All food for thought.
The minimum draw weight requirement in NY for bows is 35 pounds. The experience of thousands of successful youngsters nationwide has proven that 12 year old and younger archers can kill deer humanely and competently. with bows in that weight range
In my years of teaching archery for general recreation, hunting and competition my experience has been that most hunters are using a more powerful bow than is needed and their ability to shoot well while hunting tends to suffer. Whether you can draw the bow while standing and repeatedly shooting is not the issue. Whether you can draw the bow smoothly and quietly when you are tired, cold, stiff, sitting in a stand and turned halfway around is the important thing. Many folks find that the bow that was easy to shoot well in practice is not easy to shoot while hunting.
Once you get past 50 pounds with a modern compound bow the only thing a higher draw weight gets you is an arrow deeper in the dirt on the other side of the deer.
Higher draw weights need stiffer, heavier arrow shafts and the claimed speed advantage of nearly all manufacturers is really pretty minimal. You certainly do get an arrow with higher sectional density and better penetration but with modern broadheads most any arrow will pass through with a chest shot anyway.
I use a 60 pound bow set at 53-54 pounds and get consistent pass through performance with Easton Axis Slim Tech carbon arrows and 100 grain Montec G5 broadheads.
Lance
PS: When I was stationed in West Berlin everybody had to pass an annual marksmanship test to hunt either there or in West Germany. It was done as a social event and required you to shoot at a standing deer target at 100 meters from the standing unsupported position. You then shot at a standing boar target from kneeling and a sitting fox from sitting at 50 meters.
To hunt birds with a shotgun you shot a 15 bird modified round each of skeet and trap.
It was always a lot of fun and a chance to have some friendly competition with your hunting buddies.
