reccomended arrow weight?

[btruegs]

I am going to be purchasing a hunting bow, specifically I had my eye on the samick sage, 45-50 lb draw. what arrow weight would be an ideal for gobblers?

[lokidog]

Whatever tunes up for your new bow.  To my knowledge, there is no minimum for turkey but I would keep it at least legal for big game just in case you want to chase deer or elk with it sometime.

If you are going with 50 lb max, you will not want a very heavy arrow IMHO, but there are many more qualified to narrow your choice down.  I hope they speak up for you.

[btruegs]

Whatever tunes up for your new bow.  To my knowledge, there is no minimum for turkey but I would keep it at least legal for big game just in case you want to chase deer or elk with it sometime.

If you are going with 50 lb max, you will not want a very heavy arrow IMHO, but there are many more qualified to narrow your choice down.  I hope they speek up for you.

Thanks! I will probably run after a deer eventually, when I get some hunting experience.

[Tom Tamer]

This State at least for Big game has a 6 grains per pound of pull ratio, probably would stick with that to be safe in case you go for big game.

[dreamunelk]

What is your draw length?

[Old Dog]

Traditional bows like your Sage don't generate near the energy of todays compound bows.  To really simplify things your recurve will launch the same weight arrow about 75 FPS slower than a compound of the same draw weight.  The formula for figuring KE is Velocity X Velocity X Mass divided by 450240.  With traditional archery we don't have a great deal of velocity, so we make up for it with more mass.

Recently I got together with another fellow, and we did some shooting through the crony with some "light" arrows and some "heavy" arrows.  The results were expected, but surprising none the less.

Josh shot a 55# recurve with a 427 grain arrow.  He shot three shots, and we used his average speed of 183 fps to do the math. With that set-up we got a KE of 31.76.  Next he shot a series of three 631 grain arrow at an average speed of 157 for a KE of 34.54.  As you can see, even though the "heavy" arrow was 26 fps slower it has nearly 3# more kinetic energy.  That's almost a 10% increase.

Next I shot my 50# longbow using the same arrows under the same conditions.  As you can imagine the results were similar with my longbow gaining nearly 4# of KE with the "heavy" arrow, an increase of just over 10%.

Now, take into consideration momentum.  Years ago, Pedersen's Bowhunter Magazine teamed up with Easton, and did some shooting over the crony at 1 yd and 61 yds with a 400 gr, a 500 gr, and a 600 gr arrow.  This was before carbon arrows, but a grain is a grain, so I think it is still valid.  I can't remember the exact numbers, but one thing really stood out to me.  The 400 gr arrow launched faster than the 600 gr arrow, and it got to the target before the 600 gr arrow, but the 600 gr arrow was traveling faster than the 400 gr arrow at 61 yds.  Once again, I can't remember the numbers, but just knowing the 600 gr arrow is traveling faster tells me right away it has a ton more energy at that range than the 400 gr arrow.

Now, I don't want any traditional shooter to attempt to shoot an animal at 61 yds, but I think this shows one very important benefit of using a "heavy" arrow.  Even with compounds, but especially with traditional tackle.   

 

[lamrith]

This State at least for Big game has a 6 grains per pound of pull ratio, probably would stick with that to be safe in case you go for big game.

Also a 300grain minimum beyond that.  and 40# draw.

[btruegs]

Traditional bows like your Sage don't generate near the energy of todays compound bows.  To really simplify things your recurve will launch the same weight arrow about 75 FPS slower than a compound of the same draw weight.  The formula for figuring KE is Velocity X Velocity X Mass divided by 450240.  With traditional archery we don't have a great deal of velocity, so we make up for it with more mass.

Recently I got together with another fellow, and we did some shooting through the crony with some "light" arrows and some "heavy" arrows.  The results were expected, but surprising none the less.

Josh shot a 55# recurve with a 427 grain arrow.  He shot three shots, and we used his average speed of 183 fps to do the math. With that set-up we got a KE of 31.76.  Next he shot a series of three 631 grain arrow at an average speed of 157 for a KE of 34.54.  As you can see, even though the "heavy" arrow was 26 fps slower it has nearly 3# more kinetic energy.  That's almost a 10% increase.

Next I shot my 50# longbow using the same arrows under the same conditions.  As you can imagine the results were similar with my longbow gaining nearly 4# of KE with the "heavy" arrow, an increase of just over 10%.

Now, take into consideration momentum.  Years ago, Pedersen's Bowhunter Magazine teamed up with Easton, and did some shooting over the crony at 1 yd and 61 yds with a 400 gr, a 500 gr, and a 600 gr arrow.  This was before carbon arrows, but a grain is a grain, so I think it is still valid.  I can't remember the exact numbers, but one thing really stood out to me.  The 400 gr arrow launched faster than the 600 gr arrow, and it got to the target before the 600 gr arrow, but the 600 gr arrow was traveling faster than the 400 gr arrow at 61 yds.  Once again, I can't remember the numbers, but just knowing the 600 gr arrow is traveling faster tells me right away it has a ton more energy at that range than the 400 gr arrow.

Now, I don't want any traditional shooter to attempt to shoot an animal at 61 yds, but I think this shows one very important benefit of using a "heavy" arrow.  Even with compounds, but especially with traditional tackle.   

that really helped, thanks!

[btruegs]

What is your draw length?

my draw length is 29-30 inches

[btruegs]

This State at least for Big game has a 6 grains per pound of pull ratio, probably would stick with that to be safe in case you go for big game.

Thanks!

[btruegs]

This State at least for Big game has a 6 grains per pound of pull ratio, probably would stick with that to be safe in case you go for big game.

Also a 300grain minimum beyond that.  and 40# draw.

thanks!

[btruegs]

thanks for all the help everybody!