Paul, my daughters first whitetail kill came while she was useing her compound set at 35 lbs, She had a complete pas through andshe was useing beamen arrows with a 85 grain thunderhead.. Walt

Paulk, my Father used to hunt with a 40 pound recurve, it was plenty for deer, also look at this quote from OL Adcock (top name bowyer) talking on longbows:

Now I bet your sons 32 pound compound will put out about the same energy as a 40 pound longbow.

Don't deprive your son the experience when he is asking for it is MHO.

Either way you chose it's great to see a father taking the time to teach!!! I think 32 lbs. is enough, but with a kid you're gonna have to be right there, andYOU should make the decision on whether or not to shoot. Being the experienced hunter, you're passing along how to judge an ethical shot situation. I would definately take him out, but with the understanding and explanation (to him) that only the perfect shot will work with this bow, and he may not get that chance this season. Also, does your state require aminimum grain arrow?Andif so, will hisbow accomodate that size? A lot of states out west require minimum lbs on equip as well as minimum grain arrow. In Ut., Id. andWy. I think 300 is the min. arrow grain and 40 lbs min. bow, but we're shooting mostly muleys and elk (quite a bit larger than whiteys.)

My son shot his first deer last year at 18 yds complete pass through double lung him and he was shooting 35# with 100 gr thunderheads

Since my grandpa's heart surgery he can't pull back what he used to. He pulls 37lbs on his Hoyt and shoots plenty of deer each year.

We have a new hunting age in Michigan this year, 10 to bow hunt deer!! I will be in this same situation next year with my son, and went through it last year with my daughter.
I dont like to say this because this is not how I like to hunt.
Take them out and let them hunt, mentor them, and get them the best equiptment you can that will increase there chance of a clean kill. The key is to get them interested and let them learn the sport. Let them know that there is a good possibility that they could loose the deer and go from there.
Should it not do the job... Owell.... it is the experience and time spent you child, and they will learn from it either way. They will learn your ethics in time, just make it the best experience you can.

Learn ethics later. Ok, how much later. After 10 or 20 wounded, possibly dead, deer are "practiced" on? I totally disagree withyou.
You say, "they will learn from it either way" and you are exactly right, but what would you be teaching them? That deer are nothing more than"live practice?"If you wound or cripple one, don't worry about it there are plenty more deer in the woods??
I think ethics should be taught first and if not first theethics must be taught along with our heritage of hunting!

I'm putting this back up top, because I'd really like AR 34 to reply to my questions.

I don't think anybody said it but also try to pick a head that is narrow. About 1" to 1 1/8".

I'd say that 40# would be the absolute minimum that I would allow anyone to hunt deer with, and I'd cap the yardage at or near 20.

farm - I know AR pretty well, and I think you're misinterpreting what he's saying, or he just came across incorrectly. Trust me, he's not the kind of guy who turns a ten-year-old loose with a bow, leaving a trail of crippled deer in his wake. He's a stand-up guy, and would never let anyone just go willy-nilly through the woods taking irresponsible shots with irresponsible equipment, just for the sake of having a good time.

Instead, I think he was trying to say that anytime you have first-time bowhunters, there is some risk of making a bad shot - we've all done it when we were kids (at least I know I have). You grow from it and move on. Those are things that you have to experience to appreciate - you can say "yeah well, it would really stink to hit a deer and have it get away," but you really don't know until you've been there, losing sleep for 2-3-4 days, wishing you'd done X or Y, hoping that it's not suffering somewhere.