whats the differance?

[tommyboy84]

what is the differance between ibo and amo speed? adn what do you all think of the mathews black max2? it says its the fastest bow made with an ibo rateing of 330 fps and I'm looking for a fast bow.

[cjbi]

The difference is in how they test the bows speed for each using different draw lengths, poundage, and arrow weight i do believe.  The amo is lower than the ibo and is probably closer to what you'll get with a heavier hunting arrow.

if matthews fastest bow is 330 ibo then they aren't the fastest.  Bowtech is where you'll find the fastest i think.  the Black Knight dually has an advertised ibo of 342-350.

I've heard good things about their bows but the brace height on the BK is less than six inches(not very much) thus the speed.

as for me and my bow a true speed of 264 fps will zing right through both sides of an elk. so i'm not too worried about the speed.

[Whodaheck99]

Above 270 FPS you will start having problem, tuning your broadheads. Your group will start getting bigger.

[L-Roy]

IBO Speed is measured at 30" Draw Length, 70# Draw Weight, 350 Grain total arrow/point weight.

AMO Speed is measured at 30" Draw Length, 60# Draw Weight, 540 Grain total arrow/point weight.

Speed is not what kills your game, it is proper shot placement with a SHARP broadhead!

Shoot straight, and often!

[Bowhunter57]

tommyboy84,
Speed will make all the difference, for estimating yardage. You can misjudge yardage by as much as 5 yards and still hit your intended target within 2 to 3 inches of your point of aim.

However, for hunting purposes, I agree with L-Roy...."proper shot placement and a sharp broadhead"...., that's what's going to kill the game you're hunting.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[Dalton]

TommyBoy,

Speed is fine in 3D tournaments as it does forgive misjudgements in distance.  If that is what you are looking to do, I believe cjbi is right about the BowTech Black Knight being the current speed holder.

If you are going to be hunting with this I wouldn't be so concerned about speed.  A forgiving quiet bow and a very sharp broadhead are more important.  Even at 350fps, you are not going to get the arrow to a deer faster than the sound of the bow being shot.

[L-Roy]

Shooters,
Consider for a moment the difference in trajectory of two bows sighted in for twenty yards.  The first bow shoots its arrow at 250 fps.  The second bow shoots its arrow at 280fps.

A shot taken at an actual 30 yds with the 250 fps bow will arrive at the target 5.5" low.  Probably a miss, or a very poor hit on most whitetail deer.

A shot taken with the 280 fps bow at the same 30 yds will arrive 4.4" low.  The very small difference of 1.1" is almost beyond the scope of all archers' holding ability at 30 yds.

Again, I stress that speed is not the cure-all for the woes of the archery hunter.  The bow design it takes to make a bow shoot over 300 fps makes the bow MUCH more difficult to control for most shooters.

Spend more time honing shooting skills.  The purchase of a laser range finder will cure more ills than will 30 more feet per second of bow speed.

[tommyboy84]

I agree with all of you all in a way. I guess I wasent looking at the whole picture, all I was seeing is the arrow getting to the deer befor it can sump the string. I checked out the black night and it only has an 65% let off and Im looking for about 80% let off. I plan on doing more reasurch befor I spent $600 plus on my bow.
       
            Thanks
               tommy

[JeffG]

Good perspective Tommy.  Research is a big part of the process, It prolongs it!     We all have our opinions, you have to decide what's best for yourself, WE all did...

[longwinters]

Shot placement is everything.  Speed is nice for target (3-D)and to impress your buddies at the locat archery store, but too much speed in hunting will bring you nothing but problems.  Short bows = more torque problems.  More radical cams = more vibration and noise.  Too much speed = real problems tuning for broadheads (so you have to go to the mechanical deals that still have problems no matter what they try to tell you).  Yes I shoot a Mathews Conquest.  Speed @ 70 lbs with my arrow set up is about 260 fps.  My arrow buries in the ground plenty far enough, after it passes thru the deer.  Remember, speed may be what sells, but it is not what kills.

[teeball]

tommyboy84,

     This may be the only time I agree with everyone who responded to a question. Speed does kill, but only on the highways.
     No mater how fast your bow is, if you can't controll your arrow, all you do is miss your target faster. I used to tell my hunter safty students, if you drive a car too fast, you lose control. You try to get too much speed from your arrow, you will lose control. Besides, you rarely get the same speeds as the manufacturers advertise. They shoot their bows with a machine. We are not machines. My bow will shoot around 280f.p.s. I can controll my arrows up to around 250f.p.s. If I buy a bow that will shoot 330f.p.s., I can still controll my arrows up to around 250f.p.s. Don't spend your hard earned money for speed that you can't use. Also, if this set up is to be used for hunting, the faster you make the bow shoot, the harder it is to keep quiet. If you are substituting speed for range estimation, then you are tryimg to shoot too far. I know that since bows have gotten faster and faster, they have been setting up 3-D courses with longer and longer shots. I have argued this point for years. The year I was in charge of setting up a 3-D course each week for shoots, all the "BIG" shooters would always complain about how easy it was. There was no challenge. Yet no one ever turned in a perfect score. The next year I was not asked to help. Well, that is my 85 cents worth. I'm sure there will be alot of people who don't agree with me, but just think about it before you call me crazy.

[teeball]

tommyboy84,

     This may be the only time I agree with everyone who responded to a question. Speed does kill, but only on the highways.
     No mater how fast your bow is, if you can't controll your arrow, all you do is miss your target faster. I used to tell my hunter safty students, if you drive a car too fast, you lose control. You try to get too much speed from your arrow, you will lose control. Besides, you rarely get the same speeds as the manufacturers advertise. They shoot their bows with a machine. We are not machines. My bow will shoot around 280f.p.s. I can controll my arrows up to around 250f.p.s. If I buy a bow that will shoot 330f.p.s., I can still controll my arrows up to around 250f.p.s. Don't spend your hard earned money for speed that you can't use. Also, if this set up is to be used for hunting, the faster you make the bow shoot, the harder it is to keep quiet. If you are substituting speed for range estimation, then you are tryimg to shoot too far. I know that since bows have gotten faster and faster, they have been setting up 3-D courses with longer and longer shots. I have argued this point for years. The year I was in charge of setting up a 3-D course each week for shoots, all the "BIG" shooters would always complain about how easy it was. There was no challenge. Yet no one ever turned in a perfect score. The next year I was not asked to help. Well, that is my 85 cents worth. I'm sure there will be alot of people who don't agree with me, but just think about it before you call me crazy.

[Crayfish]

I shot thru 2 deer last year, and my arrows were buried in the ground on the other side.  Guess what my arrow speed is .... a chronographed 234fps!!!  Not a speed demon by any means, but it is quiet, forgiving, accurate and will shoot thru any deer around.   I'm shooting 490gr arrows to keep the noise down, which is one of the reasons for the speed I'm getting, but I don't NEED any more than that either.  I prefer heavier arrows for hunting since they are much less likely to be slowed down by bones, hide, etc on their way to the ground on the other side.

Just trying to put things in perspective as far as speed goes! ... Crayfish