Draw weight ?

[Jayrod]

Originally posted by Stumpkiller:
You've received some sage words.

I've known guys who can shoot effectively with 80 and 90# bows . . . but you seldom see them out stumping and bunny-hunting with them.  Some will state this and then you notice their stated "full 28" draw length" appears to leave five unused inches beyond the bow with their 29" BOP shafts.  If a bow squishes you it's probably too much.  If you have to raise it over your head and lower it while tugging and grunting - it's probably too much

If you can hold it at full draw for 30 seconds you should be able to hunt with it - but I don't know if there is a tried and true test.  Some hunters never hold more than a heartbeat and so that test would be unnecessary.

Comfort is a very subjective quality.  Some guys are comfortable riding those little hard leather racing bicycle seats while others need soft, foamy padded seats.  If you're the kind of shooter that releases the instant you anchor you can likely be more comfortable at a heavier level than the guys who hold for five or six seconds.  And a 66" recurve is more comfortable to your draw fingers than a 52" bow.  It all adds up.  

Intended use and your shooting style make a BIG difference.  It was common for archers back when NFAA was more popular to have a field bow and a 10 or 15# heavier hunting bow.  

Does "comfortable" have to be a dozen arrows in a session and one a day while hunting?  Or two 20 station 3-D courses and another 40 or 60 at a novelty shoot in one day?

I find I can shoot a 50-55# bow all day - but even then after 50 or so arrows I start to collapse in on myself and my form suffers.  If I take my 62# bow I really start to fall apart after 20 or so.  So the trick is to shoot the 62#er for 10 shots a day at a near bale just for form for two weeks prior to the event so the 52# bow feels like silk.  ;-)

VERY WELL SAID!

[bentpole]

Did you shoot a compound previously? If so what was the poundage? I shot 85#/75# Compounds years ago. I started with a 55# @ 28 recurve. DO NOT OVERBOW yourself. Accuracy will suffer.

[Mojostick]

You determine a comfortable draw weight in the same way you determine a comfortable pair of boots. Would you try to force yourself into an expensive pair of boots hoping you'll stretch into them?

Just as you want to try boots or shoes on late in the afternoon when your feet have swelled, consider hunting conditions where it may be cold, you may have on layers, you may be shooting at a more odd angle or from your knee's, etc.

Don't determine a peak weight in the Summer when you're standing flat footed in a tee shirt on a nice 80 degree day. Think about sitting, in 30 degree temps, you haven't moved hardly a muscle in 3 hours and now your cranked up because a spooky deer showed up 15 yards in front of you and the winds just died, leaving the woods dead quiet. Do you want a really easy draw or a draw that's 5 pounds too much for you?

As with boots, can you walk in them all day and still enjoy the day? Now, with bow weight, can you shoot or stump for extended times and enjoy it?

Consider real world hunting situations, not practice on the range. If need be, can you hold calmly at full draw for 10 seconds if you had to do so or would you be shaking? If you can hold comfortably at "anchor" for 10 seconds, and I understand that anchor isn't a necessarily a stopping place but hunting situations often cause quick adjustments, then you should be in good shape.

For my style of natural ground blind hunting, I have tons of brush in front and behind me, with just a small "window" for the shot and I draw and hold just as the deer is entering the "window" and then shoot when the deer has walked into my "window", while I'm at anchor. I shoot very short range and light weights and it's proven very successful since I completely stopped hunting from treestands. The only year I haven't shot at least one deer doing this, since going exclusive on the ground with trad bows, is the year I had shoulder surgery.  

I understand that this approach my not be typical, but for consistently putting lots of deer in the freezer, I've found it more effective than a typical "snap" shot. With lower weights, this is easy to do for me, with my shoulder issues.

[BrushWolf]

Originally posted by Mojostick:
You determine a comfortable draw weight in the same way you determine a comfortable pair of boots.

