Picking a Hunting Arrow
This is a simple test to picking a hunting arrow for your setup. After last season and this winter I set out to determine if there was a better arrow and build for hunting, With all the latest arrow technology out there it’s easy to find a bunch of options. I am a little surprised at what marketing tells us and actual performance. Maybe it’s just my own requirements needed when looking at arrows, I think others may be strayed into thinking something else.
Setup the Test
My requirements for a hunting arrow performance are:
- Accurate – straight flight and consistent in target impact
- Penetration – side by side penetration from one arrow to the next I want to optimize this
Some things that do impact these two performance criteria are:
- A well-tuned bow. This is where it starts. Make sure you have everything aligned and paper tune if possible. You want to be sure your bow is pushing the arrow as straight as possible from the start of the flight.
- Consistent arrow builds… from the vanes to the point weight, make sure the arrow is fletched the same and weighs the same within a grain. We want to be able to rely on the results we get when side by side testing different arrows.
- Weight – Picking different spines and weights of arrows will impact the flight and penetration. Point weight will impact the FOC (Front of Center) point which can impact flight as well. Weight will also impact the speed of the arrow, but not a huge concern of mine for the test because other tests have shown that speed alone does not impact penetration. AND the speed is fixed – my bow will not change.
My Results to Picking a Hunting Arrow
For the sake of someone else repeating this experiment on their own, I kept it very simple and general. The results are very clear, however.
- I shot a heavy arrow side by side with a lightweight arrow. – The heavy arrow had more penetration.
- I shot heavier point weight on the lightweight arrow and a light point weight on the heavy arrow side by side. – The heavy arrow had more penetration.
- I measure the penetration of the heavy point weight and light point weight on the heavy arrow. The heavy arrow with heavy point weight penetrated up to ¾” more than the lighter point weight.
My end conclusion is very clear for what I want in a hunting arrow. Because I finished up with this video below, Accuracy was awesome and arrow flight passed my test. The heavy arrow with heavy point weight will be the setup I go with.
One Note – To me, it seems we are being marketed to get more speed. This is how bows are rated. The standard in determining speed for a bow is not using a normal hunting arrow. It is extremely light, which leads to speeds that you may never see in your normal hunting arrow setup. This can lead us to try to find a lightweight arrow. Accuracy and penetration are what kill animals. Not all shots are perfect and bones are hard. So penetration is in your control when selecting an arrow. Get one that does the job!
- Black Eagle Deep Impact Arrow Flight Check – Athens Ridge 32
- Time to check my arrow flight. Here are the specs along with my Ridge 32
- 40 yards
- Black Eagle Deep Impact – 300 spine
- 125-grain arrow tip
- ~510 grains total arrow weight
- Athens Ridge 32 – 29″ Draw, 70lbs
I did paper tune, and at the same time I wanted to see more when it comes to how the arrow flies from start to finish. So filming at 120 fps, you can slow down the video and see everything from how the bow transfers it’s energy to the arrow as it leaves the bow and then flight downrange. Using lighted nocks as it the sun sets also helps to see how well the arrow will steer itself. (It’s not all for the show! 🙂
I believe this setup runs well and this is the one I will stick with for hunting this year.
Check our why I do this Vision and Focus
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