# Draw Weight?



## deerhunter5 (Oct 12, 2011)

I just got a Golden Eagle youth bow and am wondering what the minimum draw weight for deer and pigs. Max distance will be 25 yards. Thanks for the help.


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## Coyote B (Jul 31, 2012)

deerhunter5 said:


> I just got a Golden Eagle youth bow and am wondering what the minimum draw weight for deer and pigs. Max distance will be 25 yards. Thanks for the help.


Growing up, my bow was set at around 45. With the technology/speed of the bows today, somewhere around 40 should be safe to hunt ethically.

If its one of the ones that is 15-20#, I would steer clear of hunting with that. It wouldnt be fair to the animal as you most likely will just wound it. There are several youth bows available that provide more then enough "power" to hunt deer and hogs.

A well placed shot is obviously the more important factor, but the draw weight gives you room for error, so-to-speak.

Hope this helps, good luck.


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## angler_25 (Oct 30, 2007)

I just read an article saying that TX has no minimum draw weight but i agree with coyote b. 40# should be good


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## SoTxPighunter (Jul 5, 2012)

I believe they changed the rule here in Texas to no min draw weight for archery. If Im wrong someone lemme know. That being said I am a Traditional bowhunter and due to really bad nerve damage in my right side now shoot and hunt with 40 to 52 pound traditional bows depending on the arm and temp. I know ladies who hunt with 35 to up to 55 pounds (compound and traditional) and kill critters stone dead. So its a give and take answer. Shot placement is the Key and with low poundage bows stay completely away from mechanicals and shoot dependable SHARP two blade models as wide as you can get away with. Keep shot distance waaay close and have the youngster practice. Alot! If he or she is stought push up the weightto the utmost to where he or she still shoots well to get excellent groups. And remember that shooting paper or foam is a world of difference than shooting a live animal which will duck, jump and twist. On hogs my best advice is dont let the young one shoot big hogs with low poundage even with two blad heads. Match they quarry to the shooter. There is nothing wrong with a child shooting a fifty pound pig. In time they will get there monster. The price of wounding a BIG hog could be disastrous because someone has to track that injured animal which could hurt them or if tracking dogs are brought in could hurt the dogs. Safety has to be the highest consideration.
Good Luck
Peace and Walk the way of the hunter.
SouthTexasPighunter


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## TooShallow (May 21, 2004)

30 lbs will kill them. As mentioned the most important thing is very, very, sharp broadheads. With low draw weights I would stick to cut on contact heads and keep them shaving sharp.


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## BrushyHillGuide (Jun 29, 2012)

TooShallow said:


> 30 lbs will kill them. As mentioned the most important thing is very, very, sharp broadheads. With low draw weights I would stick to cut on contact heads and keep them shaving sharp.


X2 I would add that, on a deer, I would stick to 20 yards maximum to help increase kinetic energy of impact. My bows are all at 65 pounds and I still shoot most of my deer around 20 yards.

Everyone is correct that the minimum draw weight requirement WAS ELIMINATED - you can now hunt legally with ANY draw weight. This is great for kids.


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## Chunky (Oct 15, 2006)

Some good advice above for sure. The one thing I would add is to keep your arrow weight up as well. If you can keep it about 10 gr per pound of bow wieght....you will get the most out of your bow.

If you are shooting 35 lbs, have at least a 350 gr arrow (total weight), and 400 wouldn't be bad. This will give you the most penetration when you hit the animal.

While there is no minimum legal weight, I would not recommend less than 30 lbs, just on my experience. Not saying that you can not kill at that, just that there is too much chance of not killing.


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## RedFly (Mar 22, 2010)

Chunky said:


> Some good advice above for sure. The one thing I would add is to keep your arrow weight up


x A-Million

When using a low-poundage bow, or hunting a larger animal than you're used to killing with your compound setup, much can be learned from traditional archers. 30 pound long bows regularly kill deer and hog WITH THE RIGHT ARROW AND BROADHEAD. And everyone knows a 30 lb. longbow is much less efficient than a 30 lb comound.

Dr. Ashby is the only person I know of who has done extensive testing on arrow effectiveness on real animals and he has discovered some important take-aways, especially for people using lower poundages or shooting larger than whitetail sized animals.

His findings show that Momentum ( = Mass x Velocity), broadhead design (it's strength and resistance to momentum), and good form that shoots arrows perfectly straight are the most important factors to maximizing your setup.

*"*There is no penalty for having "too much" penetration,
but the consequences of "too little" can be heartbreaking."

"Given a well placed hit with a sharp broadhead, broadhead failure and inadequate penetration are the only two things which cause failure to kill."

"Single blade broadheads penetrate significantly better than
multiblade broadheads in both soft and hard animal tissue."

"A single blade broadhead is more than twice as likely to produce an exit wound as a multiblade broadhead."

"The degree of blood trail is dependent on the location of the hit and the presence/absence of an exit wound, not the number of blades on the broadhead."

"At equal impact force, the heavier your arrow the longer it takes to stop. The result is deeper tissue penetration. That's part of Newton's First Law of Motion"

"Arrow velocity is rapidly shed during penetration, but the arrow's mass remains constant. Heavier arrows take longer to stop because their momentum - the 'useful force' they
carry - is depleted more slowly...This holds across the entire range of impact velocities tested, from 119 fps to 325 fps. This means that when you decrease arrow mass for a 'like arrow' in order to attain greater arrow speed you will always reduce the arrow's penetration potential."

