I think mgr hit on another interesting point...hunting skills and woodsmanship.

Many of us in the midwest grew up hunting squirrels and groundhogs. These and Dad were my best instructors.  Lots of folks go straight to big game now days because they can. We could not when I was younger because population levels (Indiana) weren't strong enough. I didn't see a live deer until I was 16 years old ...killed him with a 45# Ben Pearson Cougar -1970

I wan't strong but I was wirey (me and Barney Fife).

I grew up hunting small game with my father in northern Illinois...rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, doves and so on. We rarely saw deer and it wasn't until I was in my late 20's that I started seeing enough of them to get the idea I should start hunting them. I had a son of my own before I killed my first deer.

Today, in northern Indiana I know a lot of young hunters (some who are successful) who never shot or ate a squirrel or wild rabbit. They go straight to "trophy" hunting.

Most of them who bow hunt use a compound. Since cross bows were included in the regular archery season a couple of years ago, some have switched to a cross bow.

These are farm kids (kids, compared to me) and they are not necessarily unfit physically.

What can you say? Lots of things change as time goes on.

The study of human evolution, we don,t usually hunt by throwing stones anymore either, we perfected better ways to kill, dose not mean we all do it the best way possible. IMO use whats most effective for yourself, 40# to 70# or whatever. Good hunters should be physically fit just to be safe afield.

I think part of the reason draw weights have dropped is because of the bowyers-not meant negatively (afterall, who knows their product better). Many of today's bowyers want to talk to prospective buyers over the phone.  The bowyer wants to know what you're planning to do with "his bow"-are you a hunter, a competitive shooter, or a just for pleasure shooter.  He wants to match his product to your wishes. A hunter needs one well placed shot.  A competitor needs to shoot hundreds of well placed shots.  A fun shooter is somewhere between the two extremes.  The bowyer wants you to be successful/happy with his "product". A 3D shoot is much different than hunting in 10 degree weather, which is different than roving/stump shooting. How many of us shoot competitively with a bow of lower draw weight than our hunting bow?

Going full circle.  Not so much performance difference as people are learning it doesn't take 60# to kill a deer.

Personally, I don't really hold the whole "weight" issue as one of major importance. We all are smart enough to gravitate towards what works the best for ourselves. My reasons to shoot a certain weight, is likely to not even enter in on the requirements/needs of another. I don't know why weights of bows are what they are, other then there is a need, to suit each of us perfectly. Once we are comfortable with a bow, shoot it accurately, being well tuned, and go through the learning curve of making good hits on animals under adrenaline stress,,,,, then success comes and the freezer stays full... so who cares really what bow weight they used to do it with? Collecting meat is the focus I'm thinking... An interesting read none the less.

Whether or not you need more or less weight to kill a deer I don't see being an issue.

Correctly drawing heavier bows takes more work, and it's harder. It's physically tough, and there are some people who just will not see it as necessary.

I retired a year ago yesterday from the Army after 25 years...and I can tell you the things us old timers routinely take for granted as simply being part of an outdoor sport like the infantry...kills kids today.

One day another Sergeant Major mentioned something I had never considered. He said, Russ, these babies have never even had to physically roll up a car window...and now we have a whole generation of them. How the hell are they gonna carry a heavy rucksack and weapon as far as we go?

Think about that.

I started shooting a recurve in 1958. My first bow was a Bear Kodiak Special that pulled 36 lbs. at 28 inches. Almost everyone in our archery club at that time was shooting bows that ranged from 35 to 45 pounds. One gentleman was shooting a 47 lb. bow and it was the heaviest pound bow in the club.

The following year (1959) I purchased another Bear Kodiak Special (which I still have and still shoot on occasion) @ 43 lbs. at 28 inches.

For years, I deer hunted with bows that pulled around the 43 to 45 pound range. In the 1980's, I moved up to the 55 pound range bows when I began hunting other big game animals thinking that I needed the extra weight for bear, moose, caribou, etc.

I still use 55 lb. bows for most hunting, but I must say that I am more accurate and, enjoy shooting, the lighter weight bows.

I think that when the compound craze hit the archery/hunting scene, it had an affect on traditional hunters because speed seemed to be all the talk in the world of archery. Heavier traditional bows helped speed things up. Perhaps over time, we traditionlists realized that the accuracy and enjoyment of shooting lighter  equipment over-trumped speed. Certainly age has some bearing on going to a lighter bow as well. At any rate, using a lighter pound bow is in my immediate future!

I started with heavier stick bows but I think it's because I came from a 70- pound compound and I didn't know any better. I just arbitrarily chose a recurve/long bow weight that was only a little less than my compound and went up from there.

In later years I learned what "good" form looked like and saw how accurately a stick bow could be shot...and learned something about tuning!

I still roll my truck windows up and down with a hand crank too. LOL.

You know?...while I have no intention of going back to a regular diet of my 65# longbow, I'd bet money that could shoot it FAR more accurately now than I could back when I was hunting with it. It wouldn't even be close.

Here's another factor.

Back when I was shooting heavy(ish) bows I thought I was going to hunt Alaskan moose and brown bear...maybe some 600# really mean Russian boar.

My rifles and handguns were big too.

Now the reality. You know what I shoot? More paper and tin cans than anything. I shoot a few few rabbits, squirrels and the occasional scrawny little whitetail.

Things are not looking up for those "big game" trips that I dreamt of when I was younger.

My wife's bow is more than enough and my bow is more than I'll ever need.

