Fastest Hunting Shaft?

[rjolenic]

Just curious to know what you guys think, are the fastest hunting arrows out on the market? I just bought a 2005 Hoyt Vtec and would like to get the most out it for hunting with out sacrificing KE for speed. I am currently shooting Beman ICS Hunter 400's @ 28 1/2 inches. My draw length is 28 and my bow is set at 64 lbs. It seems that I could get more out of this bow without changing the weight much. I'd rather stay around 64 pounds for hunting.

Any input would be welcome.

[Kelly Johnson]

Shafts are shafts in the speed dept for the most part Ray.

Speed is achieved in direct rleation to 2 things...

The first, and by far the biggest factor is weight. Heavier as slower and lighter is quicker. No 2 ways about it.

Drag has a very minute effect but can be used to really squeeze the last bit f speed out. Lower profile fletch, smaller profile Bheads and smaller diameter shafts will be less effected by wind resistance. Coulple fps here and there but really hard to gauge because out of the bow it'll be nearly identical in proportion to the weight factor....but downrange the maybe a significant retention of the speed.

on to the shafts....ACC are the best all around shaft IMO. Not cheap but they're straight and , more importantly IMO, they have very tight spine tolerances and don't run out like most carbon shafts do.

Carbon Tech are very good...an they're cheaper, lesser known alternative the AMG AIRFORCE are about the same shaft with a lower price.

[rjolenic]

I can always count on you to help out Kelly ... thanks! ;)

ray

[rodboy]

speed pro max.. very fast adn expensive..

[noname]

Shafts are shafts in the speed dept for the most part Ray.

Speed is achieved in direct rleation to 2 things...

The first, and by far the biggest factor is weight. Heavier as slower and lighter is quicker. No 2 ways about it.

Drag has a very minute effect but can be used to really squeeze the last bit f speed out. Lower profile fletch, smaller profile Bheads and smaller diameter shafts will be less effected by wind resistance. Coulple fps here and there but really hard to gauge because out of the bow it'll be nearly identical in proportion to the weight factor....but downrange the maybe a significant retention of the speed.

on to the shafts....ACC are the best all around shaft IMO. Not cheap but they're straight and , more importantly IMO, they have very tight spine tolerances and don't run out like most carbon shafts do.

Carbon Tech are very good...an they're cheaper, lesser known alternative the AMG AIRFORCE are about the same shaft with a lower price.




AMG Airforce makes an awesome arrow, thats all I have used for last 18 months, great arrow for around $60 dz bare shaft for the generals.

[Grouse Hunter]

I have heard nothing but BAD things about spped pro arrows


I am currently shooting carbon tech cheetahs 6.4 gpi. Rated at .400 spine. I don't think there is a lighter and tougher shaft out there.

www.carbon-tech.com

[GVDocHoliday]

Speed pro are junk, and they're not any faster than an arrow that weighs the same of a different brand. The claims that they are faster is purely fictional and very misleading.

If you are looking for speed check out the carbon tech cheetah. They are a good shaft, and american made. I would recommend goldtip, but they just ticked me off by moving production to Mexico. I will finish off the 22 pro series shafts that I have but after that I'm gonna be getting my arrows through Mark Wheeler.

[noname]

Speed pro are junk, and they're not any faster than an arrow that weighs the same of a different brand. The claims that they are faster is purely fictional and very misleading.

If you are looking for speed check out the carbon tech cheetah. They are a good shaft, and american made. I would recommend goldtip, but they just ticked me off by moving production to Mexico. I will finish off the 22 pro series shafts that I have but after that I'm gonna be getting my arrows through Mark Wheeler.





I cant wait to get my hands on some of Mark Wheelers Kinetic Force arrows, they could be the best hunting shaft, but none available yet.

[NorthJeff]

The lighter the arrow, the faster they go...it's that simple.

Been using Carbon Express for around 7 years and no need to change. I use the 200's in the low 60# range with an 80 grain point and they are very fast...but again they are fast because they are light.

