# For the Record, 45# IS Enough



## ChrisSpikes (Oct 11, 2013)

Over the past few years, I have received a ton of emails and PM's from folks wanting to know if they had enough horsepower to shoot Treesharks out of their 45 pound bow.  Having never killed a deer with a bow less than 60 pounds, I never could give them an honest answer.  I'm not one to give advice if I don't have personal experience to back it up.  This year I decided to do all of my hunting with a 45 pound bow, just so I could personally shed some light on the subject.  

With my Centaur being my lightest bow at 63#, I had to borrow.  A friend of mine had a Bear takedown that is exactly 45# @28".  He said I was welcome to use it, so I got it tuned up and ready to go.  I didn't do anything fancy with my arrows.  I ended up with Gold Tip Trad 1535's cut to 29.25", with 190 gr. screw in Treesharks up front.  I haven't weighed them, but from my figuring, they should be almost dead on 450 grains.

I've had several close calls over the past week, but it finally all came together yesterday afternoon.  I got a 7 yard shot on a 6 point at Horse Creek, and it did the job.  The arrow disappeared into the deer and, judging from the dirt caked on the head, stuck in the dirt.  With the low hit at close range, the rear half of the arrow was still in the buck as he started to run.  He drug it with him about 20 yards down the trail.  

The experiment will continue for the rest of the season, but  it's looking like 45# IS enough!


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## trad bow (Oct 11, 2013)

Congrats Chris. Maybe this time next year I'll be ready to find out for myself.


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## dutchman (Oct 11, 2013)

Very well done.


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## charlie 2 arrow (Oct 11, 2013)

cool! hope to meet you at horse creek in a couple of weeks.


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## Al33 (Oct 11, 2013)

Well the proof is in the puddin'. Nice puddin'!!! Congrat's on another public land trophy!!


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## gtfisherman (Oct 11, 2013)

Nice deer Chris.


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## sawtooth (Oct 12, 2013)

Nice job all the way around!


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## Jayin J (Oct 12, 2013)

That's great.   I like 45 pound bows myself.  Them broad heads will do the trick.   Congrats


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## PassingThrough (Oct 13, 2013)

Good job Chris. It's amazing what a tuned arrow and a sharp broadhead will do. That's good stuff right there. Keep the test results coming Chris...I'm sure it won't be long.


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## Mr. Longbeard (Oct 13, 2013)

Man you gotta get that video camera Rollin!!!


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## longbowdave1 (Oct 13, 2013)

Nice job Chris. Looks like it put another good hole in it.


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## Barry Duggan (Oct 14, 2013)

Excellent job Chris, but when are you going to try a 40# bow?
And, if you want a real test, first shoot your broadheads in the dirt a couples times, so they will be about as sharp as the rest of us hunt with.


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## ChrisSpikes (Oct 15, 2013)

One test at a time, Barry!

The two factors that will have the biggest influence over penetration with this light bow/Treeshark setup is tuning and broadhead sharpness. Arrow weight, I didn't play with. I just took a standard arrow and screwed a Treeshark on. Extra weight should improve performance.

 I'm confident that my heads are as sharp as humanly possible, and my arrows are tuned as close to perfection as any I've ever shot. I don't settle for bareshafts simply hitting where I'm looking. I want them to hit where I'm looking and be flying as straight as possible into the target. That way, the fletching has a minimal amount of correction to impose upon the shaft.  If your setup isn't well tuned, and your heads aren't ultra sharp, then you probably won't glean any useful information from this little experiment.


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## broadhead (Oct 15, 2013)

Congratulations Chris! You combined with a Treesharked arrow is a deadly combination any day!


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## SELFBOW (Oct 16, 2013)

Nice! Was it a clean pass thru? No broken ribs?


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## ChrisSpikes (Oct 17, 2013)

The blade was oriented at a 45 degree angle when it hit. Cut ribs in and out. The only way you can miss ribs with a Treeshark is for the blade to impact vertically. 

The dirt on the other side prevented a clean pass through.

If it weren't for the dang wind, I would have a lot more data by now!


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## Allen Oliver (Oct 17, 2013)

Nice Deer Chris.


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## ChrisSpikes (Oct 25, 2013)

Six yard shot, and an awesome, as usual, bloodtrail. Only made it 40 yards. I heard a loud crack at the shot. Deer ran off. Arrow passed through, and fell out 5 feet from impact. The loud crack was the head centering a rib on entry. Blade was turned parallel with the rib, and there was a two inch cut through bone. Also cut the edge of a rib coming out. 45 lb. bow still had plenty of power to push the Treeshark through.


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## Allen Oliver (Oct 25, 2013)

Looks like that one didn't smell those new boots. HaHa. Good deal Chris. Did you get some footage of the hunt?


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## ChrisSpikes (Oct 26, 2013)

Had the camera rolling, but the deer went behind my tree. No way to video at that angle. I'm having such a slow season, I'm just glad to kill one!


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## ChrisSpikes (Oct 29, 2013)

Two more for the 45 pounder!

Neck shot






30 yard shot.  Arrow hit mid body.  Pass through.


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## Barry Duggan (Oct 29, 2013)

It don't take you long to play catch up...


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