Heavy vs. Light Arrows
Whether a heavy or a light arrow is “better” depends on what you are hunting and your priorities for your bow and arrow setup. Watch as Brad goes over his take on whether a heavier vs. a lighter arrow is better to shoot for western big game hunting.
As a hunter, the most important thing for me is an arrow that I can use to consistently kill animals. I’m not as concerned with finding a magical FOC number. Finding the right arrow is a function of balancing several items, including:
- Penetration- Your arrow needs to be heavy enough to get good penetration, and ideally a complete pass-through.
- Performance- How it shoots out of your bow, including a well balanced and properly spined arrow that I can get to shoot straight with a broadhead.
- Forgiveness (AKA Speed)
Penetration
A heavier arrow is always going to penetrate better than a lighter arrow, so you don’t want something that is so light that you sacrifice penetration. Penetration is also a function of your broadhead, so your arrow won’t entirely dictate whether you get a pass through on an animal, but I’ve shot elk with a total arrow weight of 430 grains with a fixed blade, but for me nowadays that’s too light.
Forgiveness
Even though I love the penetration I get from a heavy arrow, having wide pin gaps make pin gap shooting more difficult and doesn’t create a lot of wiggle room for error. For anyone that shoots a 3, 5 or 7 pin horizontal pin configuration, the tighter your pin gaps, the more likely you are to shoot in the kill zone when gap shooting. A faster arrow is moving faster down-range and is going to give you tighter pin gaps. That’s a huge advantage, particularly is you don’t make a perfect shot.
Performance
This one is fairly straightforward and easy, but I want an arrow that is durable, spins true and that I can get to shoot straight with a broadhead out of my bow.
How to Pick The Best Arrow for You
I’ve shot arrows as light as 420 grains, and as heavy as 525 grains. I have two arrows I shoot now, one is a Day Six HD arrow that weighs 522 grains, and the other is a Day Six XD arrow that weighs about 456 grains. The heavier arrow is amazing and I’ve killed a lot of animals with it. I’ve even had that arrow punch through a front shoulder on a hard quartering too angle and go directly into the heart. That’s some heavy arrow performance.