The ACC's are very nice as well, especially the 349-360 size, but they would be over a 100 grains more for me and slow be down by 20-25 fps, which a huge differance. If I had to use a fixed blade head for some reason, I'd go with the heavier ACC's or maybe the Carbon Express 300's with a heavier point weight, but with expandables and speed the Carbon Express 200's are tough to beat.

Another thing to consider is point weight. Carbon arrows do no typically do well with excessive point weight or Front of Center. If you use a light shaft, you stiffen it up with a light point and it flies very well. Use a heavy shaft, you use a heavier point to break down the spine even when using the same weight bow.

Again though, light arrow, faster arrow, heavy arrow, slower arrow.

[Kelly Johnson]

If you use a light shaft, you stiffen it up with a light point and it flies very well.

Good points.

I used teh ACC 349s and 75 grain tip at 29" and NAP Quickspins. Total weight of about 408-410. Those are my fixed blade shafts though.

For the mechanicals I use the Airforce or Easton's Excels (cheap!) for a total weight of 372-375. Never had an issue with penetratrion on whitetails...but I wouldn't hunt hogs with them ;)

[nky_bowhunter]

I was shocked not to see every post touting Gold Tips! They're fast, but in my experience, they were junk. I was shooting XT 5575's and broke one on my bag target! I could care less about speed though, my last bow shot 220 fps and killed plenty of deer. I shoot heavy carbon xpress arrows now at 275, plenty of speed to whack a whitetail!

[GVDocHoliday]

"Been using Carbon Express for around 7 years and no need to change. I use the 200's in the low 60# range with an 80 grain point"

Ditto. I'm hooking my dad up with basically the same setup. CX200s, 2"blazers, and 85 grain grim reapers out of his Mathews Black Max 2 at 62lbs and 29" draw. This will be a smoking setup pushing the high 290's and there should be no penetration problems.

I myself however will probably be using some goldtip ultralight 22 pro series. I have a couple dozen and I need to use them up. I'll be using them at 28.25", mini-blazers, and 85 grain grim reapers as well out of my Oneida BE ESC at 71lbs and 29" draw. Total Arrow weight is IBO at 355.

[TnRidge]

I shoot Gold Tip XT Hunters for hunting . I'm not much of a speed freek when it comes to hunting arrows . I like a durable ,straight ,med. weight arrow that will still shoot fixed blade heads well .

[rjolenic]

These are all good recommendations. Thanks for your opinions. ;) I think I am going to stick with my current arrows and maybe try a different field point/broadhead. I will go from a 100 gr. to and 85 gr. My current arrow set up weighs 406.7 total grains (4" feathers/100gr. field point @ 28 1/2"). I cranked the bow down today and I'm noticing enough of a difference (to be pleased), based on the wieght increase.

I think I will take it to the shop tomorrow for grins and run it through the chrono. I guess the main thing I need to remember is that I am using this set up for bowhunting whitetails.

A well placed arrow is more to be concerned about than speed of the arrow.

Ray

[GVDocHoliday]

DO NOT RUN IT THROUGH A CHRONY!!! If you are hitting what you are aiming at then don't worry about it. Just sight it in and hit the woods. If you're drawing around 65+lbs you'll have no problem putting an arrow through a deer, there is absolutley no reason for you to know your speed as a hunter. If you were shooting ASA 3d or something where there is a speed limit then it's more critical. But hunters have absolutley no reason to know there speed.

[rjolenic]

DOC,

I agree, if I can hit the kill every time, I am generally happy. However, there's always room for improvement. I am generally very tough on myself when I miss my targeted spot by an inch one way or the other.:yikes: Call me picky, but that's how I am I suppose.

Practice perfection in the off-season, and you will have far less errors during the archery season. ;)

Thanks for the input,

Ray

[noname]

I still think that if you want a good arrow try AMG Airforce, IMO they are better than anything GoldTip has even thought of, Carbon Express really isnt that impressive. Try em you WILL like them. If you cant find them let me know I'll hook you up. I cant wait to try Wheelers new arrows because I think they are gonna be the cats meow, but I will always shoot AMG's. Dont waste your money on higher price inferior arrows.

