minimum poundage for deer bow?

[10-Ring]

One of my hunting buddies wants to get into bow hunting. She is petite and concerned about how much weight she can handle drawing? What is the minimum that would be recommended to deer hunt with and what would the range limitations be? She is already an accomplished deer hunter with a rifle and will no doubt work hard to learn and shoot her bow well, so I'm sure that she would be well practiced and her shot placement will be good.

[Handsome Rob]

Despite what every tv show, basspro & guy at the gas station tells you, you don't need 70# shooting 300+ fps to kill a deer.
I have killed my fair share, as have many of my friends, with recurve in the 40# range.
The trick is to up your arrow weight. None of this 5gn per pound crap, whack a 500gn arrow from a 40# bow, with a sold FIXED BLADE broadhead & there isn't a deer made will stand up to it.
Keep your shots to 20yds & under & don't worry one jot about her arrow speed. My 43# selfbow shoots a 530gn arrow at around 130fps. So far I've killed 2 deer & four decent hogs with it, all between 10 & 16yds. All but one hog were complete passthrough s

[BigK]

I couldn't agree more, robtattoo.

 

Sometimes I wonder if it's machismo that makes guys want a 70# bow or if the bow industry is just that good at convincing the market that today's deer will only die if the arrow is going 330 feet per second. I can sling a lot more practice arrows with 45-55# bow before I get tired too.

[BigK]

BTW...as best I recall from hunter education class about 30 yrs ago, TWRA only requires that the bow be capable of casting an arrow 150 yards.

[10-Ring]

I couldn't agree more, robtattoo.

Sometimes I wonder if it's machismo that makes guys want a 70# bow or if the bow industry is just that good at convincing the market that today's deer will only die if the arrow is going 330 feet per second. I can sling a lot more practice arrows with 45-55# bow before I get tired too.

Back when I was bow hunting before this was just how I did it, I could draw 65-70 pounds but I kept my bow set at 55 and slung about 100 arrows per day. I figured shot placement was more important than power. Edited July 14, 2015 by 10-Ring

[Slappy]

I know when I was a kid in Mississippi, the minimum poundage for hunting deer was 40lbs. So I'd probably stick with that unless TN has a different law I don't know about.

There are however advantages to high weighted and fast bows. Such as they have a much flatter trajectory allowing more room for yardage errors and deer do jump strings, a faster bow does make the difference sometimes.

[Handsome Rob]

Honestly, I'll take slow & silent over fast any day.
Until someone build a bow that's faster than the speed of sound, it kinda doesn't matter how quick it is!
A heavy arrow does a HUGE amount in quieting a bow, be it a traditional or compound. There isn't a silent made that'll shut up a bow shooting 5gpp, but shoot 10gpp & The noise reduction is tremendous!
Most of my hunting bows are around 60ish at my 31¾" draw & I'm generally shooting arrows in the 750gn+ range. I rarely have deer jump the string.

[Omega]

While I don't disagree with the above, I know for me I can't deal with a recurve. Mine is set to 60 or 70 but it has a big let off which greatly helps me when I draw a bit too soon or the deer turns on me. Maybe before my shoulder went out I could of hunted with a recurve but there is no way I can hold one for long.

[221 Fireball]

I shot 55-60 for many years, until I had shoulder surgery. I now shoot a 45 lb compound, and still kill deer no problem. My average shot over all these years is still around 20 yards. Set up right, and you'll whack 'em, that's the challenge, and fun, of bowhunting.

[10-Ring]

I'm going to get back in it this year. Since I've last messed with a bow I've broken my left collarbone and I have a plate and nine pins in it, plus I had a third degree separation of my right shoulder, both still give me issues if I can't handle the bow I will go the crossbow route.