any archers?

[troy_mclure]

Ive hunted with crossbows and compound bows Years ago. I recently decided i wanted a recurve bow to play with. After much shopping around a buddy is giving me a bear yellow fox 35#. Im looking forward to setting it up and learning to shoot it.

[Outer Rondacker]

I did recurve for many years then moved to compound bow and enjoyed that a lot. Was just getting ready to make the move back to recurve when the big guy in the sky put a hurt down on me. Well now my health wont let me draw a bow and hold it. A crossbow has been on the list for the last few years but being on a very low income now its looking like using a bow of any kind for hunting is over. Enjoy it while ya can. You never know.

There is just a different sense one gets when using an arrow or any sorts over a bullet. Dont get me wrong there is also a nice sense to using a bullet to harvest game with a bullet one has made themselves.

[twc1964]

I started yrs ago with a compound bow. After a few yrs i bought a used bear recurve and really liked it. After many yrs of married and way to many casseroles, ive gained mucho tonnage and its really hard to climb into a tree stand. In tx, land to hunt on is scarce unless you own it. Leases here are high as heck and public land is a joke imo. Maybe one day i can find something affordable and try the old stick and string again.

[Cornbread]

I've been shooting a longbow for 32 years now. Glass backed and self bows, I have both and I hunt with both. I make my own arrows as well.

My arrows look like this:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/AndyTheCornbread/Arrows001.jpg

And the bow I hunt with most looks like this:http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/AndyTheCornbread/Bow001.jpg

[troy_mclure]

Twc1964, Louisiana is the same way. Im moving back north soon hopefully.

[bruce drake]

Up until this fall's neck surgery I shot a Fred Bear Kodiak recurve with a 60# draw. I started shooting in elementary school and I loved the thrill of quickly taking the nock back to my cheek and letting go a laser shot (archery speaking that is) towards a deer. Now the doctors say no more recurves due to the strain on my spine. I'm going to have to start learning to shoot a crossbow once I get off this 10lb lifting restriction.

Shooting a recurve is a matter of learning through repetition exactly how your arrow will fly when you take it back to full draw and letting go. Thankfully, your mental calculator in your skull can do the math after a while. :)

I have been seeing some shooters at my local club with new recurves starting to mount pin sights on their bows as they are transitioning over from compound bows where they learned on them.

So basically, now a days, you can shoot a recurve with all the modern pins and whistles or keep it simple like the Good Lord intended them to be.

[dragon813gt]

I've been using a crossbow for five years. I didn't shoot a bow growing up and don't have the time to become proficient w/ it. Which is a shame because I hate the crossbow. Don't get me wrong, it's perfect for a short walk to a tree stand. It's a heavy unwieldy beast that is not comfortable to carry for long distances. Let alone sling over your shoulder while you're dragging a deer out. It has given me a lot more time in the woods which is a good thing :)

[Hogtamer]

My 44th year huntin 'em the hard way, as Howard Hill called it. Hey cornbread, nice arrows but we don't allow "left wingers" in the woods in Georgia! 119357. The first, Oct '70119362. The latest, Nov. '13. 119363. And a coupla hunnerd us these uglies. 119365

[MaryB]

Used to use a 65 pound compound bow, 2 shoulder surgeries put an end to that. I am looking at lower cost crossbows that I can add some form of crank cocking device too.

[lefty o]

if you can learn to shoot a recurve well, todays modern compounds are almost self shooting. until recently (injuries) ive shot since i was a kid. as for having pins on a stick bow, it aint nothing new. my old bear grizzly already had them on it when i got the bow used in 1982. once you get those muscles built up that you never knew you had in your back, shooting bows is very relaxing.

[RugerFan]

Its been years since I've harvested a deer with a recurve. I can tell you there's a very high satisfaction factor when you do it. I've always wanted a Black Widow recurve, but I'm getting a little long in the tooth for a stick bow these days.

[Lonegun1894]

I have been hunting with a compound for about 12 yrs now, and fishing with a recurve for 7-8 yrs. I got a long bow last year, but work has gotten in the way so I'm not good enough to hunt with it yet, but working on it slowly.

[Adam10mm]

I have a Samick Sage 40lb recurve and like it quite a bit. I shoot barebow, so no sights or other nonsense. Only nonsense I have on my bow are string silencers and the shelfpads for shooting off the shelf. I like simplicity.

119377

[dagger dog]

I have 2 traditional bows a Bear Montana straight 45#, and a Pearson re-curve 50# both at 28".

