Kids and bowhunting
Whitetail Deer
My daughter has asked to hunt this upcoming deer season. She will be the minimum age and be able to draw the minimum draw weight (30lbs) by the time fall comes. It's been fun to watch her shoot a lot more in preparation for the upcoming 2021 season. I started messing with her bow this morning trying to see how much kinetic energy I could get out of it. Not looking so good compared to suggested minimum energy for deer. She has a Quest Centec NXT. Her arrow weight is currently 324 grains. Speed will be 140. I thought of removing the whisker biscuit and replacing it with an drop away that has an enclosure to pick up a little speed. My plan was to keep shots at less than 10 yards. Does anybody have any personal experience or tips on a set up like this and if it is even doable. Maybe she will just have to wait a couple more years. She has sat in the stand with me since she was 3 and Ive never had to push her to go out. She's got the bowhunting bug, but Im probably more excited for her than she is.
You have plenty of power there to get it done. The most important consideration is the broadhead. A sharp cut on contact head out of her set-up will easily kill a whitetail. Kids also gain strength and length fast. By this fall she may add another inch of draw length and another 5# of draw weight. The extra inch draw length is what really matters as she grows. You pick up speed faster from draw length than from weight. Just make sure you have her bow set-up perfectly as her height and strength changes, keep it tuned well, and she will have plenty of power there to make a shot under 20 yards. Most importantly enjoy your time together in the field!
if she is just deer hunting, ya don't need a whole heck of a lot. I have seen people shooting 35# recurves drawing 25"s shooting a 300 grain arrow and razor sharp broadheads get two holes in deer quite a few times. I would say keep the shots 15 yards and under and stay off the shoulder and shoot a coc broadhead that is scary sharp and she will be fine. Shawn
Feed her. Cut the junk and add some good carbs and protein in its place. She’ll be ahead of the curve you are predicting if you do.
As far as her setup, listen to brotsky. It’ll kill.
I don’t know anything about kinetic energy. What’s her draw length?
2 blade cut on contact head, less than 15 yards. Broadside. My nephew shot several with 30#, on one the arrow was laying 8-10 ft. away after a double pass through.
X2 on the right broadhead. Stay with it. All the hard work will pay off with the best hunting partner you could ever have. I’ve been very lucky with the three I’ve got
Thanks for the replies. I certainly thought it was going to go the other way. My plan is to use a Magnus Stinger 2 blade, but am open to suggestions. Any thoughts on penetration, shooting from a stand vs the ground?
30# bow, 375gr arrow, 100 gr slick trick standard. Full pass through at 18 yards from a tree stand. Don’t over think it. Your Broadhead choice is perfect. Have fun!
As others have stated 30# might be enough. I like a 35# minimum just going off what I’ve experienced with my daughter. She killed two this year at 23” and 40# with a 350 grain arrow. Neither passed through but she was shooting slick trick standards and had short blood trails a blind man could follow. 30# and a 20” draw I wouldn’t try it. 30# with a 23” draw she’ll be fine. It’s amazing the difference in arrow speeds at a given poundage with an additional 2-3” in DL. Add weed eater string inside the shaft for weight. If you can get her to shoot 3-4 times a week for 2 months I think you’ll find you can sneak in a 1/4 turn here and there on the limb bolts and she’ll never know. If you’ve ever watched a grown man that hasnt shot a bow try to draw 70# you realize it’s an acquired talent and somewhat mental.
Totally agree with broadhead choice.
You have lots of time until fall.....if she is shooting a lot,....she can easily add 5lbs to her pull. Just a tiny crank every week on each bolt and she'll be there without even knowing it. shooting will strengthen her where she needs it.
“ Maybe she will just have to wait a couple more years...... She's got the bowhunting bug, but Im probably more excited for her than she is.”
You are wise to recognize that last bit. Enough kids end up with powerful, mixed emotions after their first kills even when they really thought they wanted to do it and it went down clean.
If the kid’s not really sure he/she is ready and it goes poorly, that could be pretty traumatic for all concerned.... And JMO, a kid who is going to grow into a Hunter is not going to lose interest if they have to hold on another year or to or three; nor will they need to fill a tag their first time/season out to keep them interested. If the fire is there, it’ll come.
I think parents do their kids a disservice by teaching them to expect that instant gratification. That IS a learned expectation, you know; it’s not the kids who need it, so much as their parents... It’s like the parents who are now doing Time for cheating their kids into College - nothing says “I dont’ really believe in you” like doing it FOR them....
So JMO, you have plenty of time for patience. And she’ll get there more surely with patience and a clean kill.
The guys are probably right that she won’t even notice a quarter turn every few weeks, but the point about DL trumping weight is well taken. Assuming 8” brace height and 2” slope on either end of the DFC, a compound drawn 24” will store about what, 20% more energy than when drawn 22”? Thats a big deal.
