To my mind there are three basic bowhunting rigs; the speed rig, the stand rig, and the heavy. The first is all about long-range accuracy, and getting your arrow to the target quickly while hunting thin-skinned game in wide-open places, be it prairie pronghorn, migrating caribou, mule deer, and Coues whitetail especially. The stand rig should be forgiving and smooth for cold vigils when muscles stiffen, and quiet most of all. You might call this a whitetail bow, but it's also suited to baited black bear, or spring turkey from a blind. The heavy rig's built for penetration, for tackling the biggest common game such as elk or moose, or African game that can bite back.

NEED FOR SPEED
Speed comes via bow design and arrow mass. Speed bows use reflexed risers and brace heights under seven inches, aggressive cams, to wring more from less. Mathews offers the Black Max2 with a 5.5-inch brace height and Turbo MaxCam, boasting 340-plus IBO speeds; BowTech the Blackknight with a 53?8-inch brace and Speed Dual Cam for 350 IBO; High Country Archery (HCA) the Per-FX with 67?8-inch brace and PerfXCam for 350 fps; Hoyt the six-inch brace and Spiral Cam-equipped TurboTec for 330 fps. These models easily create actual hunting speeds of 300 fps-plus, and that's fast enough.

When speed's the goal, look for brace heights under 7.5 inches, and cams with aggressive draw-force curves. This means rougher draw cycles, shallow letoff valleys, and an often unforgiving nature. This is relative to your amount of practice and allows familiarity and acceptable accuracy.

Burning speed also comes via stiff, featherweight carbon arrows. Speed carbon hits scales at 5.5 to seven grains per inch (gpi). HCA's Carbon Revolution Speed Pro Max, and Max SS are the lightest I'm aware of, 5.5 and 6.2 gpi, respectively, the Max handling draw weights to 75 pounds, the Max SS 85. Carbon Tech's Cheetahs, at 6.4 gpi in 45/70 spine, are straight shooting and tough. Gold Tip's 7.4 gpi Ultralight 400s are produced for the 3-D dodge, but make viable speed-rig shafts; while Blackhawk Vapor offers the Speed at 6.75 gpi in 4000S, Jets at 6.3 and 6.6 gpi in 4000 and 5000 spine, respectively.

You can't always call the shots when bowhunting open-country mule deer. Sometimes you have to take a long shot. Fast gear makes such stabs easier. Steven Tisdale took this solid P&Y muley at 50-plus yards.

Low brace height also allows shortening shafts to boost spine, choosing a lighter deflection-rated shaft for lighter gpi. My Hoyt TurboTec allows Carbon Force 200 instead of a 300, cutting two inches off my normal 30-inch arrow. I save 30 grains of weight, while remaining well within manufacturer's guidelines.

Lighter broadheads flatten trajectory, and balance lighter arrows. Today, choosing light heads sacrifices nothing in reliability. While 100 grains are plenty light, 85 or 90 grains, even 75, helps break into Mach speed.

Mechanical designs eliminate most tuning and windplaning problems. New Archery Product's (NAP) 85-grain Spitfire and ShockWave, Grim Reaper's 85, WASP's 75-grain Jak-Hammer SST, and Rocket Aeroheads' 75-grain Recon, Mini Blaster or Wolverine, 85-grain Sidewinder 3-LT, or 90-grain Slammerhead are good examples. Smaller mechanicals can actually penetrate better due to narrower cutting diameters.