- Joined
- Oct 26, 2020
- Messages
- 503
I see some common questions everywhere I look about traditional bows and what is Ethnical when it comes to low lb bows, what distance and so on and wanted to share my story on the road to shooting my current longbow.
I shot a hand me down recurve as a new hunter at 12 years old. I shot this bow religiously from the time I was 10. It was around a 40 lb Bear. When I first received the bow I couldn’t even pull it back to full draw but that didn’t stop me from flinging my dads old bent aluminum arrows arrows at pop cans in the yard every chance I got. By the time I was 12 I was able to draw it back to full draw, accumulated some more arrows of all lengths and sizes and was slaying pop cans as far as I could throw them after each shot. I can remember knowing which arrows hit right and which hit left, which would drop like a rock and which would fly straighter for those long shots (likely 15 yards was a long shot to me) Now that I was allowed to hunt I was given two wooden arrows from a neighbor which had some broadheads on them and those were my hunting arrows the first year. My first deer stood at 18 yards, I picked the arrow I knew flew the straightest for my first shot and let it rip… sunk it in about 5 inches and caught a lung. Now looking back… I never sharpened those old broadheads and 15 yards was a long shot. I tracked it for what I will guess was close to a mile, bumping it because I didn’t have patience or knowledge to let it lay down and die. In the process I flung every arrow I had on me at this deer at ranges I won’t mention. I did end up getting her but it wasn’t an easy first experience. I learned a lot about bows after that and shot some more deer with that bow. Even became a bow tech at a local shop when I was 15. While there working I and saved up enough money for a used High Country Extreme compound I could crank up to 55lbs. I used this bow until I was 30 and it killed a lot of deer, furthest was at 32 yards with a pass thru shot on the biggest buck to date. It was slow but accurate. When I was 30, my best friend and hunting buddy passed away and his dad gifted me his brand new Bowtech which was at 70 lbs. It was a big difference, took me a bit to be ready to hunt with it and draw that weight. I was accurately shooting and practicing out to 80 yards but still limited myself to 35 yards on whitetail. I hunted one year with it and tore my tricep splitting firewood. I had to take the bow down to around 35-40 lbs as low as I could get it to draw it back. I took deer that year around 20 yards. Over the next few years I was able to increase the weight about 10lbs each year to get up to 65 lbs. I still have my limit at 35 yards although I was practicing out to 80 yards with good accuracy. Two years ago I had a monster buck bed down at 65 yards. I didn’t take the shot and hoped it would get up and walk my direction for a closer shot but for three hours while he slept I drew on it multiple times and never let the arrow fly, the buck woke up and walked the other direction and I never saw it again. Would I have hit my mark? Sure would have, but enough self control told me each time I drew that I told myself 35 yards was my limit I gave myself and let the bow down and waited. Two years ago I got a recurve and started practicing with 38lb limbs. Couldn’t hit my target at 15 yards. I switched to 48 lbs limbs and low and behold…. At 20 yards I was loosing knocks while I practiced. Heavier weight helped me with a cleaner release. I worked on my form and got really good. I thought 20 yards was my limit so I just practiced out to 20 yards and when the season rolled around a doe walked in at 20 yards and I drew and shot right over her back when she ducked the arrow. Lesson learned after shooting a very fast compound, a slower arrow at 20 yards leaves a lot of time for a deer to react. Now 48 lbs is a decent weight for a hunting recurve but I wanted to get a longbow And picked one up recently with two sets of limbs, 45 lbs and 60 lbs figuring the 45lb limbs is what I would use and slowly work my way up to 60lbs for another season. I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with the 45 lb limbs and got discouraged and got out the 65 lb limbs and struggled to get an anchor but my groups tightened up so I told myself I would shoot every day before this season. It has been 2 weeks shooting 60lb limbs every day, sometimes both morning and evenings and yesterday I shot 30+ shots with a steady anchor and groups at 30 yards around 4”. I was very surprised how easy it was to get conditioned to such a heavy set of limbs just by shooting them daily and putting in the time to practice. I haven’t picked my max range yet.
I tell myself all the time, I wish I never switched from the recurve to a compound when I was a kid. I imagine how good I would be with a traditional bow if that’s all I ever shot. I also realize that in order to be good, practicing daily is the ticket.
so the age old question of what is ethnical when shooting traditional? Depends on you, your ability, practice and the moment. No shot on a animal is going to as controlled as your foam target in the yard. Know your limits and be conservative.