Tried a compound and didn't like it.

I shoot 385 grain arrow, with a fixed 3 blade cut on contact Wensel Woodsman, wood shaft. I also shoot a carbon arrows with small game heads, Judo's, and target points.

Since my teens I always shot lefty even though I was right handed, when I bought my long bow I re-trained to shoot right handed.

Shooting a longbow seems natural, but the re-curve IMO needs training, the straight wrist is foreign to me and takes practice .

I can see why the longbow served the English !

If you have followed the history, the draw weight of the English longbow found in the Mary Rose was over 100#.

The bones of the archers found within the sunken ship were defined from the others by the long bones of the left arm, those bones were 1/3 extra size of the same bones found within the ship. That fact came from the hours of practice that placed the stress on that arm holding the pressure of the draw weight, years at the butts holding that type of pressure caused extra bone growth from repetitive stress.

If starting a new traditional bow I would recommend the re-curve, it's a lot easier going from the re-curve to longbow than the opposite, and don't fall for the heavier draw weight, 40-50 # draw will shoot a fixed cut on contact broad head shaft through a whitetail deer at reasonable 20-30 yd shots.

It's all in the stalking, taking your first kill with traditional equipment requires getting close, don't shoot at the deer, pick out and focus on that small patch of turned over hair, or bald spot that's within the kill zone, put the arrow there. If the arrow hits where you aimed all you will have to do is retrieve your arrow and follow the blood trail.

[Dhammer]

I live for Archery hunting. I used a compound for a lot of years. After I got hurt, I switched to an xbow.

I need to call AZ game and fish tomorrow and see if the letter from doc, will suffice for xbow permit here. We recently moved to the southwest. I didn't draw tags this year here sadly. It doesn't look like I can make it back to Midwest before the gun season either. So no Archery until Dec when I get resident status. Its driving me nuts!!!! Of course that's when they scheduled my next surgery in regards to my spine injury and its 4-6 weeks of down time. :(

I never missed an opening day of Archery or pheasant hunting for that matter other then mil service. Then the year I got hurt. State wouldn't issue xbow permit, since injury wasn't classified as permanent at that point. I never got that concept of denying a person their only option to hunt because hey, after season is over you might be able to use a compound again. I missed a few years of bird hunting sadly after I got hurt. It didn't help my dogs either going from 5 days a week of hunting entire pheasant season since they were pups to none at all. Couch potaoes now. I cannot figure out where to bird hunt here either so missing that too. :( this year.

My 7yr old recently got his first compound. He loves it. His younger sister has already made it clear for Xmas she wants a bow too and will forgo other presents to get it. My guess is she will smoke her brother pretty quickly. She's the more determined one and very competive with him.

I love the fact my kids want to do it and we can practice right in yard at new house..

[dragon813gt]

I don't understand the crossbow regulations in a lot of states. PA opened them to everyone years ago. I can tell you that cocking one w/ a rope cocker isn't the easiest thing in the world. They have a lot of drawbacks compared to traditional bows. Just more useless legislation in my eyes.

[dakotashooter2]

I'd love to go back to a recurve but I just don't have the shoulder strength any more. I do shoot a "stripped" compound bow. 53#s, No sights, no stabilizers, no fancy arrow rests and no release. Those things just get i the way. I don't have the pinpoint accuracy some guys have with all the bells and whistles but I can take any arrow out of my quiver, no mater what size, length or tip and put it into a baseball size target out to 40 yards.

I remember shooting a 3D tourney many years back. The club set one deer target so its back was visible behind a fallen log .Most of the shooters hit the target high in the back. Because I was shooting a lower draw weight and had more trajectory I was able (and knew I could)to drop an arrow into the vitals. Some of the newer bows shoot so flat there is no possible way they could make that kind of shot. I have used that aspect to my advantage in the field over the years.

[shooter2]

A few lifetimes ago I shot target archery. Both longbows and recurves and, honestly, liked them both.

I've never shot, or even seen, a "Stickbow, but what I've read puts them near the top of the list.

[dualsport]

I hunted many seasons with a Bear Whitetail II. The cool thing about it (still got) is it has a decent shelf. Remove elevated rest, remove sights. Bingo.-compound bow benefits shooting off the shelf instinctively. Oh, remove quiver too.

[dagger dog]

It's amazing, that the human brain can place the arrow where the practiced archers eyes sees !

True instinctive shooting requires hours with your bow and tackle, no sights, no mechanical releases, rests or shelves, just practice.

