Ok thanks I was going to shoot mechanicals but instead I'll shoot cut on contacts this year.

Good Choice. Mechs are definite no-no for 50 lbs, IMO.

35 pounds is the legal minimum weight in PA if that means anything. As the others stated though I would try to utilize a moderate to heavy arrow weight to get your momentum numbers up there. Couple that with a good cut on contact head and you should be fine.

Shot 50# recurve for several years had pass throughs most of the time and when I did not it was because I hit too many bones. IMO 50# is plenty

My sister killed her first deer (150# doe) with 37# and 24" draw. There is a woman in our club who shoots about 42# and 23" draw and gets complete passthroughs. The trick is to get the arrow flying as true as possible, use a good sharp broadhea, and limit the length of your shots. With 50# that means pretty much 30 yards max, which is going to end up being 90% of all shots at whitetails anyway.

You can do your homework and find that people still kill deer with 35# recurves which don't generate anything close to a 50# compound for energy. It's all in arrow flight and arrow placement.

50 pounds is plenty just watch your shot placement and keep it around 25 yrds

My grandpa can only pull back 37 pounds these days. He has no problems and gets deer every year. Make sure its a good shot though. Your not busting through bone at 35 pounds.