Conclusion: shoot your bow often, just like a machanic with a wrench, a surgeon with a scalpel or a hipster hunter with a 6.5 creedmoor - you are only as good with your tools as the time you spend with them.
I shot a hand me down recurve as a new hunter at 12 years old. I shot this bow religiously from the time I was 10. It was around a 40 lb Bear. When I first received the bow I couldn’t even pull it back to full draw but that didn’t stop me from flinging my dads old bent aluminum arrows arrows at pop cans in the yard every chance I got. By the time I was 12 I was able to draw it back to full draw, accumulated some more arrows of all lengths and sizes and was slaying pop cans as far as I could throw them after each shot. I can remember knowing which arrows hit right and which hit left, which would drop like a rock and which would fly straighter for those long shots (likely 15 yards was a long shot to me) Now that I was allowed to hunt I was given two wooden arrows from a neighbor which had some broadheads on them and those were my hunting arrows the first year. My first deer stood at 18 yards, I picked the arrow I knew flew the straightest for my first shot and let it rip… sunk it in about 5 inches and caught a lung. Now looking back… I never sharpened those old broadheads and 15 yards was a long shot. I tracked it for what I will guess was close to a mile, bumping it because I didn’t have patience or knowledge to let it lay down and die. In the process I flung every arrow I had on me at this deer at ranges I won’t mention. I did end up getting her but it wasn’t an easy first experience. I learned a lot about bows after that and shot some more deer with that bow. Even became a bow tech at a local shop when I was 15. While there working I and saved up enough money for a used High Country Extreme compound I could crank up to 55lbs. I used this bow until I was 30 and it killed a lot of deer, furthest was at 32 yards with a pass thru shot on the biggest buck to date. It was slow but accurate. When I was 30, my best friend and hunting buddy passed away and his dad gifted me his brand new Bowtech which was at 70 lbs. It was a big difference, took me a bit to be ready to hunt with it and draw that weight. I was accurately shooting and practicing out to 80 yards but still limited myself to 35 yards on whitetail. I hunted one year with it and tore my tricep splitting firewood. I had to take the bow down to around 35-40 lbs as low as I could get it to draw it back. I took deer that year around 20 yards. Over the next few years I was able to increase the weight about 10lbs each year to get up to 65 lbs. I still have my limit at 35 yards although I was practicing out to 80 yards with good accuracy. Two years ago I had a monster buck bed down at 65 yards. I didn’t take the shot and hoped it would get up and walk my direction for a closer shot but for three hours while he slept I drew on it multiple times and never let the arrow fly, the buck woke up and walked the other direction and I never saw it again. Would I have hit my mark? Sure would have, but enough self control told me each time I drew that I told myself 35 yards was my limit I gave myself and let the bow down and waited. Two years ago I got a recurve and started practicing with 38lb limbs. Couldn’t hit my target at 15 yards. I switched to 48 lbs limbs and low and behold…. At 20 yards I was loosing knocks while I practiced. Heavier weight helped me with a cleaner release. I worked on my form and got really good. I thought 20 yards was my limit so I just practiced out to 20 yards and when the season rolled around a doe walked in at 20 yards and I drew and shot right over her back when she ducked the arrow. Lesson learned after shooting a very fast compound, a slower arrow at 20 yards leaves a lot of time for a deer to react. Now 48 lbs is a decent weight for a hunting recurve but I wanted to get a longbow And picked one up recently with two sets of limbs, 45 lbs and 60 lbs figuring the 45lb limbs is what I would use and slowly work my way up to 60lbs for another season. I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with the 45 lb limbs and got discouraged and got out the 65 lb limbs and struggled to get an anchor but my groups tightened up so I told myself I would shoot every day before this season. It has been 2 weeks shooting 60lb limbs every day, sometimes both morning and evenings and yesterday I shot 30+ shots with a steady anchor and groups at 30 yards around 4”. I was very surprised how easy it was to get conditioned to such a heavy set of limbs just by shooting them daily and putting in the time to practice. I haven’t picked my max range yet.
I tell myself all the time, I wish I never switched from the recurve to a compound when I was a kid. I imagine how good I would be with a traditional bow if that’s all I ever shot. I also realize that in order to be good, practicing daily is the ticket.
so the age old question of what is ethnical when shooting traditional? Depends on you, your ability, practice and the moment. No shot on a animal is going to as controlled as your foam target in the yard. Know your limits and be conservative.
Conclusion: shoot your bow often, just like a machanic with a wrench, a surgeon with a scalpel or a hipster hunter with a 6.5 creedmoor - you are only as good with your tools as the time you spend with them.
Last edited: