Thirty pound bow for white tail deer?

[22-rimfire]

I used a 35lb bow recurve when I was 12 to hunt groundhogs and rabbits. The arrows just didn't fly fast enough for hunting anything larger. Sometimes the animal actually jumped out of the way of the arrow even with a silenced string and so forth. I used a 40lb recurve at age 14 which is the first year that I officially hunted (family rule). I couldn't hold a 45lb bow (which is what my brother used at the time) at that time at full draw for any length of time and the 40 was about all I could handle. I went to college and quit hunting deer with a bow because I just didn't have the time anymore. This is about the time when the compound bows really became accepted and were legal. There is a reason why compound bows are popular. They work. I've shot them and they are easier to handle at the higher pound draw weights than the recurves. Of course now, I would have no problem what so ever with a higher poundage bow.

I never personally shot a deer with that 40 lb recurve. I missed some. Was only hunting bucks and wouldn't take a shot on a doe at that time. My younger brother used it and he shot a couple. I spent one very long evening following a blood trail (chest shot) that stopped as the arrow did not go out both sides. You find the arrow about 50-75 yds or so away yanked out by the deer. If you make a hit slightly behind the heart lung area, then it is even worse. Blood trail stops and you start to do circles looking for any sign. We finally found that deer the next morning. We just would not give up. I've help track deer others have shot with similar results since then.

Compounds work so much better that I would not really consider a recurve for hunting unless it was 50-55lb draw. But that is me. I said 40lb because I know it will work, but a 45lb would be better. The let off at full draw is what makes the compounds really work well and of course arrow components have really improved a lot which allows the arrows to fly faster. Good arrows are down right expensive these days.

Now, working and time is even a larger problem. So, I limit my whitetail hunting to handguns and rifles. I'll use a shotgun if I hunt some WMA that does not allow rifles or handguns. Just got a BP rifle around Christmas and I'm looking forward to shooting that a bit. The interesting thing on the BP rifle is that I would rather shoot 22's and larger bore handguns these days and really don't expect to do that much shooting with the BP other than just to shoot good enough for 50 yd shots in the woods on a deer sized target (ie 6" paper plates with X's drawn on them). They just don't really interest me much yet, but I want to give them a try. The only reason I even consider using a BP rifle is because many WMA's have restrictions and limit shooting to shotguns, BP's, and archery. Plus many states have an earlier BP season that allows you to go out earlier.

I wouldn't characterize my experience as fantastic, but I shot a lot of bow and arrow. You look at the penetration in targets, bales of straw etc. and it gives you a perspective on penetration potential. I know getting a good hit from a 30lb bow will kill a deer, I just think you'd be better off with a higher poundage bow even if it is hard to draw back. Small game hunting would be quite fun and reasonable with the 30 lb bow though. Compound bows aren't cheap these days.

I would suggest that you shoot it a bit and make a judgement on penetration and go with it if you are comfortable. Try to shoot some ground hogs and decide if the bow performs adequately. You are perfectly legal to use the bow, so it's your call ultimately. My experience would not qualify me as anything close to expert, but I do tend to have a rational approach to choosing equipment for a particular task based on some background.

The fish & game departments are relaxing some of the rules to allow younger hunters into the field. The draw weight of a bow is a limiting factor on age or physical development. In my state, you are allowed to use any centerfire caliber for deer hunting where as before it was 24 caliber or larger. I suspect this is again to attract more people to hunt who might only have an SKS, AR or something of that sort. The fish & game departments want to sell licenses, but they are also seeing the whitetail population exploding in many states with fewer hunters to hunt them.

Sorry if I have bored you with this as it got a bit long.

 

[walking arsenal]

Naw, its good info. Thanks for your time.




I feel comfortable enough with the bow at short ranges (under 20yrds) that i feel i could make a clean kill with a good broad head.

I think if i went to a heavier bow I might gain the power but lose the accuracy. My brother owns a 45# bow but i cant shoot it well.

 

[Steve499]

If a compound bow, a static recurve bow, a working recurve bow and a longbow, all of the same draw weight, are compared at the same draw weight and length with the same weight arrow, the arrow speed will be fastest with the compound and slowest with the longbow. The relative efficiency is caused by the manner in which the energy is stored. The sooner in the draw the energy is stored, the more efficiently it is transferred to the arrow on release. There are many variables within each design which can make a poorly built recurve shoot slower than a very well made longbow, but generally they rank as I listed them.

