Your Opinion-Back to Vertical
Equipment
Two surgeries, many injuries, almost 10-years of forced crossbow use. But...I have found a rehab guru. IN three months of working with me, I am now able to draw and hold my bow at 52# for almost 30-seconds. I can draw it three to four times in succession. She does not want me to do that. Here is my question. Obviously, I cannot shoot repeatedly. I was told specifically not to shoot more than three times in one session. For me, that precludes practice. What is y'all's opinion? Without again creating the proper muscle memory, could I shoot well enough to hunt? Yes, I can hit a target. But as we all know, when the target has hair and is moving, it is all instinct-no thinking. What say Ye?
45 lbs will get it done with a cut on contact broadhead. Take it slow and see how it develops Good luck I know rehab is a bitch going thru it now torn achelise
You are healthier than many Go for it. You have enough deer there to try it.
No one can really answer it for you but I would go for it.
Honestly I would drop to 40-45# , combined with a proper arrow it will kill anything in NA.
You've got years of practice/muscle memory to fall back on. You don't need 52#. If you keep the ranges short and are careful about the shot angles you take, you shouldn't have any issues.
Give it try and let us know how it goes .
I was once where you are, but for a much shorter time. I bought the crossbow, but never hunted with it. I had to go from a 70 lb. draw weight in a Mathews Z7 to a 60 lb. in an Elite Pure. My trouble was mostly in my neck, but some in my shoulder too. I got my neck problems straightened out, but my shoulders are still both week. My drawing shoulder was subjected to a really bad injury many years ago and the chickens have come home to roost I'm afraid. However, I'm still able to draw my two Elites set at 58 lb. and hold them with little difficulty.
As to the practice. If you can only fire three arrows at a time, do it several times a day with rest in between. That worked for me, but I admit I didn't have a ten year lay-off. You can only do what your shoulder lets you, and you'll be the best judge of that. Good luck John.
I agree with the others, if 52# is around your max, you'll shoot way better by backing down the poundage and shoot a little more frequently if you can. most importantly don't do any additional damage.
I used to shoot 80# bows (even did 102# once) and I can do it, but I suck at shooting the higher poundage. I dropped down to a little over 60# and my shooting really improved and I find it more enjoyable. With the new bows I don't think poundage is what it used to be.
Good luck; glad going back to the bow is at least a possibility for you.
Back it down to 48-50 and go for it. Get it sighted in, do minimal practice, & go kill some deer. Don't overdo the practice and take solid slam dunk shots on animals. Good for you. Have fun.
52 is as low as my bow(s) will go and I aint buying a new one. My shoulder has been a mess for many years. 1/3 of the socket is gone, I have no rotator cuff and my collar bone is floating. After two surgeries, at least it stays on when I sneeze. I may try to shoot some but my therapist has warned me, if I mess it up, I am toast. I shot twice at 25, this morning and hit within an inch of the X both times. I have arrows and heads out the whazoo so I'll just see how it goes. I have a dread of a wounding loss. I'm lucky, I don't do that often. Thanks for your comments.
Go for it. Shoot 1-2 arrows a session for practice and only take shots on game that you are 100% confident in.
Your mind is telling you "yes"- your body is telling you "no". Who you gonna listen to?
Reminds me of older age "Space Cowboy" syndrome !!
I rarely shoot my compounds. Once season starts I am lucky I shoot 5 or 6 arrows all season for practice. I still kill plenty. I would as has been said, go down a bit in poundage say to 48#s and shoot just those 3 shots a day and by the time season rolls around you will be more then ready. Scooby
No question you are good to go. I helped pack out my buddy's moose he shot with a trad bow in the low 40's. 4 blade head and hole in and out. A 50# compound is a big step up from that and up from the energy most popular trad setups.
Find an old Dynabow on E-bay. Draw can be 38-40 # with a large smooth let off and the single limb/ large cam can really crank out an arrow. Usually the smaller diameter stuff flies better (1918, etc.)
Use a smaller 2 blade fixed like a Zwickey or bear Razor and you are set for whitetails, turkey, etc.
I guess if I was that bad off I would buy another bow if it would help, I wouldn't even question it, even five pounds is very noticeable to me.
hunt the best way you can
lot of guys out there don't even shoot for weeks/months before their hunting
I'd say shoot 40-45# as well and shoot two arrows once a day is fine. A modern compound is such a fine machine. If you can, maybe have someone else tune and sight it in so that it is "close" before you start it. Doing that process at 2 arrows/day would be tough. The actual shooting to be good enough to hunt that is fine. I generally don't shoot my compound from December until about July. When I pick it up, if I'm not shooting a 5" group at 50 yards with my first arrows I am upset. That's the expectation out of the gate because of how good today's bows are. There are a thousand archers on this site better than myself I am sure, so that's nothing special. Shooting at 20-30 yards is that much easier.
My hunting # (recurve) is 44-46# and shoot right through them. Bought a Elite 35 thinking it would relieve the stress but found it to cause more physical problems. When it finally gets to the point of not being able to shoot a bow I'll be out with my TC 54 or 45 cal smoke pole which is another fine experience.
jjs, I have wondered what it is about a compound that supposedly is easier on the shoulders. To me, they are much harder on my shoulders and the let down would seem unbearable for a shoulder issue. A 45# trad bow is smooth as butter.
Just FYI- It is a non-issue. I was shooting yesterday and on the second shot, something got "hung up". I had to just shoot into the ground and it took an hour to get my shoulder freed up. I hate it, but I am back to the crossbow. I'm toast.
