Draw Weight

[Buckhunter10]

I ordered a Motive 7 60 lb bow and planned on maxing it out, rather than getting a 70 and dropping it down. I am hoping it gets to about 63 lbs. How far would the effective range be?

 

[Winchester]

Compound bows are designed to be maxed out and will shoot better this way. Effective range will be as far as you become proficient with it. 60 lbs is plenty to get you out to 40 yards and beyond, which is imo a long shot in the hardwoods of TN.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

Just watch how your arrow flies. If it is going straight, then you should be good. I had a 70 pound pull tuned down to 62, and it kinda lobbed arrows in an arc beyond 30 yards. They lost a lot of momentum beyond that. With the 60 pulling all out, it makes 40's straight on, no problem.

 

[TJS209]

Your effective range is however far you can shoot comfortably, accurately, and consistently.

 

[infoman jr.]

With the 60 pulling all out, it makes 40's straight on, no problem.

Care to translate?

 

[TNGunsmoke]

With the 60 pulling all out, it makes 40's straight on, no problem.

Care to translate?

With 60 pound limbs(I replaced the limbs with 60 pound draw ones instead of the 70 pound ones it came with, sorry, forgot to mention that.), set at 60 pounds, everything works like it's supposed to and it shoots straight instead of lobbing the arrow.

 

[infoman jr.]

Thanks. That helps.

I'm still not sure I'm with you when you talk about lobbing the arrow. The arrow's trajectory is one big arch, and with arrows being the same, is controlled solely by velocity. Did you check your arrow velocity in both setups?

 

[102]

Last November, I injured my neck. I could not draw my 63 pound hunting rig so I got out my back up bow and dropped it down to 47 pounds.

It took some serious physical therapy, but I slowly got my strength back in my left arm to be able to pull, and hold that 47 pound back up bow. This past January, I took not one but TWO fat antlerless deer. One at 22 yards, the other at 27 yards. They both fell in sight.

THis made me re-think the whole higher poundage thing. I now could shoot 65-70 pounds comfortably but have chosen to shoot 57.

I am certain that with my 374 grain finished arrow, at 261 fps, I will have no problem with pass thrus on the largest deer this season.
Even at 40 yards.

 

[knightrider]

ordering a new one next year and it will be 50 max no reason for more with todays hight tech gear and a sharp broadhead on any white tail walking

 

[BHC]

Realise that there is a big difference in hitting a target considtantly and accurately... And hitting a deer considtantly an accurately. For instance my bow shoots 265fps hunt ready. I'm very confident out to 50-55 yrds. A few yrs ago I shot a nice buck at 52 yrds. That deer moved a whole lot before the arrow ever got there. I know because this is the first hunt I ever videod.. That buck dropped all the way to where his belly nearly touched the ground, then begain to leap forward as the arrow cracked right behind his upper shoulder. The cracking noise led me to believe that when he jumped his shoulder blades rotated back and that's why I got 0 penetration. The lesson was no matter how good I was with my bow at that distance I was relying on luck to make a good shot. I now do not shoot at deer over 45 yrds with that bow. It's maxed out at 70lbs. But in this day and age that really doesn't matter it's about the bow you have. I work at gander mtn and can show you bows that at 55lbs will shoot faster than my bow on 70lbs. My .02, if you aren't shooting over 250fps then keep it inside 40 yrds aid your not over 300fps then don't exceed 45 yrd shots. There are bows that shoot 350fps and in the right hands it is likely very deadly at up to 60yrds... The first thing to consider is your skill level, I'd try to at minimum be able to hold a 4" group to consider myself effective at that range. Next consider the equipment you are using. Compound bows made 10 yrs ago are not even comparable to those made 20 yrs ago. And compound bows made today are not comparable to those made 10 yrs ago... I have a PSE triton, that's a 2004 model and ready to hunt it will not exceed 270fps, PSE's cheapest bow out right now would shoot over 280fps ready to hunt....

 

[GoldenEagle09]

5,000 lbs draw... lol jk 70!

 

[TNGunsmoke]

I'm still not sure I'm with you when you talk about lobbing the arrow. The arrow's trajectory is one big arch, and with arrows being the same, is controlled solely by velocity. Did you check your arrow velocity in both setups?

What I mean by lobbing, is that the arc at ranges beyond 30 yards was so severe, that to me, it looked almost like a mortar rounds trajectory(not quite that extreme, but you get the picture). There is a much flatter trajectory with the lighter draw weight limbs vs the heavier ones when both are set to the same poundage.

I have no way to check velocity, so I have never done it.

 

[MattR]

I don't see how 62 lb draw weight on a 70# bow could make it lob only after it goes 30 yds. It would just drop quicker after 30 right? I could see it dropping quicker after 30 yds because there is less force. So a bow shooting at 60 pounds with 70# limbs wouldn't shoot as good as a bow shooting at 60 pounds with 60# limbs?

 

[Born and Raised]

It's obvious that the bow isn't tuned properly because you wouldn't notice any significant difference in an arrow's trajectory between a bow set at 62# vs 70#. You're looking at roughly 15fps difference. I have a 70# bow set at 62# for hunting season and I'm producing 309fps. At that speed I use a single pin to 40 yards which I consider to be my effective range. I routinely practice shooting pie plates at 100 yards but there's no way I'd consider shooting at an animal that far. Your effective range should be a range you feel comfortable in placing a lethal shot on an animal 100% of the time. I'm not saying you'll get 100% retrieval but that comfort level should be your goal.

 

[catman529]

My bow is maxed out at low 60s and I get nearly a foot of drop between 20 and 30 yards. I have 2 pins, one for 20 and one for 30 and my arrows are light, not sure why the trajectory isn't flatter, maybe because its an older bow.

 

[Born and Raised]

My bow is maxed out at low 60s and I get nearly a foot of drop between 20 and 30 yards. I have 2 pins, one for 20 and one for 30 and my arrows are light, not sure why the trajectory isn't flatter, maybe because its an older bow.

Speed makes a big difference but 1ft in a 30ft span at short range is significant. You may want to doublecheck the tune on your bow and the spine of your arrows. I've got a 20 year old High Country I monkey around with from time to time and only see a couple inch drop at 30 yards.

 

[MattR]

Yea 1 ft is a bit much I think. My old 50# limb Martin has maybe 6 inch drop between 20 and 30. But as long as you know where it will hit thats all that matters

 

[catman529]

My bow is maxed out at low 60s and I get nearly a foot of drop between 20 and 30 yards. I have 2 pins, one for 20 and one for 30 and my arrows are light, not sure why the trajectory isn't flatter, maybe because its an older bow.

Speed makes a big difference but 1ft in a 30ft span at short range is significant. You may want to doublecheck the tune on your bow and the spine of your arrows. I've got a 20 year old High Country I monkey around with from time to time and only see a couple inch drop at 30 yards.

my previous bow of the same make had the same problem. But this year I bought arrows of the correct spine and had them cut to length. I don't know why it shoots slow, but it sure does kill deer out to 20 yards no problem