[fouronesix]

I did a lot of it in a previous life. Had several Grove's recurves- no sights, only instinctive shooting. Currently have one of the Grove's and one longbow.

Now much more interested in the art, craft and history, including military history of the bow.

For anyone interested, here's a link to the UK History Channel's series on the medieval longbow. Also added a link from the UK History Channel on the legend of Robin Hood- using a bunch of the clips from the Russell Crowe movie (good movie IMO). Both documentaries dovetail nicely. These type youtube links get taken away frequently, so watch them soon or you'll have to do another search for a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tuJvei2Uw8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsaUJpPoFm0

[troy_mclure]

My first compound was a bear whitetail 2. 15yrs old when I got it and 3 previous owners. Still shot great.

[Multigunner]

I have a solid fiberglass Black Fox bow and a laminated recurve bow marked 35# but apparently having a much stronger pull than that.
I have one of those cheap pistol crossbows which are fun to play with but not very effective.
Its been years since I used the bows but I occasionally take them down from the wall and clean them up and string them to test the pull.

I have a few arrows but need to get a lot more if I start shooting these again.

I also have a compound bow that I picked up cheap at a junk shop but haven't found it very interesting despite its high velocity. Not much to shoot at around here that the arrows won't zip all the way through and tear off the fletching.
Last time I fired the compound bow the store bought foam filled target stopped the arrow but the aluminum shaft was bent six ways from sunday.

[375supermag]

Hi...


Like a few others here, I used to hunt with a compound(Hoyt Raider) but a couple of cancer (saliva gland cancer on my tongue spread to the lymph glands on both sides of my neck/throat) surgeries and more than a few radiation treatments have really limited my strength and mobility in my neck and shoulders.

I hope to acquire a crossbow eventually, so I can attempt to bow hunt again when I retire in a couple of years.

We will see...I'll need to try one first and see if it is even possible for me to shoot it.

[bassnbuck]

Dagger Dog, we have something in common. No one gave me any pointers when I was a 5-6 year old kid. I shot and hunted with right hand bows shooting left handed til I was 28. At 28 I bought my first compound and made up my mind to only shoot right handed. It took months shooting every day to get use to it. I still bowhunt and shoot right handed [61 now.] Also grew up in Indiana.

[Multigunner]

For those who prefer bows to crossbows but have difficulty drawing a bow due to injuries theres a modern solution. Its a vertical cross bow that you grip and aim like a bow but it has an extension that comes back to the drawing hand with a triggering mechanism.

The feel is much like firing a bow, but without much if any stress on the shoulders and hands.

[fouronesix]

It's amazing, that the human brain can place the arrow where the practiced archers eyes sees !

True instinctive shooting requires hours with your bow and tackle, no sights, no mechanical releases, rests or shelves, just practice.

Yes, absolutely. Hard to describe how that works. For most it takes endless hours of shooting and some never get there no matter the effort. I spent that time and more but never felt 100%. From what I understand, Howard Hill was one of those few who had the "stuff". Of the hundreds of "archers" I've met or watched shoot, I've known one person who had the gift. Once you see a truly gifted and skilled instinctive archer shoot, you understand. But as said in my previous post, all in a past life. oh well

[winelover]

I have loved archery since I was a young lad. Prefer hunting with a bow over a gun. Season is longer and fall foliage is another perk. At 63 years old, can just barely draw my compound bow, especially when the weather turns cold. Don't know how many more years I will be able to do it. Here is yesterday's harvest. Minimum legal Arkansas buck. Three points on one side, one on other.

119458

Winelover

[shooter2]

this battle: http://www.longbow-archers.com/historycrecy.html
Was perhaps the most decisive in history showing the superiority of the longbow. Some great books have been written about the era and are well worth taking the time.

I have a love affair with the longbow, even though I no longer shoot one.

[gwpercle]

No wheel weights, no powder but I still got my Bear Polar LTD compound bow and dozens of wood and fiberglass arrows I made. I used to be a decent shot with it....lets go to the archery range!

Now I'm glad I kept it.

[waksupi]

A guy I got started in traditional archery a few years ago, sent out this picture today. His first buck with a longbow. He is deliriously happy!

119482

[fouronesix]

I have a small collection of points dating from late bronze age to modern (about 100 BC to recent), so thought I'd post a group here. I'm sure many will recognize a few of these. There are: Scythian, Roman, English, Viking, Mogul, American Indian, and post-WWII US. None are reproductions.

[troy_mclure]

Dropped my bow off to get a string made for it. Ill get my draw length and some arrows when I go back wed.

