My just turned 11 year old nephew is my hunting buddy.
He rifle killed 2 deer and 4 turkeys, 2 with rifle 2 with shotgun, hunting with me last year.

Like me he would rather hunt than eat.

I had him with me at the deer lease this weekend.
He had expressed getting a bow to his mom some time ago as he watches all the hunting shows.

As you might gusee he wants to get a bow so he can bow hnt with me and also wants to go "bow fishing".

So, on thw way home form the lease we stopped off at the bow shop.

He could not pull back a 40 lb bow, they did not have a 30 pounder, but he did shoot a 20 lb bow with no problem.

The "pro" at the shop suggested a diamond Edgge with 30 to 40 lb limbs.

His draw length is 23" so theyn will ste it up at 22.5 with a loop.

The neat thing about this bow is that the dfraw length is adjustable to 28" so the bow can grow wigh him. Also later if desired we can get 50 lb limbs, as his strength goes up using the same cams etc.

When ever he totally outgrows this bow we will leave it set up as a spare and fishing bow.

They suggested starting out with Beeman ICS Junior arrows and 85gr heads.

I will start him out hunting small game at the lease.

Also after we both get "tuned up" we plan to also shoot together at the Techno range at the shop.

The Diamond Edge is a DARN nice first boy for a youngster!

sounds damn good

Martin makes the Leopard for small adults. extremely light and simple to setup. I have used it on small game and predators for the last two years. Dick's had one made for them by Martin called the Monster Buck (its a leopard Model) which weighs about 3.5 lbs.

Another question.

From what I understand Texas has done away with the 40lb minimum for deer hunting.

So assuming my Nephew can shoot good enough to hit a deer, wild pig or turkey [and believe me He must be able to shoot good enough to hit or I would not let him shoot, the same "rule" will apply to me as well] would ya'll recommend an 85gr or a 100gr Mangus Stinger.

Also which would be better the 2 Blade, the 4 Blade, straight edge or Buzz Cut.

I am leaning toward the 100gr just because there is a wider variety of heads to choose from for small game hunting.

But, what ever weight is best for his set up, is what I want him to use.
His bow will be at 30 lbs.

jmo, but you may do more harm than good allowing him to shoot game with equipt not up to the task or borderline at best.

You want to really build a fire in a boy, deny him until he grows a little.

ncbowman

Bow hunting is new to me.

How heavy do you think a bow needs to be before it is suitable for doe deer, pig or turkey?

I have told him the State requirement for deer, etc is 40 lbs. I just found out that that requirement has been lifted.

The last thing I would want to do would be for him to shoot an animal with equipment that was not up to the task.

He hunts deer and pigs with a 308 and has done just fine so far. I made sure his shooting was up to par before allowing him to take a shot at any animal.

I plan to have him shoot some small game with his bow first.

If he needs to wait on bigger stuff till he can pull more weight then he will wait.

Took my Nephew to the pro shop to shoot his bow.

The owner set up the bow and worked with him.

When he first started shooting he could not pull it back by himself. After a couple of shots and a rest, etc,etc,etc, he was shooting pretty good.

He could pull it back alone and several of the other shooters at the range said, "Do not ever bring him back for 5 Spot, he is getting too good too fast!."

He shot it a bunch then we left to run some errands.

I got him a target and we shot some at his grandmothers house at 9:30 at night by the back porch light.

I got my bow out and shot with him. We had a blast and he shot real good.

By then he was pulling the bow back like a Pro.

We went with an 85gr head. At his poundage and speed he is not ready for deer or pigs, but we will hunt small game at the lease.

I will get him some small game heads and some 85gr Mangus 2 blade Buzz Cuts.

As his strength improves I will crank up his bow, but there is no rush.

The most important thing is for him to have fun, and work on his form and accuracy.

that, to me is very important, 'no rush'. you don't want to let him go at it too early and wound animals, that won't be good for the boy or the animals.

as far as draw weight and broadhead weight is concerned, its more about kinetic energy downrange. i don't know the minimums for deer size animals, but i'm sure some on here do. have him shoot through a chrono to get speed, add up his arrow weight, and you can calculate if he has enough KE to hunt with. once he reaches the minimums recommended (or maybe a little more), and he can shoot accurately, let him loose on the deer!

i also think your 2 blade broadhead choice is wise for a low poundage bow. very sharp cut on contact and only 2 blades to push through. good luck to you both.

cooperjd

Exactly.

We did his specs at the bow shop.
His arrow weight with an 85gr head is 296gr.
Velocity is 121fps.
KE is 9.6

Not enough for deer.
I think they said you need 13 to 14 lbs KE.
If I remember correctly.

He has been cued in about enough energy for hunting animals, first in rifles and now bows.

I had him wait until he could shoot a 20ga for turkeys and a 308[with Remington 125gr Managed Recoil loads, that work great on deer and wild pigs] for deer.

For information purposes, only I read on another forum, where a fellas son with a 38lb bow shooting a 400gr arrow, with a Mangus 4 blade Stinger had a complete pass through on a whitetail doe.

It was a quick down and dead kill.

It was his sons first deer.