ORIGINAL: JoshKeller
I've shot a 70-80 lb bow, a few 60 - 70's, and a few 50 - 60's. with the energy todays bows are capable of producing, and my long draw length, my next bow will be a 40 - 50, maxed out. Nothing more is needed for deer.
I'm thinking about the same thing for my next bow, 40 - 50 #. I think that energy is overrated on medium sized animals like deer. Whether you have 50 ft lbs or 100 ft lbs of energy, the arrow will pass through expending none of this energy on the deer. Like MeanV said a few weeks back, he was forced to hunt with a 40# bow one year due to a shoulder injury. If I remember correctly he killed two deer that year and both were complete passthroughs.