How much is too much?

This Cuddiback photo of a buck was taken at 15 yards, an average bow shot.

The man had a very serious problem. He no longer could draw his bow without severe arm, back and shoulder pain.

He is the son-in-law of a friend, and being young and strong and very competitive, he and some of his buddies decided to settle a macho bet of who could draw the most poundage. Testosterone was flowing, and they soon began by pulling 70 pounds.

Hey, no problem, they all thought. The next step was to crank each bow to 75 pounds of draw weight, and measure it on a scale. Only two  sucked the bow back to full draw, and then they raised the draw weight to 80 pounds.

How much draw weight is needed to kill a deer with a bow?

This was possible for both of them, but the others had already dropped out of this childish contest. It took considerably more effort than they were willing or able to give. This contest was finally going somewhere. The two guys kicked the draw weight up to 85 pounds, and with a great deal of posturing, each one reached that plateau but it was obvious it was becoming very difficult for both men.

We've come this far, one said, let's take it to 90 pounds. There was a great deal of grunting and groaning as each bow came back to their individual anchor points at that draw weight. Both were red in the face, and agreed now to take the contest upwards again, but now only one pound at a time.

One man made it to full draw at 91 pounds. The other man did not. We then had a winner and a loser, and both titles belonged to the same person.

The winner-loser felt something go as a muscle ripped in his shoulder while he took it up that one last pound, and his shoulder hurt all winter and was still sore in the spring. By now, he had cranked his bow down to his usual draw weight of 68 pounds.

But he couldn't pull that much weight now. He was then forced to travel in reverse, and tried again at 65 pounds, and then 60 pounds, and finally settled in at 55 pounds. It still hurt to draw his bow at that poundage, but over the spring and summer he settled in at that draw weight for good.

It's been about 15 years since the two strong men competed to be the top dog at pulling the heaviest draw weight. He is content now because he doesn't have to crank down his bow for the December bow season, and he has found that 55 pounds is plenty heavy and fast enough to kill a buck while hunting in Michigan's swamps and woods.

There seems to be an obsession with more and more arrow speed. Years ago, most bows couldn't shoot 150 feet per second (fps). Many thought an arrow speed of 200 fps would be impossible to attain. Ten years ago archers and bowhunters felt an arrow speed of 300 fps would never be reached, but it has.

Do most bow hunters require increased poundage and arrow speed?

The reality of shooting a bow is that if an arrow travels at 180 fps, and hits a deer at a distance of 20 yards or less, the arrow will hit the animal before it can hear the bow string twang and jump the string or duck under the approaching arrow. So ... is there a need to shoot an arrow any faster?

Of course there is, under certain circumstances. Faster arrow speed means a flatter arrow trajectory. An increase in arrow speed of only 20 fps will allow a person, with the proper skills and considerable practice, to easily kill deer at 30 yards instead of 20. Hunters who travel west to hunt for antelope, elk or mule deer with a bow often need to shoot at longer distances, and that is where a faster arrow speed is required to flatten out the arrow flight.

There are still some men who are into heavy poundage on their bows, and who want to reach out and set new personal arrow-speed records. They modify their bows, add an overdraw, shorten their arrow length, and crank up the poundage. They use carbon inserts and carbon arrow, and shoot continuously.

How far up the poundage ladder is it necessary to climb?

Hunters broke the 300 fps barrier years ago, but as time goes on, I see fewer people maxing out the poundage of their bow. And, to be honest with you, I'm seeing far fewer people with shoulder injuries caused by taking their body to a point where it was never meant to go.

I now advise people to shoot what feels comfortable to them. A test of strength and determination isn't required to be a successful deer hunter.

Most deer hunters are content to keep the poundage down to a comfortable level, and where drawing a bow is fun ... and never a painful exercise from which they may never recover.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors