How far down can you turn a 60# bow?
Equipment
I recently had shoulder surgery, and my doc says that I may have trouble pulling my traditional bow by this fall. So short of not bowhunting this fall, I may have to come up with some back up plans.
Plan "B" is that I have an old Ben Pearson Bulldog 60#@28", and I was thinking about turning it down to about 40#. Is that possible?
You don't even want to hear about Plan "C".
Thanks,
TBB
Personally I would consider buying a diamond infinite edge or similar with a ready to hunt package. You can find new one’s at $400.00 and probably pick up one on Ebay for much less. This bow will adjust to any draw over 15 inches out to 30 inches and from as little as 5 pounds out to 70. You could use it not only to hunt but to build your strength back up in your shoulder until you reach your draw weight goal. In addition it then becomes a great back up bow.
It's been my experience that you can take about 3 turns off most any compound and still be safe. Each turn equates to 3 lbs more or less. So, I would think you can take a 60 lb max bow down to about 50 lbs with little or no danger to the shooter or the bow...
On other hand, there are some new compound bows out there that are adjustable from extremely low draw weights and short draw lengths to pretty high draw weights and long draw lengths. They were originally designed to grow with a young shooter, but I have heard that a lot of us old guys are buying them for their adjustability...The Mathews Mission is one and I think PSE has a model too...Probably others...
Those older bows can sometimes be backed out aways, but you will find the performance will suffer a bunch and they will get noisy with a lot of vibration. I would be careful taking it down more than 15# from peak.
I think the best suggestion has already been given. Find one of the newer bows designed for wide adjustment. It will likely be much easier on your shoulder, will help you build back up and will perform well.
Best wishes on your recovery. Shoulder problems stink.
Thanks guys. I checked Ebay, and they are from $250-$350.
I'm still hoping to be able to shoot one of my lighter weight bows, but it sounds like a good "Plan B".
TBB
As Ironbow stated the older bows will get pretty hairy when you back them off considerably. It is due to the less than stellar limb to limb pocket connection. In most current setups the pocket travels with the limb on adjustments and keeps the limb secure on older setups the limb would actually rise out of the pocket which allows the limb to have slop.
You could easily find a good bow for $150-$250 depending on what you are looking for. It may however be a little more difficult finding a 50 lb limb bow unless you look into one of the youth type super adjustable models.
Plan "C" as in "C"rossbow?
Take a ride to Brian's Archery Shop in Barrington, NH. Brian can fix you up with a very efficient, light weight compound bow! 45 to 50 pounds will pull very easily and it's all you will need! Good Luck, C
Mtooney,
Yeah, that's plan C, but let's not talk about that. The Dr. Already offered me a permit for one, you need that in NH, and I just said "NO".
TBB
Dwight Schuh wrote about using a light compound with a mouth release about 10 years ago. I think he took a muskox that way.
Might be an option.
Mike
Does your compound bow have draw modules, or is it draw specific? Id you have draw modules, you can set it an inch longer, then put a shorter string on it to achieve your correct length. This will pre-load the limbs and take about ten pounds off the peak weight. Then you can turn it down from 50 to 40. :)
And Ron Niziolek wrote very recently in Extreme Elk of taking a doe using a mouth tab after a shoulder injury...
The Diamond Infinite Edge sounds a great idea, as I would really like my darling wife to try her hand at archery [as long as she's not better than me of course :-D ]
I would have no problem with you electing plan C if that is what you need to do to keep hunting. My older bows say not to turn down more than five turns. The safest way is to remove the string then unload the limbs and check the thread engagement. I would set my minimum two thread diameters engagement. Getting better is your first priority.
Went to see my local Matthews dealer. He looked at my bow and said that the 45lbs. it is set at is about as low as it can go. he also showed me a couple of bows that Matthews has that go 15-70 lbs. So we'll see how the PT goes.
Thanks to everybody who came up with suggestions.
TBB
Why not buy a Sage Recurve Limbs weights go down to 35# (since you are use to traditional anyway) and cost a lot less than $250-$300. Just a thought. DANNY
I have a 2006 Hoyt Ultra tec that is a 60lb. bow. I had a wrist injury a couple years ago (bow hand), after 4 months of not shooting after surgery, I turned the bow down to 40 lbs, and killed a turkey with it that fall.
My PSE Stinger X is the 70# version, and it can be turned down to I believe 35#. Mine's at 57# atm.
I was shooting a PSE Chaos back when I had an injury. It was a 40-50#. I started at the low end and worked my way up to 50#. They adjust up to 28" draw. I have watched them on Ebay a few times to see what they were bringing. They can be had for under $200 used. It's a great shooting smooth drawing bow. I have bought 6 bows since then but I liked and shot it so well that everytime I get it out with the intent to sell it, I just put it back up.