Broadhead selection is a pretty big deal; go with at “trad” shape like the Magnus SBH posted. The steep ramp angles of the short, stubby heads create a mechanical disadvantage in the interest of high-velocity aerodynamics.... and her bow does not have any such issue...
Arrow mass is a big deal. Every bow, EVER, is more efficient at higher GPP well past the point where the trajectory rules out going any higher.
And Tuning is a big deal too, of course. So look at the bright side - heavy up the arrowhead and you’ll get higher efficiency AND higher FOC.
She’ll get there if she’s going to. Don’t screw it up.
My son shoots slick tricks and they definitely do the trick!
My son with a 43# longbow, 325ish grain arrow, 26" draw, Zwickey 2 blade. I would guess a compound in the mid 30#s is outperforming his set-up. If limiting her to around 10 yards, a heavier arrow lends some advantages without giving up much.
10 yards out of a treestand can be a tough shot unless she is only 10-12' up the tree (which I personally like). I would make sure the stand setup is perfect.
I tend to view this a bit differently than many of you. As a kid growing up in the Midwest it was unheard of for "kids" to go deer hunting. That was for those mature enough, and it was a right of passage, to be allowed to accompany the men into the woods, and didn't occur until 15 or so. I also think the youngster should be mature enough to get stranded for a day or two out there by themselves. If they can't handle that, then being there is likely more for the parents self esteem than their own.
Backpacked into a Wilderness area this summer
Backpacked into a Wilderness area this summer
About 9 miles in to a "secret" CO lake by snowmobile
About 9 miles in to a "secret" CO lake by snowmobile
The Snowys in WY. Amazing place to sled.
The Snowys in WY. Amazing place to sled.
I've been taking my son since he was very young. Way before he could spend the night by himself. Also snowmobiling in some fairly remote parts of the Snowys where about every year someone is lost either to avalanche due to being inexperienced, taking big risks or being unprepared to spend the night. Of course I was always with him but there certainly is a risk I could be incapacitated. Now he's 14 and has short stints in the woods alone but is more prepared than a lot of kids his age. I would never fault someone for waiting a bit, the risks are real. I weighed them heavily and still do when we are going remote.
And hunter numbers have fallen steadily applying that right of passage philosophy Juspassin.
Each kid is their own. And, their parents know when the time is right.
Just take the girl hunting and have a great time. She will do just fine. Your bow set up will be fine as long as you have excellent arrow flight. How can we have such negative comments about a father that is taking is daughter hunting. She even asked to go! The comment above - "allowed to accompany the men into the woods" is one of the most male chauvinist comments I have ever heard! Guess the girls should all just stay in the kitchen and bake cookies with the "women folk!" Glad my father and I never gave that attitude to my daughter!
I watched my daughter anchor deer with her Diamond Edge bow with 24” arrow and 90 grain muzzy. Shot placement is key in any hunting. I think it was 30 pounds the first buck, progressively built up to 42# year three.
Been watching guys up here on some Alaska hunting forums battling over rifle caliber for Brown Bears and grizzly. Tiresome really. Pretty much sounds like they don’t consider bow hunting and if you’re not shooting a 375 or larger your going to get mauled...
One of the keys to great bow hunts for my kids was building a permanent blind out of 3/4” plywood which not only contained our sound and movement, it was properly positioned for wind direction and shot distance was limited.
Are you guys all reading the same thread that I am???
Because I haven’t seen a SINGLE response telling the OP what he oughtta do as far as whether his daughter will be “ready”... whatever that really means.
But FWIW, I think it’s the loss of many of the old Rites of Passage which have made it impossible for a lot of children to ever Grow Up. Kids these days don’t have wait for/earn ANYTHING anymore; they just get GIVEN all manner of opportunities & privileges (Participation Trophies ring any bells??) and people stand around wondering how their kids got to be so damn entitled...
And FWIW “allowed to accompany the men into the woods" is NOT “male chauvinist”; it’s an accurate description of a specific time & place. Times change. Nobody said girls aren’t welcome. The point was, (back then) the kids had to earn their place in the field through education, training, and demonstrated responsible behavior. Some even had to endure long periods of exposure to inhospitable weather and had to sit quietly enough to become part of the woods in order to have any chance of an animal stepping into range. And those who couldn’t manage it ..... didn’t fill their tags. Year after year. Until they figured it out. Quick! Call Child Protective Services!!!
There’s (IMHO) absolutely NOTHING wrong with letting a kid wait, watch & want for a while, and a lot of potential for fall-out if they get rushed. Or handed too much, too easily. Time will tell, I suppose....
