What is Draw Weight?

Your draw weight is one of the most important things you can choose for your bow...

But choosing the wrong one can have terrible consequences...

So in this article, you'll learn what draw weight is, why it matters and how to choose the right draw weight for you.

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Draw Weight Definition

Draw weight is the maximum weight that a bow reaches during its draw cycle.

For recurve bows, or really any traditional bow, this is going to be all of the way at full draw.

For compound bows, this is going to be somewhere in the middle of the draw cycle.

Where in the draw cycle it happens varies based on the individual model of bow, but it will be well before full draw.

The reason draw weight is talked about so much is that ultimately it’s what determines how much force an individual bow can put into an arrow.

This is usually less important for target archers and more important for hunting, but target archers still need to know about their draw weight.

Related: Best Recurve Bows for Beginners

Why Choosing The Right Draw Weight Matters

Choosing the right draw weight is one of the most important decisions you’re going to make when you get a bow.

A common problem people run into when they first get into archery, or when they transition from a compound bow to a traditional bow is they use too high of a draw weight.

This leads to them not being able to use proper form, which hurts their accuracy.

And on top of that, they aren’t able to hold the bow at full draw for very long, which hurts their accuracy even more.

Some people get so frustrated by this they end up quitting archery all together before they really even got started.

Which is a shame because it can easily be avoided.

With some beginner compound bows, you have a little wiggle room because they have a big range of draw weights you can adjust through, so you can go to your local bow shop and shoot a couple of different draw weights before you decide on one.

Either way, here’s some tips to choose the right draw weight for you…

How To Choose The Right Draw Weight

Before you choose your draw weight, there’s a couple of things you want to keep in mind to help you make the right choice.

Compound Bow vs Recurve

First and foremost, you need to know what type of bow you plan on shooting.

With a recurve bow, the draw weight you’re pulling against slowly increases until you reach full draw and then you have to hold the full draw weight until you shoot.

A compound bow on the other hand quickly reaches the full draw weight while you’re drawing and then it drops off after a certain point until you’re at full draw.

This drop off in draw weight is called ‘let off’ and most compound bows have a let off around 85%.

So if you’re drawing a compound bow with a 60 pound draw weight and 85% let off, you’re only holding 9 pounds at full draw.

This makes a HUGE difference on your ability to hold steady & aim at full draw compared to a recurve!

Target Shooting vs Hunting

Another thing to keep in mind is what you’re getting into archery for.

In the target shooting world your only focus is accuracy, so there are world champions who shoot around 40 pounds of draw weight.

That weight’s low enough for them to hold steady while they aim, but still gets enough force out to put good speed on the arrow.

In hunting on the other hand you also have to factor in things like legal minimum draw weights, arrow/broadhead weight, shooting at different distances and the force the arrow needs to penetrate enough to kill an animal as big as an elk.

Most adult hunters are shooting a draw weight (on a compound bow) between 50 and 70 pounds, with some going as high as 80 pounds.

That difference in use not only affects what draw weight you go with, but also what bows you can even shoot.

If you’re new to archery and looking to get into hunting, it’s a good idea to find a bow that’s very adjustable and has a wide range of draw weights so you can build up to a heavy draw weight over time.

Adjusting Your Draw Weight

Whether you started with a lower draw weight than you need so you could practice with good form or you went too heavy and need to dial it back, most new archers are going to have to adjust their draw weight at some point.

With a recurve bow this can be easier if it’s a takedown recurve, where the limbs are designed to come off easily.

In that case you just order new limbs with a lower draw weight and restring your bow with those on it.

Compound bows usually have a range their draw weight can be adjusted through, but the downside is that it usually requires tools that only the most dedicated & advanced archers have.

So most archers who need a draw weight adjusted on a compound bow have to go to their local bow shop and pay to have it adjusted.

Most of the time it’s not a very long process, but it still takes the time to go do it.

The most important thing to remember though is at a different draw weight your bow is going to shoot completely different…

Which means you’re going to have to adjust how you aim.

With a compound bow it’s pretty straight forward, you just have to adjust the pins on your sight.

It’s time consuming and takes some patience, but that’s all you have to do.

Recurves on the other hand usually don’t have sights, so you have to go back to shooting at close range and shoot enough arrows for your brain to make the adjustment through muscle memory.

This just takes a lot of reps…

Like, a lot, a lot.

And then you have to keep doing that working your way backwards until you shoot consistently at the distances you’re regularly shooting.

Depending on how experienced you are as an archer, this can take 50 shots at each distance or 250 shots at each distance, there’s really no way to know except for trial and error.