Is 40# weight enough

[Ray Hammond]

Scott,

you are sort of making my point for me, aren't you?

If a 50 lb bow makes a bad hit worse, whats a 40 lber going to do?

My aim here is to explain that bad hits happen to everyone...our goal should NOT be to see how little weight we can shoot when we make perfect hits- rather its to shoot as MUCH weight as we can shoot well, for the sake of the game when we don't.

If I hit a whitetail in the shoulder blade I have complete confidence I am going to break it, and drive through to make the kill. A rib? Same thing. I broke a caribou rib (I hit it exactly where I was aiming of all things, but it was square on a rib bone) it broke the rib in two and cut two ribs on the exit side.

Had I been shooting a 40 lb bow, I doubt that would have been as sweet an outcome.

Anecdotal evidence is a bad route to go in justifying anything- example- "I hunted with a woman in Wyoming who shot 4 mule deer over 200 inches with a 39 lb bow- and she made no bad hits."  "I hunted with a guy in Africa who shot a 41 lb compound and he killed 7 animals and no wounds"

Fifty people, hunting for 8 years in one area, hunting one species, on the other hand, makes for some compelling evidence.

I am running a fair chase hog hunting operation and I've had the opportunity to watch a good many people shoot at game there when they were just invited guests and also now as pay hunters.

I'm just going to say that bad things happen to good, well-intentioned people and leave it at that.

I was NOT trying to be condescending, but YOU DID BEGIN YOUR POST BY IMPLYING YOU DOUBTED MY STATEMENT ABOUT ARROWS BOUNCING OFF DEER WITH 40 LB BOWS, DIDN'T YOU?

The difficulty with threads like this is that there are 100 people lurking on this post who will never say anything, but take our implied acceptance of this setup as proof they should also shoot one similar to it- I'm not going to change MY mind that our goal should be to insure people shoot as much as they can shoot effectively- and not figure out how LITTLE weight they can get away with.

We likely won't change one another's minds...and that's OK..I just want it on the record what MY experience is...and those lurkers to hear my notions...they may do with the information whatever they wish.

[Chuck Jones]

I've seen people that shot 50# bows that were barely getting 40# at their draw. There's a big difference also in 40#@28" and 40#@24", in real performance.

That said; I get a lot of pictures sent to me of deer and boar killed with 35# and 40# bows. Just use a heavy enough arrow, a razor sharp 2 blade broadhead, and shoot close and accurate.

[emusmacker]

thanks for the info folks, the reason i asked the question about being stupid is i saw the same question on another bowsite and that guy got called everything but stupid, and i know that many trad shooters frown on those questioning penetration, and bow weight but personally i feel like more weight is better to an extent.

[Scott Gray]

Ray, we can agree to disagree.

emusmacker to answer your question. In my opinion 40 lbs is more than adequate to kill a deer with. Razor sharp broadheads, tuned arrows and make a good shot and you will have backstraps for dinner  

[Pointer]

In some states 35lbs is legal.....40lbs is enough for deer. Doesn't matter what weight you shoot....your broadheard should be razor sharp and your arrows should fly true...in short,your gear must be properly tuned. I always find it funny to read how it's ok to hunt with 40 lbs but everything else (arrows, BH's) needs to be perfect or close to that. Everything should be as close to perfect as you can get it regardless of the weight you shoot. You can shoot 60lbs....if your arrows corkscrew and impact sideways you're in trouble. Shoot 70 lbs if you want but if you hit it in the foot, you were better of with 40lbs....

Good Luck

[Onestringer]

Ray and Scott you both make great points and in the end I think you believe the same things.  The question asked is will a 40lb recurve kill a deer and the simple answer is yes.  Will a 65lb bow kill a deer deader (is that a word), no.  Will a 65lb bow go through a shoulder blade? Yes more often than not, will a 40lb? In some areas of the blade it will, most areas it won't depending on the size of the deer.  Will an arrow bounce off a deer, well thats really a yes and no answer.  The arrow will not bouce off like you were shooting a metal deer, it will break skin and come out if hit directly on the big part of the shoulder bone.  That  happend to my Dad with a 50lb Recurve shooting a 500 grain arrow with a 3 blade head.  If he had been shooting a 2 blade, who knows.  This happened last year in IL, that deer was killed the opening day of shot gun season and my dad had hit the shoulder square.  

Is a higher poundage bow better, well yes as a general rule. But a gut shot is a gut shot whether its with a 40 or 60lb bow.  Same goes for a hind quarter shot, neck shot, spine shot etc.  More poundage comes into play most with dealing with shoulder blades.  

There are a lot of deer killed every year in every state with a .22 but I doubt many people tote those during general firearms even if it were a legal round.  Heck I know a guy that killed an elk with a .22 magnum, but that is another story and I had NOTHING to do with it.

Yes 40lb is enough, will there be a day when you wished you were shooting more poundage, probably.  But have fun and hunt.


Scott

[Arwin]

I read in one of Fred Bears books that his 70 yr old father killed a doe with a recurve pulling 30#. 40# should be plenty.

[Dozer]

Originally posted by James Wrenn:
[QB] Looks like that woodsman did not bounce off that hog.      

Not tryin to be a 'know it all' or just a plain old jerk but I believe the broadhead in the hog picture is an MA 3 made by Del-Mar. 3 Rivers is the only place I've found that sells them.