Just as you want to try boots or shoes on late in the afternoon when your feet have swelled, consider hunting conditions where it may be cold, you may have on layers, you may be shooting at a more odd angle or from your knee's, etc.

Don't determine a peak weight in the Summer when you're standing flat footed in a tee shirt on a nice 80 degree day. Think about sitting, in 30 degree temps, you haven't moved hardly a muscle in 3 hours and now your cranked up because a spooky deer showed up 15 yards in front of you and the winds just died, leaving the woods dead quiet. Do you want a really easy draw or a draw that's 5 pounds too much for you?

As with boots, can you walk in them all day and still enjoy the day? Now, with bow weight, can you shoot or stump for extended times and enjoy it?

Consider real world hunting situations, not practice on the range. If need be, can you hold calmly at full draw for 10 seconds if you had to do so or would you be shaking? If you can hold comfortably at "anchor" for 10 seconds, and I understand that anchor isn't a necessarily a stopping place but hunting situations often cause quick adjustments, then you should be in good shape.

For my style of natural ground blind hunting, I have tons of brush in front and behind me, with just a small "window" for the shot and I draw and hold just as the deer is entering the "window" and then shoot when the deer has walked into my "window", while I'm at anchor. I shoot very short range and light weights and it's proven very successful since I completely stopped hunting from treestands. The only year I haven't shot at least one deer doing this, since going exclusive on the ground with trad bows, is the year I had shoulder surgery.  

I understand that this approach my not be typical, but for consistently putting lots of deer in the freezer, I've found it more effective than a typical "snap" shot. With lower weights, this is easy to do for me, with my shoulder issues.

I never really looked at it that way. You might have hit the nail on the head

[BrushWolf]

Originally posted by bentpole:
Did you shoot a compound previously? If so what was the poundage? I shot 85#/75# Compounds years ago. I started with a 55# @ 28 recurve. DO NOT OVERBOW yourself. Accuracy will suffer.

Have shoot a compound since I was about 10years old.

[Tajue17]

I have two draw weights,,,, one is my preferred hunting weight which is 56# and the other is my all day shooting weight which is 48# which is for shooting all day or all weekend and doesn't leave me too sore or develop bad habits (which can be hard to fix) .

[Moots]

I too have a lighter weight for target (50#) and a heavier weight for hunting (60#).

For awhile, I was going heavier in draw weight because I shot those bows more accurately.  My release was cleaner with the heavier draw weights.  Then I realized that I needed to clean up my technique and that I shouldn't rely on a heavier draw weight to accomplish that.

[Birdbow]

Brushwolf makes a good point. As the weather gets cold and after sitting still on stand for awhile, my comfortable draw weight comes down. I will use a lighter draw weight bow later in the season.

[Mojostick]

"I practice with it all summer standing, sitting, and from a tree stand. Then a few time during season before leave my stand I try to shoot a leaf and struggled to get to anchor. Maybe it was just from the cold don't know."

No, it's from too much bow. Drop from 54 to 45 and you'll be in super shape.

[Mojostick]

The added bonus of dropping weight is that the performance likely won't suffer and may even increase.

If you're short drawing your 54lbs, you may be drawing more like 50lbs and you're not opening up the limbs. If you went to 45lbs, you may find you can achieve your real draw for the first time and you may pick up and inch plus, so you may be drawing more like 48-49lbs and now you've opened up the limbs, thus possibly getting better speed/performance from your 45lbs than you ever got from your 54. And more accuracy, since it's comfortable and you're not struggling.

[dbd870]

I have early 70's 45 & a 50 lb Grizzlys (more like 48 & 53# with my draw). The 45# is all I'm shooting at the moment. I'll play with the 50# this summer as well and see how they each do, if I'm shooting the 50 as well as the 45 by hunting season it will go, if not the 45 will go. If you don't have a 3 piece where you can replace limbs I like the idea of having the same model bow in 2 or 3 different draw weights.

