My first 'real' bow kill - excluding rabbits, squirrels and assorted other small game and varmints - was a large feral hog. Don't know the weight of the beast because in the early 60's we didn't generally gage our success by which numbers showed up on the scales or the tape. All I know for certain is my grampa had to bring the tractor to drag it back to the barn.

I shot that pig with a 45 lb solid fiberglass Bear recurve, cedar arrow with a Pearson Deadhead broadhead. There is no way that bow would've generated more than 30 ft lbs of KE, it certainly didn't shoot over 150 fps -probably didn't even do that much - and the cedar arrow had to weigh closer to 600 grains than to 500.

All in all, that heavy arrow darn sure worked a lot better than if I'd hand thrown it. The difference was I was constantly practicing on sneaking up on animals. I watched cats hunting birds in the yard and mimicked them. I learned how to HUNT, not just shoot. I got close to my game before I shot.

Isn't it something that a 12-year old kid could be a successful hunter with equipment that most folks these days think is far too underpowered, far too slow... and far beyond their own capabilities?