Hunting Sense

I’m sure all archery hunters have found out what happens when we try to set the draw weight of our bow to a poundage greater than what we are able to draw back comfortably. I know I have. It was quite a surprise to me when after sitting in a stand for hours in the cold, a buck came in and I tried to draw my bow only to find I had to struggle with it. Needless to say, my macho ego of having a heavier draw weight cost me a nice buck that day, and taught me a valuable lesson.

The lesson I learned? Just because you can draw a bow back correctly at a heavy weight while target practicing doesn’t mean you’ll be able to when in an actual hunting situation with the varying conditions that accompany it. So, since then, I have made the decision of what draw weight I use according to what I can pull back no matter the conditions or situation.

Draw weight is essentially the amount of force needed to draw a bow back to its full shooting position. It plays a major role in determining the amount of kinetic energy, or knock down power, needed to take down game animals while archery hunting. Higher draw weights mean more kinetic energy, but the actual increase is reduced because of the necessary increase in arrow size for a higher poundage bow.

So, if you can pull back a bow with a 60# draw weight more comfortably than a bow with a draw weight of 70#, it may be better to go with the lower draw weight because the increase in kinetic energy isn’t going to be a significant factor in most cases. It also insures that you will be able to pull your bow back when your muscles are stiff from spending hours sitting in the cold while hunting, or when you have to contort your body into some weird, extreme position to get off a shot.

I did a few different things to determine the most comfortable draw weight for my bow.

1. Practice drawing back and holding my bow in a variety of positions, from standing to sitting cross legged on the ground and sitting in a tree stand to being twisted around the tree to get a shot behind me.

2. I practiced shooting and drawing my bow back not only during nice weather, but during cold weather as well, when I was already chilled and my muscles were stiff. This is the real eye-opener for what a comfortable draw weight really is.

3. Practiced drawing back and holding my bow when I was tired, like after a long day at work. Being fresh and rested isn’t likely to be the case after sitting for hours in a stand when hunting, so practicing only when I was in that condition didn’t make a lot of sense.

Although most probably already know this, I hope by sharing my experience that someone may have an easier time with choosing a comfortable draw weight and not have to learn the hard way as I did.

Hunting, archery hunting, archery, bow hunting, outdoors, draw weight