I guess what I'm trying to say is what works for one application probably isn't the best choice for a different application. If I want to learn about performance enhanced arrows for hunting I'll refer to thre Ashby studies....if I'm learning about flight shooting and bow performance I'll refer to Arvin & Badger. JMO
Agreed on the subject of horses for courses… I didn’t realise this topic was about flight shooting - of which I know nothing about. I just thought I would mention the Extreme EFOC concept as it related to arrow penetration/ hunting because I believe Ashby has only fairly recently distinguished extreme Forward of center weight as being separately important to penetration from arrow weight per se.
It would probably also be fair to say that before the advent of light stuff carbon arrows, it would have been much harder for “traditional” bow hunters to build EFOC arrows.
One interesting thing about FOC arrows is that they also do not need such large feathers to stabilise them. I don’t know how this relates to flight shooting but at a certain point I would guess that having the smallest possible feathers needed to stabilise arrows may have some advantage in flight/ distance shooting… perhaps more so in the broadhead categories?
I always enjoyed this particular Ashby article on Extreme Forward of Center arrows
https://www.grizzlystik.com/PR/Ashby_Papua_New_Guinea_Bows_and_Arrows.pdf where he proposes that the arrival of steel in Papua New Guinea led to a complete bow redesign from a palm bow that had probably been around for hundreds of years to a much cruder bamboo weapon but that could be built with much less center shot to allow the unfletched, much heavier 4000 grain 40 % EFOC steel tipped arrows.
Fascinating stuff!
