Is 40# enough?

[Sharp Stick]

Due to a arthritic right shoulder (I'm right handed), I am going to be forced to drop down in now weight.  Now shooting 53#.  Is 40# enough for whitetail hunting?  What's your opinion?

[Sharp Stick]

That should bow weight, not now weight, dang cell phone

                     

Yes! Just make sure your setup is well tuned, your broadheads razor sharp, and you put said broadhead in the right place!

Hey Sharp Stick, I see you are in Kyle. I'm in Georgetown, just to your north a bit!

Bisch

[The Whittler]

As long as it's legal in your state, sharp BH, and you know where to place it.

I know a lady hunter who hunts with a 31# at her DL Bob Lee recurve. She is deadly accurate at close range with that bow, and will not take a shot unless everything seems perfect to her. She is very successful because she has good well tuned equipment, and knows and stays within her limitations.

Bisch

[Friend]

More than enough with a properly tuned and matched arrow in conjunction with a secure grasp on your own limitations.

[BWallace10327]

Maybe not "more then enough", how about just enough?  Either way, you'll get your deer down when the stars align.

[Friend]

If Dr. Ashby could should consistently shoor thru a water buffs ribs using a low performance 40# glongbow with a properly designed arrow, then harvesting a whitetail utilizing a properly designed arrow should be no more difficult than eating a baloney sandwich.

We should endeavor to be intimately knowledgeable of our own setups. The animals we pursue deserve nothing short of our best efforts.

[Hossmiller]

Dick Palmer once took a buck at 50 yards with a 35lbs. bow.

[forestdweller]

40# should be more than good enough for white tail deer.....

Paired with a heavy enough arrow (at least 500 grains) I'd be willing to bet with a sharp broadhead it can break ribs.

[LBR]

More than enough.  

My best friend's daughter has killed several whitetail pulling less than 25@25.  There was an article in Primitive Bowhunter several years ago where a fellow was using a selfbow, cane arrows, and stone points on a fresh killed whitetail carcass.  It was 40 or 41@28, as best I can recall.  It got plenty of penetration, and the bow was a poor design (the author's description).

[huskyarcher]

It has served me well for several falls. I'm a completely healthy 2yr old former 3 sport athlete, I could shoot 60#+ if I wanted to, but I have no need. I have a 40lb bow hanging right beside me at the moment, only concern I have is if my broadhead will get messed up when it hits the rock on the ground after going through the deer...

[Terry Green]

Yes...even with some 4 blades.

[RodL]

40 is plenty for whitetails, sharp broadhead in the right spot and you will be good to go, I have helped several of my friends drag deer out of the woods and have witnessed first hand what a 40-45lb bow can do

[RodL]

There is a thread on here somewhere with pics of animals killed with bows in that weight range.

[Sam McMichael]

Yes, it is good enough. Like any equipment, you need a well tuned arrow with a sharp broad head in the right place.

My wife shoot 38@26 bows, recurve, Hill and Lost Creek NAT.  Her last deer was a yearling 6 pointer, the NAT, Bear without the bleeder blade on a tapered cedar,, pass through, from the ground 18 yards.   Ten yard blood trail and down in the corn field.
Thanks to SuperK, my wife has a quiver full of her favorite two blade Zwicky Eskimos.  Lighter weight bows and Zwicky Eskimos go really well together.  For her I make sure that they can shave my arm hair with very little drag, and that her arrows are flying straight behind the head at the distance span that she like to shoot, 12 to 18 yards.

[nineworlds9]

Our own Allen Shafer of Tenring Strings killed a doe and coyote this morning with 43@27 at distances around 17 yds with sharp 3 blade 125g VPAs.  Neither animal made it far.

[Longtoke]

I would say hunt with 40# and if the shot feels right take it!

[Big Ed]

I have harvested numerous whitetails over the last several years with bows around that 40 pound mark. Last Tuesday evening I harvested a three year old six point that weighed 167 pounds dressed. Complete pass through at fourteen yards with a 39 pound recurve with a 470 grain arrow. Tipped with a 4 blade Magnus Stinger.
 Shot placement and a shaving sharp heads will prevail,
Big Ed