Draw weight

[catman529]

When I dropped my bow off to get new strings I had it pulled on a scale, I was surprised it was only 58 pounds. It was either factory set at or has 60 lb limbs, and they are bottomed out, but it's an older bow. Does draw weight decrease over time? 58 pounds is fine with me, blew through the entire body of a big doe last year, went in behind the ribcage and out in front of the shoulder. But I thought I was pulling low 60s. No wonder its easy to draw....Interesting

 

[DaveB]

Gonzo claims his bow is set at 40 pounds I believe and there are PSE ads that say 40 pounds will kill as cleanly as 60.

I know the PSE ad is to sell bows. Anyone here stepped down to 40 pounds? My shoulder cannot take my PSE set at 60.

 

[knightrider]

40 pounds with cut on contact head like magnus will go in out stick in dirt on a 100lb doe broadside perfect heart shot 28 yards. have seen several run off with arrow hanging out other side held in by the fletchings only, but keep in mind 30 yards is our limit with him pulling 40lbs. 40lbs is very efficient if you now your equipment and its lethal ranges and yours as well. tn whitetails aint that tough lol

 

[UTGrad]

If strings get out of spec it can drop the draw weight.

 

[catman529]

If strings get out of spec it can drop the draw weight.

we will see once I get it back from Matt, I can't wait. Nice meeting you today

 

[ImThere]

New string it will probably be 60 again. I would think

 

[UTGrad]

If strings get out of spec it can drop the draw weight.

we will see once I get it back from Matt, I can't wait. Nice meeting you today

You to...enjoy the stabilizer.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Yes your now will kill cleanly and humanly set at 40 lbs.

The main reason to get the poundage up is to get more speed for arrow trajectory. Not penetration.

Ted Nugent like him or hate him is a big advocate for low poundage on bows. I think he sets his on 40 lbs and kills everything on the planet with his. Now garnet he is hunting high fences and such and not your typical joe but he is getting the job done with his equipment,

I was in the bow shop a few weeks ago and they set up a bow for a young lady set on 28 lbs because that is all she could pull. She went on a canned pig hunt and killed a nice pig with it.

 

[catman529]

Yes your now will kill cleanly and humanly set at 40 lbs.

The main reason to get the poundage up is to get more speed for arrow trajectory. Not penetration.

Ted Nugent like him or hate him is a big advocate for low poundage on bows. I think he sets his on 40 lbs and kills everything on the planet with his. Now garnet he is hunting high fences and such and not your typical joe but he is getting the job done with his equipment,

I was in the bow shop a few weeks ago and they set up a bow for a young lady set on 28 lbs because that is all she could pull. She went on a canned pig hunt and killed a nice pig with it.

I would gladly shoot 40 pounds if I got a recurve. A compound is easy enough to pull and hold that 60 pounds is fine with me. Plus my bow is not very flat shooting, so I don't want to go any lower. But I am fine with 58 as it's comfortable and I have killed a handful with it so far. I bet it will be a couple pounds heavier when I get it back... Looking forward to shooting a few more arrows. Haven't practiced in days

 

[robinhedd]

Had the same issue yesterday Catman. Bottomed out my bow pulled 67 lbs. I put a new set of Vaportrail string and cable and it returned the bow to factory specs. 70.5 lbs bottomed out and they timed the cam perfectly. I had let a local string builder re-string it, never again. Vaportrail or 60X threads from now on for me. Both are awesome. RH

 

[102]

Cat,
The weight of the bow is only part of the equation for penetration. THe right amount of Kinetic Energy and perfect arrow flight, along with cut on contact heads and shot placement all play a huge part in penetration.

For example, one of my buddies shoots a very light poundage bow, (40 pounds) paired up with a 300 grain finished arrow, he is producing 49 pounds of Kinetic Energy.
Whitetailed deer need only about 25-41 pounds of KE to do the job so he has more than enough.

Add a COC head like a Magnus Stinger and Voila, pass through.

And for those who talk about shoulder pass throughs, I say POO POO! Yes maybe the scapula, but certainly NOT the ball sockets, with MOST set-ups except the very heaviest.

I presently am shooting (and have been) 57 pounds with a 380 grain arrow. I almost always get complete pass throughs.

 

[cdtac1]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

 

[102]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

So true. I have seen this really increase since the popularity of mechanicals has increased so much.

 

[strutter rutter]

62lbs

 

[TNDeerGuy]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

So true. I have seen this really increase since the popularity of mechanicals has increased so much.

Are you saying there is a decrease in people trying to get their bow/arrows perfectly tuned?

 

[bowhunter163]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

So true. I have seen this really increase since the popularity of mechanicals has increased so much.

Are you saying there is a decrease in people trying to get their bow/arrows perfectly tuned?

I think the majority of people fall into the "good enough" category . The less amount of work they have to put in , the better .

 

[UTGrad]

I can say this, shooting a mechanical from a bow that can shoot bare shafts at 20 yards is pure bliss. I have 100% confidence my mechanical tipped arrow is going to hit just like my field points I practice with everyday.

 

[102]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

So true. I have seen this really increase since the popularity of mechanicals has increased so much.

Are you saying there is a decrease in people trying to get their bow/arrows perfectly tuned?

I don't know if I could say there is an "increase", I would say that I have noticed poor arrow flight much more frequently in person...AND on TV shows. Some are quite pathetic in fact. I have corresponded with more than one TV personality who openly admitted to having their bow set up for them just pryor to their arrival in camp and only getting a few shots off before TV time.

The truth is that with the advent of more popular mechanicals, perfect arrow flight and tuning simply may not be as critical.

