New Minimum Draw Weight

[CEI]

In my opinion it really comes down to ethics and practice. If you are shooting an 80lb bow with a 500 grain arrow but you don't practice then you should not be hunting. If a youth hunter is shooting a 30lb bow with the right arrow and broadhead combination and he practices he will be fine. Most youth hunters I know are so excited to hunt they practice way more than the average adult. Ultimately it's up to us, the parents to prepare our kids.

 

Brian

 

+1 Ethics are defined by ones personal values & decisions, not by the State, Government or a PSE commercial. I think common sense would tell anyone that you would want to draw as much weight as reasonably possible.

 

Do I think it is enough weight for an elk? Maybe...

Do I think you should shoot big game out to 100 yards? Maybe...

Do I think most mechanical broadheads suck? Maybe...

 

Gino, this should be good for the Shop in Payson! LOL

[CouesWhitetail]

As Darr pointed out in his first post the regs show they left the 40 lbs for buffalo, but 30lbs for most anything else. There seemed to be a typo for the turkey part of the regs where it said you could use a bow with a pull of 40 30 pounds....

[runningbird]

In my opinion it really comes down to ethics and practice. If you are shooting an 80lb bow with a 500 grain arrow but you don't practice then you should not be hunting. If a youth hunter is shooting a 30lb bow with the right arrow and broadhead combination and he practices he will be fine. Most youth hunters I know are so excited to hunt they practice way more than the average adult. Ultimately it's up to us, the parents to prepare our kids.

 

Brian

I agree 100% with this post. Also young hunters are expected to take hunters ED course. It could be brought up in the class that it's not really ethical to hunt elk with a 30 pound draw weight. When my kids were young they were all pulling 40 pounds, and couldn't wait to raise the weight. Also kids seem to practice a bunch! So they build those drawing muscles quickly.

[cmc]

I agree that technology has advanced in compounds in the past 10 years that warrants a drop in draw weight for those newer bows, but my fear is the rule states "bows" with draw weight of 30lbs or more. Thus recurves and older bows with 30lbs draw weights or more are all eligible. I personally feel that elk and buffalo should both be at 40lbs for minimum draw weight. Darr I'm jealous and hope that one of my children take up the desire to hunt with a bow and arrow. Good luck.

 

cmc

[AZP&Y]

My question is who is going to enforce this? G & F with a mobile draw weight tool?

 

Can you picture a smaller/jr hunter over a snorting, bugling elk with a bow that has a draw weight of 30 lbs ??? Ooops , I mean 29... Wow!

 

Ok the shot is made and you're tracking...That's gonna get real interesting. Ok, put another one in him, then another , then another (empty quiver)...

 

I think they need to rethink this and based on species makes the most sense.

 

And as all archers know it's "shot placement" , "shot placement" "shot placement"...

 

AzP&Y

[ThomC]

The 40 lb. min. was for recurve bows with wood arrows and self sharpened broadheads. In those days a 30 yd shot was a long shot. A 30 lb compound will do the same thing as the old 40 lb recurve. It is still the hunters responsibility to take "for them" a killing shot. Flinging arrows at long range with any weight will wound and lose animals. There will always be irresponsible shooters that will stretch the envelope, no laws will stop that. I am for less government control and more freedom.

[280REM]

Hi:

 

 

 

I feel that is a mistake. Lots of javelinas will be lost due to this. This potentially may "boomerang" on us and turn off young and females new to the sport of archery hunting by making there first hunting experience include a wounded and lost big game animal.

 

A better stategy would have to go to 35 pounds for recurves and longbows for javelinas and turkeys and 30 pounds for compound bows for pigs and turkeys.

 

The 40 pound limit should stay for everything else.

 

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

280REM

[darrcolburn]

Like many have said it comes down to being respondsible and knowing your limits and the limits of your equipment. It is no different than the regulations stating that you may hunt big game with a centerfire rifle with no minimum caliber. I certainly would not hunt any big game with my 204 ruger even if legal. We as sportsman need to police ourselves.

[donniedent]

Sounds like a bad deal waiting to happen.

 

The setup would have to be perfect... arrows, broadheads, everything and PERFECT shots! Kid pulls a shot into a shoulder or in the gut, its a done deal. And those aren't the "wait 8 hours for it to die" wounds. Those are the "coyotes are gonna get it" wounds... or worse yet infection.

