GETTING STARTED
An arrow and broadhead set up that results in reliable, lethal penetration, even when bone is encountered, is the most important element of bowhunting gear - period.
Chris Parrino with a Pronghorn taken with the Ashby System.
Foam Target versus Real Animal Penetration
When new archers start out on targets to learn the basics, any arrow will do when shooting into an artificial medium. As they get more proficient, they may want to take what they have learned into the woods. The most common mistake we see and hear about from these new hunters is “if I hit my spot on a stationary archery target, I’ve got my animal”. Sometimes this will work, but many times it does not. Hitting the spot is only the beginning of where that broadhead and arrow do the real work of cleanly killing that animal, or not. Instead of penetrating a piece of paper, that arrow now has to penetration dirty or muddy hair, hide, muscle, tendons, ligaments, sometimes bones of a lighter to heavier nature just to get to the thoracic cavity where the vital organs are in all animals, penetrate through the organs, and then repeat the process on the opposite side of the animal to exit, all while retaining its structural integrity to stay together but also remaining sharp to cut all the way through the animal. Due to an overwhelming number of people that follow and believe the testing of broadheads into foam, gel, and other artificial mediums easily found on YouTube that tell you that stationary target penetration equates to penetration into an animal, THEY ARE WRONG. Those tests yield results into artificial medium only. See the “Target Arrow Weight Chart Guideline” below.
TESTS IN ARTIFICIAL MEDIUM DOES NOT EQUATE TO PENETRATION INTO AN ANIMAL, PERIOD. ANYONE TELLING YOU THIS NONSENSE IS TRYING TO SELL YOU SOMETHING, OR THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND BIOLOGY!
ABF offers you, for free, over forty years of research and data gathered by Dr Ashby and the Ashby Bowhunting Foundation and the chart below delineate our recommendations what your arrow weight range should be based on the game category you are pursuing. At a very minimum, regardless of bow poundage, try not to fall below the Plan A weights highlighted in yellow. Preferably, if you can go to the next level of weight and handle the trajectory that helps improve the Momentum/Inertia downrange and that is an improvement in your arrow’s efficiency and penetration potential. After structural integrity and perfect flight which are absolute musts for lethal penetration, add as many of the 12 factors that you can add into your arrow system.
Every ethical bowhunter that releases an arrow at a live animal, must do everything possible to ensure that arrow is lethal.
Bull elk taken by Dennis Wehling with the Ashby system, a 50 yard recovery.
UNDERSTANDING ARROW PENETRATION
Many factors contribute to arrow performance. When it comes to arrows and broadheads - choose wisely or you may have to watch your animal forever run off with your arrow because your setup didn’t have what it takes to get good penetration. As bowhunters we work hard for every animal. No one wants to lose even one because of insufficient arrow/broadhead choices.
You are about to learn the truth about arrow performance and arrow lethality. This truth we’re talking about is backed by science, physics, and actual shots on countless big game taken around the globe by many hunters. You may find it hard to believe, but facts are stubborn. Our reports are easy to read and understand. Most bowhunters don’t care about the actual math and science behind research, they just want to know what works and what doesn’t. We want to know that when we release an arrow, no matter what happens, we’ve selected gear with the highest likelihood of producing quick, clean kills. We encourage you to read these reports in this order.
”I would say my Ashby style setups have been like magic on elk. So far, my harvest rate has been 100% on elk which is much improved over any of my lighter setups. The first thing I noticed was all my shots have been pass-throughs on elk and lesser game. At the shot the elk jumped but don’t seem to realize what happened. It’s almost like they think a bird is what scared them. Following the jump, they seem to run a few yards then walk away slowly a short distance. So far, they have all stopped within about 50 yards and stood until they fell over. It seems my Ashby setup are much less stressful on the animals and the recoveries have been within sight which is a blessing.” Dennis Wehling
MATCHING ARROW WEIGHT TO GAME ANIMAL
The chart below shows the recommended total arrow and broadhead weights for reliable lethality on specific categories of game animals. Please note that arrow weights below 650 grains will not give reliable penetration when heavy bone is encountered. When arrows + broadheads are 650 grains and up, and follow the 12 penetration enhancing factors, they are more reliable to breach heavy bone.
