Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Recurve Draw Wt. - Minimum for deer?

Wondering how light do you bowhunters like a bow for an easy to draw, hold, and shoot recurve?

Thinking 40-45 on low side and 55 on high?

Everything's got to go just right for me with a 45#....and they didn't. Dropped down to a 45# Bear bow for a while after a wreck.

One of my mentors had no problem. But he was like that...

Personally I shoot 54# on low....and another inch for high...:)

Thanks Tom. Looking to get something for my boy 12 1/2, stands 5'6", figure 30-35lb just to get him into shooting, looking at a 55# for me to hunt.

Anyone know if a Recurve is any different in feel/pull at same weight i.e. 55# vs. a Long Bow?

If its long enough, it doesn't squeeze your fingers quite as much...:)

FWIW, the longer recurves are easier to shoot for me, generally speaking and each bow is kinda different.

I'd just shoot them and see what you like. You will probably change your mind with time anyway. Shooting with the kids is a blast.

My current bow is a rawhide backed yew longbow. I like to be able to count how many time the white feather goes around before the arrow hits...:)

I've been shooting a Damon Howett Bandito 43 lb recurve for the last 40 years.

Tom - it has RPMs? Just kidding.

Colt 45, so much worrying about a bow's age eh? Do you hunt with that bow by chance? That's alot of history together no doubt.

Thanks.

It's not an easy question to answer. Some of newer designs particularly longbows can be very high performance. My son started with a 21st Century Longbow that was 35#. I felt fine with him shooting 15 yards max with 2 blade heads. The ACS bows really sling arrows like much heavier bows. Most of the Martin's have good cast and can bought used at fair prices. Stickbows can vary a great deal by the design and maker and all have a little different feel. My personal favorite recurve is the Schafer Silvertip and favorite longbow is Howard Hill.

Thanks for the info.

I have always heard an archer should draw at least 35 pounds for hunting deer. I have personally never hunted deer with a 35 pound bow, but I think it would work with a little extra luck.

Regarding recurve vs. longbow, I think you will find that most folks favor the recurve, and that the recurve is generally faster pound-for-pound. Those things may be true, but I still prefer the longbow. I just get more satisfaction from shooting a longbow. Actually, I own and shoot multiple longbows, recurves, and compounds, but there's just something about a good longbow. My taste in hunting bows runs toward laminates of straight-limb design, or only slightly reflex/deflex, like my Bear Montana. I'm generally not fond of the extreme hybrids, regardless how fast they shoot. But that's just me.

-

Thanks, what weight longbow do you use? Do you hunt w/it from a climber and if so how long is it? Just wondering how it works from a stand. I have a Howatt 55# longbow and only test shot it a decade ago.

Have killed deer with a 30 lbs longbow, cedar arrow and Bear broad head because that is what I had when young. At 20 yards, it shot through the small deer (100 lbs dressed). The problem is not so much lethality, as slow arrows being seen and jumped by the deer, and the arc making it more difficult to hit the vital spot.

I have a 35-lb recurve today, which is good for warming up and getting in lots of practice shots. I was thinking about getting some carbon arrows for this.

A 45-lb recurve is a big jump in speed and power.

My 55-lb recurve is way more than needed, but really hums aluminum arrows. With cedar or Norway Pine arrows, penetration in hogs is at least to the fletching, even with muscle and gristle. I think it would kill elk, moose, bear, etc with no trouble.

My 65-lb recurve is longer, and doesn't feel much harder to pull than the 55-lb bow. Don't use it much any more. But that is true of some rifles, too. You have to work up to, and shoot regularly to stay in form with the 55 and 65-lb bows.

I saw some nice old recurves and long bows at a gun show this month, $100 to $140.00. Hard to hold back.

Oh come on Lee get real......the deer see the arrow and "jump" out of the way??????

PULEEEEEZ!

Try deer hunting once and get back to me on that......its the sound of the bow going off that sets the deer off not the visual effect of an arrow....

HAHAHAHAHA!

Deer do not only jump at the twang of the string. Nor do bears. They often see the arrow and jump it or duck it.

Tom, you were supposed to respond with YOUR experience and advice based on it.

No, Tom it happens. Saw it on "Matrix 4, Bambi Re-curve-ed."

Deer looked like Keanu Reeves, doing all that fancy dodging stuff.


To the OP, 35lb would be min. Your local LAWS may say differently.

REMEMBER - SHARP BROADHEADS!

Yeah Moron! I do in fact have experience with this kind of stuff.......DEER DO NOT SEE THE ARROWS AND JUMP THEM!

You are the one who should get experience and give advice....or not!

Actually, I have had a deer dodge an arrow headed right between his eyes....but don't consider that an affirmation of anything Lee said.

I know a gent who has killed deer with a 35# but he has the skill and discipline to go along with it. If you physically are limited to that kind of draw weight, do the game a favor and use a compound.

Having also actually hunted with a 45# I consider it marginal, FWIW, and had put a ton of effort on arrow selection and sharp broadheads.

55# is not anywhere near "way more than needed"...that is pure troll BS. Now if you have a 30# bow at 26" and pull it back to 36", well maybe...

We find bow killed deer every year from careless bowhunters. It makes me sick. Shoot enough and shoot it well. Watching a deer run away with an arrow dangling out of its side from lack of penetration isn't cool.

QUOTE: "Watching a deer run away with an arrow dangling out of its side from lack of penetration isn't cool."

I have never seen that, except on TV, but I'll take your word for it. What weight bow were you shooting, and how far away?

I have been shooting my 55-lb and my 65-lb recurves since 1972.
There is not a deer made that they will not shoot through, but you seem to think they are marginal. So what should this new bowhunter use? 75 pounds? 100 pounds?

Have you ever seen a deer shot with a 35-lb recurve or longbow and a sharp arrow? If so, elaborate on that.

I said 45# was marginal.

If you aren't a troll, then don't be an idiot.

You say 45 pounds on the fingers is marginal... based on what?

Again, have you ever seen a deer shot with a 35-lb recurve bow?

Maybe the person asking the original question is limited to 35-lbs of draw weight. I was, when I was 11 years old.

You cannot start off with a 55-lb recurve bow.

I said it is good to have a 35-lb bow to warm up with, and to get in more practice, just like it is good to have an air pistol and air rifle. If you practice enough, it will be better to use the 35-lb bow that you can always hit with, than the 65-lb bow you can sometimes hit with.

Lee:

Yes on the 35...and worse. One eventually comes to the conclusion that there is indeed a relationship between penetration and velocity...

My stance here is that it is irresponsible to hunt with 35# as a draw weight with a recurve, particularly as a novice. Everything has to be more right or more lucky as you lower weights--if you have done what you say, then you well know that. If a person has to hunt with that draw weight due to physical reasons, then shoot a modern compound for the velocity increase and the ease of holding/aiming...for the game's sake.

Anything can be done, but not everything should be.

If you are what you say you are, then you know damn well what kind of ranges we used to shoot at with sticks and think nothing of it. That has changed, generally due to exposure to a non-hunting public and the resulting concerns to kill well, rather to risk wounding or losing.

The general public today is not the general public it was a generation ago. Think about it.