Minimum Draw Weight by State: Legal Bow & Broadhead Rules

Fewer than most hunters assume. States including Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Texas and Virginia set no numeric minimum at all for vertical bows and instead rely on broadhead and general lethality standards, while states such as Ohio (40 lb), Pennsylvania (35 lb), Colorado (35 lb) and most of the Mountain West (commonly 40 lb) do codify a number. There is no single national rule — the finder tool above and the table below give the current status by state.

Almost every state statute that specifies draw weight measures peak draw weight — the highest force on the string before let-off kicks in on a compound bow — not the holding weight at full draw. A bow rated 60 lb with 80% let-off still has to clear the state's peak-weight threshold, since that peak is what the statute is checking.

Seven-eighths of an inch (7/8") measured at the widest cutting diameter is the most common floor among the states that specify a number at all, seen in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Alabama and Virginia's codes. Ohio sets a lower 3/4" floor. Expandable/mechanical heads are almost universally measured in the open position against the same threshold.

No, but the list of states that still restrict it keeps shrinking. States like Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Alabama and (as of fall 2025) New York now allow crossbows on equal footing with vertical bows during archery season, while a handful of states still gate crossbow use behind a specific date window, an age threshold, or a disability exemption. This changes often enough that the current-year hunting digest is the only reliable source.

No. Colorado Parks & Wildlife Rule #203 states plainly that crossbows are not legal during the archery seasons for deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, sheep, goat and moose. General hunters may only run a crossbow during rifle or muzzleloader seasons, or during archery season under a Hunters-with-Disabilities accommodation permit — and where it is legal, the crossbow itself needs a 125 lb minimum peak draw weight and a 14″ minimum draw length.

Yes. Ohio Admin. Code 1501:31-15-11 puts crossbows on equal footing with vertical bows for the entire archery deer season, subject to a 75 lb minimum peak draw weight, a shoulder-mounted stock and a working mechanical safety.

There is not one. Texas Parks & Wildlife’s Means and Methods rule sets no numeric minimum draw weight for archery deer hunting anywhere in the state — only a broadhead requirement, plus a separate archery-endorsement rule that applies to crossbows in four counties (Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Rockwall).

No. 58 Pa. Code § 141.43 sets a 35 lb peak-weight floor for archery deer hunting, so a 30 lb bow falls short of Pennsylvania’s minimum regardless of broadhead choice or shot placement.

Only for hunters holding a lifetime disability permit. 321 CMR 3.01(3) restricts crossbow use to physician-certified permanently disabled hunters — general archery-season hunters in Massachusetts are limited to vertical bows.

No, not for the general hunting public. IDAPA 13.01.08.405 bars crossbows from Idaho’s Archery-Only and Traditional-Archery-Only seasons with no disability exception written into the rule; crossbows (150 lb minimum peak draw weight) are legal only during general or any-weapon seasons.

50 lb. Wyoming Game & Fish’s Chapter 32 regulation sets a 50 lb minimum for elk, moose and grizzly bear, versus a lower 40 lb floor for deer, antelope, black bear, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, mountain lion and gray wolf.

Yes. S.D. Admin. R. 41:06:05:01 restricts crossbow use during archery season to hunters holding a Special Crossbow Permit tied to a qualifying disability — general archery hunters in South Dakota are limited to vertical bows.

There's no single national figure — states that codify a number for elk generally set it at or above their deer minimum. Wyoming's Chapter 32 regulation requires 50 lb for elk, matching Alaska and North Dakota's 50 lb floor for elk, moose and sheep, while Oregon, Idaho and Washington apply a flat 40 lb rule across deer and elk alike, and Colorado's 35 lb rule (with an 80% max let-off cap) covers both species too. Several traditional elk states — Montana, Kentucky and Tennessee among them — set no numeric minimum for elk at all. The elk/big-game column in the 50-state table above breaks out the figure for every state that codifies one.

30 lb. The Minnesota DNR's archery deer hunting rule requires a bow with “a pull no less than 30 pounds at or before full draw,” one of the lower numeric floors among the states that set one at all, paired with a 7/8″, two-metal-edge, barbless broadhead requirement.

New York requires a bow's draw weight to exceed 35 lb, not just reach it. NYSDEC's deer and bear hunting regulations specify a “draw weight in excess of 35 pounds” for long, recurve and compound bows — one of the few states phrased as a strict “more than” threshold rather than an “at least” minimum.