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$ like to see a minimum of 2( to 2% grains per pound of draw weight which ismuch more than the 4, or even ' grains per pound that people talk about now,#says .erkampas" +e dont like to see that at all" +e see all kinds of problemswith people shooting those light weight arrows"#

-roblems include arrow0tuning difficulties that need to be offset by usingmechanical broadheads and poor penetration on game animals" $n contrast hesays, +hen you have a heavy arrow flying relatively slowly its flying so perfectlythrough the air that you get the column strength of the arrow when it hits"#

@ombine perfect flight and heavy weight and the result is an arrow that willdeliver a broadhead with enough forward momentum to penetrate ribs on entry,and usually on e;it" .erkampas tells people Take an empty pick0up truck and tryto stop it and then load it up with a big load of wood and try to stop it< ven if you do an energy comparison youll see that a heavy arrow going slow has got

ust as much capability as a real light arrow going real fast"#

The only thing thats lost with heavier arrows is a flat tra ectory, so a shooter willneed more practice to shoot long0distance )0B targets accurately" .ut.erkempas insists that at the distance most people shoot an animal during ahunt, the loss of tra ectory is insignificant"

.erkampas recommends finishing arrows with two0bladed, cut on impactbroadheads, 2(' grains or heavier and larger fletchings for improved arrow flight"

Bespite the effectiveness of optimally set0up light tackle, some states haveincreased their minimum poundages" $n Alaska, hunters must shoot a minimumof '& pounds to hunt mountain goat, moose, elk, grizzly, musko; and bison" .ut

arrows can weigh as little as )&& grains" Cut of a '&0pound bow, thats only *grains per pound, well below .erkampas suggested arrow weight"

Tony 6onzingo, Hunter /ervices @oordinator with Alaska Bepartment of Fish and5ame, e;plains that the regulation was drafted by the Alaska .owhunters

Association, which felt that the larger bodied game re3uired deeper penetration7and therefore higher bow draw weight" The Association chose fifty pounds sowomen and teens would still be able to hunt larger game"

@onnie Denfro, )%, is a flight attendant who hunts during multi0week breaksbetween global tours" $ think there are a lot of unnecessary weight limits being

thrown around out there,# says Denfro, because $ve shot plum through an elkwith my recurve" $ mean it went right through"# /hes killed two elk, as well ascaribou, goat, antelope, deer, and mountain lion with her -ittsley -redator recurve which she estimates is %E to '& pounds at her draw" /he uses two or four0blade cut on impact broadheads for arrows weighing 2& to 22 grains per pound"

!ou shouldnt overbow yourself" Thats why $ hate to hear them coming out withpound limits,# says Denfro" Theres no sense" !ou see men do it more than

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elk rib cage and measure from one side to the other, $ doubt youre talking morethan 2( inches"#

5eorge has been an archer since she was 2( years old, when she pickedblueberries to buy her first bow" /hes bowhunted big game in @olorado for (2

years, and for the last 2' years shes used only recurves" +hen she had her sonin 2444, 5eorge wasnt a stay0at0home mom" $nstead, she introduced her seven0month0old son to elk hunting" He only weighed 2' pounds and $ could shoot mybow with 2' pounds in a kids backpack"# /he laughs" He would go to sleep assoon as $ put him in and started walking" $ didnt get anything with him in thebackpack, but $ did go hunting"#

5eorges acceptance of lighter bows began si; years ago when a pinched nervein her neck forced her to retire her trusted '(0pound and 'E0pound .ighornrecurves7bows that gave her broadside pass0throughs on all animals she killed,including elk" +hile visiting family in 6ichigan, she fell in love with a .lack +idowrecurve at 1ics Archery" $t was %E pounds at her draw length of about (* inches"

$nitially, 5eorge was concerned that %E pounds might not be enough to kill an elk" After she killed a five0point bull she 3uit worrying" /hes since killed several deer including a yearling0elk0sized -ope and !oung +hitetail, a cow elk and lastseason she passed up three and four point bulls, waiting for a shot at a -ope and!oung"

=.ow weight> is only one part of the whole e3uation and its the portion thatpeople worry about and over0focus on" $ believe that shot placement, good arrowflight and cut0on impact broadheads are ust as important"# /he takes broadsideor 3uartering away shots and limits her shots to distances within her own ability7

(' yards if conditions are right7and makes no compensation for her lighter e3uipment"