I have something up with my shoulder as well. I have been doing very light "PT" including with rubber bands and trying not to re-injure it since I have a Bear hunt coming up next week. Definitely something up with the Rotator Cuff and or my Bicep Tendon. Reaching for anything behind me, even a piece of paper on the back seat hurts like hell.
I have been trying to get to the point where I can shoot, even just 1 arrow, since I don't want to miss this hunt. I'll probably go see a Doc when I get back. I hate the thought of surgery, but I'm starting to think that's what they'll recommend.
I haven't shot much at all lately, just enough to know that the bow is sighted in and I can draw. I did shoot some with a very light Genesis Compound (20 pounds) and felt fine. I have to remember to keep my elbow up as I draw, and if I draw my bow, I'm shooting, since even the thought of letting down hurts. Shooting 1 arrow at a time, maybe just once, or a couple of times a day is more like hunting anyway.
I'd say Ice it, take some anti-inflamatories, rest it and work you way back; and go for it. Try keeping your elbow high while you draw (that's how I avoid that 'hang up'). Good luck!
My state's minimum draw weight is 30 pounds and at my draw length, I know it will kill deer easily with a COC two blade head. I will go to that weight in the future if I need to before I'd go to a crossbow. But that's just me.
John,
You can still use a crossbow to hunt with and enjoy the great outdoors. You are long way from toast. You haven't even turned the oven on yet. Keep enjoying life and writing about your experiences with nature.
Nothing wrong with using a crossbow. Do what you need to do to keep hunting. Definitely don't push it and cause problems. If you can get a compound in the 40-45 pound range, maybe it will work for you
I'm in the same boat with my painful shoulder and elbow. Over many years I've said I would never resort to a crossbow. However, the thought of not being in the deer and turkey woods was disturbing so my attitude has changed. I just purchased a new Ravin R9 and enjoying it. I still shoot 3-D's and hunt with my vertical bow by turning it down to 50lbs. I've taken many animals with my vertical bow so in a sense "I've done my time" and have proven my bowhunting ability with a recurve and a compound. I feel no shame or less of a hunter because of transitioning to a crossbow.
Drop it down to 45lbs and you should be good. Good luck and don't overdue it.
I think letting down is harder on your shoulder than actually drawing it.
See what the therapist has to offer and utilize bands, def heed advice above and take it slow and easy. Consider new limbs.
Hate to hear that John. Do whatever is best for you that keeps you hunting.
(1) Therapist was against it from the get-go. I hate it when she is right. (2) Been shooting a x-bow for eight years. Hate it but it beats not going, no problem going back to it. (3) Been using stretchy bands for many years-greatest thing since sliced bread. 90% of the work she has me doing is with bands. Can't believe the improvement I have made in two months since starting with her.
I went through a temporary situation a bunch of years back , but similar in that I had a multiple location injury that I had to drop my peak weight 20 pounds just to pull the bow back. You have all summer. Draw weight will limit your range anyway (comparatively). Shoot 1 arrow at a time. 3 or 4 times rather than 3 or 4 in a session. It helps with cold shot (hunting) efficiency anyway. Even at 52#, a modern bow with 7-8 grains per pound and a good broadhead is way more than enough. Most recurve guys will not have a problem with Elk at 52#. Sight your 1 pin in to hit the top of a 3" spot at 16-18 yards.........aim center , and shoot in the max range (probably close to 25 yards. One arrow at a time , you will learn to shoot 1/2 minute of acceptable and kill everything you shoot at out to what ever range you are comfortable. I got better by adapting to a practice regimen that only allowed one shot at success. My target archery and my hunting has been better ever since.
Drop the draw weight if that's what you want/need to do. Keep doing whatever rehab you did in the three months prior to where you are now. It is obviously working. In my mind you will only get stronger. Listen to your body.
Doesn't matter what any of us think. What do you think? How important to you is it to go back to a hand-held, hand-released bow? Sounds like you may be able to do so...if that is what you want. Good luck.
Curious about your statement that 52# was as low as your bow would go.
Is that limitation to stay within the factory suggested range, or some other factor?
I cranked a Browning single-can down from 70# to less than 30# with no problems. Actually had it down to 19# while using it indoors as a pure exercise device and just drawing and letting down, not shooting.
This was when I was rehabbing from a stroke that had knocked out my whole left side seven years ago. Couldn't even wiggle a finger on that side to start with, but after a few months I was starting to think about eventually shooting again and began trying to at least go through the motions under extremely light loads. A month or two after that, I had the bow up to 29# and was shooting it in the yard. I was still shooting finger release then, and had to get a good clean release or the string would jump off the cam and I'd have to slip it back on! Of course, the bow had so little string tension at rest at that draw weight, that I didn't need to press it, just slipped the string back into the cam groove by hand.
There may be some bows that are unsafe at that much weight reduction but both my single-cam Brownings and my two Mathews solo-cams shot smoothly and quietly cranked down to thirty pounds below their recommended maximums, and still shot surprisingly well. Slower than at full strength, for sure, but very usable, and clocking back up to 200 fps with my regular medium-weight hunting arrows when they were back up to just over 40#.
I know, at some point we all have to accept our limitations and change the gear if necessary. I bought a couple of crossbows during the rehab process when I thought I might be done with my verticals, too. In my case, that proved to be premature and I sold them. But I am still staying abreast of the newer changes in them, just in case.
Anything beats staying at home in the fall. If I get down to hunting with a crossbow from a ground blind not far from a creek or shoreline I can get to with my canoe or small boat with trolling motor, then that's where I'll be in September.
