Your opinion...60# or 70#

[drm11900]

OK looks like I'm close to ordering a new bow...FINALLY!

My bow is 18 years old. Been a great piece of equipment ( Pearson split limb Buck Master ) I'm shooting it at 60# with a 30.5 DL

New bow will be a Pantera or TR-1

Now I'm not getting younger but I gotta say that I went to BPS and pulled a new RedHead bow set at 70# it felt just a little tougher that my old Pearson.

So my head says get the 70# bow but my heart is not sold on the idea.

What would be the speed differences between the two and would I be giving anything up by getting the 70# and shooting it at a lesser poundage. Just lookin for some opinions here.

[copterdoc]

Stay with 60#, unless you plan on killing something bigger than a moose.

[jpermenter]

I dont think you are giving anything up by getting a 70 pound bow and shooting a lower poundage. I have a 70 pounder and shoot it about about 65. It really depends on where you are wanting to shoot. if you want to shoot 60 or less obviously I would go with the 60. It all depends on the person. If you shoot 70 lbs with an 18 year old bow and go with either of the stated bows above you could probably shoot 60 lbs and get more speed. Also I wouldnt compare the feel (draw cycle or how much weight it feels like you are pulling) of a redhead bow and a TR-1 or pantera. those will be much smoother and in turn easier to pull. I wouldnt over-do the draw weight but at the same time I wouldnt under-do it either. do what feels comfortable for you. Good Luck

[bfisher]

OK looks like I'm close to ordering a new bow...FINALLY!

My bow is 18 years old. Been a great piece of equipment ( Pearson split limb Buck Master ) I'm shooting it at 60# with a 30.5 DL

New bow will be a Pantera or TR-1

Now I'm not getting younger but I gotta say that I went to BPS and pulled a new RedHead bow set at 70# it felt just a little tougher that my old Pearson.

So my head says get the 70# bow but my heart is not sold on the idea.

What would be the speed differences between the two and would I be giving anything up by getting the 70# and shooting it at a lesser poundage. Just lookin for some opinions here.

Just speaking as an older shooter I'd say to get a 60# bow. YOu've been shooting your present bow at 60# and obviously it has served you well. Today's more modern versions produce better speeds and thus more energy for hunting than those from the past. So 60# today might compare nicely with 65# or so a decade ago.

You really have nothing to gain from getting 70# except more energy, which probably isn't necesary anyway. 60# will also draw a lot easier as you get older. Consider too, that most 60# bows will draw a couple pounds heavier anyway, which really means nothing at all. Poundage is just a number and has more to do with our egos than anything else.

I know a lot of people will buy the heavier bow with the idea they can start out low and work their way up to 70#. Sadly, for most it doesn't work that way. Especially if you're getting a little older. In most cases men are their strongest somewhere in their late 20's to early 30's. It pretty much all downhill after that. Make it easy on yourself.

[kbaird83]

if you mainly use the bow for hunting i would get the 60#. i shoot a 60# bengal set at 63#. personaly i would rather have a bow that i can easily draw when a deer is in front of me rather than the extra arrow speed. and if you were successful with your previous bow at 60# stick with what works for you. you will still be quite a bit faster than your old bow with a smoother draw. and when the time comes i want to have no doubt that i can smoothly draw my bow with out raising it and make the shot. not wonder if the deer will see me if i have to reset and try to draw again.

[Brem]

When i bought my first bow after being out of archery for several years I thought i needed a 70# bow(a 2009 Cheetah). Cranked all the way down and the CCS added without lengthing the string/cable it was pulling nearly 75#. I had to back it down several turns to make it comfortable to shoot. In theory a bow is more efficient if the limbs are tighteded down. I recently upgraded to a 2009.5 Firecat(09 bow with 10 cams on it) that pulls 63# cranked down. I i have it tuned almost perfect and getting 306fps and very comfortable to draw and shoot. The CAT cams are aggressive enough and if I added 10# of draw weight i don't think I could pull it comfortably nor easily. I would also only gain at most 5 fps staying with 5gr/#. As the others stated energy would increase about 10ft-lbs. For me the pros don't out weigh the cons. 60# is the way to go.

