Just finished out my first hickory selfbow that I made from a hickory tree I cut on my place. I shot a few arrows today through my chronograph. I bare shaft tuned an arrow that weighs in at 448 grains using a 175 grain practice tip and shoots at 140 fps. My question would be is this adequate for whitetail deer hunting?
William if it is legal hunting weight for Missouri it will be adequate. Speed really is probably not the greatest determining factor. If you can put a good arrow with a sharp broad head in the right place it will do it's job.
IMHO, David
Actually this is my 5th selfbow I've made from hickory but the previous ones I was a bit overzealous in my tillering and ended up with weaker bows suitable for my grandkids use. They were grateful when I gave them to them but I wanted to make one strong enough for deer hunting for myself. We have 20 more days left of archery deer season here in Missouri so I hope to be proficient enough to take my new bow to the woods.
I think you will be fine but I would definately be shooting a razor sharp 2 blade.
My preference is Zwickey personally, but there are many good options.
If you're using screw in points, I think a Zwickey eskilite with a 75grain steel adapter (the one that glues into the broadhead and screws into the arrow) would be roughly 185gr
It will kill a deer with no problems.
One thing about hickory bow wood, it has to be very dry before making a bow, or it will take set and loose poundage. It also absorbs moisture like crazy when sitting around your shop between the times you are working on it. It should be stored in a dry place like a hot box with a light bulb on to keep it dry. Then it needs sealed well when completed.
140 fps should be okay to kill a deer, but if you haven't already, you can switch to a fast flight string and you'll pick up some fps. I switched from D-50 to fast flight on 3 of my bows and picked up between 8 and 10 fps.
Hickory should be able to handle the stiffer string, but I never tried it to confirm for sure.
The extra fps probably won't do much for penetration but it could make you feel more confident that your equipment can take down what you're hunting. And that's worth it to me.
Will you post pics of your hickory bow? Braced, unbraced and back profile.
That will do the trick. Like others said, shaving sharp broadheads and proper shot placement are key.
Like Roy pointed out, Hickory is like a sponge. I have found that thorough heat treating on the belly of Hickory and oak bows really helps reduce set and moisture take up down the road.