My mom has been bit by the trad bug and archery in general, which is AWESOME! :thumbsup: She's been shooting everyday and this fall she wants to deer hunt, which is even better!
I've been piecing together a bow and hunting package for her to get started. Right now she's shooting a Bear Tar Tar 30#@28, but that is too light at her draw and kinda bulky!
I re-finished a Ben Pearson Pony 42@28. It's more of an early R/D longbow as far as shape goes. I have a 12 strand B-5o string for it. The bow is 60 inches long.
She will be drawing around 26 inches, maybe a tad less, so about 35/36 pounds at her draw, which is about as much as she can handle right now. What arrows/heads are you hunters using for deer size game that hunt with this same weight? Thanks!
I don't have any experience with that. I just wanted to say how awesome it is that your mom wants to take up bowhunting. Congrats.
I was faced with a similar problem... short draw and inability to draw much weight. I normally shoot in the mid 20# range, but sometimes up into the 30's. I hadn't previously bow hunted but last fall I got the chance and I wanted to see how the bows I build could do. I found out that Texas doesn't have a bow weight limit and arranged to try for pigs and javelina there. I built two bows for the effort, a 38# and a 42#. That was at my 25" draw.
As it worked out, the only pigs around seemed to be large and I opted not to try them at that weight. I'd been told that small ones would be fine, but the older ones develop a muscle shield that's hard to penetrate.
Anyway, I ended up concentrating on javelina. The secret turned out to be lots of practice in the month beforehand to build up my weight, so that I could handle the 42# bow OK. I couldn't shoot it for long practice sessions, but hunting doesn't work that way. I would go out and take maybe a dozen shots several times a day, from 8 to 18 yards. I ended up getting my javie with a pass through shot at about 10 yards. He was down and dead in 10 or 12 seconds.
One of the things that really helped me was that I made a foam javelina and practice on that, so I was real comfortable with knowing where the kill zone was and knew I could hit it within 15 yards. I just wouldn't take any longer shot.
I've since talked with numerous deer hunting folks who have told me that the same would apply to deer. Know the animal, practice within your sure range and resist any but a close shot. I might try for a deer this fall.
Your wife might enjoy or be encouraged by reading about my preparation and hunt. It's posted at:
http://oldpharttsarchery.com/shooting-adventures/bigbadwolf/bigbadwolf.html
Tell her good luck from me.
skinny carbon, sharp 2 blade head, EFOC and well tuned should be right.
To give you an idea: I am shooting a mildly R/D longbow. At my drawlength she delivers 38 lbs.
After a lot of experimenting, I found out that Goldtips Ultra Light Entrada.600 with a 125 grains fieldtip an a weight insert of 20 grains fly great. They give me appr. 9,6 gpp adn a FOC of 19%. If you want to shoot heavier, you could go to Goldtip traditionals .600, they will give you appr. 11 gpp. Probably your wife has to add slightley more weight to it. I think a 150 grains broadhead might be just perfect! Leave the shafts at their lenght of 30 inch.
Try this set-uo, I think you won't be dissapointed!
Arwin, take a good look at the brownbear head from Abowyer. Don
Arwin,
I think Batman has it. One of the skinny carbons; the best would be the Easton FMJ and Beman MFX Classic because they weigh the most gpi. Larry Hannify is right down the road from you; the Brown Bear is 3:1 and single bevel. That is the exact setup my 11 year old son will be shooting this fall.
Thanks guys, good stuff so far.
Just for a slight correction...it is my mom,LOL! My wife won't have anything to do with hunting. :laughing:
She'll have no trouble killing a whitetail deer with a 35#-36# bow. Just keep the shot 20 yards or less. One of my three bows is a 37# Blacktail recurve. It easily does the job on a whitetail deer with no problems. Just tell her to aim for the lungs on a broadside shot. No animal goes far without lungs. A very sharp 2 blade broadhead is the best broadhead for a light poundage bow in my opinion and I've been shooting light poundage bows for 46 years. Below is my complete setup for my 37# recurve.
Blacktail TD Recurve: 66", 37# @ 30". BS: 13 Strand Dyna97. BrcHt: 7 5/8". NS: 5/8". Arrow: 32" BOP, 2212. Feathers: 3, 5" Parabolic. PW: 185 Grains. Broadhead: STOS 145. AW: 528 Grains. GPP: (14.27). FOC: 17.3%
A 600 entrada full length with as heavy a broadhead as it takes to tune it for her.Stick to a small head like the woodsman or vpa if useing a 3 blade.With a two blade shoot whatever you can sharpen the best.Do this and her shooting skills will be the deciding factor for her success or failure.The equipment will be more than enough to shoot through deer. jmo
I am not a big fan of heavy arrows with light weight bows.You need to be accurate and hit them where it counts.It is much easier to do that with 9 or 10gns/lb than with an arrow heavier than that.Light bows and short draws have enough arch in the arrows already without loading them down for nothing. jmho
Until my kids came of age, I had very little experience with light bows for hunting.
I have learned alot!
My twelve yr old son is shooting a 42lb Deermaster, drawing it to 26 1/2"... he is getting 37lbs. (on my scale) His arrow is a Carbon Express Predator II, .600 spine/20-40lbs. With three 4" shield feathers, and a 175 grain tip, his 29" arrow comes in at just over 11 gpp.
He must have an excellent release, because he gets bullet holes through paper as close as three yards. These arrows fly great.
We tried several weight tips, and as far as trajectory is concerned, we could not notice much, if ANY difference at his effective range.
With a two edge, these arrows will have plenty of wallop for deer ribs.
Congrats to your entire family on your MOM joining the ranks!
Hunting with mom...something that few will ever get to do. :thumbsup:
I got to thinking, and realized I forgot to mention that nock fit on the string is very important.
Too tight is bad. IMO
Loose nocks can fall off easier when hunting, BUT tight nocks cause problems with flight.