Hunting draw weight

[Mojostick]

Anyhow, this thread was about light weights. 45-50 isn't light weight.

I don't want to make this a single/double debate. Enjoy your hunt and take or leave the advice from those who have experience and be your own judge.

If one decides to hunt with low weights due to shoulder issues, I wish you the best.

If you decide to try a single bevel, I wish you the best of success!

Whatever, it's not worth arguing about.

[duncan idaho]

Why would you ask that question? seriously? read your state regulations, thats the lightest you can hunt with.

IMHO: (which will get you blasted on here) is that a healthy adult should train and shoot with the most weight they can shoot. If appears, the current trend is to not train or work  but, get buy with the least amount of weight and the least amount of effort.

[Kituwa]

I think bow poundage is not the thing to be worrying about so much as arrow performance is.A bow drawing 40# at 25 inches is no where near the same as a bow that draws 40# at 30 inches. Can make some difference in the bow design as well.Whatever type or weight of bow you shoot you of coarse need arrows that are tuned and fly right and need to be heavy enough to penatrate well.If you have a bow that draws say 40# at your 26" draw and you are useing arrows that fly right and 9gpp, then they may likely not have very good trajectory so you need to be closer to your game.Thats all well and good but it doesnt give you much lee way if you miss judge the distance by a few yards. If you hunt from a stand and already know the distances to markers around your stand that helps a lot.But if your bow is drawing 40# at your 29"draw then the arrows may well be out performing some bows with 10# higher draw weights.Some bows its just obvious by shooting them that the arrow does not have much umpf behind them, especially when you shoot the beside other bows regardless of what draw weight is marked on the bow.

[gringol]

We can argue about set ups,.single vs double bevel, arrow flight, etc all day.  The op asked about hunting weights.  99% of trad hunters will agree that 50# and up is good hunting weight.  Somego lower, some much higher, but 50# and up seems to be the point at which you won't get in an argument about how light your bow is and is therefore considered a good hunting weight.

[coaster500]

Through a degenerative condition in my shoulders I have been force to decrease weight and may have to stop completely. I have in the last three years killed one bear, two deer and a batch of plains game in Africa. The bear was a complete pass through using a 42/43# long bow with a 10/11 grain per pound arrow and a Helix broadhead. It was recovered within 30 feet of the shot. Both deer were shot with a bow I received in a bow swap I participated in that was 45 at my draw. One deer was a pass through and one hit shoulder bone on the opposite side of the deer and stopped. Both were shot with 10/11 gpp arrows and silverflames. Both deer were recovered in sight. In Africa I used a bow that was 45/47 at my draw 12 gpp arrow and Abowyer boneheads (single bevel) all animals had pass troughs or at least two holes and all were recovered in short distances.

Bear shot at 29 paces
Deer one shot at 11 paces
Deer two shot at 28 paces
all African game shot from 15 to 20 paces

All arrows were tuned perfect and my Broadheads are sharpened no polished scary sharp.

I will also add that African game is very tough, hide; muscle and bone....  millions of years of predation have made them so. I would not hesitate to take out and elk with any of the above set ups.....

I don’t want to jinx myself but the only animal I have lost was a warthog on Africa my shot was way low and just hit the brisket….  I had a professional tracker on him for miles and after reviewing a video we concluded he would recover. Shooter not the bows weight on that one. Weird thing was it was a 9/10 yard shot????

  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=061040
  IMHO

[KentuckyTJ]

I like to take a weight I am very comfortable shooting all day with then add about 3 pounds. I actually think I shoot better with a little extra weight as my bow arm is more stable with the extra weight.

[shirikahn]

I say a minimum of 45 lbs...and that's for deer and anything smaller...But I would go a minimum of 50 myself.  Just my belief in making the most humane kills possible.

[ChuckC]

Use whatever you want.

Chuckc

[DennyK]

The Heaviest you can handle comfortably and accurately.

[Thumper Dunker]

Originally posted by Bisch:
I guess I really can not answer that question. All my bows right now are 50# or more and I do not want to go lower than that. If I had to though for some reason, I'm sure I would. I don't know what is "too light" but I'm sure I would keep hunting down in weight until I thought it was just too low. I love hunting with my stick and DREAD the day I can no longer do it!

Bisch

What He said.

[nineworlds9]

I'd do 40 minimum.  My preference is 45-50+, low to mid 50's being my go-to range.  Course regarding heavier, if you can pull it well, do it.

[RC]

I thought I was shooting critters with bows in the high 40s at 27" but measured my draw the other day and its only 26.So I bought know 35 lbs would work for me.RC

[TraditionalGuy]

Originally posted by duncan idaho:
Why would you ask that question? seriously? read your state regulations, thats the lightest you can hunt with.

IMHO: (which will get you blasted on here) is that a healthy adult should train and shoot with the most weight they can shoot. If appears, the current trend is to not train or work  but, get buy with the least amount of weight and the least amount of effort.

I couldn't agree more. I shoot a 65#@27". I have a friend that has somewhere between 9 and 12 bows all in the 42-51 range. He would rather keep buying bows in an attempt to get the same performance as I do than to get a heavier bow and just work out a few times a week.

[DaveT1963]

I prefer bows from 55-65#s for hunting

[CRS]

I shoot and hunt with  bows from 45-68#.  I prefer to hunt with 60#.  But I do not feel handicapped at all when hunting with my 50# bows.

There was an article years ago in Bow and Arrow, by their staff target archer. The name evades me at the moment, Ellot something??  He advocated the use of target bows for hunting, because of the refined tuning and performance coupled with target accuracy. I can tell you that this is a very stiff shooting system to try to adopt to my hunting situations, for some target styles work for hunting. Anyway at a shooting preserve, his wife using a 32 pound BW target bow shooting Bodkin heads on metal target arrows, shot three arrows into a nice (probably tame) buck. They were all sticking out the other side. My point is that I had the chance to compare a Hoyt target bow to my hunting bow.  It was his heavier set of limbs 42 pounds at 28" shooting arrows that were about the same weight as my hunting arrows. His bow was 12 feet per second faster than mine. I also helped a guy drag out a small 8 pointer, back in 1968. He shot the deer with fairly dull MA3 heads shooting a fiberglass Pearson recurve that only pulled 35 pounds, I would not recommend emulating either the 32 pound target bow with the Bodkins or the 35 pound fiberglass bow with the MA3, but that carbon limbed 42 pound target bow really put out an arrow and such performance could get one some leeway if draw weight was in question. Knowing what the performance of specific bow at a lighter weight and possibly at a shorter draw as well, could help to make a better bow buying decision.

[longbowman]

Not being good enough to assure that my deer won't move making a good shot turn into a marginal before my arrow gets there I'm not comfortable with anything under 60#.  I actually don't own a bow that light and being 60 yrs. old I still shoot my 70#+ bows for all my hunting.  Heavy shaft, sharp heads and an exit hole regardless of what gets in the way makes me much more comfortable in the woods.