How powerful a bow would be needed to kill this lion

Question

In this land, similar to late medieval Europe/North Africa, there are a species of very large lions, a little larger than the prehistoric American Lion, with an average weight of 500 to 600 kg, that stalks the grasslands.

These lions however are unlike other lions in the fact that they’re lone hunters, crawling far from their prides, similarly to tigers, and that they’re brave, very brave: unlike all other animals, they actively hunt other apex predators. They’ve no fear of injuring themselves, and their reckless attitude is an affront to nature itself, but alas, the stronger the prey, the more they revel in the hunt. This has made them a symbol of bravery, valour, pride and, when used pejoratively, stupidity, though they are quite smart (for a lion).

The problem is that, as they love strong prey, they’re constantly killing humans, which are feared (with good reason) by other animals. They fear no sword, spear or roar, they jump on men who attempt to intimidate them and adore to fight alone against multiple enemies, a type of combat they’re extremely experienced in.

Even while walking with large groups, humans still fall victim to these lions attacks. In return then, they’ve started using longbows, with a poundage of 165 to 190 lbs, against these lions, firing multiple shots on the lion’s head rapidly, and sometimes employing spears to ward of resilient lions who more than ever before wish to slaughter their prey.

Would this technique work against this ruthless species of lion? Or would a more powerful bow be needed?

Please refrain from using other weapons unless bows, and crossbows, are simply virtually impossible to be used effectively against these beasts.

Answer 1

You don't need all that.

Buffalo and elk can be felled with 50-60 draw bows. Larger game like rhino comes in at a recommended 90ish lb draw weight and a 800ish grain arrow. And rhinos are far larger than the creature you've described.

From what I've found, the arrow seems to play a larger role than the draw weight. Basically, you need a heavy broadhead and a powerful bow that clocks somewhere between 60-90 lbs.

The draws you listed are literally warbows that could punch through plate armor. Way overkill, and too unwieldly to be useful, even if they had all sorts of compound bells and whistles.

https://www.huntinafrica.com/usefulinfo/rifle-bow/ http://huntinginafricasafaris.com/hunting-south-africa/bow-hunting-in-south-africa/draw-weight-bow-hunting-african-game/

Answer 2

I'm not sure about bow strength, but I don't think you should be shooting at the lions head with a bow. Your going to have a very hard time moving through the Lions Skull and since they are bigger and seem to be powerful and well fed enough to hunt for a sport, they are likely going to have a much tougher skull than a normal animal.

I think you should be going for the Lungs, Arteries or the Heart. Even if you have multiple arrows in you, you might not be dead, however once you start loosing large amounts of blood its going to get harder and harder to move and you will die from blood loss. Unless of course your going for the classic eye into the brain shot.

I think you should be going for the lungs, arteries or the heart rather than the head. You can hit an animal with multiple arrows and it will be fine. Its actually the blood loss that kills the animal and the standard arrow head is shaped so that it opens up a large wound that allows blood to flow out. A broad arrow head in any of the above locations is going to cause lots of bleeding and oxygen loss for the animal so it should slow down and eventually bleed out.

If you have ever had medical training (Not sure of the exact training) you will know that if something like a rod is stabbed into you, you shouldn't pull it out, because if you cut a vein or artery while pulling it out your going to bleed out. In addition usually, said rod is also blocking the hole, preventing blood from flowing out.

So your not trying to crush the lions brain, your trying to kill it from blood loss, so you won't need anything like that... unless your going for the classic arrow through the eye and into the brain move...