Archery

[Officer of Engineers]

75lb is average for a hunting compound bow. I had a 140lb before I went to a 80lb long bow and finally a 75lb recurve. All hunting bows. 40lb is the minimun hunting bow but I wouldn't want to tackle a moose or a bear with that.

[astralis]

100-125 lbs for a longbow is the old medieval warbow draw-- and THAT could pierce armor.

[antimony]

Asty and Col.

But in modern hunting or target bows you do not need that amount of poundage to get the necessary KE to down an elk or moose. My understanding is that for the same poundage and draw, recurves and compounds provide more KE to the arrow than an English Longbow(ELB).

Also, shooting that level of poundage on a regular basis means that you would need to develop some serious back muscles, right? Medieval archers with the ELB developed skeletal deformities. I have heard what the ELB could accomplish and have great respect (and longing) for it, but is it really necessary as a main bow for someone not going to war? I understand the value of collecting and occasionally using them though.

In the archery forums, I am seeing suggestions to start off in the in 30's and slowly graduate to 50's and 60's, if possible. This is for recurves, compounds would probably be higher.

[Doktor]

Mofos made a joke on me!!!

I am gonna kill them all. I bet they gave me the heaviest bow.

[Stitch]

One of the advantages of a compound bow is that at full-draw you're only pulling about half of that 75#, compared to a recurve or a long-bow, so you can hold your bow at full-draw a little longer than you can with a recurve or a long-bow; very helpful when you're waiting for your prey to walk into the "kill zone".

[Officer of Engineers]

In the archery forums, I am seeing suggestions to start off in the in 30's and slowly graduate to 50's and 60's, if possible. This is for recurves, compounds would probably be higher.

40lb is the minimum allowed by law. With the heavier bows, you're not looking at penetrating power. If your broadheads are sharp, they will cut right through. What heavier bow allows you is longer range, 60 yards instead of 40 yards.

One of the advantages of a compound bow is that at full-draw you're only pulling about half of that 75#, compared to a recurve or a long-bow, so you can hold your bow at full-draw a little longer than you can with a recurve or a long-bow; very helpful when you're waiting for your prey to walk into the "kill zone".

Long bows and recurves at such weights are all instinctive shooting. You can't use any other style.

At the end of the day, can you put the arrow onto the target. For that, practice, practice, practice. I started out with compound bows and had a target sight. The bloody thing was almost as heavy as the C1 FN-FAL and after a few years, I got tired of lugging that thing around, especially when a .308 could do a much better job weighing less.

The low bow is by far, the smoothest of all the bow technologies. The twang does not affect arrow flight wheras there is a double twang on both the compound and the recurve. You can get stablizers (the long pole that screws in front of the bow) for the compound and the recurve but you won't need one for the long bow.

The recurve is a compromize between the two and especially, this style, you can tell the difference between a cheap bow and an expensive one. A one piece, laminated layered oak riser with cherrywood limbs almost makes the double twang disappear (almost). Because of this, you can carry a much shorter bow and in the bush, that is a heaven.

I gave up bow hunting, however, when someone reminded me that it was my duty as a hunter to ensure a quick painless kill. Cutting lungs and heart while most certainly quick, is not painless.

[omon]

Besides draw weight, and bow type you want to make sure draw lenght is also correct for you.

how tall are you?

Compound Bow Sizing and Adjustment Guide for Draw Length and Weight - Archery Help Guide - Hunter's Friend

[antimony]

Besides draw weight, and bow type you want to make sure draw lenght is also correct for you.

how tall are you?

Without going into my height for confidential, classified and other unspecified reasons (:)), my draw length is 26", as measured by the Dick Sporting Goods guy, who also measured a pull of 65lb for me, which actually sounds really high for me.

I am thinking of starting with a 32#/34# pull on a 64" bow and see where it takes me

[Stitch]

Also, shooting that level of poundage on a regular basis means that you would need to develop some serious back muscles, right? Medieval archers with the ELB developed skeletal deformities. I have heard what the ELB could accomplish and have great respect (and longing) for it, but is it really necessary as a main bow for someone not going to war? I understand the value of collecting and occasionally using them though.

Yeah, I can't shoot more than 20 or 30 arrows at a time before my arm/shoulder gets tired and I can't aim properly; if I was to take archery up seriously, I would practice a lot more with my bow. Even then, when you're hunting, you shouldn't be shooting all that much, anyway; if you have to shoot more than a couple of arrows at your prey, you're not bow hunting properly. The ideal is "one shot, one kill"; you don't want to be sticking your prey full or arrows.

[FJV]

Reviving the old techniques of archery.

[gunnut]

I have tried it a couple of times and must admit it is a painful sport.

Just to make it perfectly clear, you were shooting, and not being the target, correct?

[Doktor]

Just to make it perfectly clear, you were shooting, and not being the target, correct?

You made my day.

Well they are not that lousy shooters and I am not that small or agile target, of course I was shooting.

However, I paid my ignorance with having to deal with the heaviest bow (it seems).

[antimony]

Yeah, I can't shoot more than 20 or 30 arrows at a time before my arm/shoulder gets tired and I can't aim properly; if I was to take archery up seriously, I would practice a lot more with my bow. Even then, when you're hunting, you shouldn't be shooting all that much, anyway; if you have to shoot more than a couple of arrows at your prey, you're not bow hunting properly. The ideal is "one shot, one kill"; you don't want to be sticking your prey full or arrows.

I returned a "youth compound" and got a "youth traditional type" bow. It was quite easy to hold the compound at full draw, once the cams had kicked in. Not so for the trad bow. In fact, in the compound there is almost a feeling of abstraction. ended up returning it. Maybe I will go there some day.

[Triple C]

I am going to hazard a guess based on my more than average number of foul ups with the bow in a couple of experiences. Incorrectly released bow string can hit your arm and it hurts like a mofo. Hence braces.

[omon]

too bad you did not make this thread few month ago, i had this bow in my closet for years, all it needed is to crimp the string, i would give it to you for free, but i gave it away few month ago.