QuoteOriginally posted by Orion:
I was shooting sticks back in the 60s, and then, bows over 50# were not the norm.  Some folks shot them, but most shot around 50# or less.  That's reflected in the poundages of all the vintage bows one now sees on the auction sites.

For some reason, in the 80s and 90s, bow weight took a jump.  Then 60-70# bows became the norm.  Don't really know why.  Of course, there were no large commercial bow makers then, just small custom shops. Folks who had been shooting a long time probably move up a little, as I did to 60 to 65#, but part of my reason for doing so was to hunt bigger critters like elk and moose.  

I suspect, too, that some of the folks who got started with compounds who switched to traditional thought they could keep shooting the heavy weight and thus the first trad bow they purchased was probably pretty heavy. Lots of those are sitting on the rack now, or up for sale and not selling very well.

As others have pointed, today's equipment's also more efficient so not as much bow weight is necessary.  A lot of that efficiency is due more to improved string material, arrow shafting and bow making materials (carbon) than to changes in bow design.

As I hit 70, I'm dropping down in weight to the low 50s for hunting and mid-40s for targets.  Just not as strong as I used to be.

I suspect that folks who regard archery as a hobby or pleasant past- time don't spend as much time shooting or hunting as those who consider shooting sticks and bowhunting a way of life. And thus, heavier bows are more difficult for them to  shoot, and certainly not necessary to enjoy shooting.  

The pendulum has probably swung back to the light side of "normal," whatever that is, but a lot of folks are also new to traditional archery. With all the information available now, more of them are making the wise decision to start at lower draw weights.

X2

That was a good post to quote.

I'm one of the 80's archery crowd too...from 70# compounds to 65# stick bows.

Then I met that "old" gent sinking them in the bull from 40 yards with the 40# bow when most of us couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. LOL

If I started 10 or 20 years earlier I probably would have started by shooting field with a 40(ish) pound bow...and it might not have taken me so long to learn the basics.

I think Orion hit the nail on the head.    

No disrespect to anyone, but, having been to many traditional shoots, the level of physical fitness among traditional archers is appalling. Yeah, ok, a "50# high performance bow will kill anything in North America". So,if that"s your reason to shot lighter weight bows, then fine, but, " getting old" is no excuse to be fat, lazy, and weak. Part of the lure of Traditional Archery is the ability to pull a bow. I remember last year reading a post from someone about buying a lighter weight bow, his comment was " why work any harder than you have too". Well, if that's you attitude, but a compound. A traditional bow is a weapon, a weapon used through mankind's early history, used by men and women for killing food and your enemies. If you want to shoot a traditional bow, train to shoot one.

And to paraphrase Don Thomas: "Traditional archery is not for everyone, it was not meant to be easy". No, shooting 55#'s and up is not easy, it requires training and dedication. Most do not seem willing to make the sacrifice.

One of the things that might come with age...if you're lucky is the wisdom to choose the right tool for the job and discipline to learn to use it.

"Bigger and/or heavier" isn't even a sound strategy for choosing a hammer (long time farrier and blacksmith here)...though it's often the strategy employed by those not skilled in the use of a hammer.

Big ditto to Duncan from Idaho. Many folks who attend the 3 D circuit are in this death spiral of draw weight. I remember recently someone was talking about his 30# longbow for hunting.  At this rate they will be at 0# within a decade. A friends 8 year grandson shoots a 40# bow. My size 0 100# wife shoots 43#. Jay Campbell's wife shoots 74#. Fred bear shoot 70# into his 70s and so did Howard Hill. The biggest issue for me is the bossiness of the "enlightended" 40# and less crew. They constantly harass those of us who shoot heavier weights better.  People seem to be getting MUCH lazier and softer lately. I hunt public land and used to see folks deep in the woods hunting al day. Now, I get past 200 yards I am alone as if in a wilderness. Yes, a 40# bow will take most game on a perfect shot at 10 yards. Get comfortable with 77# and you will not need a rifle to keep meat in the freezer.

This topic always seems to morph into, "everyone should shoot the heaviest bow as they can shoot accurately...Light bows can kill game just as well as heavy bows...Heavy bows kill game far better than light bows...archers are more accurate with lighter bows...archers who shoot lighter weight bows think they're elitist ...My wife, son, daughter pulls XX amount of weight..." Blah, blah,blah. With all due respect, shoot what you want. If it's a legal weight bow for the game you intend to hunt, then hunt with whatever weight bow you want. Personally, I could care less what weight bow anyone shoots or hunts with, let alone if someone is old, fat, lazy or weak.  

I don't care what equipment somebody wants to shoot or hunt with except...

If you happen to think that getting more archers interested in "traditional" archery would be good for the sport, I think the single best thing we can do to help the sport is to shoot better.

A lot of the bow hunters I know around here have never considered a single string bow and they seem to be of the opinion that nobody can hit anything with one. They don't even take it seriously as a hunting weapon.

On the very rare occasion that I visit the local indoor range, I gather a crowd by hitting the 5 spot a couple of times in a row at 20 yards.

I'm not all that good but the very few other stick bow shooters I've seen there spray their arrows all over the wall.

OK an 8 year old shoots 40 pounds or a 100# lady shoots 43#. What does that tell us?

Have them pick a small spot and shoot at it a bunch of times and count up the hits and misses. That might tell us something.

I can draw my 65# longbow. Heck, I could probably draw it far enough to break it in half. I can launch a bunch of arrows off of it.

But now we could move on to actually measure my ability to control those shots.