamics, but he now has a better more effective system with one tweak. Just basic stuff.

Paper tune. Bare shaft and with vanes tuning. Walk back tuning. All that comes into play in the later stages of the fun stuff. That’s when you can see if what you made is working.

A few years later I played with 300's, because the charts suggested I was on the edge with my 340's for my length, and 300's may be better. I couldnt get them to shoot well and gave em to a friend. I went happily back to my 340's... A few years ago I got semi ranch fairied and tried 300's again. It was herculean, but I got them shooting ok, paper bullet holes at 5-8yds (the paper), but I could sometimes see kick in the fletch as they flew and never felt as confident as with the 340s. I'd gone heavier for more energy down range on target, and proceeded to have my first non pass through on a buck (off side shoulder - so may not have passed through regardless) and between that and my slightly dinged confidence, I went back to my 340's with 100's up front and have done great.

That all said, I keep trying to learn about this stuff, because my antiqueish bow, while I like it, and it works well... it is 16, and my eyes wander a bit as the new stuff if very very nice. So I've basically decided I'm pretty close to a new bow, and when I do that, Ill likely go a little heavier... So I like reading your stuff because you always lay out great arrow set up ideas.

Second, the heavier arrow "carries" more KE downrange... think about throwing a golfball vs a ping pong ball, which runs out of gas first? Important past 35 if your looking to open a mech... also a better tuned setup will degrade less (less drag)

The micro diameter thing is just marketing imho

That down range thing works on paper and on the range.

I’ll say it again - an arrow isn’t heavy if it’s shot fast. Two arrows going the same FPS at launch but weighing different grains act differently down range and when hitting an animal.

MAPA - I woke up, I'm better now :)... As with my tweed coat, some things age well bahhhhh ha ha!

;) kidding brother! Lookin good!