[fouronesix]

I always shot instinctive "bare" bow. Used mostly cedar shafts and fletched and nocked my own arrows with a simple single fletching jig. Tried a few broad head types including: super Hilbre, bilobe Delta, a couple of the trilobes like the Hi-Precision and MA-3, Pearson Deadhead and Bear Razorhead. The simple Delta and Bear Razorhead proved to be the best at that time, IMO. The secret with the Bear RH is to put a small rounded chisel point on them.

I guess in order to gain credibility on a forum, obligatory dead stuff has to be posted. I shot this pronghorn in 1977, the Bear Razorhead used is in the plaque.

[butch2570]

Have a bear # 50 grizzly and #65 super kodiak , there is nothing on earth as satisfying as traditional archery, if you have the time to dedicate to learn it. But I am finding my self short on time anymore, so I have taken the easy route the last couple years. I can tell you the way I learned instinctive was to take a large roll of hay and place a 99 cent flashlight , the little cheap ones from the dollar store, and place them into the roll of hay for my target and shoot at it in the dark. TOTAL DARKNESS , You will be surprised how fast you can pick this up shooting this way and a large roll of hay gives you a big backstop to catch any stray arrows , start close ten yards or under and build your skills and move out...It works... And use a longer bow to start with it's more forgiving and doesn't stack like shorter bows, get shorter after you gain experience if you want.. and the old bear razorheads are getting harder to find now , but they put whitetails down!! Oh yeah look up a guy named Jeff Kavanagh on you tube, he is an amazing archery shot with a bare bow , some of his shots are unbelievable..

[fouronesix]

And use a longer bow to start with it's more forgiving and doesn't stack like shorter bows, get shorter after you gain experience if you want.. and the old bear razorheads are getting harder to find now , but they put whitetails down!! Oh yeah look up a guy named Jeff Kavanagh on you tube, he is an amazing archery shot with a bare bow , some of his shots are unbelievable..

The point about stacking vs bow length is spot on!

[bruce drake]

I have four 145gr Bear Razorhead glue-ons left from a box of 24 (8 3-packs) that my Father gave me 20+ years ago from an archery store closeout sale. I hope those last four last me another 10 years. And yes, they cut a beautiful blood trail. Although lately most of my shooting for game has been with Zwickey Eskimo 4-blade 125 gr glue-on broadheads, I always carry 2 of the Bears in my Quiver (Yellow Nocks to differentiate from the lighter Zwickeys who have red nocks) for closer (<35yards) shots. The Zwickeys give me another 10 yards of confidence in my shots with the same four fixed blades to cut deep and bleed out the deer quickly. And yes, the oldest boy was tearing up the practice butt in the backyard with my bow and my Zwickeys today getting ready for a hunt on Monday with his uncle. He doesn't get my Bears until he bloods a Zwickey...

[bruce drake]

And before anyone says something...equal weight bullet points DO NOT fly the same as a Broadhead so I'd rather take the cost of 8 hay bales over the cost of having to deal with the boy trailing a wounded deer because the arrow didn't shoot true to where he expected the arrow to fly.

[butch2570]

If you can buy yourself a roll of hay you can shoot it thousands of times , even with practice broadheads , they are much less troublesome than shooting bales.. about $40 for a roll here while a bale is about $4 . lots more shooting to be done in a roll and a roll will stop the arrow where a bale just won't do it for a compound bow, my 2 cents. And I also am shooting the zwickey 4 blade now, because I only have about 8 of the Bear Razors left and I want to keep them for keep sakes , as they belonged to my dad. I can't find the picture of the 6 point I took with the Pearson Spoiler, but Iv'e killed several Doe with the Bear Grizzly, and they were all trophies with a bare bow ...

[Cornbread]

If you are looking for a cheap way to stop broad heads here is how I do it for my longbows when I want to broad head practice. Take a burlap bag and stuff as tight as you can pack it with all your leftover plastic shipping bags wadded up. If you pack it tight enough it will stop a crossbow bolt at 30 feet inside a garage. The old geezer who showed my the shopping bag trick did the crossbow thing inside his garage to show me how well it would stop an arrow. When you wear a burlap sack out just transfer the bags to another one. You can keep reusing them for years. The more tightly the bags are compressed the better it works. Shrink wrapping that goes around pallets also works for this.

