Lowering draw weight?

[MT257]

Just thinking of lowering my draw weight from 68.5 to 65. It’s a Mathews vxr and was just curious what changes I may see. Would I need to change arrows? Currently shooting 340’s would I need to drop to a 400 spine? I’m guessing 65 is still plenty for elk and deer. Reason I am thinking of lowering draw weight is I’m struggling to keep stamina during shooting and seems the more weight I draw I have a little bit of a dull shoulder pain that isn’t always present while shooting but after shooting.

 

[fatlander]

You should be fine with the .340 spine. Generally speaking you can get away with a spine that’s too stiff much more so than a spine that’s too weak. You may have to retune your bow. You’ll definitely need to retime the cams. Your draw weight is more than enough for what you’re planning to hunt.

If your shoulder is really bothering you I’d suggest dropping down to 60. Life (and archery) is a marathon, not a sprint. I want to be able to shoot well into my later years without shoulder issues. Take care of them while you can and don’t let ego get in the way of your health (life long shooting).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Billy Goat]

If you are having issues I'd definitely reduce the draw weight. I know several guys who are elk hunting successfully year after year with a low 50# compound.

You should be able to drop to 65# without changing arrows, possibly more. I don't know if that will be enough to notice much difference on your shoulder. Might consider going to 60#.

 

[huntabsarokee]

I hunt elk and dropped to 58 pounds and my bull didn't notice a difference. I like being able to draw easier and smoother and can definitely hold longer. My shoulder feels better too.

 

[NYSKIER]

I agree with everyone else above if you are going to drop it drop it to 60 I don't think you'd notice much of a difference (strength wise) when going from 68.5 to 65. My normal hunting bow is 67.5 but my backup is 60 and I've got to say when I shoot it it makes me think I should just go to 60.

 

[Zac]

You could also increase your letoff with a different mod. Paige Pierce was having alot of shoulder issues and actually corrected the problem by switching to a hand held release. She said an index creates an unnatural shoulder configuration, and will over time always lead to shoulder strain.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Reducing draw weight by 3.5# will have negligible impact on lethality. You could go significantly lower and still be plenty lethal for deer and elk.

Your 340 spine arrows will still be fine at lower draw weights. An arrow can't really be "too stiff" for a compound bow since you're not trying to get the arrow to flex around the riser like with a trad bow.

On the topic of shoulder pain, you might find this recent episode of the Gritty Podcast interesting/helpful. I recently added resistance band-based rotator cuff exercises to my workout regimen to hopefully prevent shoulder injury and allow me to keep shooting for many more years.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/grittybowmen/2020_POD_MTN_PHYSIO_3_SHOULDERS.mp3?dest-id=413519

 

[307]

You could also increase your letoff with a different mod. Paige Pierce was having alot of shoulder issues and actually corrected the problem by switching to a hand held release. She said an index creates an unnatural shoulder configuration, and will over time always lead to shoulder strain.

Do you have the source for this statement? It seems completely backward to me.

 

[Vandal 44]

I have been shooting 51 pounds for the last five years and I have taken five plus elk in that time with my Bowtech Realm X and now a Mathews Traverse both bows set at 51 pounds. I believe it comes down to arrow setup

My arrow setup: Victory RIP Elite 350 (carbon to carbon 29"), fifty grain brass insert, 125 grain Iron Will BH, three fletch AAE Max Stealth

 

[Vandal 44]

You could also increase your letoff with a different mod. Paige Pierce was having alot of shoulder issues and actually corrected the problem by switching to a hand held release. She said an index creates an unnatural shoulder configuration, and will over time always lead to shoulder strain.

I have to agree with the handled release. I made the switch to a Carter Wise Choice about six years ago and it made a huge difference

 

[rj2]

Even if you lower the weight to 60 you can just add some weight to the tip of the arrows to lower their dynamic spine and keep using them

 

[MT257]

You could also increase your letoff with a different mod. Paige Pierce was having alot of shoulder issues and actually corrected the problem by switching to a hand held release. She said an index creates an unnatural shoulder configuration, and will over time always lead to shoulder strain.

I could, but I can’t hunt with any more than 80% let off. I’m already using a Stan Perfex thumb release

 

[KSP277]

Just a thought. Unless I’m changing something drastically I kinda gave up on the long shooting sessions. If I’ve not shot in long time I’ll fling several to get back in swing of things but if your already familiar with your set up, instead of having long shooting sessions, shoot one arrow. Go mow. Go do whatever you need to. Come back 2 hr later. Shoot another. No more than one. My thought on this is that when your in the woods chances are you haven’t shot your bow in hours or days. Your cold. And your probably only taking one shot. And after a while I think it’s a confidence booster. If you know you haven’t shot your bow in 5 days but you can walk out on the porch and punch the 10 ring at 37 yards on your first shot, you know you can do it, cold bore if you will. Plus, if you pull one 6 inches left right up down you got a couple hours to stew on it. To me it’s helped me really concentrate on form and what not right out of the gate versus shooting a pile of arrows and tightening groups up as I go.

 

[Jethro]

In February I went from 67 down to 61 due to elbow pain. I’m still shooting my 300 spine arrows with 125 upfront. FBBH and FT hitting the same so at this point I have no intentions of changing arrows

 

[Catahoula]

PM’d you.