Lowest draw weight you would hunt deer with?

[johndeere506]

So Ive been having some shoulder issues for over a year now. Last fall it was partially coming out of the socket (sublaxing) as many as 50 times per day, not shooting a bow. I stopped target shooting, and hunted the rest of season with a crossbow. I was not impressed going to physical therapy, so Ive been hitting the gym 1-2 times per week to re-balance and strengthen. I havent pulled my bow at all yet. What the lowest weight you would consider hunting with? I used to shoot 65-70lbs on my Spyder 30, not the smoothest draw cycle but not bad either.

Im a self taught archer. I have a feeling the way I was drawing all along was straining my shoulder too hard, and the other injuries Ive had.

So, how low in weight would you go only shooting bigger bucks? I LOVE my compound and maybe Im just too stubborn to give it up too. Doc basically said hang it up last fall, but its gotten a lot better since then.

[wmihunter]

35 or 40 lbs

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[Ghost Hunter]

Here the minimum is 40 lbs. With today's bow I don't see that as a problem. But I don't think I would go below 50.

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[Hawthorne]

I shoot 52lb with only a 27" draw Bowtech and have had no provlem killing deer. With today's technology 40-45 pounds would be no problem either. I would use a razor sharp fixed blade head tho

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[stash59]

30 lbs. Going to a heavier weight forward arrow would also help.http://www.ezflipmags.com/Magazines/View/ArrowTrade_Magazine/39/78/

Here's a link on FOC arrows. Plus you can find more articles on the site.

[Hodag Hunter]

I have witnessed pass throughs with 30 pounds with deer and 40lbs with black bear.

Not large bucks, deer were 60-100 pound dressed.

It's all about a good cut on contact head and shot placement.

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[Hawthorne]

I add 100 grain brass inserts to my arrows with a 125 grain slick tricks and have blown thru shoulder bones and penetrated lungs with my 52lbs. There was a guy on one of the traditional bowhunting forums that killed a moose with a 43 lb recurve and heavy arrow

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[Dhurtubise]

One guy I know hunts with 35. Kills his deer every year.

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[stash59]

Many of the bows used by our ancesteral hunters were of lower poundages than even 30 lbs.

In Montana there isn't a poundage minimum. Many female hunters were only shooting 25-30 pounds. they were using pretty light arrows and still killed deer. Yes not many large mature bucks but with those setups I had my doubts even on smaller deer. But they proved effective enough with picking and placing a proper shot.

[cdeam]

I've taken several deer with complete pass through with my x200 recurve. 45lb @28". If you were pulling 70 before 45 would probably seem like a dream. I think the Nuge hunts with a 45 lb

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[bones09]

The newer bows set at 35-40lbs combined with a fixed head or cut on contact head would be plenty to kill a whitetail. I have a cousin that had shoulder surgery years ago that has killed many many deer with this setup.

[briar]

I shoot #51 and it shoots the exact same arrow as my old bow did at #61 at the same speed. I set it up with a little heavier arrow around 425 grains and am going to use exodus I am pretty sure. It shoots lights out with broadheads to 35 yards. I am so much more accurate I think because I can hold it forever and really settle the pin.

[oldrank]

40 lbs..with shots under 15 yrds

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[ThePreBanMan]

The right answer is - it depends..

If you're only drawing 26 inches that's entirely a different ball game then if you're drawing 30 inches. What's the brace height of the bow? What's the let off? A very rough comparison is that every inch of draw length equals about 10 pounds in draw weight. So by example consider someone shooting a 30 inch draw length at 50 lbs. Someone with a 26 inch draw would have to shoot 90 pounds to get the same weight arrow to the same level of energy. They could shoot a lighter arrow to get the same speed. But the lighter arrow will have less energy and less momentum... Energy and momentum is what it's all about..

So to answer by saying a number - like 50 pounds - is rather arbitrary. There is a better way to calculate...

Download a program like Archer's Advantage or Software for Archers and plug your setup into it. It will in turn give you mathematically and exactly accurate numbers on your arrow speed, foc, energy, momentum, etc. THAT is what you should go by. Then you'll know if your arrow has enough energy and momentum to kill deer in an ethical way.

Software for Archers is great. It will also let you see your shot trajectory, allow you to see if your shaft is too stiff or weak. It allows you to adjust the weight of the broadhead, etc so you can see if a heavier arrow will give you more energy and momentum... You can make tweaks to the setup to find the sweet spot that lets you crank out the most possible energy and momentum... I don't tune setups without consulting it.

[JoeRE]

What Stash said about high FOC arrows and ancestral hunters using pretty light draw weights by today's standards is what I think as well. It does not take much as long as you are willing to mind the details of your setup.

Put a heavy razor sharp two blade low cutting angle cut on contact broad head on the front of an arrow and I bet a person can get double lung penetration on a broadside deer within 20 yards every time with even a 30 lb recurve.

If you want to get into the more technical side of your setup PreBanMan gives some good advice too