 

Again, G&F are on their hunter opportunity kick. They'll sell alot more tags for sure but is it worth it? Whats wrong with kids shooting rifles until they can pull 40? Why push the envelope? I don't know, I think its a bad idea.

 

*EDIT*

 

If it is about recruitment and retention, they'd be better off legalizing crossbows for kids from 10-14 years old and maybe for everyone on predators except for bears.

[DesertBull]

I think they should be a little more specific and deny the use of mechanical broad heads on a 30lb bow. I'm not against mechanical heads, just not really made for a 30lb bow, IMO.

[donniedent]

It would get awful confusing if they got real specific and I'd hate to see a bunch of kids getting tickets because their parents weren't paying attention. I think its a bad idea.

[yotebuster]

WOW! I've never seen a group so against youth hunters! Remember when you learned to drive a car? You may have been new to it, but you were most likely a heck of a lot safer behind the wheel then you are now. The reason is that you aren't thrown by all the bad habits you've gained since you've gotten "better". A kid with a 30# bow is not our worst enemy as a hunter or a conservationist. Yes some kids are going to wound animals, but so are some of the guys who've commented above! It's part of the game, we need to get together as hunters, not tear apart. A stupid, unenforcable rule like this doesn't matter one bit, whens the last time you saw a Game warden with a bow scale? Honestly even if he had one, what kind of a prick is going to write a kid a ticket because his bow is 29pounds, or 39 pounds for that matter? You guys have go to be kidding me!? KE requirements? No expandables? Different weights for different species? I shot my first deer, a big bodied eastern whitetail with a 23# browning fox at 11 yards. Arrow went all the way through his lungs and burried on the opposite side. DEAD DEER = HAPPY KID who stuck with bowhunting forever after that. The law at the time was that the bow had to "cast an arrow 130 yards" so we staked out a gravel road and I let one fly.... 98 yards. The lucky thing was, my dad wasn't an idiot, he knew I was a heck of a good shot as long as shots were kept close and he let his 7 year old fall in love with the sport, I'm forever grateful for that. Lets worry a little more about the things that matter and leave these kids alone, instead of spending your time complaining, find a kid with a 30 pound bow and teach him to shoot it, teach him to love it, and take him bowhunting!!!

[cmc]

yote buster.... I think you can consider yourself luck having an archery mentor. I know I didn't have anyone for mentor with archery or bow hunting and for the most part have done it all by trial and error, lots of error. I completely agree we need to mentor beginners more. The problem is society isn't doing any help with marketing being spent. Kids want what mom, dad or big brother/sister shoots. But since he/she can't pull the weight will do so with less but still shoot the same arrow-broadhead setup with ill results. That's hard to sell. If you are successful at it with folks at the range please let me know how (not trying to sound pompous I really would like to know how folks sway folks away from the main stream items on the market these days).

 

cmc

[donniedent]

Yotebuster, I have 4 youth hunters in my house so please don't lecture me about being against youth hunters. You need to remember that we are not the most important part of conservation, the wildlife is. It is our responsibility to be good stewards. I do understand what you are saying and that is the tough part. BUT... I think there are other ways to introduce kids to archery/hunting. My kids are equal to me in value but not in privledge or responsibility. Just cuz dad does it doesn't mean junior should. Risking our wildlife so bow companies can sell more bows and junior can be just like dad isn't what hunting is about. I'm positive your dad knew exactly what he was doing by letting you shoot that deer, sounds like you have a great dad but do you think in this day and age that all dads are as good as yours was? I doubt it very highly. Sorry, I don't trust 80% of the parents out there to spend the time and energy to ensure their kids know exactly what they are doing with archery gear. Have you been to a hunters ed class recently??? Half the parents can't even be bothered to sit through the classes with their kids. Yeah I trust people like that!

[Huntr Pat]

In my opinion it really comes down to ethics and practice. If you are shooting an 80lb bow with a 500 grain arrow but you don't practice then you should not be hunting. If a youth hunter is shooting a 30lb bow with the right arrow and broadhead combination and he practices he will be fine. Most youth hunters I know are so excited to hunt they practice way more than the average adult. Ultimately it's up to us, the parents to prepare our kids.

 

Brian

you could have never have said it better. The adult or individual guiding that person should be aware of the energy of that bow & Arrow setup. Although 30 lbs is pushing it for big body thick skinned animals.