Recommended speeds and arrow weight for hunting

[eastcreekarchery]

A hunting bow im working on is sending a 425 grain arrow 150 fps at 46# at 27." Is this suitable for hunting whitetail or even elk out to 20 yards?

[willie]

keep your broadheads sharp and put them in the right spot.
some will tell you that poundage is need, but speed is no substitute for poor equipment maintenance or shot placement.  Having your arrows fly straight, even at shorter yardage makes a difference too.

[Tracker0721]

Cameron Hanes shoots the latest and greatest compound with like 90#s of draw and a 30” draw length, 600 grain arrows at like 280-290fps. But he still tells everyone that there’s nothing better than accuracy or else you just miss faster. That set up will take a deer for sure, elk are hard. Probably would but I’d want that arrow built right, high FOC and a sharp 2 blade. Double lung and dead animal.

[Selfbowman]

Coming from what some call speed demon. It’s not how fast it gets there it’s placement and arrow weight......
Arvin

[HH~]

Whose Haynes?? He ever kill anything with a stickbow?

425grn is what wheely bow guys shoot elk with. I would use 500grh two blade or better. Will that work? Maybe but you hit any bone and you got big problems.

You dont need speed, you dont even need an arrow to go thru your game. You just need a sharp BH that will get into vitals and your game and your qaurry is deader than 5 O'clock. You'll have folks that will tell you all kine stuff. A Few guys here kill regularly and consistantly with selfbow and some only with selfbows. Shooting game with 275grn arrow at 200fps you better not even hit a rib bone. That arrow will stop in its tracks. 600grn arrow doing 100fps will plow into where you need to kill game. 15FPS either way is not going to bust you one way or the other. remember two holes makes it a little easier to follow a marginally hit animal however. If you hit your spot when it matters 120fps with a 450grn arra or better will get it done no problem. Biiger the animal the heavier the arrow will need a bow that can push it.

HH~

[bentstick54]

Simple answer is yes with a sharp broadhead put where it needs to be.

[bownarra]

Yes it would work but......
I'd prefer at least 550 grains. Heavier arrows, within reason, are a much better bet.
Hedge has it right

[bassman]

46 lb bow 460 gr.arrow. 10 GPP. standard of the industry for decades .That combo has killed every thing on the north American continent   with consistency by the likes of Fred Bear,and many others when it comes to arrow weight. You can go more ,or less ,and get the job done no doubt, but 10 GPP. is considered the best compromise. It is also the numbers that we base our self, and backed bows on when we test for speed performance.

[Mesophilic]

Let's take a look at it from a theory side...this is just that, theory.  Your mileage may vary greatly and I know I may get flamed for going down this path, but animals deserve the most humane passing we can give them.

disclaimer #1
I get it, this is only theoretical...but until you shoot a few critters with your set up all you have to go on is theory, opinions, and speculation.

Shot my bear this year with 18 inches of penetration with a 540 grain arrow at 20 yards.   It was a perfect shot missing all the bones.  To get this penetration my bow stats are as follows:

50# @ 28"
540 grain arrow
170 fps
Momentum  is .408 slugs

Your set up produces a momentum value of  .283 slugs.

So your bow has 69% of the momentum that mine does.  That translates to 12.42 inches of penetration under the same circumstances...in theory only,  and I know there's probably not simple formula to calculate the direct relstionship...and only if you were using a 2.5:1 ratio broadhead and all other factors being equal.

I wouldn't be confident in that set up for anything bigger than deer size.  Hit a rib on an elk and things change...and it's hard not to hit a rib when you're shooting through the rib cage to the vitals.

Disclaimer #2
Now my stats above are from ideal shooting conditions at the range with a chronograph.  With adrenaline flowing, I have no idea if I reached full draw on that bear or got a clean release, so it's entirely possible that the arrow speed was slower than its full potential. 

[eastcreekarchery]

From what I've read here, I think I'll bump my arrow weight to a minimum of 10 gpp or around 500 grains. Thanks for the input everyone!