whats the lightest draw weight you would go?

[deermaster1]

i thought this would be interesting to see just how light you would go in draw weight, all state regs put aside.
whitetails, 20 yards or less.
what is the lightest you would go and what head and arrow weight would you use for it?
have fun!

[Shawn Leonard]

I would go 40#s and use a Snuffer and shoot 8gpp. Keep them close and stay away from the shoulder and it will do fine. Shawn

[Big_Al]

I put a 438 grain Gold Tip arrow tipped with a 150 grain Magnus Stinger 4-Blade through both sides of a buck yesterday, with a 43# Lost Creek longbow.  The fletching caught on the far side, but dropped out about 40 yards away from the place I originally shot him.  The arrow did its job.

[blueslfb]

Not trying to ruffle any feathers but why is it that it seems that people are trying to figure out the lightest weight to take a certain game animal.  Would it not be better to use the heaviest poundage that you can handle and shoot accurately. I hear all the time it is accuracy that counts the most but why not prepare for that chance of a less than perfect shot where that extra poundage could make the difference.  If you bowhunt long enough you are guranteed to have a less than perfect hit, no matter who you are.  We are all human after all.
Please don't be offended.  I am playing the devil's advocate here.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

[Kevin Lawler]

You need to take draw length into account. A lot of people got bent out of shape because NC dropped the draw weight restriction on compounds to 35 to allow more women and youth more opportunity. They left the trad requirement at 45. Had to do with the draw length.

[Pat B]

If push came to shove, I'd go as low as legally possible. Other than that I go as high as I can comfortably shoot under pressure.    Pat

[kirkwhitehead]

Texas did away with it this year. Last year it was 40#

I think 40 is a good number, heavy arrows too.

But what do I know!

[Yellow Dog]

Heading to Iowa in 9 day's and the bow I'll be shooting is a 62" Pittsley Predator, 43@28. I draw 30" so I'm getting 48/49# at my draw length. Pushes a 31" 445gr Magnus Stinger tipped Gold Tip Traditional XT at 190fps. Shoot it better than any other setup I have. Not worried a bit that it won't get the job done.

[Widowbender]

Originally posted by Kevin Lawler:
You need to take draw length into account. A lot of people got bent out of shape because NC dropped the draw weight restriction on compounds to 35 to allow more women and youth more opportunity. They left the trad requirement at 45. Had to do with the draw length.

Sorry to correct you Kevin, but they lowered recurve and longbow to 40 pounds. I agree with Shawn on this one. I think lower poundage basically reduces your effective range.

David

[trashwood]

depends on the game.  in Texas I'd use a 40# bow on the fingers.  BTW when going to 40# bows I also use a sight.  my groove is with 160 fps 500 gr arrows.  most 40# don't fit my flight plan.  

as I commented elsewhere a 2 yr old texas whitetail doe feild dresses about 70#.  top of chest to bottom is 11" with about 8" inside chest cavity.  last rib to front of chest is 11".  width at heart is 5".  width at last rib is 9"......and as far as that goes top of back to ground is 28".  heart to gound is 19".  the problems is that she can drop 9" at the sound of a bow string faster than a trad arrow can get there.  I think you are better off (if shootn TX) to use the lightest fastest arrow your bow can handle.  

out of a 44# bow I shot a 320 gr arrow at very close to 200fps. still too slow really but zips right thru them.

Texas whitetail aren't hard to kill they are hard to hit in the right spot cause they are traveling at light speed.

rusty

[Bjorn]

Why always try to reduce it to numbers. There are 50# bows that can be outperformed by 40# ones.
If your arrow is not tuned well bow weight doesn't matter. As another poster said: what about draw length?
Shoot the highest weight you can handle comfortably and accurately, and focus on arrow tuning. My choice of draw weight has nothing to do with yours.

[Night Wing]

I have a recurve and a longbow. The recurve is 42# and the longbow is 41#. I use these bows for Texas whitetail deer, javelinas, rabbits and frogs. This past summer, I got a wild hair and ordered another Blacktail recurve at 35# and I'm going to use it on javelina, rabbits and frogs when I hunt with it. I also want to be able to shoot lots of target archery next year and I since I shot this poundage when I was involved with target archery as a teenager, I thought I would shoot this weight again. I should be able to shoot this poundage for around two solid hours before my form starts to go to pot.

[Lost Arra]

This is probably different for the young guys out there but my "comfort and accuracy" level changes. Part of getting older I guess.

Elk hunting: I'm walking around, weather is usually warm. I shoot 58-60#.

Deer hunting from a treestand, freezing my a#* off, multiple layers of clothes and I haven't moved in two hours: I like #45-50.

Bow efficiency should be considered too. A 40# selfbow isn't going to match a #40 r/d longbow (usually).

[Paul WA]

20 yds or less on deer I think the lowest weight should be around 35# with a sharp BH...PR

[Blackhawk]

I would go no lighter than 42# with an arrow weighing 400-450 grains, and would have Paul WA sharpen my broadheads.

[longbowman]

Unless there's some kind of physical handicap I wouldn't hunt deer with anything under 60#.  Now if you want to know how light you can go and still kill one with all factors being perfect then that's a horse of a different color.  It's just that for every whitetail I've killed that all factors were perfect there were 8 when something wasn't just right.

[JEFF B]

45-48# 3555 goldtip 125 grn 2 blade sharp as. and 10 to 20 yards max. closer the better  

[Rooselk]

I am currently using a 51# @ 27" longbow and do not feel I am underbowed for what I hunt (primarily mule deer). This past January I also ordered a new Blacktail recurve which will be 48# @ 27". I like the idea that has already been expressed that one should shoot the heaviest bow that one can shoot accurately and comfortably. For me, both these weights fit that catagory and I am confident that both are more than sufficient to cleanly and humanely kill the type of game I hunt.

[Bill Turner]

I have a 50@28 longbow in my arsenal. Beautiful bow that I need to hunt with, not just look at. I shoot it well but can tell a difference in my release. I like the feel of a heavier bow leaving my fingertips just so. Just killed a nice buck with a 57@28 Hill,"Wild Boar". I prefer to hunt with the heaviest bow I can comfortably shoot accurately. With that said the 50@28 would be as low as I would go at this point in my bowhunting life.