So I got this bow a MX400 Martin from a fellow tradganger to use for bowfishing and like shooting it so much I can't help to want to shoot a deer with it. Here is my dilemma my arrow weighs 520grains and the bow is 45 at 28but I only draw 26.75 which on my scale comes out as 40 pounds. I was thinking of shooting a deer with it but AM worried it aint enough. I shoot a grizzly el grande 190 grain head glued on a 100 grain insert and have a 100 grain brass insert. So should I hang it up and only use itfor bowfishing or would it be ethical to shoot a deer with it? what do you think. I am accurate with it and can keep the arrows in a pie plate to 25 with it.

I think your fine as long as it meets the wt. requirements of the state your hunting in. Your arrows should be more than heavy enough.   Due to  the lower weight of your bow you may have to limit the effective range of your set up to 20 yards and less. 40-45# bows have killed plenty of game.  Now go out and have some fun.  

thanx I figured 20 to be my max. My dad alsways said that when he was starting out in archery back in the 60's a hunting bow was sold in 45 pounds and you never seen anything much heavier. So I would imagine alot of guys that were buying them weren't drawing the full 28 and were shooting deer at less poundage and never knew the difference. I have another bow that is 53 at my draw and I love to shoot it, but when I got this bow it was sure nice to draw!!!! I just thought it would be fun to get a deer with, but was worried it would be unethical.

Travis, untold numbers of game animals have been taken cleanly and "ethically" with equipment like you describe. Your range is only limited by your accuracy with it. Use cut-to-the-tip broadheads and take good shots, and you'll do fine.

Keep your shots at 20 yds. or less and you will have no problems with your set up. Alot of critters have been taken with the same basic set up you are shooting.....ron w

Go shoot deer with it!

i wouldnt stand in front of that set up

thanxguys I feel alot more confident. thanx again. Travis

Sounds fine to me !

sounds like a good set up that you enjoy shooting...and it'll take a dear jsut as cleanly as most other rigs out there. good luck and don't forget pics of your trip.

Travis, no one can ever guarantee that a certain bow weight/arrow weight, etc., will do the job every time.  An arrow from a seventy pound bow will be no more effective than from a forty pound if not put in the right spot.  Some folks think weight will make up for skill;  it doesn't.

Your bow will shoot that arrow over 100 miles per hour. Do you think anyone in their right mind would want that hitting them?  Put that arrow where it belongs and you will have no issues with kill deer.  My last buck was killed with a forty-five pound longbow and was a complete passthrough....arrow was about 500 grains with a two blade head.

No offense to anyone but I have no idea where guys pull the "20 yards or less" stuff out of when somone brings  up drawweights less than 50 or 60 or 80 or whatever poundage is "just right" in their opinion. I like my shots under 20 yards 'cause I tend to be more accurate inside 20 yards... but the flying arrow doesn't suddenly transition from a lethal penetrator at 20 yards to an ineffective dart at 21 yards. Arrows are potentially lethal to the full extent of their flight and penetration at 25 yards can easily EXCEED penetration at 5 yards even with well tuned arrows simply because the close range arrow is still throwing energy into oscillation and failing to keep all of its momentum directly behind the arrow tip. An arrow over 500 grains in mass weight shot from almost any bow pulling 40 pounds at 26+ inches and tipped with a sharp broadhead is a VERY lethal projectile. Having seen a bit of game shot with various bows of widely differing drawweights I am amazed at how little performance difference there is between 40 pound draws and 60 pound drawweights when penetration is the quantifier. Even when a chronograph shows widely differing speed and energy levels penetration can be remarkably similar. I've taken 8 Javalina with various bows, drawweights and broadheads at various distances-while I generally have had entry and exit wounds the Javies have consistently carried the arrow. My dad shot one earlier this month and his arrow sailed on through several yards beyond the peccary. He was drawing about 36 pounds at 24" with 485 grain arrows. He got more penetration than I did shooting 600 grain arrows from 53 @27 (which gave about the same result as when I shot 485 grain arrows from 43 @27) I love the draw weight and arrow weight debates but besides the sometimes mentioned issue of actual bow performance (where one fine 40 lb bow gets the same speed with the same arrow weight as some other doggy 55lber) there are A. Too many variables to KNOW exactly what will happen in any given scenario and B. Too much evidence that most any straight flying sharp broadhead tipped arrow will penetrate "enough" if it is sent to the vitals of light big game. There must be some threshhold where broadheads will fail to penetrate more than they succeed but I don't know where that threshhold lies other than it is below all commonly accepted hunting weights, below the few states where the legal limit is 30lbs and, I strongly suspect, well below the performance generated by most "kids' bows". Of course raw "power can help with bad shot placement and does no harm when placement is good but, while some energy and momentum is vital to arrow performance  the level of energy needed for  an arrow to do its work is very small.

My son has a longbow JD Berry made for him that is 26#@24". The way that thing shoots a 450 grain arrow, I wouldn't want to be anywhere inside of 40 yds against that bow. You've got plenty of potential in your set up.  I've always been a heavier weight shooter, but the more I mess with these lighter weight (45-55) bows, the more I see how incredibly capable even the minimum weight hunting bows can be.

When I said to keep the shots 20 or less it was all about shot placemant, not if the arrow was no longer effective at 21 or 22 yards. I keep my shots close as I can no matter what #bow I'm shooting, thats where I'm comfortable.

I agree with ron w I shoot a 56 to 58 pound bow and dont shoot past 20 yards. The bow will do it but I just dont feel comfortable shooting that far too many things to go wrong. Heck even back when I shot a 70 # compound bow I didnt shoot past 30 yards just my own personal limitations.

I can shoot accurately out to forty or fifty yards, but common sense will tell you the closer, the better.  A good hunter doesn't have to take long shots.  The "close range" suggestion is for shot placement....not about arrow lethality.

This is a phenomenon similar to shooting high velocity rifle cartridges as compared to the old black powder cartridges.  Higher velocities with lighter projectiles generally will not give as good a penetration as heavier projectiles launched at lower velocities.  Especially if heavy bone is met.  The ballistics can become quite involved but the common sense approach is that it's more difficult to stop a 6 foot long, 4 inch diameter wooden fence post travelling at 100 mph than it is to stop a  40 inch long fibreglass fence post, 1/2 inch in diameter, travelling at 300 mph.  Personally, I don't want to get hit with either one.  Your bow will be fine.

Vic

Treeman,
He was asking for advise! I was hoping my 45+ years behind a bow might allow me to comment. I'm sorry I did.  Think I'll just read from here on out.  Leave the advise to you experts.  

Travis,
I killed my first buck at age 11 with a 45# Bear Kodiak, and a full length Bear wood arrow and razor head. Have no idea what the arrow weight was and didn't care. Just knew I could hit my mark and was full of confidence! It worked just fine! And I doubt my draw length was anywhere near 26.75" when I was 11!
GO FOR IT BUDDY!