Poundage ponderings...Your thoughts?

[Ragnarok Forge]

Nothing wrong with shooting the highest weight you can shoot well.  What a lot of folks don't take into account is that the gains you make in added bow weight are fairly small percentage wise.  The higher a bow weight gets the less efficient it becomes. What you gain by going up in weight can just as easily be gained thru modern bow design and materials at a weight that will not destroy your shoulders over time.

[b44mag]

roll wow nice
congrats thats a bunch of sweet meat n antler there.

I have a belief, probably BS, but I feel if you can with effort shoot a 90 pound bow with reasonable control and accuracy, you can hunt with a 75 with confidence. Is it possible that you shoot the somewhat lighter bows better because you shoot the 65 pound quite often?  Then as the logic goes if you only shoot a 55 you may find that you shoot a 50 a bit better?  If you are young and healthy you could try a 75 pound bow that is similar to whatever 65 pound bow you like and perhaps your control will improve with the 65 pounder. Whatever, they all work as long the arrow is working for you.

[Steelhead]

I think what Ragnorak forge said in his 1st post is spot on.Make a smart choice in a high performace bow and then maximize its effeciany with the best arrow of good grain weight and a quality head and a quality high performance string.Making sure your arrows are tuned as perfect as they can be will go along way as well.

Another option you might consider if its not cost prohibitive is the versatility of a 3 piece TD with 2 sets of limbs.Gives you the poundage options you desire for any application your confronted with.

[GRINCH]

Chose a weight you can hold comfortably and match that with the proper arrow and broadhead,there is no need to injure your self just shootd what feels good.

[Bill Sant]

Mike,  I always read with interest these poundage threads, and living where you do, Alaska,  I've shot everything except a dall with the same bow, 50 at 30 widow.  Got my bear 3 years ago, shot 5 caribou and a moose this year, sprinkled with a couple blackies over the years.  Not saying you shouldn't shoot whatever you can handle, but don't think you HAVE to shoot heavy weights to effectively hunt anything we got up here.  Guys will say "well if you are hunting you won't be shooting all day long so you only have to draw it back a few times",,,,,well I probably shoot a hundred shots a day while hunting.  And while you are young, shooting heavy bows won't seem like an issue, but it will catch up to you. some day.  Just sayin...

Where in Alaska are you?

[Sixby]

I like what Rag Forge said. Get a bowyer that builds specifically for an archers draw length. Make him tell you how he does it and why he feels it is efficient. I'm not talking about just changing the bow length but adjusting the limb build so that the bow maxes its efficiency out at your 27 in draw. If they cannot tell you how to do that shop until you find one that can. Then have him give you reccomendations of people that he has built bows for that have shorter or longer draws.
Finally if you can get a 55 lb bow that will shoot as hard as most 65 lb bows then you are way ahead to start with.

God bless you and Merry Christmas, Steve

[Zbearclaw]

I personally shoot heavier better.  It's probably a issue with my crappy release, but my #80 longbow that I made and missed weight on (was supposed to be #65) is more forgiving for me than my #60 at my draw widow recurve.

But if you want a new bow I totally understand.  I'd get a Bigfoot with Pao ferro and Bocote if it were me...

[Margly]

I would go for a bow in the low/mid 50#`s (52-56#)
there are several bowyers on this site that makes bows that will give you that extra "umpfh" even with lower poundage.

And as written before, the bowyers will customize the bow to your drawlength.


btw I read somewhere that an easy way to find out if youre overbowed is to go to full draw and hold for at least 10 seconds. If you can do that without starting shaking yourè inside your comfortzone... might be true or not but I`ll bet you can hold still longer with a 54# bow than with a 65# bow     :confused:  

Margly

[BigJim]

I doubt you shoot the lighter bow better because it is lighter. Sounds to me like you shoot the heavier one too much. Shooting too much can be a problem and more than likely to cause injury than shooting more weight. You have to be honest with yourself, are you really comfortable with the weight? or are you looking for a reason to shoot less? Repition is far more likely to wear out the joints.
Whatever you decide to do, that will become your max comfortable weight. Your muscles will atrophy to what ever you are willing to work too.

Yes, lighter weight bows are capable of doing the job and so are ugly women and old slow cars, but heavier bows just feel better (if you are comfortable with them)


If you are truly comfortable with the heavier weight, you can easily find a bunch of people here to tell you that you can't do it! After all, taking the work out anything is the american way. Don't do that extra work, you can surely find some way to get out of it.

You have lots of years ahead of you to slow down. You are young, and god willing, you will live to be old. Slow down now and you will be less for the rest of your life (not just draw weight* be honest with your self about that and quit listenting to popular belief).

I have broken my neck, shattered my rist and forearm, shoved my thigh bone through my hip socket, damaged my rotator and am still here. I am 43 years young and have no intention of slowing down until I have no choice. I will slide in to my grave as a worn out, broke up mess weather it be tomorrow or 50 years from now.