[mike g]

When I used to shoot a lot of 3D shoots, they where around 84 shots, 2 arrows X 42 Targets, So I practiced until I could shoot around 160 arrows with out getting tired...
    A lot of shooters would get tired and blow the last few targets and I would just be warming up....
    And I always used the same bow for shoots and Hunting....
    A 40 pound bow with a well placed shot can kill anything in North America....
    My Howard Hill Big Five is 50#....

[KeganM]

I agree 1000% with Mojostick, my draw length has increased almost 3" since going to the lighter bows, and I'm getting almost the same speed with a higher gpp because of it. Really quiets a bow down, and soaks up a lot of handshock.

[nineworlds9]

A person's comfortable weight is only limited and/or dictated by how much they practice with a variety of different weight bows and what raw material they are gifted with from birth or by age/infirmity.  There is no magic or 'recommended' number.  You can either build up your strength and nervous system to handle higher weight if that is what is fun and effective to you AKA 'comfortable', and shoot on a regular year round basis, or you can say '45' or '50' and only practice right before hunting season.  It's all what you want to get out of it and put in to it.  As a big healthy 32 year old who tries to shoot nearly every day if I can help it, I don't find bows under 48-50#@28 very enjoyable to shoot with the goal of hunting in mind.  Yes, I know if you keep gpp the same 'theoretically' trajectories should stay about the same, but I just find I like the cast and leeway a bit better when things go above 50#.  I draw a hair over 29" so that range for me could also be called 50-52@29 minimum.  It's nice to have to work for something.  It's part of manhood to me.  My current accepted challenge is to become proficient shooting a 94# Hill bow at hunting distances.  I would like to be 'comfortable' shooting that bow.  It is fun, makes shooting my 50-58# bows much easier, and forces one to develop the proper muscles used for drawing a bow.

Edit- I know this thread was primarily interested in discussing what's 'comfortable' but I couldn't help but touch on the importance of going outside the comfort zone or at the least redefining what 'comfortable' is.  Comfortable doesn't necessarily have to mean 'easy'.

[Mojostick]

Nine,

Twenty years ago, I used to be able to do 30 one handed pushup's with my right arm and 30 one handed pushup's with my left arm. Then there was a time where a licensed therapist had to take a 1 pound weight from my hand because I couldn't lift it 30".

If you ever have to wear one of these things for a few months, you may discover the true meaning of comfort...                :D  

     

     

[MacRae]

#60 for me....for everything...

[bowfanatik]

Hi
well , my experience is ...i shoot comfortably 60 pound on my draw length . Then i decide to use another bow (t/d) and my friend make me one 70 pounder . I try that bow and i was shooting accurately  with him , but after couple days i feel pain in my shoulders .So ,now i must wait and heal .And go back on 60 pound if i have luck .

[manitou1]

Most of the world class shooters I know that shoot the World and National championships, including the group of friends I shoot with all shoot in the 40-45 lb. draw weights... for a reason. Those same folks hunt with those draw weights... and kill effectively.  Better accuracy and confidence.  Not all, but many, many folks over-bow themselves.
Heavy bows can take a toll on the shoulders and arms over the years.  Just sayin'
Just shoot what is comfortable to shoot A LOT. If you hunt, take into consideration shooting with a lot of clothes on after sitting in the cold for a few hours.

[nineworlds9]

Mojo-
That sucks man!!  I always train safe and take it slow.  I warm up before I pull back my bows.  Even in the woods I take a draw here and there to keep things limber.  And I take rest days, eat my protein, and hit the gym to cross train my muscles.  So far so good.  I have a lot of fun pulling the heavier stuff.  My form bow is 42@28, my go-to hunting bows are marked 48@28, 55@29, and 56@28.  Currently I shoot the 56@28 bow most often.  I have a 65@29, 75@28, and 94@29 for my current heavier bows.

[stick33]

Take that 94, cut it in half and you have my desired weight!