[rjolenic]

I still think that if you want a good arrow try AMG Airforce, IMO they are better than anything GoldTip has even thought of, Carbon Express really isnt that impressive. Try em you WILL like them. If you cant find them let me know I'll hook you up. I cant wait to try Wheelers new arrows because I think they are gonna be the cats meow, but I will always shoot AMG's. Dont waste your money on higher price inferior arrows.

Is there a website for these AMG shafts? I have to be honest with you, I didn't know that AMG made shafts. I thought they mostly made bow accessories like kisser buttons, peeps, silencers and things of that nature.

[NorthJeff]

"Ditto. I'm hooking my dad up with basically the same setup. CX200s, 2"blazers, and 85 grain grim reapers out of his Mathews Black Max 2 at 62lbs and 29" draw. This will be a smoking setup pushing the high 290's and there should be no penetration problems."

Seems like a perfect set-up for those arrows....what is that about 315 grains for total arrow weight? I'm around there so with my little stubby arms I still get well into the 270's.

[noname]

Is there a website for these AMG shafts? I have to be honest with you, I didn't know that AMG made shafts. I thought they mostly made bow accessories like kisser buttons, peeps, silencers and things of that nature.



I'm not sure about a website. If you want some let me know I can get as many as you want. I'm not sure if my price is the best but I get em for $60 bare dz. or $80 fletched. I know that not a whole lot of places carry them, but they really are a great arrow. They come in 4570 or 6080

[victor mi pro bowhunter]

I would just stick with the ics hunters.works for me every time

[Lil' Tanker]

spend the money ACC's or gold tips

[noname]

spend the money ACC's or gold tips



I wouldnt shoot Gold Tips again if they were free

[Pinefarm]

IMHO, your question for hunting shafts should be "which are most accurate". Speed doesn't kill, accuracy does. Some moderate speed is nice, but what you want from your hunting arrow (assuming for midwest whitetails) and target arrow are two different things. Light arrows bring speed,but light arrows bring noise and less KE. Is a noisy arrow with less energy really what one wants for hunting? I guess what I'm suggesting is that speed, or at least hyper speed, can be highly overrated for hunting arrows. Instead, if for whitetails, look for an arrow with modest-decent speed and a moderate weight. My .02
And ditto to Kelly on the ACC's. I can't foresee any reason why I would switch from my ACC's for hunting. They are not cheap, but after the gob's of money one can spend on hunting crap, why in the world would you chince on arguably the most important component, that being the projectile actually heading towards the intended target?

[fulldraw]

I just purchased the Carbon Tech. Whitetails they are very compariable to Gold Tips I have shot Gold Tips for the past 5 yrs. and have had absolutly no problem with them. Switched arrows just for a change to try something new.

If you want speed out of your bow their are a few tricks that you can do to your bow which is mostly done to quite your bow but it give energy to the arrow hence you may pick up a couple fps. You probley have done most of these but anyway increase the bow to the highest poundage that you can pull back comfortably, try speed nocks on your string, if you have a metal cable guard try to put car wax on it, make sure your strings are waxed and make sure your arrows are clean I like to you use citrus spray are a concentrate funiture cleaner. These should increase your speed a little but you are only talking a couple of fps.

If you are only hunting with them speed is great and all but kenetic energy is better when it comes to hunting. As long as you are shoot between 40-50Ib with a good sharp broadhead you will do just fine.

Hope this helps,

fulldraw

[Grouse Hunter]

I just purchased the Carbon Tech. Whitetails they are very compariable to Gold Tips I have shot Gold Tips for the past 5 yrs. and have had absolutly no problem with them. Switched arrows just for a change to try something new.

fulldraw


Nice thing about CT, they are made in the US. I would reccomend the pin nocks for the shafts. I have seen some splits with the uni bushings.