Minimum Draw Weight by State: Legal Bow & Broadhead Rules

Quick Summary

There's no national minimum draw weight for bowhunting. A little under half of states write a number into their code, usually 30–40 lb for deer, measured at peak draw rather than a compound's holding weight after let-off. The rest (Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Texas and Virginia among them) set none and lean on broadhead and general-lethality rules instead. Nearly every state that regulates archery gear sets a minimum broadhead cutting width, most often 7/8 inch. Crossbow rules during archery season change more often than anything else here, so check those every season.

How Do State Wildlife Agencies Measure Draw Weight?

Every state that specifies a figure means peak draw weight: the highest force the string exerts before a compound's cams roll into let-off. A bow with a 70 lb top-end and 80% let-off is still checked against its 70 lb peak, not the roughly 14 lb you're holding at full draw. This matters most for light compound setups near a state's floor. A bow that feels well under a threshold at anchor can still clear it at peak, and a bow with the limb bolts backed too far out can drop under it.

Traditional bows (recurve, longbow) have no let-off to complicate the reading, so peak and holding weight are the same number. That's part of why a hard poundage floor was easy to write into a traditional-bow-era statute and harder to update cleanly for modern compounds.

Does a 35 lb Recurve Meet the Minimum at Your Draw Length?

Not always. The number on a recurve or longbow limb is the weight at 28 inches of draw. Draw it shorter and it pulls less. New Jersey's code says this outright: compounds need a 35 lb peak weight, and every other bow needs 35 lb “at the archer's draw length.” Pennsylvania's rule asks for a 35 lb peak draw weight without naming a draw length. On a recurve the only peak you ever reach is the one at your own anchor, so I'd plan on the same reading there.

To put numbers on it, I ran the 2 lb-per-inch draw-length rate that my recurve arrow spine calculator already uses (it's documented on the calculator methodology page). That rate is a rule of thumb, not a measurement of your limbs. Real limbs run roughly 2 to 3 lb per inch, so the table below is the best case. At 2.5 to 3 lb per inch, a 26-inch archer on a 35# limb pulls about 29 to 30 lb, not 31. A bow scale at your full draw is the number that settles it. The finder at the top of the page runs this check for your own bow and state.

The short-draw rows are the ones that catch people. A 26-inch archer, often a youth or a smaller adult, on a 35# @ 28″ takedown is pulling about 31 lb. That's under New Jersey's floor even though the limb says 35. New York words it another way: it wants a draw weight in excess of 35 lb, so a bow that pulls exactly 35 doesn't qualify there either.

Minnesota's rule reads like New Jersey's: 30 lb “at or before full draw,” so the weight at your own anchor is the one that counts there too. A handful of states name 28 inches instead. New Hampshire wants 40 lb at a draw of 28 inches or less, Idaho 40 lb at or before 28 inches, North Dakota 35 lb at 28 inches or less, Illinois 30 lb in a 28-inch draw, and Massachusetts asks for 40 lb “at 28 inches or at peak draw.” A 28-inch cap stops a long-draw archer from counting weight past 28 inches. None of these rules spells out whether a short-draw archer gets checked at 28 inches or at their own anchor. If you draw short, plan on the stricter reading and ask the agency.

Compounds are simpler: the rule is peak weight, which you set with the limb bolts. If you've backed them out, put the bow on a scale before opening day.

Why Do States Set a Minimum Draw Weight?

A minimum draw weight statute is a blunt proxy for a real concern: whether an arrow carries enough force to reach a deer's or elk's vital organs and cause rapid, humane death rather than a non-lethal wound. Wildlife agencies that publish a number are drawing a line under the setups most likely to under-penetrate on a broadside shot at typical bowhunting range.

It's a blunt instrument, though. Draw weight alone says nothing about arrow weight, broadhead sharpness or shot placement, and each of those affects penetration as much or more (see the physics breakdown on the Kinetic Energy for Deer page). That's why a growing number of states have moved away from a numeric poundage floor and toward broadhead-width and "capable of inflicting a mortal wound" language. It regulates the part of the setup that most directly decides a lethal hit.

Which States Restrict Mechanical Broadheads?

Where a state regulates broadheads at all, 7/8 inch measured at the widest cutting diameter is the number that shows up most often. Pennsylvania's code, Kentucky's, California's, Illinois', Minnesota's and Alabama's codes all set that same floor. Ohio is a notable exception at a lower 3/4 inch. Expandable and mechanical heads are almost always measured in their open position against the same threshold, not their closed, in-flight diameter. A mechanical that opens to 1.5 inch clears a 7/8 inch floor by a wide margin, but a head that only opens to 3/4 inch would fail Pennsylvania's rule even though it passes Ohio's.

A separate, common requirement bundled into the same statutes: a minimum number of cutting edges (almost always two) and, in several states, an explicit ban on barbed heads that resist withdrawal. Minnesota's code states this directly.

What Is the Minimum Draw Weight in Each State?

Built for fast scanning and direct citation. Every figure below traces to the primary code or agency page linked in the last column. States without a verified numeric minimum are marked as such rather than guessed; that is itself the accurate legal answer for that state, not a gap in the research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common State-Specific Legal Questions

Pulled from the searches hunters actually run before a season opens — each answer traces to the state rule cited inline, not a forum guess.