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What lbs are you using this season? Ever consider going lower?

HuumanCreed

Well-Known Member
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Joined
Aug 21, 2020
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2,653
Location
Westminster Maryland
Just wondering what everyone is using for whitetails, and are you using same setup for other proteins too.

I'm sticking with 63lbs. Not changing anything from last year. But after season is over I'm thinking about going down all the way to 50lbs for off season and following season.

Damn Ranch Fairy got me again with his video of 40lbs killing machine. So I'm considering trading FPS for shootability + comfort + time on range.
 
Just wondering what everyone is using for whitetails, and are you using same setup for other proteins too.

I'm sticking with 63lbs. Not changing anything from last year. But after season is over I'm thinking about going down all the way to 50lbs for off season and following season.

Damn Ranch Fairy got me again with his video of 40lbs killing machine. So I'm considering trading FPS for shootability + comfort + time on range.
I'm staying with 60lbs but what I like about this paradigm shift on draw weight as promulgated by RF and the Ashby Foundation is that perhaps many older folks who couldn't draw a 60lb bow anymore could still hunt vertical and go down to 50lbs and with a heavy arrow build, still be in the vertical bow game for many more years. Also, younger and female hunters...... You're not at a deficit if you can't draw 85 lbs and send one at 360fps.
 
I picked up a good deal on a bow this off season. It was a 70lb. Turned down some. No idea what it is at. Just tuned it to shoot strait. If I was going to purchase a new one, I wouldn't bother with 70. I would get a 60lb. I read once that your bow operates best at its peak pull. Is that just for your energy or just overall efficiency of the bow? Not sure. It could be a false statement? I guess as long as it shoots strait. He has proven 40lbs can do the job if set up correctly. So agree. Why not back them off a few. Unless you need all the penatration help you can get. :tonguewink:
 
I picked up a good deal on a bow this off season. It was a 70lb. Turned down some. No idea what it is at. Just tuned it to shoot strait. If I was going to purchase a new one, I wouldn't bother with 70. I would get a 60lb. I read once that your bow operates best at its peak pull. Is that just for your energy or just overall efficiency of the bow? Not sure. It could be a false statement? I guess as long as it shoots strait. He has proven 40lbs can do the job if set up correctly. So agree. Why not back them off a few. Unless you need all the penatration help you can get. :tonguewink:
At the shop I worked at I shot a lot of bows. Almost always if you took 2 of the same model but one was a 60lb bow maxed out at 60 and one was a 70lb bow backed off the 60, the true 60 was faster and quieter.
 
I picked up a good deal on a bow this off season. It was a 70lb. Turned down some. No idea what it is at. Just tuned it to shoot strait. If I was going to purchase a new one, I wouldn't bother with 70. I would get a 60lb. I read once that your bow operates best at its peak pull. Is that just for your energy or just overall efficiency of the bow? Not sure. It could be a false statement? I guess as long as it shoots strait. He has proven 40lbs can do the job if set up correctly. So agree. Why not back them off a few. Unless you need all the penatration help you can get. :tonguewink:

Well, the fact that Mathews bows now can change weight just with a mod and you dont even need to change limbs. You can take it as them overcoming this principle or admitting that its all been a lie.
 
I ran 72 for a while but it just seemed like a shoulder killer for my bad shoulder. I stick with 60-65 range. More then enough for North America. My bows tune well in that range also. Ps if anyone is thinking of a new bow. Go for a 60 if you want 60. Bows perform best when limbs are maxed. Most 60# bows spec around 62-63.
 
70lb bow tuned down to about 65lb, just to help with some funky spine issues. I'm pretty young and healthy. I don't see myself lowering draw weight unless I had to.
 
I always shoot a 60 lb max bow with the limbs bottomed out. My current bow only hit 58.1 lbs at that setting. Usually they go a little higher.
 
ran 72 for a while but it just seemed like a shoulder killer for my bad shoulder.
I firmly believe but can't prove that there's a correlation to be found between shoulder injuries and a long history of asymmetric shoulder exercise. Especially for guys who aren't all that active with the exception of backyard target practice.
 
65 lbs maxed out. I want to say when we put it on a scale it actually pulled 66
 
55 lbs for me. Way easier to handle up in a tree or from the ground setup.

As you get into middle age, it's hard not to notice how guys in the 55+ crowd start having shoulder issues. I'm trying to stave that off as long as possible.
 
I can pull 70 and I'm not worries about shoulder issues....I just like an easy draw and super light hold with the let off. My arrows are heavy and light draw so I compensate my aim point and shoot purposely a little low on a living target
 
I firmly believe but can't prove that there's a correlation to be found between shoulder injuries and a long history of asymmetric shoulder exercise. Especially for guys who aren't all that active with the exception of backyard target practice.

It is real. In my early 20s, I shot a 50 lbs reccurve in the basement every day for many shots. I overdeveloped my back muscles in relation to my chest and other shoulder girdle muscles that it pulled the head of my humerus partially out of the socket and I ended up in physical therapy.

I was just talking with a guy in his early 70s shooting an 80 lbs bow. He's into it simply to show an older guy can still hang and not give an inch. That's all well in good up until you hear a "pop".
 
It is real. In my early 20s, I shot a 50 lbs reccurve in the basement every day for many shots. I overdeveloped my back muscles in relation to my chest and other shoulder girdle muscles that it pulled the head of my humerus partially out of the socket and I ended up in physical therapy.

I was just talking with a guy in his early 70s shooting an 80 lbs bow. He's into it simply to show an older guy can still hang and not give an inch. That's all well in good up until you hear a "pop".
That 70 year old dude is probably fine if he works out. I'm no Warren Womack though.

I wouldn't say don't shoot. I'd just say adjust for the extra risk.
 
I’m 6’5, 240lbs and have a 31 in DL. I still stay at 60-62 even though I could go higher (but why?). I run heavy arrows that are at 250ish FPS. 600+ grain Sirius arrows. They would work on anything in North America minus maybe a Kodiak bear on the island.
 
That 70 year old dude is probably fine if he works out. I'm no Warren Womack though.

I wouldn't say don't shoot. I'd just say adjust for the extra risk.
I agree with the working out part...I tore my shoulders up mid summer last year and through pure stubbornness and diligence I was able to shoot 60 pounds easy enough...started out with girl pushups and just stayed at it
 
70 pounds. It's all I've shot for jjust over 30 years. I'll drop it down or go crossbow when I have to. I also usually only practice 15-25 shots a day. I'd rather have low number good form than 50-60 just slinging them.
 
That 70 year old dude is probably fine if he works out. I'm no Warren Womack though.

I wouldn't say don't shoot. I'd just say adjust for the extra risk.

You sound like a younger guy than me :)

I work out 3 to 5 days a week, and at 45 years old, I know that shooting a heavy bow regularly would not be good for my long term health.

Once you hit around late 30s, your connective tissue gets hurt easier and takes longer to heal. I think it is because your human growth hormone levels drop like crazy.
 
You sound like a younger guy than me :)

I work out 3 to 5 days a week, and at 45 years old, I know that shooting a heavy bow regularly would not be good for my long term health.

Once you hit around late 30s, your connective tissue gets hurt easier and takes longer to heal. I think it is because your human growth hormone levels drop like crazy.

I'm 37 and I get random cramping standing up to stretch from my office chair. I think this is the final year that I'm going to try to pretend I can get back on the horse anytime I want. It was only a few years ago that I can do nothing for a 2 weeks vacation, then run for miles with unit at 0600 like nothing. Now I have problem standing up after pretending to be a horse for my kids to ride on.

Dont get old the wrong way, it sucks....
 
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