Is a bow with a 40 pound draw weight enough to harvest deer?

By Grant Woods,

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Hey Grant,

First of all, I’ve enjoyed every video you’ve uploaded. I’ve watched them multiple times and I’m always looking forward to new ones every week. So I’m new to bow hunting and am a smaller man with a little shoulder problem. I have a bow (PSE Stinger X) on the way and I just wanted your opinion on a few things. So, my brother has been bow hunting for a few years now. His bow is currently set to 50lbs. Now I’ve tried multiple times drawing the bow back. The first try I’m able to draw it but was struggling a little bit. I was planning to set my bow at 40lbs but didn’t know whether that would be enough power to kill a deer. I wanted to get your advice as to if 40lbs will be enough to harvest a deer, what broad heads to use, and what yardage (max) I should limit myself to. I would really appreciate your insight on this. Right now I’m at a crossroads between selling/returning the bow and invest in something else or continue pursuing bow hunting. Any feedback from you will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking your time reading this. Stay safe. Stay warm. And keep them videos coming.

God bless!
King

PS. Your dad is in my prayers.

King,

I sincerely appreciate you praying for my Dad! 

My daughter, Raleigh, shoots a bow that has a draw weight of 45 pounds and has no problem achieving total penetration through mature bucks. My friend Mark Drury also has shoulder issues and shoots world class deer annually with a bow that has a draw weight in the 40’s to low 50’s.  

You will be fine hunting whitetails with a bow that has a draw weight in the 40’s!  Shot placement is much more important that the bow’s draw weight.  I encourage you to hunt with a bow set to a weight that you can shoot accurately!

Raleigh has had great success with the Striker broadhead by G5. This broadhead has been shown to be one of the sharpest in the industry and flies great!  I’ve tagged many deer and wild hogs using this head.  Check out:  http://www.g5outdoors.com/

I hope you continue hunting with your weapon of choice and take time daily to enjoy creation!

grant

December 14, 2015