"Kinetic energy (K.E.) is scalar, or non-directional, in
nature, and includes all the types of energy of a body in
motion. K.E. has no direct bearing on penetration. A tuning
fork, once struck, has high kinetic energy (it can shatter a
crystal wine glass), but has almost no momentum. It would
makes a darn poor penetrator of tissue!"

Sorry for the long post I feel like this is an important topic on Ethical Hunting. If you have questions on what to use for arrow set-up, shoot me a PM. My wife shoots a compound set at 25 lbs. with a 24" draw length, and her arrows have more momentum at 20 yards then many shooters with a 62 lb. 28" compound shooting common 350 grain 3D arrows...


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## Papabearclif (Mar 18, 2012)

45 lbs


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## peckerwood (Jun 9, 2012)

I agree with everyone here.40# out to 20 to 25 yrds.I don't know the draw range on a Golden Eagle,but if it's a youth bow for you and your 21,you can probably set it high as it'll go,but will really have to make sure you've got plenty draw length.If it'll adjust to 45 or 50 and you have the draw length,your in business.I went back to a 55# recurve after years of shooting compounds,and reckon I'd shoot at a pig 35 yrds.,but a deer,30 would be max.,especially a big purty buck.Wounding animules isn't an option for me.


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## podchaser (Oct 22, 2012)

_40# used to be the minimum the did away with that but i still made my wife who is new to bowhunting pull 40 # before i would feel confertable with her havesting an animal just remember the more poundage the more room for error but can go to high just find a weight you feel confortable and can shoot it in acward cond._


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## extgreen (Oct 26, 2011)

FYI I read the game manual so there are no rules on draw weight in Tx. So it's only the ethical side that really counts.


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## Kitchen Pass (Apr 4, 2011)

My son was 10 and shot his first deer with a bow. It was set at 34# and was all he could effectively manage. His shot was close (15 yds) and placement was perfect. Dead deer.

The arrow ALMOST went all the way thru. This was with fixed blade Montecs in good condition. Sharp broadheads are critical to lower draw weights. I think the reasonable weight should start at 40# and the effective range be as close as possible for the very young.

Today my kid is up to 40#, the broadheads are 85 grain and on lighter shafts. I feel much more comfortable with increase in weight now. His overall arrow speed is much faster. I know there is a lot of dynamics with weight vs. speed - I am not stirring up the pot for all the junior physic professors. To me it looks like it will do the trick and is hitting the bag target solidly.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

RedFly said:


> x A-Million
> 
> When using a low-poundage bow, or hunting a larger animal than you're used to killing with your compound setup, much can be learned from traditional archers. 30 pound long bows regularly kill deer and hog WITH THE RIGHT ARROW AND BROADHEAD. And everyone knows a 30 lb. longbow is much less efficient than a 30 lb comound.
> 
> ...


ROGGGGGER THAT!! Ashby is the man. Every bowhunter should be required to read his studies. For that matter, maybe some of the broadhead manufacturers should read it as well. They are empirical and subjective.


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## Will_R (May 1, 2011)

2 blade stinger and a heavy arrow and you could kill deer with 30-35 lb at 25 yards


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## TheRatBastard (Jan 12, 2013)

Thankz guys! This thread cleared up ALOT of big ????'s for me. But one more ???. 

What is the proformance "drop off" from a compound -vs- recurve? i.e I need a 50 lbs. recurve to = a 40 lbs. compound?


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## Chunky (Oct 15, 2006)

There is not a simple answer to your question. There is so much variation in compounds and traditional bows. 

I think the easiest way to to think about it would be arrow speed. Your average (big generalizaton here) traditonal bow shoot arrows in the 170 to 190 fps area. Remember that is an average. The same draw weight top end compound shoots arrows in the 270 to 300 fps range. No trad bow is going to shoot any thing close to that. If you are up over 200 (even a little) you are very fast. The point being, you can get the same performance out of a trad bow, regardless of how many pounds it is. I have an 80 lb Morrison that still shoots just under 200, but I can shoot a very heavy arrow at that speed.

You are really comparing apple and oranges. Compounds are twice as fast and your range is probabaly twice as far. The trad guys might say, that they get twice the challenge and reward by doing it their way.

Think of it like this, a 100 yard shot with a rifle no problem. Then you switch to a compound and you loose half of your range and are deadly out to 40. So now you take the next step and switch to a trad bow and you have a 20 yard range. 

I hope I answered your question a little.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

My dad killed many deer with recurve bows in the 45lbs range with wide Ben Pearson two blade broadheads and heavy compressed cedar arrows. I bet most here have never even seen a compressed cedar arrow. He never lost a deer and with that being said I cant see why a 30lb compound bow with a razor blade broadhead wouldnt be about the same.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

My main suggestion would be to reduce to 20 yard or closer shots, have the arrows be relatively heavy as mentioned and of course use razor sharp fixed (not mechanical) broadheads.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

Pope and Young killed everything on the continent with longbows which shot 160 fps, but they shot 650 gr arrows. Also ask Howard Hill about that 20 yard limit. It just takes practicing and practicing. Stopping only to eat and sleep.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

I watch a show about safety with bows. They were showing kids that even the kiddie bows were lethal by firing a 9mm pistol into a hay bale then an arrow. The bullet did not pass through but the arrow did. A long time ago the Texas law stated that a bow had to shoot so many yards to be legal to hunt with.


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