Light weight bows and whitetails???

[Bobby Urban]

My wife, Jessica, is going to hunt for the first time this year and she is shooting a 35lb Bear recurve.  We are setting up for very close shots and she has been practicing all summer.  Sharp broadheads and tuned arrows are in place.  Do you think with this set up heavier over speed of arrow is key? I have woodies that fly slow but are heavier than the carbons and I want max penetration?

What is the lightest bow you have taken a whitetail with and tell me about your set-up please.

I will be so excited if she gets a deer.
Thanks - Bob Urban

[champ38]

Is the Bow 35# at her Draw length  ?  How much do the arrows weigh ?

[ishoot4thrills]

I've never hunted with that setup, but I would recommend an arrow that is front heavy and in the range of 400-425 grains total weight. I like skinny carbons for their slight ability to penetrate better because of less resistance. It's a great help in having sharp heads and tuned arrows, like you have indicated. Also, the close ranges that you are gonna be setting up with are a definite plus as well. Gonna be hard not gettin' busted by a mature whitetail at close range though. A good ground blind can help that tremendously too. Be sure she takes only broadside or slight quartering away shots, and I say go for it! Good luck to ya both!

[Pinecone]

40# is the lightest I've used to take whitetails and the buck I shot never knew what hit him.  I would recommend a high FOC arrow with super sharp heads with total arrow weight at 11 to 12 GPP.  Restrict shots to 15 yards and there should be no problem.

Claudia

[Steve H.]

In a couple awkward positions I've shot WT with what would have been 35# or less cause of not being able to obtain full draw.  On ribcage shots it wouldn't matter BUT I would go heavier than lighter with a narrower 2 blade (Magnus II or Smaller Griz, or Zwickey Eskimo) cause at close range speed means nothing.

[Cindy Leonard]

Well,I know many deer have been taken with light set-ups. My husband tore up his shoulders some years back and killed several deer with a 42# Widow at his 28.5" draw. He did not shoot a real heavy arrow either. 8.5 grains per pound. Kept his shots 15 yards and under and took only broadside shots. Killed a big coyote as well with the set-up at 35 yards, shot entered the right ham and exited out the opposite shoulder!! Stay off the shoulder and keep the shots close with a razor sharp head and she will be fine!  Cindy

[George D. Stout]

Cindy is correct.  I would be careful of loading up a front heavy arrow on a 35 pound bow.  Just stick to the grains per pound logic, a sharp perfectly flying broadhead, and you will have no trouble.

[Night Wing]

I'm going to add my two cents in here. This is just from observation from my own personal experience shooting light poundage trad bows.

I believe bow design, total length of a bow, riser length, limb length and bow string material has something to do with picking arrows for light poundage bows. I've got a long draw length of 30" so I shoot 32" aluminum arrows out of my 66", 42# @ 30" Blacktail Elite TD recurve. The riser length on my Blacktail is 19". The recurve limbs are roughly 28.5" and this distance is measured from the end attached to the farthest part of the riser going towards the grip, then following the curve of the limb out to the end of the limb tip. The bowstring is Dyna97.

My Blacktail prefers a heavy grains per pound arrow. It likes two arrows very well. One is a 32", Easton 2215 aluminum arrow with a tip weight of 175 grains with three, 5" parabolic feathers. The entire arrow weighs 579 grains and this comes out to 13.78 grains per pound.

The other arrow is a 32", Easton 2117 aluminum arrow also with a 175 grain tip weight with three, 5" parabolic feathers. This arrow weighs 613 grains and this comes out to 14.59 grains per pound.

Both arrows hit where I look and almost always in the same place. I've learned the hard way on this since I used to shoot both arrows, one after the other. I dented them because they were almost always clanging off of each other on the target. So, I've learned to shoot one arrow at a time, retrieve the 2215 arrow and then shoot the 2117 or vice versa.

Around Halloween, Norm Johnson of Blacktail Bows will be sending me my second Blacktail Elite TD recurve and it's going to be 66", 35# @ 30" with a Dyna97 bowstring. I've already made up some 32" test arrows for this bow. They are a 2114 with a 130 grain tip weight, a 2212 with a 130 grain and 160 grain tip weights and a 2213 with 130 grain and 160 grain tip weights. All the test arrows will have three, 5" parabolic feathers.

The 2114 will weigh 501 grains which gives 14.32 grains per pound.

The 2212, with 130 grain tip weight, will weigh 474 grains which gives 13.54 grains per pound.

The 2212, with 160 gain tip weight will 504 grains which gives 14.40 grains per pound.

The 2213, with 130 grain tip weight will weigh 505 grains which gives 14.42 grains per pound. The 2213, with 160 grain tip weight, will weigh 535 grains which gives 15.28 grains per pound.

In closing, I know it's not scientific, but it's fun to speculate on what aluminum arrow this new bow will like before shooting it. Right now, I'm guessing the 2114 might be the arrow this bow likes.

BTW; I have a one piece 68", 41# @ 30" Belcher "Longhorn" hybrid longbow with a dacron string and it likes a 32", 2114 aluminum arrow with a 130 grain tip weight. It does not like the 2215 or the 2117 arrows.

[CanArcher]

You should also check into your local regs.
Up here, that's an illegal bow to hunt deer with.

[Stringwacker]

My son when he was 12 killed two deer with an old Ben Pearson recurve that pulled 33 pounds at his 25" draw length. One deer was a complete pass through and the other hit his brisket (the deer jumped the string) and he got about 10" of penetration which was enough.

He was shooting 1916 aluminum shafts and two blade Eskimo lites.

[James Wrenn]

Carbon instead of wood.Go with a small sharp two blade over a larger head.Don't worry a lot about arrow weight just make sure she can hit and knows how to pick the best spots to hit.If the bow will handle good strings I would have a skinny d-97 on it. jmo

[Bobby Urban]

Thanks everyone - just wanted to get some opinions on the matter.  We will probably go with carbons but I just made up some woodies that are flying well too. I also went with a 10 strand FF (D97) with built up ends.  Figure it better to risk the bow than the deer and it shoots just fine.  She is not sure she will even want to shoot one if given the chance but she is also super concerned about the wound factor and will only take close up, high percentage shots.  I just want her to experience the feeling of a deer so close you can hear it breath.  I will keep everyone posted.  
Bob Urban