Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Who believes that you need more than 60 lbs of draw weight to kill any big game animal in North America?

With today's high speed bows, I don't think so. What is everyone elses thoughts?

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I don't think we need more than 40 lbs. to kill any North American big game animal.

I think we owe it to the animal, however, to shoot more than that to ensure a quick, clean, ethical kill.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

ive killed game with just about every poundage and i say you dont have to shoot sixty ive killed small does with my 30lbs learning bow with no problems

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

60 is no doubt enough BUT the more energy, the more margin for error. How much is enough depends on the game, the situation and the shot.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Agree with the above however, with added poundage comes added KE, perhaps not necessary but it comes down to shoot what is comfortable, right now, I pull 70lbs with ease, as I age, it'll decrease.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

My thoughts exactly. A perfect shot will kill with a 30 pound bow. But what if you hit bone? I like 70 pounds and heavy arrows just in case I hit the shoulder bone or a rib.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I shoot 65 out of my Allegiance, coupled with its speed mods, in case I accidentally smack a big shoulder bone on a mature Illinois brute...

Do I need it when the shot is absolutely perfect? No way. The fact I had to pull eight inches of my arrow out of the dirt after passing through that big mature doe Tuesday night tells me that -- and that after some of the KE was used deploying a big inch-and-a-half mech. But I'm a lot more comfortable knowing all that KE is there if I'm off in my shot placement a touch.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I dont think so. But I do agree with everyone about the more the ke the better. I am pulling like 55 and it does a good job on deer.

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[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Guys,

It has nothing to do with penetrating or getting a pass through. True, if you hit a blade more power = pass through. There is that point where less poundagebecomes no pass through. It all has to do with distance and accuracy, period. There is a reason the states maintain the 35# limit (give or take where you all live). It will kill the game just as quick with a good shot. You slice the heart and/or lung the animal will drop just as quick. Pass through has to do with tracking. The animal will die just as quick with or without pass through.

Poundage has to do with: More power = flatter projectory = less pins. Rule of thumb, if you can't pull your bow straight back smoothly with your arm projecting towards the deer, you are over bowed. For those of you who feel the Pythagorean theory doesn't work for distance/angle away from the tree, your almost correct. You have to add in the acceleration of gravity and it works out dam close neglecting the wind resistance of the arrow. Yes deer, (my wife) I really did study all those years while I was at happy hour after class. :D

Good luck

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Good point Mouse. Plus your bow shoots at its opitiman level when it is maxed out. As stated though you shouldnt pull more than you can handle.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

i dont because i use 50 pounds and i still kill deer but i like to keep my shots within 20 for a buck and 30 yards for a doe.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I doubt anyone could kill a deer without at least 320fps and at least 80lbs KE..........and for guns nothing short of a 300WSSM will even come close.











:eek:


C'mon guys...........it's a freaking oversized rabbit..........not a Sherman Tank

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Now you can hunt tanks too...just get you some new Easton Full Metal Jackets. They will pierce right through that wimpy metal armor.:D

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

How in the world does more poundage equate to dead deer faster???? A bow set at 40 pounds can and will pass completely through a deer at 20 yards. Likewise, a bow set at 70 pounds can and will pass completely through a deer at 20 yards.....How does more poundage kill the deer quicker???

Yeah, yeah, I know the political answer. If you hit a shoulder blade you have more energy to punch through it. While that IS true, it still doesn't guarantee that you WILL...Let's say you hit the near shoulder blade w/ a 40 pound bow at 20 yards...I would be willing to bet you clear that blade and get into the heart/lung area. Dead deer, and that's all there is to it.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

An arrow flung from that same 40 pound may stop short of both lungs on an elk, moose, or even a deer if heavy bone is encountered. But my bow generating more than 80 pounds of KE will have a much much much better chance of breaking through that same bone and cutting through both lungs.

If you can handle more poundage accurately, especially if you have a short draw length, the more energy you have to turn a marginal shot into the shoulder into a double lung shot. It also allows a person to take shots that another person should pass up. I have no qualms about taking a quartering to shot through the shoulder causeI know that I have plenty enough energy and momentum to get more than enough penetration. My son would have to pass a shot like this.

My son would also have to pass up a deer at 40 or 50yards where asI could easily zip right through it.

Wouldyouwant to take on Grizzly bears with a 35 or40 pound bow? How about Polar bears, how about a 2200 pound trophy Bison? How about a trophy carabou hunt where shots could easily reach out to 50+ yards?



Here is a better question.

Why does it matter to anyone else how much weight a person is drawing with their bow. If I could easily draw and shoot a 100 pound bow as well as I could a 70 pound bow you can dang sure bet I would be shooting it. That would equate to about a 600 grain arrow at 300fps. :D

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I think many people shoot more weight than they can handle leading to bad form, poor accuracy etc. I have no problem with people that can handle higher poundage bows with ease but I think many people think they need or want to shoot a 70 lb bow that they might not be able to handle when they would be better off shooting a lower poundage bow.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

My bow scales at 67 lbs
I can pull it standing on my head(if I could stand on my head)
I get complete pass thrus on 90% of the deer I shoot

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Yes, this is VERY true. I see it all the time and they immediately get advise to lower their draw weight. Though many don't like to hear it. I usually have them sit on the floor with their legs crossed and have them pull straight back with out raising their bow arm or leaning backwards.

