Rainman....sales gimmicks?...Um...Hadn't thought of that?  Thats why 45# bows were pushed.

Jedimaster... You said "Insecurity causes folks to get their backs up against the wall"...Um.. haven't thought of that either?  

I think I'm up agaist a wall here?  What do yall think?  Am I up against a wall?  What am I defending?  Am I insecure?  And so much that I have to ask why yall don't draw the heavy weight bows of 60#'s ???

Does my question threaten the principals of this sport.  Or do I not ask?  Should I not ask?  Should I not be curious as to why a mass of recent newbies shoot bows of weight that is what I would call light?....  Should I not feel a reason to promote kinetic energy without shooting a compound?... Should I feel guilty about me feeling that I'm above those whom shoot 39# bows at deer?
Should I not be concerned and desire a wakeup to some that maybe not be capable yet of doing what yall do in a resposible manner?...
Some of yall here may shoot a 45# bow and have the success.  But do yall think about the ones that cannot or do not have that capability at this time?..
We....as responsible bowhunters have a resposiblity to protect, defend, and promote that of which would not threaten our sport.
And when I say sport, to me it is a passion that has shown me more about ethical behavior than anything on earth.  Trad archery has been a blessing to me and has taught me in ways that nothing else could.

Ray...........

I like light bows as well...mine weighs less than three pounds,lol...Oh, you were talking draw weight... I have several bows around but I do most of my hunting with two recurves. One is about 59 # at my draw (a tick under 29") and the other is about 62# at my draw. I have a longbow  that is 52# pounds at my draw that I haven't hunted with yet (its too purty)...I shoot these bows because they are comfortable to me and I shoot them well and I kill things with them. Some may consider them heavy, some may consider them light. I do like the history of archery and enjoy reading about it, but what poundage Art Young or Fred Bear or Howard Hill hunted with doesn't factor into my decision on what to hunt with. Its a personal decision. I use what I use because its what I like.
    I think its a good idea to shoot what you can shoot accurately. It may be 45# or it may be 85#. A bad shot is a bad shot, period. Its more important to have a well tuned arrow with a SHARP (Sharper than Sharp) broadhead. Its all about getting close and making a good shot and an even better follow up. If a person isn't capable of going out and making good killing shots with a 45# bow then they DANG sure don't need to be out hunting with a 65# pound bow. How is that ethical?

David

Look bud I understand where you are coming from.  To  me it is the way you make your case the things you say and how you say them.  You just can't come on a site where prolly 35 percent or more people shoot under 50 pounds and tell them they have no rite to be hunting and that you are better than them because you shoot more poundage than them.  What if I walked up to you with a 75 pound compound and said man that bow you shoot is not good enough to kill deer, you would be fighting mad.  I am trying to build up a little in bow weight anyway but I hurt my self bad starting out with a 60 pound recurve and it was a year before I could even shoot 45 pounds, so I am setting a limit at 55 pounds cuzz I know it should work for my deer and 150 pound pigs.  You can bet your bippy if I shoot an arrow in the kill zone of a deer and it does not perform in an ethical way with my 45 pound bow, I won't need RaybowTx to tell me to change, I will know for my self.  If I get to 55 pounds and that does not work then I will pick up my compound and accept that this is something my body will not let me do to my own personal standard of ethics.  I don't think it will come to that.  I understand you are concerned you just got to be carfull making a case otherwise you look like an egotistical person who wants to pick a fight.

I would have no problem with shooting a 85lb bow all day.  This is the issue.  Suppose I am in my stand and it is 10 degrees.  I have sit in the cold for an hour or better waiting on the sun to rise.  Suddenly  a deer aproaches from behind and I have to twist at the waist, bend slightly down at the waist and draw my 85lb bow to full draw.  Now given 85lbs is a bit extreme but you get the point.  Just because you can draw a bow standing flatfooted in a good position means  nothing imho.  If you can't draw your bow while sitting on your bottom ,without busting a blood vessel, it might be to heavy.  I prefer to shoot bows from 55 to 60lb at my 30" plus draw.  I had a bow that was about 68lbs at my draw and another that was about 57.  Both from the same bowyer.  The lighter bow was 7 or 8 fps slower with the same arrow, through the same chrono on the same day shot by me.  I'm not willing to risk the scenereo presented above for 7 fps.  To each there own.

Imho making ethical shot choices in ranges within you and your equipments ability is key.  Some of our founding fathers ideas of ethics were poor at best.  Launching arrows at animals over 100 yards might have required heavier weights, but not broadside shots at 12 yards.

I hate threads that go on for five pages and do nothing but pick fly crap out of pepper. It doesn't matter what size you are, what you do for a living or what you hunt, be it bullseyes,twelve rings or meat for the table. You shoot what ever it takes to place the arrow where it needs to be. Accuracy is key to winning scores and feeding your family plain and simple. The folks that know their limitations are the ones doing the sport the most good. Just my .02 cents.  Denis

Are you kidding me with this thread?????? You have GOT to be joking!?

