In NC we have a 45# min weight for big game. what weight did your kids start big game hunting at?

My daughter will not be to the min yet for this state for another yr or two? which is a bit frustrating.

Maybe my question is what weight is min for your state to take big game? if there is a min.

Either way??

Thanks

J

My son qualified with his recurve last season
he is 13 and shooting 38lbs I hope he does the same this year also ( If i can pull him away from his online games   )
Maryland has a min of 30lbs

No minimum here in Kentucky. My oldest killed his first with a 35 pound bow. The shot was very close and the broadhead was very sharp.

40# minimum in ohio so maybe next year for my son

No minimum in Kansas for deer or turkey.

I'm all for the minimums... I think it's a good idea.  Nothing would ruin a kid faster than wounding an animal because his/her bow was under powered.  My son hunts small game with me every year.  He's 8 now and this will be his 3rd season getting some small game hunts in with his long bow.  That fuels his hunting fire ...even though he asks about deer every year.

Here in Wisconsin it's 30 which is what my 12 year old daughter is shooting.  She's not quite ready to hunt yet however as I have an accuracy standard which she hasn't yet attained. Close but not quite!  Not worried about the bows power but a bad shot is still a bad shot and no sense having her first experience be a poor one.

Here in NY its 35lbs. My son is 12 and this will be his first deer season he can hunt. I just finished making him a hybrid longbow that pulls 37lbs at his 24" draw length. We will keep his shots to 10-11 yards max, and will be using old Bear greenies without the bleeders.

Here's another somewhat related question.  How are draw weights enforced for trad bows?  For example, let's say state minimum is 40#.  A teen is hunting with a recurve that's 40#@28", but is only drawing 26" and about 36# at that length.  Is this legal because the bow is marked 40#, or does it have to be 40# at the hunter's actual draw length?  I'm not sure if this is specifically addressed in any of the laws, but I'm curious how a game warden would look at it.

Oh, and state minimum here in Louisiana is 30#.

J-dog,
I looked up the regs for,NC to see how they were stated.
First the min. For longbow or recurve is 40 pounds pull.
Compound is 35 and crossbow 150.

On none of these is a @ draw length mentioned.
So unless there is some test given the weight marked on the bow is what they will go by.
Agents will not have a way in the field to test bows.

I have read of folks in other states having custom bows made and miss labeled.

Very silly law/rule. A piece of sandpaper and a sharpie would make any recurve legal anywhere.
Not promoting anything illegal know, just saying.

Yup, and atop that, one thirty pound bow might be a dog and another very quick, quicker than a 40# bow maybe.

I don't think there is a minimum in Georgia anymore. It used to be 40#.

QuoteOriginally posted by J. Cook:
I'm all for the minimums... I think it's a good idea.  Nothing would ruin a kid faster than wounding an animal because his/her bow was under powered.  My son hunts small game with me every year.  He's 8 now and this will be his 3rd season getting some small game hunts in with his long bow.  That fuels his hunting fire ...even though he asks about deer every year.

I am with the min weights to an extent but I know many adult females that cant challenge 45 (I was wrong it is 40 -- edit). or at least shoot it accurately. Also with shots being set up here at 10 yards most a 30/35 with a sharp BHd can do the trick. I am talking an HONEST doe weight of 80lbs (guts in) with a chest cavity that is all of four inches deep, 6 inches if quartering. It is law so not arguing just trying to keep the daughter on a trad track, she is doing very well with her shooting! Just gonna have to hold her back from the hunt for awhile.

I think that law is about as mindless as it gets. No way to enforce it, and overall just unnecessary. I shoot 40#s. I was a 3 sport athlete and could shoot 80lbs if need be, but in NC there isn't anything walking around that a well tuned 35lb bow and 2blade sharp head can't take care of quick. My arrows blow through almost every deer I shoot, what does it matter how deep in the ground it sticks on the other side of the deer?

QuoteOriginally posted by huskyarcher:
I think that law is about as mindless as it gets. No way to enforce it, and overall just unnecessary. I shoot 40#s. I was a 3 sport athlete and could shoot 80lbs if need be, but in NC there isn't anything walking around that a well tuned 35lb bow and 2blade sharp head can't take care of quick. My arrows blow through almost every deer I shoot, what does it matter how deep in the ground it sticks on the other side of the deer?