5eorge shoots %E'0grain aluminum arrows which at 2& grains per pound are alittle lighter than 1ic .erkampas advocates" /he doesnt always get pass0throughs7many of her shots are 3uartering away so the broadhead hits the far shoulder and sometimes her arrow has stopped at the far ribs"

$ think the arrow actually does more damage if it doesnt go all the waythrough< ach time the animal bends and fle;es, =the broadhead> cuts,# says5eorge" $f you hit them right theyre not going to go far enough that youre going

to worry that much about an =e;it wound> blood trail"#Her broadheads are four0blade Jwickeys or two0blade 6agnus" A lot of peoplethink two0blades penetrate better =than four> and the only complaint youll hear is=poor> blood trails" $ havent noticed that big a difference"#

5eorge compared her two broadheads on a green elk shoulder blade in her backyard 8 $ didnt do science, $ ust shot at it multiple times,# she says9" At 2&yards, she felt the four0bladed broadheads penetrated the shoulder blade and

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then the foam behind it better than the two0blades" /he attributes the better penetration to reduced arrow shaft drag when the shaft passes through the larger entry hole punched by the four0blades" Degardless of which broadhead she uses,5eorge is confident that her tackle will kill an elk"

+hen it comes to other big game animals, 5eorge is not so sure" After readingabout a @olorado bowhunting guide, who in 24 4 killed an attacking grizzly bystabbing it in the ribs with an arrow tipped with an old .ear Dazorhead, she saysshe might consider her bow ade3uate for grizzly bear" .ut,K she says, $ certainlywouldnt try the African .ig Five# with my bow"#

Although a seven0ton elephant might not be an ethical target for light tackle, African bowhunter Theresa /anders, %2, found plenty of animals that were"

Cn her first trip to Africa, /anders took fourteen animals, including a '' L inchkudu bull, gemsbok and nyala bull" /he was shooting a %)0pound Te;as@omanche recurve, drawn to () inches" .efore she went, she had to prove toher professional hunter that her light tackle was capable of killing a large animal"

/anders and her husband Don tested her set0up using a chronograph andpenetration studies" They found her set0up could perform as well as somerecurves in the *&0pound to *'0pound range shooting light arrows"

$n the hunt, /anders had complete pass0throughs on the largest animals7her gemsbok and kudu 8which fell in (& yards9" +hen she hit ribs on the way in, theywere completely severed with no loss of penetration" $n fact, she found that her e3uipment was often superior to high0speed, heavy draw weight compounds andrecurves"

This past summer, compound hunters on the same property we hunt in /outh Africa, using bows ranging between *' pound to E& pound draw weight, very lightcarbon arrows and mechanical broadheads shot 2* animals, 2( of which had tobe finished with a rifle,# wrote /anders" The failings were poor shot placement,inade3uate penetration because of failure of the mechanical heads to openade3uately, and simple poor penetration"#

/anders used *E&0grain maple0shafted arrows with two0blade cut on impactbroadheads on her first African hunt" Thats 2* grains per pound of draw weight"/anders stresses that arrows must be perfectly spined for the bow to achieve

pass0throughs" After bare shaft testing at (& yards, she finds that to get perfectarrow flight with her set0up she needs to cut an additional inch off beforeattaching the broadhead"

+ith her @omanche recurve, /anders took only broadside shots at 2E yards or less, and still prefers broadside or only slightly 3uartering away shots, eventhough four years and )' animals later, the ')#, 22' lb /anders has worked intoa /creaming agle +olverine longbow, '' pounds at () inches" /anders plansto use the heavier bow for hunting moose, wildebeest and eland"

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Here in Iorth America, /anders advises that %) pounds to %' pounds isade3uate for most big game, including elk, but recommends that women whowant to hunt moose should shoot more than %' pounds" Arrows should weigh atleast ''& grains, and preferably *(' grains" And,# says /anders, pass upanything e;cept the perfect shot"#

After two decades of bowhunting, anet 5eorge has advice for womenbowhunters" ust believe that you can do it" $ think thats the biggest thing inarchery" !ou have to have faith in yourself and your ability and your e3uipment"+hat it takes is practice7a lot7so you know you can hit what you want to hit"Mnow your limitations" 6ake sure your bow is perfectly tuned and shoot as muchweight as you can" .ut, if its only %' pounds7go elk huntingN $f its only %&pounds, probably go elk huntingN#

/ays @onnie Denfro, as she packs up for a three0and0a0half0week elk and bear hunt, $ts a kick" Bo it girl, do itN#