[heydeerman]

Dozer, I caught the MA3 too. I have an old arrow from the 40's with that head on it.

[James Wrenn]

Yeah I looked back and see you guys are right about the head.Either way it worked very well because a good shot was made on the hog.

[Biggie Hoffman]

I'm always amused that we get a dozen or so, "I know a guy who" posts on these light bow threads but never get the untold hundreds of anticdotes on the bad results from them  :-)

[heydeerman]

I got an "I know a guy" story. His name is Hoot Gibson and one of my trad heroes. he is the guy who handed me a recurve and got me to shootin these crazy bows.  Anyways, his some killed a deer with a 30 something pound bow with an aluminum arrow (not sure which one) a good ways back. 40 pounds will work. My wife has a 40 pound longbow, maybe I'll see if I can get some arrows to fly out of it and try for myself this season.

[Shawn Leonard]

I have read all the posts and I agree with Ray and Biggies last post, but what happens when we all get older and can no longer handle the weights we are touting? I shot 80-90# bows for some years and settled on 60-70# bows for a lot of years, but due to some shoulder issues I shoot 52-57#s today. Should I stop hunting when I get real arthritic and can only shoot 40#s? No, I will just get closer and take real high percentage shots. The question asked is 40#s enough, the only real answer is YES!! The other stuff that is talked about is all speculation and up to the individual to know the bows limitations and make do with it. I myself have always had a problem with my shots being forward. My mind knows that shoulder is there to protect the goodies and that is where I want to be, I really want to stay off that shoulder but I do hit it quite often, I kill lots of deer with that hit even with 54#s but my bloodtrails are not great a lot of times. I try to stay off that shoulder but for some reason I hit it a 1/3rd. of the time it seems. I guess I am saying do the best ya can and try as hard as ya can to make that perfect shot but don't give up if all ya can handle is a 40# bow and it is legal to do so. Shawn

[Biggie Hoffman]

Hopefully by then Shawn, we will have enough practical experience to only take the perfect shot.
40#'s is plenty enough to kill a deer but the other factors are just as meaningfull.

[grizzlyxx]

A perfectly tuned arrow and a scary sharp 2 blade broadhead and you should be fine.  I think you should shoot the most poundage you are comfortable with.  There are a lot of guys shooting heavy bows that probably make bad shots due to the poundage that they are shooting. I dropped down to 44lbs this year and my shooting has never been better.  SHOT PLACEMENT RULES SUPREME!!!! Maybe we should poll the deer and see if they would like to get shot with an 80lb bow or a 40lb bow.  By the way, nice post Shawn.

[Ia Hawkeye]

Good post Shawn !
I've been thru the cycle and now shoot a  43# longbow.If I didn't think (and know through experience) that it was enough , I wouldn't use it !!!!!!

[Dave Bulla]

Shawn, good post.

On the other end of your logic train is my own current question... Should I let my daughter who is 13 bowhunt for deer this year with her 36# bow?  After all, it's only 4# less than 40 pounds and is legal here in Missouri.  She shoots it very well and I believe she would do fine.  Very likely I will be right with her in the same tree or ground blind to whisper advice but how do I justify letting her hunt deer with a marginal draw weight bow?  I have every confidence that properly placed, a heavy to very heavy arrow would do the job from her bow but it all comes down to confidence.  I don't have complete confidence in my own shot making ability so how can I have it in hers?  

Also, she currently LOVES to hunt and shot her first deer last fall with a rifle and also her first turkey the spring before and a couple squirrrels too.  But.... she's getting to be a teenager and outside interests from other kids at school are gaining influence on her so I REALLY want try keeping her interested in hunting while I can before it becomes "uncool" (if it ever does).  Hunting aint very cool with lots of kids these days.  I have to walk a line between letting her participate while she is interested and making her wait until she is stronger but maybe not AS interested.  If all goes well and she manages to make a clean kill I think she will be hooked for life but if I dont' let her go (and actually hunt, not just tag along), she may loose interest.  

After typing this, I think I've made up my mind.  I'll take her if she can show proficiency out 10 or 12 yards with a heavy arrow and broadheads and sit close to help her along and be a "bug in her ear".  If she looses a deer to a bad hit, I'll treat it no differently than if I lost one shot with my 60+ pound bow.  ALL effort will be made to recover any animal shot but the lesson must be learned at some point that a kill is never guaranteed in hunting whether you are shooting a rifle or a bow.  Hopefully any blood trail will be heavy and short but a long difficult one will hopefully teach prudence, responsibility and respect for hunting in general.

[Shawn Leonard]

Dave is she is hunting deer and keeps her shots close and knows to put it behind the shoulder, let her hunt. We want to keep the young in the sport. explain that things happen and she should be prepared for the best and the worst. I have made some hits that appeared to be about perfect and failed to recover the deer and others that were way less than perfect and made a quick recovery.  As hunters none of us want to lose an animal but it does happen and we should amke every effort to not let it happen, but we also have to keep on hunting when it does. Shawn

[Deadbolt]

38# at my draw last year heavy arrow sharp broadhead 12 yards clean pass through!

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Please resize yer image to 640 pixels wide or less - thanx!

[Dartwick]

Taking a dear with a 40 is much reasonable than taking an elk with a 50.