metro

In my studying I have learned that a bow can be dialed down in draw weight from 70 lb. max to 60,61,62 etc... but it is most efficient dialed all the way up. I know I am strong enough toshoot a 70 pounder but as a newbie I would think I should learn and develop proper forrn and acccuracy with a lighter bow. What do you guys think of buying a 70 pounder but setting it in the low sixties and down the road retuning it to 70, is this a bad idea? Also what is the effective range of a 60 vs 70 pounder for a decent sized white tail? That would be the big plus of a 70 vs. 60 for me more effective range plus bigger game. The bow I have in mind is a Diamond Rapture at a 28 inch draw and 70 lb. draw weight orderd from Huntersfriend.com at 60 lbs. Thanks.

Metro

recurver67

60# would be a good starting point. You want to be comfortable shooting it for an hour or so. Being new you want to work on form more than anything so going down in weight is better. When your broke in you can adjust the weight up. JMO. Good luck.

BOWFANATIC

My personal opinion is , if your going to buy a 70lb bow and shoot it at 60lbs , then your better off buying a 50-60lb bow and getting the maximum performance from it. For whitetail hunting (or any NA big game), there's nothing that a 70lb bow can do that a 60lb bow cant. The second most important factor in setting yourself up for hunting is arrow selection. The first and most important , is being comfortable with your draw weight.

Tribal

I would sit down and turn to one side and draw. If you can do it comfortably then use that weight.

metro

I guess a more important question would be. Is there any harm done to a 60-70 lb. bow by shooting it at 60 lbs. then working up to 70 lbs.?

Metro

BOWFANATIC

No.

PABowhntr

I think this is a fine idea and, no, it will not cause any damage to your bow. Also keep in mind that the efficiency differences between a 60 pound peak weight bow and a 70 lb bow set at 60 pounds are not typically all that great. I would be surprised if it were more than 4-5 fps tops...and not that much on all models. Even noise levels would be roughly comparable. Case in point, I am shooting my Diamond Triumph at a 65 pound draw weight (70 pound peak weight model) and am still getting very good numbers from it and it exhibits very low levels of noise and vibration.

I am also shooting my Bowtech Old Glory at a 60 pound weight (70 pound bow) and that bow is putting up numbers that anyone should be proud of (286 fps- 30.5/60/380). I believe that the type of limb pocket plays a big part in this. The newer Bowtech models all come with pivoting limb pockets whic allow the entire pocket to move with the limb when the draw weight is either increased or decreased.

Shooting at 60 pounds ona 70 pound peak weight bow is fine.

metro

This was a part of the original question but it's getting lost, what is the effective killing range of these modern bows atthe advertised FPS of approx + or - 300?

MOTOWNHONKEY

It depends on your skills. You have to determine your affective killing range. Some people take 60 yard shots. Your bow could probably kill out to 100 or more yards. I would say that most hunters on this forum limit their shots to 30 and under yds.

PABowhntr

Metro,

I agree with Motown and it is probably one of the reasons that nobody replied to it. In many cases it is a very touchy and subjective question. Folks feel strongly about the ethics of taking long shots with modern equipment. The average shot on a whitetail is about 18 yards and from my experience most folks rarely shoot past 30. If that helps any.