ideal poundage for whitetail?

[RyanY]

Draw weight is nothing without speed. 

[gstoneberg]

Compounds generally have a higher percentage of let off thats why a 30 compound vs 30 long bow will be faster more kinetic energy but Im sure one of the professors will let us know exactly...lol   

Sort of, but not exactly.  A compound stores more energy because the cam(s) allow the bow to be at a higher draw weight through more of the draw cycle.  The greater stored energy releases more energy to the arrow (than a longbow or recurve of similar peak draw weight) which raises arrow velocity and reduces trajectory.  The let-off allows the bow to be aimed more precisely and held at full draw much more easily than the recurves and longbows we love.  Until recently, this higher performance came at the expense of noise, but current compounds are actually pretty quiet.  Clearly the bow manufacturers have taken to heart what we stick and string shooters have known for years, a silent bow is better than a fast bow.  At the end of the day, the compound is modern machinery and engineering applied to ancient archery.  It is  impressive to me.  A 40lb compound is certainly superior in performance to a longbow or recurve of similar or even higher poundage.  But, they're not for me as I love to watch the arrow in flight, to see the animal so close I'm afraid to breathe.  I don't want to spend my time tinkering with stuff on my bow and instead tinker with building the next one.  I personally have no issues with people currently using compounds.  Many of them will be tomorrows traditionalists, once they get bored and  try a traditional bow.  Then at some point they'll likely want a more primitive approach.  I will welcome them...I walked that road myself.  All of the people I have taught to build osage bows were shooting a compound at the time the primitive bug but them.

George

[sailordad]

Draw weight is nothing without speed. 

i totaly disagree
my wheelie bow is set at 53lbs,shoots about 285 fps
my stick bows are around 48lbs(on average) they shoot about 150 fps(had a couple chronoed a while back,i think thats what they were)
either will kill turkey,deer or whatever else i decide to hunt
dead is dead
yes the arrow gets there quiker and does more "shock" damage on impact(or so they claim)
but with speed comes noise,my wheeli bow is way more loud than any of mu stick bows
i have all the modern noise cancelling dampers etc on my wheeli and not so much as string slincers on my stick bows
and the sticks are much much more quit than the wheeli,not to mention much more fun to shoot period

[Thwackaddict]

IMO speed only factors into shooting longer distances with less holdover or for driving big heavier arrows into really thick hide and bone.Heres a formula for figuring your bows kinetic energy. SpeedxSpeedxgrain weight of arrow/450240. Say your bow shoots a 500grain arrow at 200fps you get 44.42ft/lbs of kinetic energy  200x200x500/450240=44.42  Now granted if your good in da woods and can get close enough to smell its breath or reach out and straighten its whiskers speed is replaced by stealth!!Hands down.Too much speed hurts because it leads some to believe they can err in shootin form or take a less than optimal shot and the bows speed and ability to blast thru will make up for it.I had the fastest bow on the market and loved it but it lead me to take shots further and further away and took away the adrenaline rush of sneakin up and stickin one in from 10 or 15 yards which to me is what archery is all about.Had to get back to my roots if ya now what i mean.40 lbs is more than enough.

[Paka]

  30/30 marlin 2100 fps , compound bow 300 fps, stickbow not sure ( around 145???) , a spear (even slower) but they all kill And as for noise , I love shooting these stickbows, there soooooo quiet
  Infact I've heard of pigs taken by arrow then when cleaning find bullets stuck in thier shoulder shields . Its all about placement So check your laws and get your arrows grouping well and bring home some venison .  Paka

[n2huntn]

Shot a buck last year with a D style bow I made, 50lbs at my 27" draw. 18 yard shot, complete pass through , buck flinched and kept on feeding through until he wobbled and went down for the count. Probably would have same result if 45lb draw but I personally would not go lower, but then others are stealhier than I so they may.
 As for compounds my opinion is you get more percentage of energy out per lb of draw than stick bows and the new bows are very quiet. I own 3 and love the design elements of them as I do stick bows, all things stick and string have my attention.
Jeff

[Hillbilly]

In my state, the minimum weight for traditional bows is 40# for big game. Draw weight of a bow can be deceptive though. The draw weight is just a measure of how much energy it takes to pull the bow back to a certain point. What really matters is how much of that energy actually goes into the arrow. It is possible to make an efficient 50# bow that will shoot harder and faster than a poorly-designed 70# bow.

[Josh]

^^that's what I was wanting to say but couldn't find the right words, Steve.  Well put. 

[Kegan]

Denny- no arguement from me, I didn't even get a license for this year (I'll be travelling during hunting season)

[John K]

30#'s here in Wisconsin

[adb]

Draw weight is nothing without speed. 

I also totally disagree. Speed does not kill... penetration and placement kills. There is no shock affect with an arrow, it kills by hemorrhage only. I much prefer a heavy, slow moving arrow that provides a complete pass through, to a blindingy fast arrow that penetrates minimally.

[ricktrojanowski]

I think the ideal weight is something that you can draw on a cold day after sitting still for hrs. on end and hit where you want with the first shot.  This is kind of obvious, but I think going a few pounds under what you are comfortable with while shooting in your backyard in the summer is a good idea.  It's a different story when that deis in front of you and a poor shot is a wounded animal.  That being said I like a bow that is about 45+/- pounds with at least a 500 grain arrow.  I personally keep my shots to 15 yrds or less.

[RyanY]

Glad you guys completely misinterpreted my post. All I'm saying is that you could have a heavy draw weight bow but if it shoots super slow then the weight doesn't matter. I'm not saying that you have to have a ton of speed to kill but you have to get the arrow to the target.

[JW_Halverson]

Ryoon's point is more about acheiving some decent amount of efficiency from the bow rather than just draw weight. 

My first bow was 43# ash flatbow that shot 400 grain arrows at about 130 fps.  I bounced a blunt off a rabbit at 10 yds and the bunny kept on hopping.  The efficiency was so poor that it wasn't an ethical choice despite one famous archer's claim that a well sharpened arrow and a 40 lb bow would kill all the game North America offers. 

I now make bows in the 40-45 lb range that shoot 450 grain arrows at over 155 fps and I would have no problem with that selfsame bunny, much less the 200# muley buck that I ate last year. 

And like all the other's on this site agree, make sure your broadheads are so sharp that you are actually afraid of them.  If you aren't scared of the broadhead, put it back in the quiver and go home. 

[15yearold.archer]

yah i totalsly agree the thing im pretty querry on is the fact that ive never built an arrow or broadheasd i wanna go all primitive and all when im in the stand but for my first bow hunt seing as i dont think i will be able to make a good enough arrow an sharp enough point in just a few months would it be a bad idea to just go with a carbon that matched my bow and a nice 4 blade broad head