Anybody have experience with that? What is there that would work best? I plan to load the front with 300-400 grains. I got my eye on some heavy trad bows, maybe after Christmas I will get into that. But I figured I would ask here about tuning the arrows.

I made arrows for hunters going to Africa to use on Cape buffalo and other dangerous game. A 2219 filled with a uniform sized sand that we purchased specifically for this purpose was the most popular choice. Tuning with paper is the best way and then physical weight for the type of game.

Tuned by point weight?

Nock height, brace height arrow length, point weight, pretty much everything goes into paper tuning. They won’t ever shoot a bullet hole through because you’re using a tab/glove.

I have had pretty good luck playing with nock point and trimming the shaft. Once i got a bare shaft sticking out straight, seems like I can go up or down a little in point weight and my broadheads still fly.

Also seems like a little weak or a little nock high/left is more forgiving. But I am shooting a bow cut to center, so it takes a stiffer shaft to tune to begin with.

Does the sand stiffen the spine?

Does the sand stiffen the spine? Or effect it at all?

Inquiring minds want to know,

What are you gonna do with a 100# trad bow?

Have a lot of fun. Not anytime soon though. Not much money for selfish things these days.

But I am eventually gonna switch over to shooting strictly trad. And I like a heavy, powerful bow.

But not gonna get rid of what I got.

Welp looks like somebody bought the 97 pounder I have been eyeballing. Christmas, bills, and birthdays, bad timing. Hopefully I can snag it off a forum when he gets tired of trying to draw it 👌

Ive got a 54# pearson and its too much trad bow for me.. I cant imagine pulling a 100# bow and shooting it accurately.. you're much more of a man than I am.. 100# makes me hurt just thinking about it lol..

Strictly for fun. I shoot 50 pounds, probably closer to 57 at my draw, and I can screw around all day long with it. 100 pounds is just for fun.

I have a 96 pound compound bow that is supposed to pull 70, which is a lot of fun to play with. It is a great gag, when most can not draw it 👌

Not be able to draw it to a suitable anchor point.

There is a guy on YouTube who’s schtick is shooting really high poundage trad bows. He can “shoot” them but not with any accuracy.

Some of the lighter 90-100# bows he is able to snap shoot fairly accurately.


Bill negley and Howard Hughes shot 90# or heavier bows with steel arrows for their elephant hunts. Wonder how accurate they were?

Fred Bear was purported to shoot a 65# bow and was as thin as a T-post. But he also used poison pods so he really just had to put an arrow in the animal period.

I can shoot a 58# bow with not a lot of effort but anything heavier, for me, becomes problematic. And I shoot a 81# compound with no problems.

I think for most guys. 55# give or take is the sweet spot, although some guys can and do handle heavier bows with ease

There is context missing. ntxtrapper is mad because I disagreed with him in another thread. As usual, his entourage has buried my posts in that thread, and he has decided to jump in on my recent activity and attempt to embarrass me. Hard to believe he was on a FBI task force. He is such a child. There are other threads, I can’t see his posts anymore. It’s better that way.

As for heavy bows, you never know if you don’t try. Heavy bows are fun.

Can’t speak to any online beef, but I can speak to a torn rotator cuff that may eventually be the end of my archery days. It got this way lifting heavy weights and shooting heavy bows. Still remember the day I did it “pushing thru” trying to get a few more arrows downrange

Shooter beware

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Pros have bad shoulders and great memories 👌

When I was an archery mechanic in a pro shop, I had an 85 pound recurve that I shot proficiently. I shot bows for a living all day long through. 100# would have been too much even for me. An exhibition archery shooter maybe, but It's a pipe dream for an average person to think they can consistently, accurately shoot one.

What if difficult to shoot the 85# bow?

I had a bear that came it at 62# for my draw.

That’s the heaviest I’ve shot. It wasn’t terrible but I wasn’t nearly as accurate as my 58# bow and to be honest I couldn’t tell a difference in performance

Like I said, I was an archery mechanic so I would shoot hundreds of times a day. Doing that I could shoot a small group at 20 yards with my 85. After I left the shop and had a different job I couldn’t get a consistent anchor after just a few months. All my traditional bows are at 53# now.

Well, if it’s gonna be your only bow, stick to the one that’s easier to shoot and more accurate. I shoot 3D with 80 pounds. I shoot bowhunter class, am on the leaders board locally, and i have only used a range finder once. My arrows don’t drop much.

I shoot an 80# longbow. I shoot compressed white cedar shafts spined at 85-95 pounds off the shelf. I shoot stone points that I knap at 150 grains. I shoot full length shafts because when I break a point, I have to cut about 3/4” off the tip end to set the replacement in place. I’ve not had any issues with tuning this particular setup.

This is the most common question from people that don’t shoot a heavy bow. I shoot a 80# bow because I want to. I had ordered a 70# longbow from Dan Quillian. His health was getting worse when he called and said it was currently at 80# and did I want to go ahead and take it. I did and he passed away shortly after that. With practice, just about any reasonably healthy person (I’m 70 years old) can draw one to anchor. The issue comes with your sighting method. If you use a sight or sight down the arrow, you’re going to have to hold that anchor. I shoot purely by instinct. I’ve done all my aiming before I even raise my bow. When my thumb touches the corner of my mouth, the arrow is on its way. It’s much easier (to me) to shoot a bow that loads evenly and slowly than to shoot a compound that loads hard and fast. Everyone has their own opinion and that’s what they should do.

PrimitiveHunter, thank you for your insight.

I have a friend with a 100lb Mountain Monarch on order to shoot a Cape Buffalo with.
Y'all are crazy people. Just sayin.