HEAVY BONE DEFINITION
ABF is often asked what we mean by “heavy bone”. Our basic heavy bone for testing are the ribs of freshly taken (shots taken within 30 minutes of expiration) Cape and Asiatic buffaloes. These buffalo are utilized because of the overlapping nature of their ribs. Assuring a rib hit on virtually every test shot taken. The thickness of these ribs ranges from 0.67 inch to a full inch, depending on species, sex, age and size of the individual buffalo. Ribs of these true buffalo have a near nonexistent bone marrow cavity and effectively represent near solid cortical bone. Among smaller game animals, based on ABF testing, this bone equates well with their heavier shoulder and hip bones, such as scapular ridge, heads of the scapula, humerus, femur and the bones of the pelvic girdle, as well as bones of the skull.
Rob Neilson with Cape Buffalo in Zambia, Plan B Arrow.
It’s only a Plan B if there was a Plan A
ABF volunteers (staff, board members and advisors) hunt with highly efficient arrow systems we sometimes refer to as “Plan B”. This refers to arrows that will work for most what-if scenarios when things don’t go according to Plan A, such as an unexpected animal reaction to the sound of the bow loosing an arrow; turning what could have been perfect shot placement prior to that movement into a marginal hit, i.e., heavy shoulder bone, too far back, etc. Those scenarios require an arrow to overcome additional resistance to penetrate and still reach the vitals for a clean kill. Unfortunately, ABF has seen people going to the field without Plan A. There cannot be a Plan B without Plan A. It is not acceptable to approach a hunt with the mentality that a Plan B arrow will work regardless of accuracy, familiarity with the equipment, and familiarity with the anatomy of the target animal. Ignoring any aspects that go into Plan A falls into the unethical category, plain and simple. If anyone is going to the field with that mentality, we hope this can serve as a reminder that the animals we pursue deserve better.
Recommended Books
Jim Aken: It’s All About the Arrows! Engineering Arrows for Enhanced Hunting Performance
You can get your book directly from Jim by emailing him at jim_aken@hotmail.com. Autographed copies are available.
We don't think you will find better information about how arrows work than this practical book that is built on direct experience. 'It's All About The Arrows!' - Engineering Arrows for Enhanced Hunting Performance is a terrific book that describes how one man prepared his equipment for the hunt and the final results over numerous hunts. Jim takes you to Africa in the 135 pages and relates how different arrows performed on everything from deer sized game to Cape Buffalo and Hippo.If you are technically oriented, you will appreciate the exhaustive work that Jim did to improve his chances of success in the field including the physics of arrow performance .... but we will say the highlight of the book are the 8 chapters that cover different hunts in great detail. Things go wrong and events go right but this is as close as you will get to Africa without making the trip.....and who the heck shoots an arrow completely through a Hippo and Cape Buffalo. Jim does! One advantage of the crossbow was the elimination of some variables versus other bows due to the consistency of arrow launch from the crossbow platform....but the lessons learned apply to all bows from traditional recurve to compound vertical bows. Charts are included that Jim used to build arrows taking in the considerations of physics and building on the prior work in the field.
Jeremy Johnson: Can’t Lose Bowhunting
Jeremy Johnson has produced what I consider to be one of the finest text a bowhunter could read; be he novice or one of long experience. Here one finds it all encased in a single text - and A to Z, step by step tutorial in the equipment setups and, more importantly, the skills needed to become a more successful bowhunter. With more than a little bowhunting experience in my background from which to draw, the words Jeremy has written all ring true.
In an entertaining and easily read format, Jeremy has set forth a world of sagacious bowhunting information; thing seldom seen in print in today’s profit-driven world. Rarely have I seen or read a text where no particular product or products are promoted. This is one. It touts no miracle items guaranteed to make you the deadliest bowhunter who ever stalked the mountains, hills, forest and plains. It does, however, contain the information - the knowledge - one needs to become a far better, and more productive bowhunter.
- Ed Ashby
Dr. Ed Ashby: Now, …
"Now, …" is an amazing 350 pages of bowhunting and “bush-bumming” how-to, knowledge, and lore, sprinkled with humor and bowhunting insights, told as only the Old Derelict can! Drawn from over 50 years of worldwide bowhunting experience these articles, written anonymously for over a decade for Archery Action, in Australia, are selected stories by Dr. Ed Ashby. They cover everything from his misadventure with Montezuma Beans and Six-Can-Stew to shoe selection for stalking, how to track game, how to practice for hunting shots, how to stalk, what skills define the successful hunter, making and using predator calls, why we miss shots at game and much, much more. Learn how an archer never known for his shooting ability became one of the world’s most successful bowhunters. Best known for his technical writings on terminal arrow performance, here the reader meets Dr. Ashby’s plain-spoken alternate persona – the Old Derelict Bowhunter.