i've been reading a little bit and i'm interested. how much weight do i need for whitetail hunting at moderate ranges? (20-35yards) what's the lowest weight you've heard used?

I dont know about the lowest thats ever been tried but here in wisconsin the legal min. limit is 100lbs for a crossbow with a min. of 14" arrow

for vertical bows its 30lbs with a min. broadhead width of 7/8"

my sons bow is 30lbs(maybe a little under)and its surprisingly capable of flinging an arrow with some force and actually gets pretty good target penetration, I wouldnt try 30 yards with it but out to 15, maybe 20 yards max(with a good shot) hissetupwould take a deer

In my opinion you owe it to the critter your hunting to use the draw weight that insures a clean kill at whatever distance and circumstance you shoot. Using a lighter draw weightwould mean you have to limit yourself to shorter distances.Hunting with a Horizontal bow or a vertical bow requires common sense, confidence in your equipment , knowing your limitations, knowing when NOT to shootplus a lot of patience!
It is really not the kill that makes the hunt. That's the anti climatic end to a good hunt!

I'm looking at my range out back (in the snow) as we speak. There is a world of difference between 20 and 35 yards. Twenty 20 perhaps, 35 may be stretching a 100 lbr a bit. I'm sure it can be done with patience and good shooting. I'd rather be sure on our large northern withetails and opt for a 150 compound and 200 Excal. If it's a issue of drawing the bow, there are mechanical devices that will enable that.

Seif, what I do if I have a bow that I am not sure of is to figure the kinetic energy, you need at least 25 ft. lbs.
to hunt deer here is a chart with some useful info.
Hope this helps Martin

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/practical_bowhunter/penetration/index.cfm

In Pa, your CB must have a minimum draw weight of 125lbs.

kk. thanks for all the help guys.

I had an 80 lb pull Whammo, it was a real pig. 10 pt has one called a Slider or Pro Slider that does 3 weights from 90, 125, then either 150 or 175, not sure. 125 lbs would be great for turkey, but marginal for deer, imho. About the lowest weight hunting bows are 150 lbs. W/ a rope cocker, they only need 1/2 that effort to cock them if that's your concern.

drawing the bow isn't a problem for me. i just noticed that cost is relevant to strength. and since i'm just starting i don't feel the need to break the bank.

i'm eyeballing a 150# Barnett Wildcat (recurve) on ebay for $75 seemed to be a decent value. It comes with the bow removal tool and 3 bolts. although i can't help niticing that recurves have significantly less energy..[&:]

Lol, where did you get that notion? My two "recurves" get 78 and 101 ft lbs of ke. You can't just go by the pound pull, you have to figure the power stroke in too. $75 ain't much, lol. have fun.