How far will an arrow travel before it loses it's momentum in the water?

[Deleted member 33033]

How far will an arrow travel before it loses it's momentum in the water? I gotta bow all rigged up and ready to practice but no place nearby where i can. I don't think my pool is deep enough. It's on a 50lb bow.

 

[solus]

bullets only go about 3 feet effectively under water I think a bow would probably have less....per mythbusters

 

[DirtyDave]

My deepest kills have been about 6' deep, and that was straight down off the side of a dock. The steeper the angle the better. The farther out you are shooting, the more tendency the arrow has to plane.
Shooting from an elevated position helps a bunch. I usually dont bother even taking the shot if the fish is more than 4' deep, unless I'm shooting at a steep downward angle.
If the fish is 3' deep and 15-20' away from you, you are shooting through a lot more than just 3' of water.

 

[DirtyDave]

bullets only go about 3 feet effectively under water I think a bow would probably have less....per mythbusters

Arrows go much deeper in water. Bowfishing arrows are very heavy.

 

[solus]

well of all the people here you would be the expert I didnt think they went that far

 

[Deleted member 33033]

Maybe then i can use my pool, just shoot at an angle from the shallow end into the deep end. Next question, I have an opp to hunt gators in FL. I think the same heavy arrow is apprpriate but not the head used for fish. Yes? No? Anyone know? I was thinking i would need a detachable head with wire cable.

 

[DirtyDave]

gator gear
http://www.backwaterbowfishing.com/onlinestore/cart.php?m=product_list&c=13

 

[slanttop357]

Yes u can nail them 6' down at the steep angle the tricky shots are when the fish is 10 feet out and only 2-3 feet deep.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

I used to spear corbina just walking thru the surf in San Clemente as a teen using a speargun and got fairly accurate in estimating refraction but the fish were always within 2-2.5 feet deep. I hope one day to nail a pelagic fish with a bow but conditions would have to be ideal for that. One of those bites where the fish are eating the paint off the boat. Trying to think of a good target that i could use in the pool that wouldn't hurt the arrow but stop it from hitting the pebbletek.

 

[slanttop357]

I used to spear corbina just walking thru the surf in San Clemente as a teen using a speargun and got fairly accurate in estimating refraction but the fish were always within 2-2.5 feet deep. I hope one day to nail a pelagic fish with a bow but conditions would have to be ideal for that. One of those bites where the fish are eating the paint off the boat. Trying to think of a good target that i could use in the pool that wouldn't hurt the arrow but stop it from hitting the pebbletek.

What about those long toys made of stirafoam cut them in 16" sections tie some twine and anchor them with a bumbell weight say 3-4 ft deep. just a thought.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

I'm thinking along those lines but a target that is 3'X6' so i can practice at different depths and just pull the arrow straight out by the line so I don't hafta yank the target each shot.