Melissa G asked:
I just started shooting a bow with my husband and when discussing it with someone at work they claimed that they had shot a 90lb. bow. I shot a 30lb. and am unaware if there is a 90 lb. I am new to this archery stuff and just wondered if anyone could help me with this.
It depends on the bow, if compound it has a max limit and should be stamped on the bow. I had 1 bow that was adjustable from 25 lbs to 110 lbs. And then I had another with different ranges, so it just depends on what bow you have.
Bows come in different pull weights, from about 15lb up to 150lb.
Olympic style recurves weigh anywhere from 10 to 50 lbs. Compounds varies from 15 to perhaps 100lbs
Longbows and wooden recurves goes from 20 to 200lbs.
There’s a man in the UK that draws a 200 lbs longbow. The legendary Howard Hill also has been said to have a 200lbs longbow. Bows recovered from the Mary Rose were said to weigh in at around 160-180lbs, granted that was measured at longer draws(old english archers drew to their chests), so more like 150-170lbs if drawn to someone’s face.
90 lbs for a draw weight is not unheard of — in fact, it is in the “higher reaches” of weight for hunting purposes. For bows of this draw weight, though, most people will use a compound bow; a “90 lb” compound bow with a 65% “let-off” means that you will hold only 31.5 lbs of force at full draw, making it much easier to use than a “90 lb” recurve or longbow, where you will have to hold the full 90 lbs of force at full draw — the trade-off being that with the compound bow there is the “break over point”, where it suddenly becomes easier to draw and the string “jerks” to full draw. Personally, I prefer the “smooth” draw of the recurve/longbow; no need to “jerk” the bow to full draw and then aim — I am aiming while I draw.
There is a fellow in England, named Pip Bickerstaff, who has made some 130 lb (and higher) draw weight English Long Bows (ELB: English Long Bow) for a few individuals. Most Modern archers wouldn’t be able to get those bows to more than half draw — including many who regularly use a 90 lb draw weight longbow. Some might manage to get one of these “Monsters” to full draw once or twice…but their shoulders would probably need surgery afterwards. The unofficial World Record for using the heaviest weight longbow is said to be 200 lbs. In the Middle Ages, it was common for Military archers to draw in excess of 140 lbs — of course, they had been trained in using the bow since early childhood and their skeletal structure was “twisted” because of the heavy draw weight bows they used every day…
There is a myth about heavy-weight bows and hunting which says that if you want to get the “big animals”, you need a heavy-weight bow — and it is not true at all. A woman, Sandie Karch (of 3Rivers Archery), shot — and killed — a Kudu (an African “antelope” – about the size of an American Elk) with a 46 lb Tomahawk(tm) longbow using a 485 grain arrow (that’s total arrow weight, not just the shaft); the kudu ran 25 yards, and died. Her “secret”: Good aim, sharp broadhead, well-tuned equipment, NOT shooting past her effective range (“normal” bowhunting range is approximately 20-35 yards – and it IS possible to get within 15 yards of even Alaskan Caribou out on the open tundra) and as near-to-perfect technique (“form”) as she could manage. An 80+ lb bow is NOT essential for hunting Big Game, no matter what “He Man” will tell you.
So, don’t worry about your “lady-like” draw weight. The person who said they had shot a “90 lb bow” probably used a compound bow with at least 65% let-off……