I haven't seen a single shooter at any 3D shoot that is shooting high poundage.  Not one.

If ever there were a correlation to inherent accuracy....I would think this would be it.

Are the guys shooting high #-age ALL exceptions to this "rule"?  Won't comment.  Just making an observation.

So many of the 3d shooters I shoot with shoot light weight bows that are not setup for a hunting bow.  They do not use hunting arrows or a bow they would hunt with IF they hunt at all.

To them, their bow is a "target" bow NOT a weapon.  They are not trying to get optimum penetration at a live animal target.

Nowadays, 3d shoots have very little to do with real life hunting.  It is 180 dgrees in the opposite direction from hunting. So...the two cannot be comapared.

Richie:

It may be different where you live/shoot.  But, I'll say this about the successful 3D shooters I know....

They're THE most informed and capable hunters I know.

Your mileage may vary.

Okay fellers.  Since I started I get to have the closing statement.  
There are those that shoot light and there are those that shoot heavy.
Each one chooses what he wants because of what fits him or her.
We traditional archers/bowhunters are very devoted to our sport and I believe that we all will do anything in our power to protect this way of life in the sport of bowhunting.  
In closing I'd like to say thank you for the input and participation in this thread on a subject that is very contraversial.
Thank yall for standing up for what you believe.
And that strength is inherent in each one of us and that strength should be used to protect and defend all of us from the ones whom do not understand and share the passions of traditional archery...The End.

Ray.............

There is one thing I feel is common on this thread.  Most of those shooting lighter poundage are around my age!  At 54, I shoot around 45 to 50 lbs.  In my younger days, I shot my share of 65 to 70lb. bows.  My theory is that many of those in traditional archery have been into it many years and thru those years have come to realize you can take deer very handily with lighter bows.  Also, since we're all getting older, we have more pain and injuries, but we still want to hunt!!!

Ok, let me get this straight; there are guys with a lot of experience on here that have said they have killed deer with their light setups, but the questions is ask why don't we shoot heavier. Experience says 45# is plenty. Then we are told we owe it to the deer to use heavy weights. If we are going to draw a line on what is heavy enough, why don't we just not use a bow at all and use a 30-06; that should be heavy enough (we owe it to the deer after all). No wait--it has to be a 7 mag. A 30-06 is not heavy enough.

Hi All,

The first bow I bought about 1972 was a Bear Kodiak Mag, 50#  @ 28"......the last bow I bought, a Tomahawk, is 50#  @ 28".  When I bought the Kodiak, people wanted to know what kind of really big game I would be hunting that I needed 50#.   Then the pendulum went to heavier bows....70#....80#....90#....and now back the other way.

Until they cross whitetail with boar hogs so I can't get an arrow into the shoulder area, I think I'll stay where I am.    

the first bow i had was a self bow, yew, with a sinew backing. 75# or so draw weight. shot one deer with it. that was in 1953. understood right away how an arrow killed, by cutting. to use kinetic energy with an arrow , use a large blunt instead of a broadhead.
i will be 75 in november. still change a mile of 3" handlines with grain risers every day in hay and grain, still bale, load and feed 120#-130# bales, still can rope and tail down a bull or cow when i need to, and i can still feel confident shooting bear and deer with my 40# longbow. as i have stated before, if people obey the laws of the state they are hunting in thats good enough for me.
got to say though that i see all the time in these kind of threads where people lump bear in with the "large game" catagory. bear are the easiest animal to get a complete passthrough on of anything i have ever shot with a bow. jackrabbits are made of iron in comparison.

There is a gentleman that lives in my state that I've been fortunate to get to know and become friends,and he is 72, shoots older recurves from the past and drives the arrow threw most of them and many are big bodied bucks,his bow weight is between40-45lbs and he has stated that he has shot that bow weight all his life.If you would see the results of his past hunts you would have little concern about lower bow weights, especially for deer.

I would love to know from a bowyer what the average weight is for their orders.

Anyone out there want to post up what they think their average # ordered bow is?

"i will be 75 in november. still change a mile of 3" handlines with grain risers every day in hay and grain, still bale, load and feed 120#-130# bales, still can rope and tail down a bull or cow when i need to, and i can still feel confident shooting bear and deer with my 40# longbow. as i have stated before, if people obey the laws of the state they are hunting in thats good enough for me"
Larry Hatfield tells me something about archery and hunting with bows i listen and can take it for granted that he might just know what he is talking about.....

Ben

My bows from the low 40# to the low 50# sell very well. Over 55# hang on the wall longer waiting for a buyer.I just about don't build any over 52#.  Bob

As someone else stated: Fred Bear built and sold hundreds of thousands of bows over his career. 45# was either the top or right at the top in regards to numbers sold. Ol' Fred knew a thing or two about hunting and about business too I suspect.