What’s the maximum draw weight you would consider?

[nchunter]

Here’s a question to ponder:
Fifteen years ago the average draw weight was 150-165 lbs. Only a few folks used a rope cocked. Now, to stay in the speed-race with the wheelie bows, the bow weight’s increased over 100 lbs. and everyone uses a rope cocker or crank.

As Excalibur increases the poundage more and more to go faster and faster, at what draw weight would you say “too much”? Or with the crank, is there no such thing as too much?

[Boo]

Much of the maximum weight depends on the shooter's height. At 5'3" I find the 330 pretty easy and the 355 starting to get difficult but still doable. Guys who are 6' or nearly, find the 380 easy.

[mr meat]

Well Kathy was at the Dr,s last week and they measured her at just under 5 ft ! Any bow is to much for her without a crank

[Hillcountry]

Being 6’4” my Micro 355 is a breeze and my Mission MXB 360 is like a feather.
I could handle more but at 69 years old don’t know if I want to...

[BrotherRon]

My Matrix 310 is a joy to shoot all afternoon target practicing and big enough for the deer I shot, but...
I have been thinking of checking out the BD330.
I had a Matrix 355 for a short time but it was too much for me since I have had back and hernia surgeries.
Plus I'm 5'4" - 155# - and not getting any younger.

[longbow joe]

The longer limb exo series bows are considerably easier to cock than a matrix or a micro. Im not a big person and l can cock a 175 pound exo by hand. But a micro or matrix is not gonna happen by hand. (Without a stringer in an emergency ).The vixen 2 is 150 pounds and went thru every deer l shot. But its nice to have a flatter shooting bow at times for longer distance.personally for my pa hunting l think anything over 350 fps is kinda getting into overkill. But thats just me. Nothing wrong with having more than needed to each his or her own.

[vixenmaster]

What i use to do i can no longer do. I can still rope cock a 240 lb Matrix, but i rather use my C2, My 392.5 is crank only now, my Micro 355 is crank only now

[racking up points]

I don’t think they have reached the pinnacle of recurve limb and Flemish string design...I think, someday, they may be able to manufacture limbs to be narrower and still produce speeds that are faster.

To answer your question, I don’t think it’s draw weight that is a limiting factor for most, it’s draw length that makes a bow difficult to rope cock; especially for people of lower stature. Personally, I could shoot my Matrix 410 all day without complaint.

[hankenhunter]

225# is my limit. There is either a crank in my future or an Ibex. I'm leaning towards the Ibex.
Hank

[mchurch]

With the assassin crank system, it's not an issue for me anymore

[RobD]

For rope cocking, the Matrix 380 is about my limit at 5'11" and age 50. The Matrix 350/355 models were much easier for me to get that final click, the Axiom SMF and Matrix 330 models I once owned were a piece of cake. The Sapphire and Grizzly bows that my kids use are simple for me. I like the flat shooting of the 380s, so I'll probably have to look at putting cranks on them in about 10-15 years.

Of course, my county was just declared a CWD zone here in Michigan, so I'm guessing all my neighbors are going to blindly follow the DNR and slaughter the herd in my area. I may be hanging up my bows next year, or have to convert my scopes to night vision and take up coyote and coon hunting.