Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Traditional training poundage

Just would like some opinions. My drawing shoulder is starting to give me a little twinge. I am wondering how light I can go in weight for practicing and still have it translate to my hunting poundage.

Thanks

I shoot 55 lbs most of the year, but hunt with 63. Does not sound like much difference but for me it's at least several dozen shots per session.

I also find shooting 10-15 shots and quitting as long as everything was good is all I need most of the year. I don't often shoot 50 plus times per session any longer.

No need to kill my joints when everything is working. I'll admittedly get crazy when fooling around at longer ranges for fun. Shooting 50-80 yards for fun, I will often shoot more then normal.

If you've been shooting a lot stop for a bit. Heal.

I shoot 70# compounds and a 50# longbow. My advice would be not to shoot at all until your shoulder feels good and then shoot as often as possible, but never more than is comfortable. I only shoot what I hunt with.

For me it's hard to get a clean release on a low poundage bow and my shot sequence is just not the same.

I shoot 55# and start running into some trouble below about the 40# mark.

It really just depends on how you shoot.

I should add that the 63lb bow I hunt with never gets adjusted down. The 55lb draw is a completely different near identical bow.

I like having two ready to go that both get shot year round. Having the trusted backup is a nice too.

The wear and tear on my normal hunting bow is reduced as well. Once dialed in it stays that way for a very long time because I'm not shooting it thousands of times a year.

Slick, good planning.

NYStillHunter, I started shooting bows altered to use (International Limb Fitting) ILF limbs about eight years ago.

ILF limbs have a lot of R&D behind them and are very efficient in storing and releasing energy. For example, I used to shoot a Robertson Montana Falcon w/ limb tips that accepted fastflite string. It was 65# and shot a 620 gr. arrow at about 175-180 fps.

My altered Proline riser with Samick Masters limbs at 53# shot the same arrow about 170 fps. Same energy, pull 12# less, no brainer.

I'm back to shooting a set-up at 51# after having been down to 48# for a few years. I hunted elk with the 48# bow with no doubt about it's ability to do the job. I had moved on to a 520 gr. arrow going about 180 fps. with that rig.

If I only hunted whitetails up to 200# or so I would put together a bow in the 38-42# draw weight and be happy and confident in it's effectiveness. I live in Kansas and killed a buck that weighed 203 dressed so I continue to hunt with the bow I mentioned above.

There are quite a few production bows nowadays that take ILF limbs. Wood riser as well as metal riser. Affordable and/or high dollar, they make it a lot easier on the aging bowhunters out there. Like me.

I'm sure that most traditional bowhunters have at least heard about these systems. I know some have aversion to using equipment they don't see as oldschool trad too. Everyone should use what they are comfortable with and enjoy. I like the limitless options, efficiency and good manners that these set-ups provide.

http://www.dryadbows.com/ILF/ilfsystem.htm

http://www.morrisonarchery.com/html/morrison_bows.html

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/tradtech-titan-iii-19-ilf-takedown-riser.html

http://www.3riversarchery.com/DAS+Bows+Risers_i8147_variablekit.html

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/bows/ilf-traditional-bows/ilf-take-down-limbs.html

Thank you for the replies. I am going to take some time off and see how it goes.
The ILF system looks interesting. I will read up on it. Thanks!

Glad to here it. Shooting with pain is counter productive.

I've been bow hunting since the mid 70's and just now got back into traditional archery, my compound is set at 63lbs but my new trad bow is a 35lbs( its real important to learn proper form and that can be hard to do pulling alot of weight

Great post 257, hard to unlearn bad habits and technique from being overbowed too. Go to just about any big trad shoot and watch 90% of 'em on the practice range.

Before I would recommend a lower weight, I'd ask first why is your shoulder hurting???? Are you pulling to much weight or is it how you are pulling the weight? Are you shooting to many arrows during your training session? Once you start down the slippery slope of lowering weight in a tradition bows it makes it much harder to get back. I commonly train with more weight than what I am going to hunt with. It does not make sense to practice with a 50# trad bow then jump to a 55#. You don't have the let off of a compound. So training with lower weight then jumping doesn't work. Training with heavier weight then dropping down does work.

No disrespect meant but that is exactly why someone needs to learn on low poundage. The low poundage will teach you a smooth release. Some of the mistakes you are making now with the heavier bow are from bad release. Learn to shoot 25-35 lbs well and it will make the groups even tighter with the heavier bow.

PS
I don't really see any reason to go beyond 55 lbs for larger game like elk and 45 for deer with a high efficiency bow.

"Studies recommend that an arrow deliver 25 to 39 foot-pounds of energy to kill animals with thin hides and light bones. If you're after large game with thick hides, your bow should deliver 40 to 80 foot-pounds of energy. If you seek boxcar-sized African animals, you'd better eat your Wheaties. Theoretically, you need 80 to 129 foot-pounds of energy."

Elk fall under Large game with thick hides...40 foot pound minimum. By my calculations, 37.42 ft-lbs., you are below the recommendations and would be wish to up your arrow weight or pull more weight to produce a faster arrow.

It's all about power gentlemen! You need it in order to drive that arrow deep enough.

So, my 65# bow shooting a 620 gr. arrow at 175 fps. (42.1 ft.-lbs.) is powerful enough, but my 48# bow shooting a 520 gr. arrow at 180 fps. (37.4 ft-lbs.) isn't? How about a 65# bow shooting a 620 gr. arrow at 165 fps? (37.5 ft-lbs.) hmmm, as long as it says 65# on the bow?

The "light" 48# bow has 4.7 ft-lbs. difference, about 9%. I don't buy it. Sharp arrows flying that fast just don't bounce off animals. They went through that 260 lb. whitetail I mentioned earlier like he was made of smoke, out the other side and on the ground.



IMO it doesn't matter how hard the bow is to draw back, just how efficiently it stores and releases energy to drive the arrow. Well, it doesn't matter unless it affects how well you can shoot the bow! A good "powerful" arrow in the guts or shoulder might matter.

I don't know what "studies" you quoted from above but razors slicing through flesh aren't easily translated into ft-lbs. numbers. They are not bullets, they kill by cutting vessels and causing massive hemmorage, not blunt force trauma or tissue disruption.

Ishi used a 45lb for just about everything, a 50lb for bear.

I know a bowyer that shot through a 4X4 bull elk with one of his bows just under 40 lbs. He wasn't using an extremely heavy arrow either. Shot placement is the most critical element and most archers shoot much better with lighter bows.

Personally, I don't recommend 35lb bows for elk but 50-55 lbs will be plenty for all but the largest or dangerous game.