Droptines

The main reason I want to keep my draw weight up is because of FEAR.
I' m afraid that from my tree stand hieghts(24' ),I won' t get a pass through.My draw is only 27" , on my SQ2,,so the bows not generating a whole lot of KE.
Right now I' m drawing 72lbs.My Bemans are doing 265,,giving me 60 ftpds.KE.
Thats not a whole lot[:@]

Droptines

I almost forgot !,,This topic makes think of something I was going to look onto LAST YEAR[]
Because of a shoulder injury,I had to turn my bow down to 65 lbs.Not too big a deal.That 65 felt RREEAAALLL nice.After shooting higher poundage,,drawing 5 or 10 pounds less,feels like a BIG differance.
My thoughts where," why not drop to a lower poundage ?" .Just shoot a bow that generates a good deal of speed and power.If you went from shooting 70+,I would think you could shoot a more radical set up,(shorter BH and more agressive cam)pretty good,because it would draw and hold that much easyer.Yes,No,,,maybe ????.Hell,,,a Black Max 2 @ 60 lbs.and 50% let off ??.It might work

GVDocHoliday

I think we are...for some reason this year I' ve been reading lots of posts of guys having to get lower range draw weights because of shoulder injuries. I' m only 20 and I can easily handle my Razortec at 72#. However, a couple of weeks ago I broke out the old PSE Baby-G with only a 5.5 inch brace hieght. I cranked it down to 63#, tuned it with some old carobns I had laying around(CX Terminator 4560) and couldn' t believe how accurate I was shooting. It drew back so easy and I was able to hold on target far more easier. I have no idea how fast it' s shooting or how much my arrows for it weigh, but I sighted it in from an elevated platform at 23 yards...This is right on from 15-30 yards for this setup. It was raining all day here in MI on Friday evening so I decided to take the old PSE out and leave the new razortec in the case. I threaded on some rocket sidewinder 100' s onto two arrows and proceeded to my stand. While in stand I made a nicely placed shot on a doe at 28 yards with a near full passthrough in which the arrow was just dangling by the fletch on the exit side. The blood trail was massive and the tracking job was easy. Upon further inspection, I hit a rib going in and sliced two on the way out...Now if I would missed that first rib on penetration then I would most likely have been digging my arrow out of the molic epipedon of the soil profile below.

These recent events have persuaded me to change my Hoyt setup after this season. I don' t have to get new limbs because of those nice limb pocket lockdowns, and I' m getting a new set of aftermarket strings and cables which should add a few fps just for insurance.

So I figured, might as well draw low now instead of being forced draw low a few years down the road. I enjoy bowhunting and shooting and I want to continue doing it for a long time.

Sooner_Hunter

you can be the biggest studbuck in the woods drawing a ton of weight and generating 100' s of ft lbs of ke. if you can' t hit with it. so what?

if you can accurately draw enough to generate 50 lbs or so of ke thats really all you need. get something you can draw easily with proper form. anything else is gravy. if it hurts to draw and shoot then why do it.

my 2 cents worth.

coolbrze0

62 lbs. on my HavocTec and it suits me just fine.

PABowhntr

droptines,

That would depend on who you talk to. Don' t let folks with high KE setups fool you (myself included). Shot placement and a sharp broadhead are more important than KE, provided we aren' t talking about expandable heads. Then I would say that all three are equally important.

Krotalus

I think that is dependant on the person pulling the bow. If you can do 70 lbs with no problems then by all means do so.

Personally i am drawing 58 lbs. Sure i could draw more, but i had shoulder problems in the past from a weight lifting incident and i dont want to have problems in the future.

Arthur P

I can' t agree more with Frank when he says don' t be fooled by the high powered setups, Droptines.

As long as you make sensible choices in your arrow weight and broadheads, matching them to the size and toughness of the game you' re after, then 60 ft lbs of energy is enough to take care of any critter in North America and most of Africa as well. Don' t go expecting your bow to blow a 2 1/5" wide 3-blade mechanical through a moose on a 350 grain arrow. At the same time a 600 grain arrow and a 1 1/4" wide 2-blade probably wouldn' t even slow down.

My main compound puts out about the same energy as your bow does. I shoot 580 grain arrows with 125 grain heads or 615 grain arrows with 160 grainers, 2-blade broadheads. I shoot the setup VERY well, fingers/barebow and I wouldn' t hesitate to take it on any hunt, for anything. Another 10 pounds of draw weight would give me another 10 pounds of KE, and a bit extra penetration that might come in handy in a worst case scenario - but only if I could hit what I shoot at with it.

Shooting a draw weight that you can handle accurately in a field situation will keep you from getting faced with a LOT of worst case scenarios.

Dalejbrass

My theory has ALWAYS been that if you can' t draw your bow STRAIGHT back (not up in the air) from a sitting, kneeling or contorted position, then you are drawing too much weight.

If you really want to test yourself, lie on flat on your back and try to draw your bow. Once again, if you don' t even come close, you should back off of the poundage.

Now include 10 degrees to -10 degree temperatures into the equation and you have a 70 lbs bow that will now draw more like 80 lbs.

JOE PA

After enduring a 3rd degree shoulder separation (Mt. Biking) to my bow arm shoulder, and an operation which partially repaired it, plus tendonitis in my draw shoulder, I am only getting 60# bows anymore. Two of my listed 60# bows will peak @ 65 anyway. The Bowtech gives me plenty of performance at 60. After 3 hours sitting in a cold rain on Saturday, I could pull it easily and smoothly back to full draw while sitting still and not moving my body around. Works for me.