Good hunting draw weight ?

Leon123

Leon123

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Good day I am setting up my bow now and was wondering what would be the ideal draw weight. The bow is a PSE AR31. My main things that I plan on hunting is Warthog, Impala, Bless buck . Hope you guys can assist
 
What is the draw weight range on the bow?

Typically a bow will perform better when not on the lightest setting. You are not talking about huge animals, 60 pounds would be fine. Maybe 65 if you can pull it back and plan on hunting something a bit larger.
 
Leon123 said:
Good day I am setting up my bow now and was wondering what would be the ideal draw weight. The bow is a PSE AR31. My main things that I plan on hunting is Warthog, Impala, Bless buck . Hope you guys can assist
Click to expand...

Hello & welcome Leon123,

The ideal draw weight will be different for each individual.... You can ethically and effectively hunt for many plainsgame species with draw weights as low as 45-50lbs., given the right combination of arrow, broadhead and bow. Obviously, the more draw weight can you shoot, the faster your arrow speed will be, and more momentum can be generated from your overall set-up...

All that said, the ideal draw weight for each individual is whatever you can comfortably draw. MOST beginning bowhunters try and shoot too much weight..... The method I like to recommend is sitting cross-legged with your bow straight out in front of you. Start out at a low poundage and bump up the draw weight incrementally. Whatever maximum weight that you can draw back SMOOTHLY without contorting your body or pointing the bow up in the air is the ideal draw weight for you.
 
That is a 301 IBO speed bow. Compared to the newer bows today, it is relatively slow. As important as the draw weight and IBO speed of the bow is your draw length. The longer your draw length, the less poundage you need for the same KE and Momentum. Figure you will want at least 40 Ft-LBS for warthog and other medium game. The recommended minimum arrow weight would be 400 grain, but I would advise a minimum of 450 grain so that you can go after larger game if you can muster the draw weight necessary (not that hard). You will want at least 60 Ft-LBS and 450 grain arrow for large game (aside from the really big stuff, like giraffe, hippo, etc, that is a real chore to take down and beyond the ability of that bow).

Get me your draw length and I can probably figure out about what you would need to pull back to down them.
 
If I can remember correctly they can run from 55 lbs to 70 lbs. Mine is set now at 55 lbs but was thinking of going for 60 lbs. I shoot full length shafts.
 
If you can draw 55 smoothly, as Dan noted, you are good with the critters you listed. (all other factors being equal)
Draw 60 just as smoothly..... have at it.

Have fun practicing.
 
Yeah, you should be good for those game.

Draw length is not the same as arrow length though. Do you know your actual draw length of the bow?
 
I have shot it at 70 lbs. So its not like with a to large caliber rifle that does to much damage ?
 
As to the correct draw length I have no idea if its correctly set. It was set by a guy at the shop and I was not present at the time but it should have been set at 29 inch
 
The saying is there is no such thing as too much arrow penetration. I guess you can lose an arrow that passes through - I have lost a couple that way, but you won't have a problem with too much power from the arrow hitting the animal.
 
That makes a lot of sense. The arrow does not deform and damage the meat like a bullet
 
I have the same bow. Mine is set to 65 pounds and I'll be launching a 600gr arrow for plains game. I have not hunted Africa yet but this will be my backup bow this fall
 
DoubleLunger said:
I have the same bow. Mine is set to 65 pounds and I'll be launching a 600gr arrow for plains game. I have not hunted Africa yet but this will be my backup bow this fall
Click to expand...
Does yours have the Ram cam or Ram cam plus
 
Leon123 said:
Does yours have the Ram cam or Ram cam plus
Click to expand...

I have the Ram Cam on mine. Not sure what the difference is between the two cams. Never looked into it. Always more concerned with accuracy and KE
 
Mine is the 2007 model so it should be the ram cam plus. The main difference is the valley on draw its larger on the ram cam plus so its just easier to hold it at full draw. The AR31 is very accurate it has been amazing me at how tight groups they can shoot.
 
Leon123 said:
Mine is the 2007 model so it should be the ram cam plus. The main difference is the valley on draw its larger on the ram cam plus so its just easier to hold it at full draw. The AR31 is very accurate it has been amazing me at how tight groups they can shoot.
Click to expand...

Very good fellow hunter. I'm not sure what year mine is. Guessing approximately '07. It's a great bow. I've taken plenty of whitetail with it.

Are you working on your setup for Africa?
 
Yes I am working on it . I was just mesuring the draw weight it is set up at 60 lbs. But the mesurement from the raiser to the back of the string was out by more than 1/8 inch so got it tuned now to almost 1/8.
 
Leon123 said:
If I can remember correctly they can run from 55 lbs to 70 lbs. Mine is set now at 55 lbs but was thinking of going for 60 lbs. I shoot full length shafts.
Click to expand...

Full length shafts? What are the spine on your arrows? Dynamic spine changes significantly when arrows are cut. Subsequently precision (repeatability) changes significantly as well. Not to imply that a full length shaft does not have the correct spine for your set up, but arrow spine is certainly a consideration.
 
lpace said:
Full length shafts? What are the spine on your arrows? Dynamic spine changes significantly when arrows are cut. Subsequently precision (repeatability) changes significantly as well. Not to imply that a full length shaft does not have the correct spine for your set up, but arrow spine is certainly a consideration.
Click to expand...
You make a very good point as to the spine. I am buying a local South African brand Carbon Core on their web site they have a spine chart for the pounds your bow produces and then the spine for each length you need for that draw weight. If I look correctly the spine should be 300 for what my bow will be set at for hunting
 
Using the OnTarget 2 software, it shows 300 spine arrows to be very stiff for your bow at 60 lbs. (assuming 31.5" shaft and 30" draw length).
 
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