I am looking at new bows and have as usual overthought the situation. I currently shoot around 65 lb out of a 60-70 lb bow. I am thinking of dropping to a 50-60 lb limb bow and maxing it out. I have been told that a bow shoots best in its upper range of lbs... quieter ? Is that a true statement or not? I figure I will get 62+ out of a maxed 60lb bow. I like the idea of being able to go up more but if it shoots better the other way it would be worth getting the lighter bow. I am finding that in some blind hunting and stalking a lighter draw would be nice at times anyway. Thanks in advance!

With the advent of pivoting limb pockets it's not as true as it used to be but still holds merit. The real question is will you notice the difference between a maxed out bow and one in it's mid range? Probably not.

RS, I was in the same position you are in and picked a 60# maxed bow that shoots as much speed/energy as the 65# bow it replaced as my primary.

One thing I noticed while shopping for it was my bow of choice usually maxed right at 60#. Buying one that maxed over (61#) had to be ordered that way. The pro shop owner who had just returned from a dealer school said the tolerances on limbs were so tight that producing them out of the desired range wasn't as common as it used to be.

BUT from what I hear there is another big 3 brand that will easily pull 62-63# out of its 60# limbs. Don't know for sure, only what I've been told.


I also dropped down to ~60 because of the factors you mentioned.

Good luck in your search for the right answer