Walking arsenal, your 30# PSE bow is certainly well designed and manufactured. You can kill a deer with it. Native American bows were often of low draw weights also, and they successfully took deer with them. I would imagine, though, that almost every kill they made required a substantial amount of tracking skill before they got to eat any venison. I am not a very good tracker and without a pass through hit with the resulting blood trail, I, personally, have a tough time following a trail once the deer has stopped running. You can increase your chances of a pass through shot by using a sharp 2 blade head, keeping the shot close and avoiding the shoulder blade, which can be tough to shoot through even with some of the heavier bows.

A better solution would be a heavier bow. Unless you have some handicap, you will quickly build up muscle for bow shooting just by shooting your bow for the large amount of practice most bow hunters engage in. You may not be able to afford to buy a heavier bow, but you can make yourself one. It isn't brain surgery or rocket science and you don't need anything more than a hatchet, knife and wood rasp to start. There are lots and lots of folks around who do that, myself included, and if I can do it, ANYONE can! I would venture that, again, unless you have some handicap, you could be comfortably drawing and shooting a bow twice your present draw weight by next year this time if you start making your own equipment.

 

[Zeke/PA]

I'm not sure that you would get an arrow passthrough on a whitetail with a 30# bow making tracking more difficult.
I would limit my shots to 20 yards or less and to do this, treestand hunting is a must.
Zeke

 

[Soap]

Steve499 - Thanks for the clarification regarding the relative strengths of the bow types.

 

[cracked butt]

I wouldn't bother with a #30 bow. I've been bow hunting since age 12, and at that time, I was able to drAw a 45# compound- after months and months of practice. My wife shoots that same bow for 3-d shoots and has no problem drawing it. Bowhunting isn't a sport where you can walk out of a store with a bow and plan to hunting with it the same month let alone day- it takes months of practice to become proficient with a bow, and if you are going to practice that much, you might as well get a bow with adequate draw weight and strengthen up your back muscles with the practice involved.

A 30# bow might kill a deer with a very well placed shot at very close range, that being said, I've been shooting a bow of one kind or another on a regular basis for the last 29+ years and currently use a bow with a 75# draw weight.

A 30# draw weight may be legal in my state, but I've never heard of anyone using one.

 

[cracked butt]

Walking Arsenal- how long is your draw length?

The reason I ask is because all of the recurves but the custom made bows such as the Black Widows, are made with a 28" draw length. beyond 28" draw, the poundage stacks almost exponentially, so you could potentially be getting 40# of draw weight out of a 30# bow if say your draw length is 31 inches. Of course it works the other way as well- if your draw length is shorter, the draw weight decreases.

 

[Rem-brent-browning]

WA- My biggest concern with the poundage of bow you shoot has to do with penetration. Let's face it. Not all situations in hunting are perfect. You will be limiting yourself severely. Not all of us are Native Americans who had the time and skill involved to track and bag the game. Likewise, we can't always have a 15 yard shot quartering away. I don't know enough about the equipment you have selected for this enterprise, but I would expect you to do the homework to make sure it will provide adequate penetration to insure a good blood trail.This would mean a pass through. I have personally tracked 6 deer,for me as well as others, that were not pass throughs and we only recovered one. The longest I have blood trailed was well over 1 mile in the baddest swamp in East Texas- and I had 2 other guys helping me.

I respect deer too much to use any thing under #45 of draw at my length of pull. This will allow you to shoot a heavier arrow with much more arrow speed to give you a better chance at that pass through. I was like you at first. Overbowed at#50. I trained and practiced on developing muscles that draw and hold your bow at full draw for 10 seconds- without wobble. I gradually worked up to a #65 recurve and an #80 longbow.It took me 6 months of dilligent practice. It allowed me to shoot more confidently and increased my effective range on big game. Deer are big game my friend. They are not bunnys or squirrels or carp.

Why don't you build up your muscles instead of shooting an underpowered setup? Is it a physical disability that prevents you? If so, I can understand. Otherwise I think you are just not dedicated enough or lazy. Respect your quarry ,man!