[drm11900]

Thanks for the honesty and opinions. I gotta tell ya I was sold on 70# but I think I'm going with 60# instead. I guess I'm thinking more speed = flatter shot therefore I'd feel more comfertable with a 40 yard shot. I hit 40 now on targets holding about a 6" group...not good enough IMO to shoot at a nice buck at that range unless the conditions were nearly perfect.

So pulling 60# with say a Pantera with a 30.5 DL at about 300fps or maybe a little less is that gonna shot pretty flat? If so how far? One pin for 30 yards?

[JohnnyThunder]

you could probably get by with one pin at 30 yards, but it won't be ideal

I have first pin at 20yards and second pin at 30 yards and the pins are pretty close together, so I'm thinking you could use one pin

but there is a noticeable drop from 20 to 30 yards, if you want to stack the arrows up on a dime from 20 or 30 I think you're going to need more than one pin

[bfisher]

Thanks for the honesty and opinions. I gotta tell ya I was sold on 70# but I think I'm going with 60# instead. I guess I'm thinking more speed = flatter shot therefore I'd feel more comfertable with a 40 yard shot. I hit 40 now on targets holding about a 6" group...not good enough IMO to shoot at a nice buck at that range unless the conditions were nearly perfect.

So pulling 60# with say a Pantera with a 30.5 DL at about 300fps or maybe a little less is that gonna shot pretty flat? If so how far? One pin for 30 yards?

Let me explain something to you just FYI. Shooting a higher draw weight does not automatically mean you get more speed. It all depends on each particular setup, but most often to shoot a heavier draw means shooting a stiffer spines, heavier arrow. That's why I said that you would only gain energy.

I don't know if you're going to see 300 fps with either of the bows you mention. They have a cam that is noted more for smoothness of draw than speed. Even so, a lot will depend on just how the bow/arrow combination is chosen and set up.

From experience I can give some real life experience about shooting one pin to 30 yards. I guess you do know that no matter how fast a bow is it cannot shoot an arrow to the same point of impact without some compensation on your part. However, if your setup is producing speed of 260 fps or more you can set a pin for 25 yards and shoot anything between 5 and 30 yards with virtually no worries. The high point of the trajectory will be about 2" high at 18 yards and the POI at 30 yards will be 3" low orjust a little less. This is generally how I set my sight and as such use a single pin, adjustable sight so I can practice at longer yardages all year long.
If you would want to take a shot at 40 yards I would think circumstances would be such that you'd have time to adjust the sight or have a second pin if you use a multi-pin sight.

There are lots of options and you'd have most of the spring, summer, and early fall to find what suits you the best.

OH, something I just picked p on was your draw length. With a long draw I would choose the Pantera for it's longer A2A. Just my .02.

[Spiker]

Let me explain something to you just FYI. Shooting a higher draw weight does not automatically mean you get more speed. It all depends on each particular setup, but most often to shoot a heavier draw means shooting a stiffer spines, heavier arrow. That's why I said that you would only gain energy.

I don't know if you're going to see 300 fps with either of the bows you mention. They have a cam that is noted more for smoothness of draw than speed. Even so, a lot will depend on just how the bow/arrow combination is chosen and set up.

From experience I can give some real life experience about shooting one pin to 30 yards. I guess you do know that no matter how fast a bow is it cannot shoot an arrow to the same point of impact without some compensation on your part. However, if your setup is producing speed of 260 fps or more you can set a pin for 25 yards and shoot anything between 5 and 30 yards with virtually no worries. The high point of the trajectory will be about 2" high at 18 yards and the POI at 30 yards will be 3" low orjust a little less. This is generally how I set my sight and as such use a single pin, adjustable sight so I can practice at longer yardages all year long.
If you would want to take a shot at 40 yards I would think circumstances would be such that you'd have time to adjust the sight or have a second pin if you use a multi-pin sight.

There are lots of options and you'd have most of the spring, summer, and early fall to find what suits you the best.

OH, something I just picked p on was your draw length. With a long draw I would choose the Pantera for it's longer A2A. Just my .02.

I agree with Barry on all that. My '09 Firecat set up just for hunting shoots at 287fps. I have my first pin set at 25yds. At 30yds my arrow will only impact 2.25" low so basically I can use that pin from 5-30yds. My next pin is set at 35yds and my bottom pin at 45yds. This lets me shoot out to 50yds with minimal over or under hold.
Also - +1 for going with the longer ATA bow.