so since i'm new to bowhunting, im not used to using certain muscles that i need to shoot accurately. i have a machine that is pretty good for working out different parts of the torso. anyone know which ones i should be focusing on in order to help me keep the bow more stable and to be able to pull back more weight??

Welcome Saberbabe. I myself would shoot my bow as much as I could and you will be able to start pulling my weight on your bow. You might wanna work on your bisecps and forearms.

Push ups lat pull downs and rows will do the trick. I'm sure your stronger than Ed already.

One thing I do when the season rolls around (I have NO formal bow training......nor do I know if this is a great thing.....it just works, for me)....is use hand weights on the treadmill. One of the treadmill programs I utilize starts out with a warm-up session. During this warm-up.....I put 4lb (you could use lighter or heavier...depending on your strength) hand weights to go through a pretty vigorous warm up (walking on 4 to 4.5). I'm a former college baseball catcher that's had some shoulder issues.....and I can tell you that the muscles you're trying to strengthen (I'm talking ONLY about the muscles needed to stabilize the BOW hand)....aren't very large muscles....and they can't handle a lot of heavy weight lifting (w/out damage). Small weights and lots of reps (arms pumping....in my example) seem to work well. Having never shot a bow before last year......but having always been an athlete.....I thought the draw weight of the bow might beTHE big challenge. I gained draw weight very quickly.....but the weight of the bow.....for long practices.....was a challenge. Lifting light weights (as described) has helped a lot.

Good luck.

Jeff