Hi all,

I live in Louisiana and my states minimum draw weight is 35 lbs and I am just wanting to start shooting traditional with a recurve, should I just go for the 35lbs and wait until my form develops or should I just go with the 45 lb for whitetails. Also , I have a short draw shooting a recurve of 28 ". What do you guys think. Any and all replies appreciated. Thanks and HH.

Joey

I think 45# is a good weight. If you feel you need to move up someday, you can. But, 45# will killall thegame you are ever going to run into in LA.
People have killed deer with 35# bows, but in my opinion, it's a little light. You might not get good penetration witha marginal hit.

Go with what you can shoot comfortably. I wouldn't hunt with less than a 45# pull. A lighter bow will allow you to shoot more but if you can pull 45 or 50 I would go with that. I shoot a 47# and get good penetration at 30 yrds. It really comes down to personal preferance.

Start out with a draw weight you are comfortable with and learn to shoot it. That may mean something lighter than you can hunt with, but it won't matter if you have a 100# bow if you aren't able to put the arrow in the right spot. Consider this: when you want to hunt with a gun, you don't learn to shoot with a 30-.06 or a 12 gauge with slugs--you have to start out with something you are comfortably in control of and move up from there.

Some folks can learn to shoot with 45# bows, many can not. Probably the most common, and one of the worst mistakes new archers make is going with a bow that is too heavy in draw weight. This will cause you to develop bad habits that are a devil to break. Get the light bow first, and later on you can sell it, keep it for a target/plinking bow, or better yet use it to introduce someone else to the sport. Another option is to get a take-down bow. You can buy two sets of limbs, or later on when you have established your form you can get a heavier set for hunting.

Good luck!

Chad