I can also say this with complete confidence. Any bow I have ever seen that shoots bullets through paper with fixed heads, ALWAYS shoots mechanical heads great. But often times, (NOT ALWAYS) a bow that shoots mechanicals "perfect" will NOT shoot fixed blades.

 

[102]

I can say this, shooting a mechanical from a bow that can shoot bare shafts at 20 yards is pure bliss. I have 100% confidence my mechanical tipped arrow is going to hit just like my field points I practice with everyday.

A BIG AMEN to that brother!!!
But then, we are kinda "particular" about making sire our set-us are RIGHT!!!

 

[bassinbrian]

x2

 

[TNDeerGuy]

A properly tuned bow (aka perfect arrow flight) is one of the most over looked parts of the equation.

So true. I have seen this really increase since the popularity of mechanicals has increased so much.

Are you saying there is a decrease in people trying to get their bow/arrows perfectly tuned?

I don't know if I could say there is an "increase", I would say that I have noticed poor arrow flight much more frequently in person...AND on TV shows. Some are quite pathetic in fact. I have corresponded with more than one TV personality who openly admitted to having their bow set up for them just pryor to their arrival in camp and only getting a few shots off before TV time.

The truth is that with the advent of more popular mechanicals, perfect arrow flight and tuning simply may not be as critical.

I can also say this with complete confidence. Any bow I have ever seen that shoots bullets through paper with fixed heads, ALWAYS shoots mechanical heads great. But often times, (NOT ALWAYS) a bow that shoots mechanicals "perfect" will NOT shoot fixed blades.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure that is what you were saying because I was going to have to disagree otherwise. I think there is actually a decrease, comparatively speaking, in those that seek to obtain perfect arrow flight�I'll be the one to say it. ;) I have my theory on why, but many won't like it. :)

 

[UTGrad]

Andy I hold no resentments lol

Please share what you're opinion is on the decrease.

 

[catman529]

Andy I hold no resentments lol

Please share what you're opinion is on the decrease.

yes

 

[Ironsmith-Jared]

I now shoot 80 lbs. out of my Hoyt and love it! I want to shoot as much weight as I can comfortably pull back in any situation. Right now that is #80. Do I think this is necessary? Not even a little....... but I sure do like the way it puts a 30" arrow 25" deep into my Rinehart!

 

[TNDeerGuy]

Andy I hold no resentments lol

Please share what you're opinion is on the decrease.

LOL.....in no way was I referring to you my friend, that freaks out if the cams are 1/128th" out of sync! :D

I'm really not sure if it is an intentional decrease or not. The fact is the equipment today (bows, arrows, heads, etc...) is far more technologically advanced than it was years ago. Back in the day, in order to get any kind of good flight out of an arrow you had to absolutely make sure everything was tuned: bows tuned perfectly, arrows indexed if need be, arrows matched, etc...�anything less and your arrow was all over the place.

What I am seeing now is people in so many cases, intentional/lazy or not, are having the broadhead hit close, making a sight adjustment and calling it a day because they have that wide cutting area that falls within their "margin of error" and do not really worrying about what the arrow itself is doing�unless it is very noticeable. I had a guy over at my place a couple of years ago and I was trying to get him perfectly tuned and he was perfectly okay with a 2" difference in point of impact because he had a 2" cutting diameter. I wouldn't let it go and he picked up a few fps and great arrow flight after I was done. Not saying I'm a great tuner, but he was very willing to let it go and just move the sight is my point.

If we took away the mechanical broadheads you would see a return of people basically being forced make sure their equipment and setup was perfect to get acceptable arrow flight. The small ferrule and wide cutting diameter covers up a lot of "sins", so to speak.

I'm not knocking people for doing it�it's their equipment. What they don't understand is that they are squandering away energy and momentum with poor arrow flight�two things that most archers try to maximize.

 

[cdtac1]

Andy I hold no resentments lol

Please share what you're opinion is on the decrease.

LOL.....in no way was I referring to you my friend, that freaks out if the cams are 1/128th" out of sync! :D

I'm really not sure if it is an intentional decrease or not. The fact is the equipment today (bows, arrows, heads, etc...) is far more technologically advanced than it was years ago. Back in the day, in order to get any kind of good flight out of an arrow you had to absolutely make sure everything was tuned: bows tuned perfectly, arrows indexed if need be, arrows matched, etc...�anything less and your arrow was all over the place.

What I am seeing now is people in so many cases, intentional/lazy or not, are having the broadhead hit close, making a sight adjustment and calling it a day because they have that wide cutting area that falls within their "margin of error" and do not really worrying about what the arrow itself is doing�unless it is very noticeable. I had a guy over at my place a couple of years ago and I was trying to get him perfectly tuned and he was perfectly okay with a 2" difference in point of impact because he had a 2" cutting diameter. I wouldn't let it go and he picked up a few fps and great arrow flight after I was done. Not saying I'm a great tuner, but he was very willing to let it go and just move the sight is my point.

If we took away the mechanical broadheads you would see a return of people basically being forced make sure their equipment and setup was perfect to get acceptable arrow flight. The small ferrule and wide cutting diameter covers up a lot of "sins", so to speak.

I'm not knocking people for doing it�it's their equipment. What they don't understand is that they are squandering away energy and momentum with poor arrow flight�two things that most archers try to maximize.

This is more of what I was referring to. Most people I talk to are all for tuning to hit the same spot but a lot of them fail to realize the importance a straight flying arrow has on penetration. If everything is tuned and flying as it should be (regardless of whether its mechanical or fixed blade) then you will get better penetration.