It all boils down to individual people knowing their limitations.

I had a husband and wife come in a few weeks ago to get her a bow. She could only pull back about 40 pounds, depending on the bow. He was calling her weak, telling me to turn up the poundage, telling her that she needs to get stronger etc... I just about had to get rude with him but being the nice guy I am;) I just turned aroundand lowered the poundage to where I knew that she was comfortable. He wouldn't know the differance any how.

I see the same thing with kids and dads. Then you get thedads that bring in their kid two weeks before season to get him his first bow and then get offended when I suggest that the child not go hunting and wait until next hunting season until he has put in the time to get proficient with his bow.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

From everything that I remember growing up that 45lbs is the weight needed to bring down a white tail. So I would think with the proper shot and distance there should be no prblem taking down bigger animals with less than 60lbs.

Tim

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

What the ???? Why does your ethical range change depending on the sex of the animal? That is the most insane thing I've heard on this forum in a long time. You owe that doe the same respect that you'd give the buck. If you don't think you canmake a 30 yard shot on a buck what makes you think you're going to make it on the doe? Or is it that wounding a doe is more acceptable than wounding a buck because does are more abundant?

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Yea I really don't understand that thinking either.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I'm no expert or technical guru with a bow, but that doesn't stop me from having my own theories!

I'm not a big guy, but I'm fairly strongand could probably be pulling back around 65 to 70 pounds. I don't. I pull around 58 to 60 lbs (which is near the top of my bow's range). I know more pounds would give me a flatter trajectory, which gives me more leeway with distance estimation at longer distances. I also use a bow with a small axle-to-axle length with adraw length that is, if anything, a little bit on the short side. I know a longer axle-to-axle length would make it easier to shoot more accurately and that a longer draw length would essentially have the same effect as drawing more weight.

Why do I do these dumb things you ask?

The short answer is they give me more shot options.

I hunt in the woods, and so I’m not shooting 40 yards, I probably couldn’t shoot much more than 25 or 30 yards max, without hitting branches, unless I just cleared out an area (I do clear out several very specific and strategic shooting lanes out to about 25 yards). So the flatter trajectory doesn’t matter so much to me. If I'm pulling back a bow that I can easily draw and hold for a significant amount of time, then this allows me more options to draw when the deer isn’t looking and hold that draw until they go through one of my shooting lanes and I have a good, ethical shot. Having a short axle-to-axle length means that my bow is more maneuverable and I can shoot from more angles without hitting my tree trunk or branches, my tree stand or myself. And, since I’m only shooting out to about 25 yards anyways, I feel very comfortable with the accuracy I have out to that distance. Using a shorter draw length helps with holding at full draw for longer, if I need to, to take an ethical shot, and also helps with the maneuverability factor.

Maybe this sounds weird, but it seems to work for me.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

bows w/ pivoting limb pockets aren't more efficient bottomed out.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

How do you figure that?

A limb that is optimally flexed is going to be more eficient than a limb that isn't. Regardless of what kind of pocket it sits in.

The only real benefit to a pivoting limb pocket is the fact that the limb is sitting completely inside the pocket and is more secure. It is still stressed in all the same places as they were before pivoting pockets.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I couldn't agree more

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Far better to pull a bow with less poundage than wrestle with to much on a cold morning fully wrapped in clothing. After a couple of back surgeries I shoot 58 pounds or so during late summer/early fall practice and then back in down to 50 pounds to hunt with. I see alot of folks fight to pull a heavy bow and that translates into alot of extra movement in a hunting situation. My first deer with a bow was with an old Ben Pearson recurve @ 30 pounds and itkilled her quicker than I can spend $100 at Cabelas.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

all i can say bigbulls is check it out. shoot a 70# bow of same draw, type, strings, arrows, rest, and all that - backed down to 60# against a 60# bow that's identical.


also, i think you folks are leaving something out - drawlength. say i'm shooting a 29.5" drawlength at 60# and someone else is shooting a 27.5" identical setup at 70# - who's got more force?

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

That, and seems several guys are only thinking about thier little whitetails, when the original posters said "any N.A. animal." I'd want as much as I could get if I was lookin' at griz. or moose!
I do know a lady that has taken 4 bull elk in the last 5 years and she has a 27" draw and is only pulling around 45#'s! It's all about shot distance and placement!

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

Been shooting 53lbs now for two years,working fine,just keep the broad
heads sharp,and hit the spot!:)

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I shoot 58 lbs. I don't remember off hand what my draw length is, but I think its 28". The last deer I killed with it was a doe at 15 yards. My arrow hit just a little bit further forward than I wanted and drilled the shoulder blade.But that didn't stop my arrow, neither did the shoulder blade on the opposite side. The arrow was laying on the ground a few feet from where she was standing when I shot.

Unless you are hunting a few specific animals that are dangerous and extremely tough, draw weight it not what kills. Thats only 1 factor in the equation. Draw weight, arrow length, arrow weight,haveing the correct arrow spline for your draw weight,kenetic energy, good sharp broad heads, correct shot placement, and limiting your maxium shooting distanceis what kills. But no, you don't need heavy draw weight to kill most big game with. In fact you might be better off with a lower draw weight.

RE: Who thinks you need more than 60 lbs?
 

I like 64 lbs..