Learning ...

[ChapNelson]

I'm new to tradbow shooting, so I'm digesting all I can. I've read that while a bow may be rated at say 45# at 28" draw, the actual weight varies according to your draw. Does the AMO of the bow also affect that draw? Reason I ask, I swapped into a LH 52" bow, marked 45# @ 28", for my 16 yo son. His draw was 29" when we started a month ago on a 62" RH bow, switched to LH 2 weeks ago for him, and I'm wondering if he's actually pulling considerably more on the shorter bow? Is there a formula or calculator?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

[Stumpkiller]

As a rule of thumb: the longer the bow the easier it is to accomidate a long draw.  A shorter bow tends to get progressively harder to pull past 28" (this is referred to as "stacking").  While going from 28" to 29" on a 62" long bow may add 2#, on a 56" bow it may add 6#.  Not always, depends on limb angles and such, but it's a good bet.

Figure from 28" each additional inch is 2.5# for the first two inches, or less if short drawing.  But it varies, as I said.  I have a 30" draw and some bows stop at 29" and I get sweat beads before I get that last inch.  Like it had a chain preventer hooked to the riser.  There is no chart or formula.  Too many bow variables in design.

[ChapNelson]

Charlie, thank you for that explanation; it makes sense. He's not complained yet, but he's 6' tall and growing. We're going to the shop this weekend to have his draw measured again, and possibly have a batch of arrows cut to his length since he's been shooting my uncut arrows and I figure that's heavier than he needs to be dealing with.