Traditional Bow for Deer

[Carolina Joe]

Is 41LBS at 29 inch draw plenty for deer and Javelina? And what is the biggest game animal that could be taken with it humanely?

[greyhunter]

In Pa. I believe the legal poundage is 35 lbs. That being said, I would go for the most poundage I could easily draw. And I don't mean holding the bow over my head then drawing it as I brought the bow vertical!  As to humane kill poundage, I have never shot a deer with less than 60 lbs. so I'm no help to you there. All small game can be taken with a light bow but your shooting distance is less with a lighter bow. One of our archery pros should chime in here to help you.

[Fletcher]

Montana is 40# but used to be 45.  Lots have changed with the new lightweight arrows, the compounds
and the new fangled broadheads.

Back in my youth it was about arrow mass and penetration based on velocity of the arrow.  That has everything
to do with the cast of the bow.  You can take a number of bows with the same draw weight at 28" but the cast
varies based on limb material and design.  I won't go into a lot of that unless y'all want to hear it.

My rule of thumb is if you can place an arrow in a 9" paper plate and stick it half way into the straw bale it is
posted on at least 5 shots out of 6  - you have enough bow and personal accuracy to hunt with.

My primitive Osage is 54# and my Traditional Recurve is 56# - I will rarely try a shot longer than 30 yards.
I got a deer at 60 yds once with the recurve (1 shot kill) but I think that was the arrogance of youth and a
good bit of wild @$$ luck!

I am shooting my Pacific Yew Longbow of 42# out to 40 yards, with the 100 yard clout occasionally.  I
score enough to place in SCA tournaments - but would never hunt that bow out to those distances.

A feller has to know his target and his limitations !

[Buzzard]

Mr Fletcher is very correct on this. Ohio minimum is 40#. I've shot completely through cow elk with a 52# recurve. Never forget that you don't kill anything with the bow. You kill them with the broadhead. I shot that elk with a Zwickey Eskimo 2-bld in front of a 570grain pine shaft, and hit a rib on entry to boot. You'll do fine with a 35-40# bow IF ya use a good cut-on-contact broadhead with a heavy arrow, and stay under 25yds. Shot placement is everything.

[Eric Krewson]

One thing you have in your favor is your 29" draw. The performance you get out of a bow is determined as much by draw length as is the bows poundage. For every inch you pull over 28" it is the same as adding 5# draw weight to your bow from the longer power stroke, 28" is the industry standard. If you draw less than 28" you loose bow efficiency at the same 5# rate per inch.

Shoot a 500 gr arrow, razor sharp, two blade, cut on contact broadhead, limit your shots to 20 yards or less and no deer or hog in the country will be safe provided you can put the arrow where it needs to be.

[Old-Mark]

The main things to remember is shot placement and a sharp broadhead. If you can put a sharp head into the boiler room of an animal, you are going to kill it.

[LadyHawk]

I hunt Iowa whitetail with a 35# recurve and a 40# longbow.  Keep all my shots under 15 yards broadside.  Use a crazy sharp broadhead.  Hunt smart and you will have no problems.

[Carolina Joe]

Thanks fellas for all the input, greatly appreciated.

[petew]

My friend Shannon took this moose with a 41# bow and he only draws 27". arrow speed 145FPS 496 grain arrow. It is all about shot placement.

[Longhunter]

Impressive ...

[petew]

Ron, it goes to show that it is in the shot placement, not in the bows performance.  here is a shot of the broadhead after it hit the far shoulder bones.
 If it was traveling faster it would have just bent it more. Those big bones will stop a 30-30. You aren't going to shoot an arrow thru big bones.

[Longhunter]

I've shot arrows through the scapula of deer but moose is a different story

That's a nice bull, where was it taken?

[petew]

Ron ,It was from Alberta,  near  Edmonton. The scapula  is easy to get thru, on the flat part, like a rib, but the big shoulder bones are a diferent story.

[Longhunter]

You won't get through a moose scapula with a 41# bow even with your best two blade broadhead.  

[xhairs1970]

I have been using a 40# Bear Super Grizzly on Ohio whitetails and bunnies for years with no trouble at all. Hit a deer in the boiler room and it's game over......bunnies are much more of a challenge but still fun to go after with a recurve.