The most powerful bow for hunting

slavic77

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Hey Guys,

I dont know is good place for ask? In Your opinion, what is the most powerful bow for hunting on the market and how much maximum energy you gain from your bow (what type of bow, draw weight and draw Length) ?

Thanks for answer


Slavic
 
Why?
I'm guessing you are new to bowhunting. First off draw length is entirely personal, it's what fits you. Longer draw lengths will generally yield higher speeds but if it doesn't fit you correctly you won't shoot it well. Same with draw weight. More will mean faster arrow speed but if can't handle it well you won't shoot it well when you need to. Go with what is comfortable under hunting conditions. A poorly placed shot, no matter how fast it's going will be a wounded animal. A slightly slower well placed shot is a dead animal. As for type, different make and models will be faster than others. Which one is currently the fastest is a tough call, each quality manufacturer out there has a blazing fast one. Technology is always making them faster. At this time all the top of the line bows shoot faster than anything I shot just 15-20 years ago and those shot through most animals with properly placed shots with moderate draw weight. If you are thinking about one for thick skinned game then You will indeed need all you can get. More information is needed before I'd go further with this.
 
I don't hunt, i ask because i m curious. I shot samick lighting 55#. sorry for any mistake in my english
 
Sorry if I was long winded, I've seen people show up to an archery shop before hunting season wanting the fastest bow going to hunt a week later. It's frightening.

That said, currently the fastest bow going is the PSE Full Throttle, shooting 360 feet per second at IBO standard; which is 30 inch draw length, 70 pounds draw weight and a 350 grain arrow. Some other manufacturer will beat it next year. I've shot since the late 80's, and I don't think a 100 pound draw weight bow could do that then. Not for long without blowing up.
 
A better set of questions to ask might be .. What was the draw weight of the bow you last took to Africa? What was the arrow speed and weight? What type of broad head did you use? What species of game did you take? When I was coming back from my Safari last August, I bumped into a couple of guys that were returning from a bow hunting Safari. They had taken Kudu, Wildebeest, etc. with 55lb bows. My Mathews solo Cam is about 10 years old and has no trouble putting arrows through a deer at 35 yds.
 
I picked up the most powerful bow I could find in the Mathews line - a McPherson series Monster Safari. It is 350 IBO speed with 85lb limbs. I am sure one could find more powerful bows, but this one shot completely through the Cape buffalo in my avatar, breaking ribs going in and coming out. Unless you want to shishkebab some wildebeest at the waterhole or hit an impala on the other side of a rhino, there really isn't much need for more power.

I was shooting an 840 grain arrow at 233 fps and getting 101.7 Ft-lbs of kinetic energy and 0.87 slugs of momentum and that was with the draw weight at 81 lbs. I suspect my bow maxes out at around 88-89 pounds and when I switch to heavier broadheads and am shooting 1,000 grain arrows, I will probably be very close to 1.05 slugs of momentum and about 113 Ft-lbs of KE. I should know in a couple months when I get my draw weight back up to the maximum. I am only shooting a 28" draw and a taller person with a longer draw certainly could get some more power out of it.
 
Most powerful bow should be the one you can actually draw and hit your target. Many bow manufacturer make heavier pound limbs, you just need to contact them. I've heard of some with 100lb draw, but that is pretty extreme. The most powerful standard at 70lb is the PSE Full Throttle, but even that is painful to draw and I shoot a 70lb PSE Decree, just slightly slower than the full throttle.

I agree with Ryan. Pick a bow based on what you can comfortably draw and hit a pie plate at 40 yards minimum. If you can't hit what you're aiming at, the fastest/most powerful bow does you no good.
 
firstballista.jpg


You can always use a ballista if a compound bow just isn't getting the job done!
 

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I just got a King Cobra TF from APA - 90 lb draw weight, 370 IBO. At my draw length (27") this would fling a 450 grain arrow somewhere around 345-350 fps. With a 30" draw it would be a lot more. There are several bows floating around 350-360 IBO, but APA is the only major manufacturer I know of that offers it in 90 lb, apart from the aforementioned Monster Safari. I think they've tested them up to 110 lb but good luck getting one (I tried).
 
I have a video in which Pete Shepley states PSE has made bows that will shoot up to 500 fps ... but he also mentions how unstable they are .
Glen
 
Isnt' there a PSE out there at about 105lb draw for dangerous game? That would be the short answer, about 105lb draw. I don't know anyone that can draw 105lbs of course, I find 60 to be pretty unpleasant and 70 downright miserable.
 
There are people who could draw 105lb, I am sure. I went from never shooting a bow to 81lbs in 5 months, with the first two months just shooting 44 lbs. By 2 months of returning from my safari, I was shooting 85 pounds. It wasn't fun and I was sore from the strain but I got it done and never once went to a gym to work out. I had two people at my work who were able to draw 85lbs without any previous archery experience but they were very strong guys and I could see them struggle.

I heard Bo Jackson pulled back 217 pounds on a special bow that was designed to be crazy heavy. That said, with the well designed modern bows, there isn't much reason to need 90lb+ unless you are expecting to get a pass through on an elephant.
 
My King Cobra is 125 at 27", so yes you can get 150+. If you google "king cobra most powerful production bow" there is a thread on another forum from a guy who has it in 100 or 110 lb at 30" from memory.
 
The longer your draw the longer the power stroke is. Heavy arrows will show more efficient bows. Calculators won't show true speeds. I have about 105lbs of energy with light arrows but momentum is more important.
 
Online calculators suck and massively underestimate speed of heavy arrows. SFA has been pretty spot on with my real world test results from my Monster Safari.
 

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