[dragon813gt]

I have to ask how fast was crossbow he was shooting? Because not much stops mine, 350fps. I have a bag rated to 400 fps and it's perfect for field points. Used practice broadheads and it blew through the bag, hit the concrete block of the garage wall and took huge chunks out of it. This was at 15 yards. The bag is full of/ scraps of denim that are densely packed. Anything hay related, forget it. You are never getting the bolts out as they tend to bury themselves. Finding proper practice targets for crossbows is another issue they have.

[Hogtamer]

Tune arrows perfectly to shoot field points and they do fly the same as broadheads....the difference is that a solid broadhead blade (2 blade) creates a "wing" on the front that flies erratically. Vented blades like the Bear razorhead or 3 blade Wensel woodsman or snuffers eliminates the wing effect but can "whistle" out of faster bows. Fletching takes care of the sailing that wide solid blades are subject to. Tuning is the appropriate combination of nock height, arrow spine and length of arrow. 10 - 12% forward of center weight of the arrow. The perfect combo results in perfect arrow flight without fletching with a field point, and minimal fletching (4") creates enough drag on the rear of the arrow to stabilize any broadhead. Sorta like the perfect bullet for a particular gun. There are a couple of tried and true formulas that work for traditional setups. Those purty longbows pictured can be a little finicky as they're not center shot. Inheritantly quiet though. In this sport, quiet and shaving sharp broadheads are much more important than bow weight. A well placed sharp arrow screaming along @ 150 fps, properly placed from a 45 lb bow will take most any north american animal. Excuse the long post, just Lord knows I love it. And dare I say it? My bow and arrow is hunting; my gun is grocery shopping!

[Cornbread]

I have to ask how fast was crossbow he was shooting? Because not much stops mine, 350fps. I have a bag rated to 400 fps and it's perfect for field points. Used practice broadheads and it blew through the bag, hit the concrete block of the garage wall and took huge chunks out of it. This was at 15 yards. The bag is full of/ scraps of denim that are densely packed. Anything hay related, forget it. You are never getting the bolts out as they tend to bury themselves. Finding proper practice targets for crossbows is another issue they have.

I'm not sure how fast his traveled but the plastic works completely different than any cloth. The friction of the arrow creates heat that binds the plastic to the arrow for just a micro second grabbing the arrow and halting it's forward progress and then cools and allows for an easy release. For crossbows you have to highly compress the bag like with a ratchet strap around the outside of the bag. Regular bows pull out real easy. Crossbow bolts not so much depending on the plastic material inside but you can just release the strap and presto you can pull them out fairly easily. As far as my friend's crossbow is concerned I would say around 350fps is probably accurate for speed. It was at the time one of the best crossbows money could buy. I forget how he cocked it, maybe it was some kind of winding mechanism? Anyway he lost the use of his right shoulder in any meaningful way along with his ability to turn his head in a fall from a tree stand and the resulting surgeries so he wanted a crossbow to bear and deer hunt with as he could no longer draw a bow. I went over to help him construct the target and it worked great. I imagine the material your bolt is made from has a lot to do with it as well friction wise. His were some type of metal tubing, probably aluminum shafting of some sort. I would bet carbon is harder to stop and carbon with some sort of lubricant on it like graphite or wax I imagine would be even harder to stop as back stops all rely on friction so less friction == harder to stop. Pallet shrink wrap works better than any other plastic material but from a regular bow I've never seen a shopping bag one fail to stop a broad head. Your mileage with crossbow broad heads may vary but if you can get shrink wrap it is worth a try to see if it will reliably stop yours. It certainly stopped my friend's.

[Cornbread]

Tune arrows perfectly to shoot field points and they do fly the same as broadheads....the difference is that a solid broadhead blade (2 blade) creates a "wing" on the front that flies erratically. Vented blades like the Bear razorhead or 3 blade Wensel woodsman or snuffers eliminates the wing effect but can "whistle" out of faster bows. Fletching takes care of the sailing that wide solid blades are subject to. Tuning is the appropriate combination of nock height, arrow spine and length of arrow. 10 - 12% forward of center weight of the arrow. The perfect combo results in perfect arrow flight without fletching with a field point, and minimal fletching (4") creates enough drag on the rear of the arrow to stabilize any broadhead. Sorta like the perfect bullet for a particular gun. There are a couple of tried and true formulas that work for traditional setups. Those purty longbows pictured can be a little finicky as they're not center shot. Inheritantly quiet though. In this sport, quiet and shaving sharp broadheads are much more important than bow weight. A well placed sharp arrow screaming along @ 150 fps, properly placed from a 45 lb bow will take most any north american animal. Excuse the long post, just Lord knows I love it. And dare I say it? My bow and arrow is hunting; my gun is grocery shopping!

