51# Pass through, who needs 60# bows?

[Warchild]

I just returned home after a successful morning hunt here in Southern Michigan. The Bucks have been chasing Does up here for a week now and the hunting has been hot. Halloween morning I killed a nice 6 point Buck with a huge body and decent rack he was the 8th Buck that I had seen that morning and the 2nd Buck that I shot at. Unfortunately I missed his older brother a nice 8 point 2 hours before the 6 came in. I tried to shoot through a window in the brush and concentrated a little too hard on the one pencil sized limb that I did not want to hit, well I of course shot right into it and it deflected my arrow into a 4" diameter tree. The arrow stuck in the tree 6 feet off the ground and I had to break my spruce wood shaft off as I could not free the Zwickee. Anyway, I shot a nice Doe this morning and to my surprise, she was coming into heat. If I would have noticed that I would have let her walk. I shot her at 17 or so yards and blew completely through her shooting my 51# limbs on my Schafer Silvertip. That is the lightest weight bow that I have killed a deer with and am very impressed with the results. I shoot spruce wood arrows of my own build and they only weigh 512 grains with broadheads. The heads that I use are the big Zwickee Deltas that weigh 135 grains. I have a set of 60# limbs for my Tip and those were the ones that I used on the 6 point but I really like shooting the lighter weight 51s and if I can get this kind of performance out of them, I will continue to use them. I actually got better penetration on the Doe than I did on the Buck even though I was using the lighter weight limbs. I did notice on the Buck that I went through ribs on both sides and did get a broadhead pass through which is all that really matters, but if I can get complete pass throughs with the lighter limbs, why not? They are a joy to shoot. I won't let anyone tell me that you nedd heavy bows to pass through deer anymore.

[Terry Green]

Not sure who told you that you needed a 'heavy' bow to pass through deer.  51#s is plenty....deer aren't armor plated, have thick shields, or heavily boned ribs.

I like shooting heavy bows at deer, as most times I'm also in hog territory and I never know when I'm gonna run across something like this....

  Hog Shield clip  

But for deer, you got plenty.  There are animals and scenarios where heavier is better though....so no need to knock heavier bows.  Heavy bows definately have their place.

[PAPA BEAR]

i shoot 60 but only on elk,you need to give yourself that extra kinetic energy just in case as terry stated you need it.better to have too much than not enough.deer i'd feel ok with 50 pounds as they are not near the size of an adult elk.even still i'd shoot 60 at deer if given a shot.i dont hunt deer though unless one walks in front of me while elk hunting or a good spot and stalk presents itself.

[Ragnarok Forge]

I hunt Deer, Elk, Cougar, and Black Bear with a 55 lb longbow.  With my 30.25 inch draw length, I get some extra oomph out of bow due to the long enery stroke from the extra travel the limbs make when firing the arrows.

[Broken Arrow 1]

50#'s is plenty for all the game mentioned above you must have the right arrow combo to go with it though.

[Tom]

People should shoot the weight they are comfortable with and what does the job. End result:clean kill. If I could still shoot 65# I would but mid-50's does it for me now.

[myshootinstinks]

I shot bows in the low-mid 60s for several years and did alright with them. For most of the hunting & shooting I did it seemed excessive.  For me to continue shooting heavier bows meant I had to shoot often to stay accurate and I just don't have the time anymore. I'm shooting high 40s to mid 50s for the past 2-3 years and have two pass-through deer kills using a 53#er and a 50#er.

[Blackhawk]

I'd shoot 60# bows if I could. Being older and stiffer on those cold mornings calls for a bow around 50-55# for me.  Yeah, 40# will kill'em too, but I like the flatter trajectory and extra penetration from 550 gr. arrows.