I don't think there is an answer to this question really except to say that if there was it does exactly "nothing" for you. What I'm saying is that I could pull a 140lb bow if they made one but I would never buy it unless I only wanted to make a single lousy shot once a day..... Your max draw weight should take into consideration your style of shooting, frequency, health, and other things. A competitive shooter will sling a hundred arrows in a several hour period in a single day, while a hunter is really only in need of a single well placed shot. Although your draw weight is a major factor in IBO speed, your form and technique all eleven-teen kajillion percent more important. I don't give 2 *****s how fast a bow shoots if I can't control it.... That is something only you will be able to answer.... It's all about the control.


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Probably just have to go to a bow shop and try and few at different weights to see what feels good to you.

 

The bows that are built today, draw weight is meaningless. You can kill a dear or light up paper with 40 lbs. Shoot what you are comfortable with. I shoot mainly target archery, and I shoot 52# I could shoot more, but I choose not to because it affects my accuracy by the end of a field round, even and indoor round. If all you do is hunt or 3d, then you would probably be comfortable with more weight. In my opinion, any more than 70# is just not necessary. You can put yourself at risk of injury with too much weight and your shooting session's will be more of a struggle rather than enjoyable.

 

Only you can answer that. I knew what weight I wanted before I started archery and wouldnt settle for anything less. It must be a 70lbs bow for me...if they stopped making 70lbs....I would give up archery find some other hobby. I shoot all day when Im off. Im mostly focus through follow through now and days along with form rather then how many arrows I shoot. I go to the local 3D archery ranges and shoot them but Im generally hunting...and until I see what I can do with 70lbs and a COC head Im not going any less. All about confidence for me and I dont have confidence with anything else. For the longest...i wouldnt shoot anything less then 75lbs...more up towards 80#; but I figured out its eventually over kill. And went down in weight. I do a warm up before I shoot on my shoulders and back muscles. ANd when I work Im very careful of how I break stuff(i do demolititon and flooring). But maybe get a dumbbell and do chainsaws?

 

A low 55lbs

 

It also depends on the draw cycle of the bow. I know when I was shopping there were some at my dw I could not even budge forget about comfortable. There were some I could pull but they hurt or my shoulder just kept popping. Then I found my current one and I run about 50-100 arrows per night 4-5 times per week with no issue. It comes down to just find what feels right and it will work.

 

Try this. Sit in a chair that has a back on it like a folding chair. With your back straight and feet flat on the floor draw a bow back. If you cant do it slowly and smoothly while not leaning or raising your feet then you can handle that draw weight. Keep incteasing poundage until you cant draw being correctly while sitting. Drawing a bow standing is one thing but much tougher sitting.

 

Most recurves are below 60 pounds. 40 is a good place to start.
If you were talking about compound bows, I would suggest buying a bow that will adjust down to around 50 pounds.
70 is a tough pull for a newbie.

 

I got back into archery/bow hunting last November - I bought a 70lb bow and after 3 ****s I was wiped out. I went and bought some kettle bells and have been working out with them for over 7 months now and I can shoot 25-30 before tiring out. I also went and bought a 60lb back up bow that I practice with, I'll use the 70lber for hunting since I only need one shot it should be easy.

 

Same here, I got back into it. When I first got my Bow Madness 32, I could only pull it back once.
It was everything I had. My son is 6'3" 270 lbs, He also had a hard time.
Its an amazing bow, it will adjust down 17.5 pounds. And for what it is, a 340 fps bow, it has a really smooth draw.
I took it down to a 55 lbs draw weight, then worked my way up to 70 lbs within a 4 month period.
Not all bows are the same, draw weight, speed and power cycle all matter.
My 366 fps bow is still a bear to draw. The 310 fps bow is easy.
Fewer than 10% of all men can draw a 70 lbs speed bow. Speed bows are 340 fps and over.

PSE Bow Madness 32 * Diamond Infinite Edge Pro * PSE Omen Max * PSE Rally

 

"Fewer than 10% of all men can draw a 70 lbs speed bow".....

From what orifice did u pull that little tidbit of wisdom??? It never ceases to amaze me

 

LOL....yup, same thing here.... 50% + of the shooters I know out of HUNDREDS soot 70+

Must be the humidity in Floriduh

 

I'll admit it. I'm a wuss.

I'm 70 years old and can only manage 65 pounds. Don't laugh.

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Talk to Ted Nugent. He has strong opinions about draw weight. He has some experience too.

 

Sooo, what did Uncle Ted say?

 

What kind of recurves and what type of shooting do you do? If you get a takedown then you have options. Start way under what you think your "max" is and work up. I have a 50lb 1 piece recurve and its not a "shoot all day" kind of bow. I would probably start around 30lbs and start working up as you develop your form and strength. Keep in mind that the olympic recurve guys are shooting between 45 and 55lbs, and those are guys that put in a lot of work to comfortably shoot there.

 

There's plenty of Ted on YouTube. He is of the opinion that people should not get hung up on the subject. He hunts at 55 pounds and under. His wife has taken plenty African big game including zebra and wildebeest with 38 pounds. He'd like to bring people back to the sport who quit when they found they could no longer pull 70 pounds.

 

when i got my first compound bow about 7 years ago i bought a 60lb and set it at 55. i could hardly pull it and i am quite fit. i just had never trained those specific muscles. with regular shooting and excercising with rubber bands i could pull easily in couple months. i now have a btx 31 at 60lbs and wish i had bought 70 to turn down to 65 as i find 60 so easy i can shoot all day with it

is amazing how quickly those specific muscles used to draw bow develop. i have not tried pulling 70 before, i most probably would struggle with it like i did with 55 at first. it seems that the muscles strengthen up to a point and then require training with incremental weight to go higher. am sure if i shot with 65 for awhile i would start pulling 70 fairly ok within a couple months.

i am 53 yrs old by the way.

i would get 60 and turn it down and work way up to what you are comfortable with. as mentioned a smoother drawing bow does make all the difference

 

Just wondering how many posting to this thread noticed that the OP said he was shooting a recurve. 70 lbs to start with? I don't think so.

ianc 123: ontheline (post #18) had some good advice regarding recurves. Not sure how to see what your max is without going to a gym and pulling back on a Nautilus machine, etc, mimicking drawing a bow. Realize with a recurve its not how much you can pull back, but how much you can hold back while acquiring the target.

Go

 

Also think about the draw curve. The holding weight and max draw weight are the same. Also, the draw weight for recurves or for the limbs in the case of an ILF recurve, are at 28". For every inch over that you gain 8-10% of the original draw weight. For example, the 50 lbs recurve that I have at home really holds at about 65-70 lbs because of how long my draw is.