Choosing Draw Weight

Draw weight varies from shooter to shooter. As a rule of thumb the shooter should be able to comfortably draw the bow back without straining or lifting the bow up over his head in order to draw it back, and hold it back for at least 60 seconds. After all, you never know when you're going to get drawn back on that trophy of a lifetime and have to wait for the perfect shot opportunity.

Most bows in the fifty to seventy pound draw weight will work just fine for most shooters. This draw weight is sufficient to hunt the majority of North American big game animals. There are of course people who choose to pull more than this and that is fine depending on their ease of pulling it back smoothly and comfortably. Straining to pull a bow when positioned for a shot on an animal is a good recipe for a blown shot or spooked game, especially in cold late season weather.