First off, welcome. I am 5'10" and weigh in around the 190 mark and 32 years old. I don't consider myself a big guy at all but, when I started shooting I felt I should be able to draw 60lb all day. Truth be told, it was all I could do to draw back 50lb more than a few times. I have been shooting for a little less than a year now and my bow is up to 67lb. I can shoot a good hour before I really start feeling fatigued. I may take it on up to 70 for the season just to have a faster arrow speed but, its not something I really need to do. If you get lighter draw limbs and practice regularly, your weight will go up. What ever you do just enjoy shooting and turn it up as time goes on and you build up our muscles.
I want to thank you guys for the good information. I especially want to thank the ones who pointed out that my having trouble making weight does not put me in a class by myself. To be honest with you, it took a lot of courage on my part to tell my wife the trouble I had – I have always wanted, in her eyes, to look like a “Spring Chicken”. I am telling you though – it is hard to look like a Spring Chicken when you are 64 years old. I forgot to tell you why I waited so late to get into bow hunting. My first love is guns - handguns, rifles, and shotguns. But my hearing has gotten so bad that I figured maybe a little quieter hobby was in order. I still shoot, but use ear earplugs and also wear the ear muffs on top of that. Sill I figured the bow shooting would give my ears a needed rest. In defense of the guy at the sporting goods store, he tried to steer me in the right direction. He suggested a less expensive Mathews bow – I think it was a Legacy – but when he went to set it up he didn’t have the right cams to get the correct draw length. It was a 60 pound bow. He offered to order the right cams but I wasn’t in the mood to wait, since I had to drive 40 miles to get there, and this was the closest place I could find that sold bows. I ask him if he could turn the Xtreme down to 60 pounds and he said he could, so it was me that pushed the sale. He was really a good sales person and he helped me out a lot with my questions. For this reason I am not going to blame him for me getting the 70 pound bow. I think with my weight training and practice it will work out in the end. If not, somebody will get a 70 pound bow at a good price and I will be getting another one. I really like this bow. Even though I have a few guns that cost considerably more than this bow, I never was as excited when I brought them home as I was with the bow. I liked it so much I wanted to sleep with it … but my wife said NO !!!! Again thanks for all the information and I am sure I will have some more beginner questions soon. I am going to try to keep a log of my progress with the bow and maybe in time I can share it with you. Grits
Here's my buddy I was talking about... Googled the Show-Me Naturals and found a pic of him. He not only won the light-heavyweight contest that day, but the overall "best-of" show... that particular contest is billed as the nation's largest steroid-free bodybuilding contest... He walks around a good bit bigger than this... I think he cut 29 lbs. for this show. Good post, Grits... ask away and we'll try to help. Many of us old geezers have been around for a long time -- longer than we'd care to admit. And we've learned a lot by trial and error, so hopefully we can pass our experience on to you to use as your wisdom.
Thanks for the pic Greg. That guy looks like he is strong enough to pick up a 70 pound bow and pull it back with his teeth. When I was younger I have been in a few bars when I wished I had a friend that looked like that with me.
To me being accurate is more important then the amount of draw weight. Example I had my bow set at 55 lbs. But I could not group anything. After getting smaller pins and tuning the bow which is now down to 51 lbs , I can hold it on the target longer just in case you get a stare down and I am grouping them in a 3 in circle at 30 - 40 yrds. If you practice alot then eventually you can increase the draw weight, but I would only shoot what weight you are really comfortable with, standing and from a sitting position.
very good answers....try this...sit on the floor with your legs straight out...don't rest your back on anything...now pull your bow back..if u can't do it comfortably your pulling to much weight
Speed is something I worried myself to death with when I first got into bows last year. I had mine set at 60lbs and I couldnt draw it but 3 or 4 times. Now keep in mind Im 140lbs, 145 if I get rained on. I finally stopped with the foolish pride and dropped my bow back down. Now it is set at 54lbs and I usually shoot for about an hour per day. My bow is no where close to the blazing speeds of some of the new bows. Im pushing a 350gr arrow at 255 fps, and it is very consistent. Three shots through the chrono was 254,255,255. I think it being consistent will help more in the long run, than if it were shooting an inconsistent 300fps. If it helps, one half turn on my limb screws was 5 fps.
During baseball season my junior year i threw my shoulder out and have never had the strength i used to have in it. When i got into archery this time last year i bought a bow that could range from 50#-70#. I started with it at 62# and struggled to pull it back and hold steady on a target. A year later i have it to 70# and at 20 yards i can have 4 out of 6 arrows touching vanes. After about 5 reps of shooting and pulling i start to fatigue a little. You will be surprised how quickly you will be able to pull back your bow at whatever poundage you have it set and how accurately you can shoot it. Dont get discouraged if at first your shot placement isn't where you want it. I broke my fair share of arrows early on, its why i am happy i bought cheapies to start with. Most of all have fun and don't hurt yourself trying to he man that string back. A tip i read a while back was while its cold out if you know nothing is moving around you try and draw your bow once every hour to help you stay loose. Not sure if it really helps or not or if its even a good idea but its just an idea.
My bow was originally set at around 52 lbs. When I started using it, I actually had a hard time pulling it back as well. (Im a U.S. Marine for heaven's sake) But only after a few days of practicing with it, I was able to pull it no problem. I now hunt with a 60lb draw and its very easy to pull back. I just think that particular motion is not one that is replicated in any other activity, and the muscles are just not trained for it, no matter how strong you are otherwise. Id give it a week or so of practice and you'll be shooting a higher draw weight with less effort before you know it.
Use a comfortable weight. If 60# is comfortable to you, then use it. Even if you can pull #70 back one time, that doesn't mean that's what you should use. The term "overbowed" comes in here. I know several people that try showing off strength and putting their bows on a poundage significantly exceeding what their ability would allow. Each pd. of draw weight is worth about 2fps, roughly. I know some guys shooting #60 and never exceeding it. They are shooting accurate, comfortably, and can practice for hours a day without fatigue. Imagine yourself in a tree stand when it's cold this winter pulling that bow back and the cams and string as well as your body being cold. That's gonna make it feel a lot harder. Besides, archery muscles (scapulae retractors, external rotators of the scapulae) develop fairly easily. As far as "forgivness" goes, forgivness means forgiving to errors. Any bow with a 7" inch brace height or higher is considered a "high forgiving bow" meaning you do not have to have super good form or do not have to be a very accomplished shooter to shoot accurately. The brace height deals with the powerstroke, which has a way of determining the speed and accuracy "forgivness" of the bow. I actually pay more attention to the brace height and axle to axle to bows than the IBO in some cases.
