What is F.O.C in Archery?

The term F.O.C gets thrown around left and right in the archery world...

But what does is actually mean and why does it matter?

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more.

What is F.O.C. in Archery?

​F.O.C stands for ‘front-of-center’.

What it really boils down to is how much of your arrow weight is in the front half of your arrow.

So why does F.O.C matter?

The first thing that F.O.C affects is your arrow flight.

Having a higher F.O.C helps to keep your arrow flying straighter, even in somewhat windy conditions.

This starts to get more important when you’re shooting out to further distances.

On the flip side, an extremely low F.O.C causes your arrows to fly erratically, randomly flying off to the left and right.

Why is F.O.C important for Bowhunting?

​Aside from the obvious improvements in arrow flight, F.O.C plays an even bigger role for bowhunters.

F.O.C improves arrow penetration!

This makes it one of the most important things to keep track of when you’re building a new arrow set up.

I won’t say it’ll make or break every hunt…

But as someone who wants to make sure I recover as many animals that I shoot as possible, this is a pretty important piece of the puzzle.

How Do I Add F.O.C to an Arrow?

The short answer is to add more weight up front.

That can be a heavier field point/broadhead, heavier brass inserts, or even adding back weights to your inserts.

But you can only go so far with this…

The problem you eventually run into is you can add too much weight up front for the spine of arrow you have.

And to fix that, you have to go up in arrow spine…

Which means a heavier arrow, which lowers your F.O.C…

Unless you go with a heavier arrow again.

(You see where this is going right?)

Now, that’s not all bad!

Having heavier arrows, while being slightly slower, does mean more kinetic energy on impact, which also increases penetration…

But there is a point where you have to call it quits, or you’ll just keep chasing your own tail.

Another, often overlooked option, is to use lighter vanes.

This will make the back of the arrow lighter, which results in a higher F.O.C.

There’s obviously only so much you can do here, but it can help you get a few extra percentage points of F.O.C.

What's the Best F.O.C for Bowhunting?

The generally accepted rule of thumb for this is the 10%-15% range.

If you’re planning on hunting deer or even elk, this is okay.

You can definitely get into the weeds and put in more work to get above that range to get more penetration…

But to be honest, most people won’t.

If you plan on hunting anything bigger than elk, like moose or buffalo, then you really want to be up closer to, or even over, that 20% range to maximize arrow penetration…

Especially if you hit a bone!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are higher F.O.C. arrows more accurate?

​Yes and no.

It’s not so much that they are more accurate, but that they don’t get affected by wind as much.

So in a bowhunting situation, they can be more accurate just because of the variable of the wind.

Can an arrow have too much F.O.C.?

Technically, yes!

First you can have too much F.O.C for your arrow spine, which basically means your arrow isn’t stiff enough to handle how heavy your point weight is.

Now, you can fix that with a stiffer arrow…

But that will be heavier and then your F.O.C drops and you have to increase your point weight again to increase F.O.C.

Is 20% F.O.C. Too High?

​No, this is a great F.O.C if you’re wanting to maximize arrow penetration, especially if you hit a bone.

The difficulty once you get to this high of F.O.C comes down to making sure your arrows are tuned right so they can fly right

Is 13% F.O.C. good for hunting?

​13% F.O.C is okay for hunting.

It’s not the highest you can go on a hunting set up, but it can get the job done most of the time.