Minimum pound pull for deer?

[hawkeye]

What is the minimum pound pull to humanely harvest deer?

[sse]

I used to have a 35 lb recurve and the people I talked to about it said that is OK, but it does reduce effective distance, which was fine with me.  Also, you can't go with any of those fancy blades, just a simple broadhead, and a light one at that, which was also fine with me.  

Less than that, dunno.  Somebody else will chime in.

[ridjrunr]

Check yer local state law for this but I think #40 is the most common min.# for big game,at least from what I have seen.Practice alot and have fun.ridjrunr

[hawkeye]

I have a #45 Fred Bear recurve that I inherited from my grandfather.  My biggest problem is I'm right eye dominant and left handed.  Works great for guns as I shoot right handed but with bows, my left arm is stronger than my right.

[ridjrunr]

Hawkeye,It would be cool to see a pix of yer old bow.What model is it?ridjrunr

[hawkeye]

Hawkeye,It would be cool to see a pix of yer old bow.What model is it?ridjrunr

I was thinking I might need a weaker pull as I'll be having to pull it with my non-dominant arm though.

[ridjrunr]

Do you have access to a lighter bow,so that yer muscles can be worked up a little?Is that bow 58" in length?ridjrunr

[hawkeye]

Do you have access to a lighter bow,so that yer muscles can be worked up a little?Is that bow 58" in length?ridjrunr

I don't have any other bows.  I only have this one because it was given to me.  My son is now into archery and I thought maybe we could shoot together.  I would really like to avoid a bow with training wheels though.

[deadfallpaul]

In New York State the minimum draw weight is #35 for hunting.
 For what it's worth I had hunted a few years ago drawing 60#'s and that was more than enough.
I now am using a 45# and that is fine but, as was  stated, no long shots.
I like to keep it within 25yards.

[Voyageur]

[hawkeye]

:? Hawkeye, please do me a favor the next time you brace the bow---take a good magnifier and look over limbs carefully for any crazing and pay close attention to the laminations on the sides as well. That is an o-o-o-l-d bow like my recurves, and it wouldn't be nice if you had a limb failure at full or partial draw.  

Thank you for the advice! I will give it a good look over before drawing it.

[Riley/MN]

...And then get you some dumbbells and work on bent-over rows to work on your right arm strength.

[Fletcher]

Hawkeye, have you ever shot a bow left handed.  Since archers generally shoot with both eyes open, the dominant eye is not as big a probelm as rifle shooting.

Both my middle son and nephew are right handed/left eyed.  They were taught to shoot rifle left handed, but both shoot bow and pistol right handed and do reasonbly well.

I have a couple left handed bows that would be legal to hunt but not too heavy.  PM me if you are interested in buy or trade.

Fletch