That's a good point. I tune my arrows from my longbows so I can shoot them unfletched through paper with field points and have them leave nice round holes. After that even with my two blades I get no planing issues, but properly tuning a long bow and the shafts for it isn't a quick process in a lot of cases. Kind of like getting the right lead alloy, mold style, sizing die, powder and primer combo for a given rifle. Once you find it for your bow you stick with it and every bow like every rifle is different.

[butch2570]

I have to ask how fast was crossbow he was shooting? Because not much stops mine, 350fps. I have a bag rated to 400 fps and it's perfect for field points. Used practice broadheads and it blew through the bag, hit the concrete block of the garage wall and took huge chunks out of it. This was at 15 yards. The bag is full of/ scraps of denim that are densely packed. Anything hay related, forget it. You are never getting the bolts out as they tend to bury themselves. Finding proper practice targets for crossbows is another issue they have. I was only speaking of recurve /longbow and my Hoyt - V tech #70 compound , a tight 5x5 hay roll stops anything I shoot including broadheads. Years ago when hay rolls hadn't appeared on the scene yet some of my friends had alot faster compounds than my PSE Edge, we would stack hay bales with a target on them and about ten feet behind the first stack stack a second row of the same and when my friends bow shot through the first row of bales hitting the second it was slowed down enough that the second row stopped the arrow, do you think that same principal would work for your short bolts Dragon?

[dragon813gt]

Mine are on the long side for bolts at 22". The second set won't matter. The problem is the bury themself up to the fletching in the first bale. Even if they don't bury themselves and there is enough to get a hand on they are a bear to pull put. One of the ranges I belong to has an elevated tower and targets set up out to 50 yards. Learned my lesson the first time out when I destroyed every bolt trying to remove them. W/ what they cost I was not very happy. Now I drag my bag out if I want to shoot there. Just figured I'd bring the backstop issue up since some members have been talking about switching to a crossbow.

[butch2570]

You need a looser wrapped first bale, cut the strings and fluff the flakes in the bale a little and retie the bale, so it isn't as tight on the first set so the bolt will have a complete pass through and be slowed enough that the second set stops the bolt , before going to the huckleberries, vanes will stand up to repeated pass throughs on hay but feathers will not. you can make this setup work with a little experimenting, as far as broadheads go, a broadhead with a angle close to 90 degrees on the back edge of the blades pulls a good bit of hay out also, where as a head with sloping back edges pulls alot less out, and a quick in and out jerking motion works alot better than a straight pull for removing broadheads also. A little experimenting and you can make it work. Of course hay was free for me so that what I used then and still use now , works fine for me..

[bruce drake]

You know, I pulled one of my target arrows out and compared it to my Zwickey mounted arrows and the center of balance is a bit different do to the length of the shafts and the arrowhead. I may have to do a bit of shaving on the cedar shafts before mounting the broadheads to tune them to match my shorter bullet points. Or as I should say, my son has some tuning. I guess nothing better than to do it right from the beginning versus wasting 30+ years being prepared to shoot 4" off from the bullet point with the broadheads. Then again its what I've always been used to.

Bruce

[Taylor]

--about 15 yards.Martin Mamba,50@28119723119724

[bruce drake]

--about 15 yards.Martin Mamba,50@28119723119724
Great shooting! I believe the phrase "Airborne!!!" is required upon seeing your icon!

[butch2570]

I have looked high and low for my pictures of recurve bow kills and cannot find them, anyway here is last years bow kills120732,120731

[quilbilly]

Until business took me away from bowhunting, I bow hunted as well as competed for 20 years with either longbow or recurve. Give yourself plenty of time to develop the muscles on your back to draw and hold the recurve. That should be about six weeks so patience is in order. I wouldn't even put an arrow in the bow for the first three weeks, just go to full draw and slowly let off a dozen times each day. After three weeks do the same thing with an arrow a dozen times for about five days without shooting it. Then you are ready to start shooting at a target first at ten yards then working your way back to eventually about 35 yards which is about maximum for a 35# bow for hunting purposes. Plan on eventually moving up to a 50# recurve for hunting but not until you can keep your target arrows on and 8" paper plate at 35 yards with the 35# bow.

[Friends call me Pac]

I hunt with a longbow. Every year I help put on a trad hunt here in Arkansas. This link will take you to the last one that I made a slide show for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hCIDxFwGB8