I'm disappointed in you guys. I opened this thread hoping for a good laugh before work from all of the arguing and different answers that this type of thread usually brings.
all I got was a group of apparently well informed and very experienced people providing some very useful information and seeming to pretty much agree with only a slight variance in the weight ranges listed.
Thanks for ruining my morning.
Now, with my sarcasm hat back on the rack, I have not gotten my first trad deer yet, so I'm not speaking from my own experiences, but the man that got me into trad told me when I started looking for a bow to look for something from 45-55, and preferably not above 50 to start with. Then, if I felt i wanted more later on, to adjust accordingly. I lucked up on a free early 60s Red Wing Hunter at 53# so my draw weight kind of picked itself. I've been very happy with it but plan to drop maybe 3-5# if I ever get to buy myself a longbow, you know, just to increase the fun factor a little. I'm only 29, but I've had several guys on here tell me they regret shooting bows that were too heavy in their youth and have shoulder problems now as a result, and I've learned to listen to the wisdom of my elders.
Matt Toms