min # for whitetail w/recurve in GA

[sparkyflint]

I was looking in the regs and I couldn't find this. I seem to remember, years ago, that it was 50#. Can anyone confirm this?

thanks

[Slingblade]

There is no minimum; I wouldn't go less than about 45#.

[Hawken2222]

I thought that there was a minimun, and it was 45#?

[short stop]

I thought it was 40 #.

[kevincox]

I was thinking 45# also?

[Slingblade]

On page 7 of the regs under the heading of legal archery equipment and firearms there is no mention of minimum draw weights. Since they are very specific as to shot size and caliber for firearms, the absence of a minimum draw weight for archery equipment tells me there is none.

[Al33]

Do you suppose the minimum draw weight reg was dropped due to the advancement in archery equipment?

The regulation was surely enacted back when there were only recurves, long bows, and mostly wooden arrows. With today's faster bows, Fast-flite strings, carbon arrows, razor sharp broadheads and more, I suspect the 40 - 45# minumum is not so significant anymore.

[Slingblade]

It could have been.

[sparkyflint]

There seems to be a mixed response, so I'm going to email the DNR and will post their response.

i do remember, back when I was a kid, trying to get stronger so I could shoot a bow that was leagal to hunt with. But I bet you right, they've probably relaxed those reg's b/c of the faster speeds of archery equip in the past few years.

[sparkyflint]

OK- quick response from the DNR:

"No limits on the pounds. You are right, it used to be but not now."

Sally Palmer Johnson
Department of Natural Resources

[Killdee]

I was on a hunt at Alatoona wma years ago when the game warden stopped a guy with a osage long bow and told him it wasent legal wt to hunt with.The guy handed him the bow and told him it was and to draw it,The GW tried then handed it back and said he guessed it was all right.

[scambooger]

years ago it was 40# but it changed as did the minimum energy rating for handguns.

[reviveourhomes]

40#'s and a SHARP broadhead will get it done all day long. My 40# at my 26" draw longbow shoots a 430gr arrow 161fps. Its plenty to kill pretty much any large game animals in North America except for moose, elk and Grizzly as long as you have a scary sharp head placed in the boiler room.

[Nicodemus]

I`m purty sure the requirement was 40 pounds.

[sparkyflint]

I had a string put on my new (old) Red Wing Hunter and when we measured it we found that it pulls at #47 at my 27" DL. despite being listed as a #45 at 28".

I know you're supposed to pull less than that for your first trad bow, so that you can focus on form. I just can't validate the purchase of more than one bow at a time.

[Al33]

I had a string put on my new (old) Red Wing Hunter and when we measured it we found that it pulls at #47 at my 27" DL. despite being listed as a #45 at 28".

I know you're supposed to pull less than that for your first trad bow, so that you can focus on form. I just can't validate the purchase of more than one bow at a time.

I don't think a few pounds over 45 will hurt your form one bit so I wouldn't worry about another bow. Nothing is written in stone about a certain poundage for a starter bow. Everyone is built different so some will be able to pull more than others. I started out with a 50# solid fiberglass bow when I was 14 and I'm not a big boy either.

[Just BB]

My problem isn't the poundage but the lenght of my monkey arms. I didn't have alot to spend when I went traditional and purchased an impala which is a 60" bow. I like the bow but feel like it should be even longer, If I ever get the opp to buy another bow it's going to be longer as in long bow or 62" recurve.

[weathermantrey]

I killed my first elk, a 500lb cow, with a compound bow set at 37lbs when i was a youngster. It passed through both lungs and came out the other side. That made a believer out of me that if you put it where its suppose to go, it doesn't take much poundage to do the job.