I am honest with myself about what I shoot for weight (what others think makes no difference to me) I love the feel of the power and the force of a 800g shaft crashing through a critter. I shoot whatever broadhead I like and don't ever worry about if I had enough!

I have now used up my alotment of typing for a given week. Good luck to you in whatever you decide, but do it for the right reasons.
Bigjim

Oh yeah, this bow order won't likely be your last. If you enjoy this sport, there will always be another.....you are young and bows are not women. We don't have to pick one to spend the rest of our life with.

[Zradix]

awesome Jim!

Pain fades, chicks dig scars, and glory lasts forever!

[KentuckyTJ]

We all know how too much weight can diminish accuracy, but I have found that too little also isn't good. I shoot my 52 lb bow much better than my 49 and 50lbers. What happens to me is if I don't have enough weight in my palm at full draw my bow arm wonders or doesn't hold as steady. With a couple more pounds it seems to set everything more solid.

[Rob DiStefano]

i love these "what should i do?" threads.  for the most part, yer gonna hear what OTHER people will do, and tell you to think about doing the same thing.  however, if yer a rational, common sense, thinking adult, which you probably are, you will read all this stuff and come to your own sane conclusions over time.  and take yer chances on making good decisions.  time is your best friend.  that and the classifieds.    :D

[Shortlongbow]

I think 55 is plenty but if you can comfortably shoot 60 with good form I'd stick with that.

Years ago I gave a longbow to a friend back east.  It shot nice enough, but it turned out that it was not the fastest horse in the race.  The fellow developed a most irritating habit of sending me his yearly pictures of game and cedar arrows that were bloody from the about an inch behind a muddy broadhead to the matted down feathers.  He was talking about going to an archery shop and testing bows through a chronograph to find something that shot as fast as possible.  I told him he was nuts, and if he wanted to get a new bow just to get a newer and perhaps sleeker version of what has been working for him these past ten years.  
I chased the higher poundage and faster bow thing, but ended up where I started with what I found worked the best for me.  I also know a man that never seems to miss deer, he shot a medium weight Super Kodiak for thirty years. When he got a new bow, he got the same weight Super Kodiak and he still never misses.  I was always jealous of his commitment to just shooting one bow.

[Frenchymanny]

Originally posted by BigJim:
I doubt you shoot the lighter bow better because it is lighter. Sounds to me like you shoot the heavier one too much. Shooting too much can be a problem and more than likely to cause injury than shooting more weight. You have to be honest with yourself, are you really comfortable with the weight? or are you looking for a reason to shoot less? Repition is far more likely to wear out the joints.
Whatever you decide to do, that will become your max comfortable weight. Your muscles will atrophy to what ever you are willing to work too.

Yes, lighter weight bows are capable of doing the job and so are ugly women and old slow cars, but heavier bows just feel better (if you are comfortable with them)


If you are truly comfortable with the heavier weight, you can easily find a bunch of people here to tell you that you can't do it! After all, taking the work out anything is the american way. Don't do that extra work, you can surely find some way to get out of it.

You have lots of years ahead of you to slow down. You are young, and god willing, you will live to be old. Slow down now and you will be less for the rest of your life (not just draw weight* be honest with your self about that and quit listenting to popular belief).

I have broken my neck, shattered my rist and forearm, shoved my thigh bone through my hip socket, damaged my rotator and am still here. I am 43 years young and have no intention of slowing down until I have no choice. I will slide in to my grave as a worn out, broke up mess weather it be tomorrow or 50 years from now.

I am honest with myself about what I shoot for weight (what others think makes no difference to me) I love the feel of the power and the force of a 800g shaft crashing through a critter. I shoot whatever broadhead I like and don't ever worry about if I had enough!

I have now used up my alotment of typing for a given week. Good luck to you in whatever you decide, but do it for the right reasons.
Bigjim

Oh yeah, this bow order won't likely be your last. If you enjoy this sport, there will always be another.....you are young and bows are not women. We don't have to pick one to spend the rest of our life with.

I saw the man shoot.
He does shoot what he shoots because he likes it, no doubt! And he does it well.

I am lucky to have 2 bows of the same exact specs but with a 5# difference.
I shoot the heavier better and draw a tad longer with her, so I pick her every time

Good luck,
Manny

[Russ Clagett]

Wow.

That might be the most Big Jim has ever said here. And well said too.

I hear he builds most excellent bows....I might need one, or three.

Thank you Big Jim, I enjoyed your post sir.

[Gen273]

I say shoot a bow in the poundage range that you can shoot the best. regardless of the size of the game, it is arrow placement and a sharp head that puts them on the ground.

[straitera]

e-mailed

[Forrest Halley]

Pm'd