Thinking about giving a recurve a try?
General Topic
Or maybe a long bow? What’s your thought on this. You guys that have never tried one?
Do not waste your time if you are not mentally prepared to commit, that is simply my suggestion. I like the recurve in your picture.
Yes it is something that you would have to put more time into. Like shooting. But who don’t like to shoot? You might enjoy the simplicity of it. And actually watch the arrow fly to its mark. Well not right away of course. ;) But with practice. Some even find it fun.
Thanks Jimmy. This bow was made in your neck of the woods. Grayling Michigan. It’s a 59 Bear Grizzly. Some guys only shoot Bear bows. It’s a personal thing.
I can't even imagine shooting a bow if it wasn't a stickbow. It's been close to 25 years since I shot my compounds. Don't miss it either. For me, shooting a stickbow is a completely different experience than shooting a decked out compound. You literally DO "Become The Arrow".....Or at least I do!
I encourage you to try, if you take to it at all, you will never go back. you will find it challenging of course but more fun to shoot, Try to have a friend help you get started.
Not for me….I’m already a grouchy old bastard.
I kid, I kid…..
Jesus in one thread your talking about switching to a crossgun and not going back now you are taking about switching to trad. All in the same day not to mention the nonsense threads you started that got pulled.
Hmmm. Don’t you guys have a choice on here? If you don’t like a thread you don’t have to post on it.
Go for it you’ll love it. You should have decent form from shooting a compound. When you start out don’t shoot to much. Take about a dozen shots then put it away for the day. Much more you’ll start getting tired and your shots will start to vary, remember it won’t have the same mechanics to follow. When your shots start to vary you’ll start trying to over think and correct just stop and start fresh another day.
I love shooting my compound but my recurve puts the fun back in everything. I haven’t made the complete switch yet but every year I get closer
Try it, start with a cheap low draw weight bow. Lots of good, cheap bows available. If you like it, get something nice.
This is a fishing thread ;^)
I shoot, hunt, and kill stuff with both traditional and compound bows. Traditional bows aren’t nearly as hard as most suggest. Develop a shot sequence and ingrain it. For the average bow shot distance, you’ll likely be just as efficient with one as you are with the other.
Tried going from compound to recurve many years ago. I bought way to much draw weight. And I didn’t have the time or interest to become competent with it. It was a short lived experiment. I do still enjoy shooting my compounds.
I shoot both. Why does it have to be either/or? It is archery. I am for anything archery. Try it, what do you have to lose? Archery is fun.
Dont do it, you will change. YOu will start wearing Setsons and wool flannell shirts. Your shop will start seeing Mill Bastard files. Once you see your arrow dissapearing through your target/game you will become transformed to the outer limits. Been doing it for 50 years and could not think of any other weapon to hunt with.
I played with one some, I was a quick study at 10/12 yards. Beyond that……not so much ! ;-)
Take your time and enjoy . You find needing help the leather wall has many that are very helpful. In shooting a recurve remember the arrow is the most important part of it. without the Right arrow it just doesn't work no matter how good the bow are shooter.
I’ve shot & enjoyed both. Years back I developed a terrible case of target panic. I think the anchor & release style of recurve shooting really messed with my compound shooting. I chose to hang up the recurve. Bad shoulders & elbows now would make the recurve shooting even more difficult now.
Do it. Its actually archery.
I challenge you to commit to 1 deer harvest with it by putting hours into it. Get help if this not something you are into. Then decide after your kill. Good luck.
All I have used for bow hunting, got to dedicate your time to it but the satisfaction on a kill is hard to describe, just have to practice practice for every shot that may come along. Yeah, I do have a compound sitting in storage, bring it out and just a mechanical tool that has no character, it takes a different form than what my brain is locked into. The day is closing in fast where my Elite will be going to the field, but will not cross the x-gun line, that has no place in archery. To each their own it doesn't matter anymore, just be true to yourself.
Compounds have more in common with crossbows than tradbows. Change my mind
Find a local mentor who can help you. If you start out cold, on your own, you are susceptible to developing bad habits like snap shooting, short drawing, target panic, collapsing, plucking, torquing, etc. Much easier to prevent these diseases than to cure them once they become ingrained into your form.
While the idea of shooting a trad bow is the simplicity, IMO, the process of becoming an excellent shot on game and targets is pretty complex. Anybody can pick one up and hit a barn. But executing the shot under stress requires a ton of physical, mental, and emotional discipline. Lots of really good compound shooters have tried, and failed, to convert. Being around some excellent trad shooters will shorten your learning curve exponentially.
So with the Pearson recurve and long bows you have you don't shoot them?
Have tried the recurve bow a time or three. Shoot recurves really well at targets but have had a tough time with them on game.
My last attempt resulted in an empty quiver and an unscathed, very large mule deer buck up above treeline. Closest shot was about 15 yards and furthest was around 30 yards. Wow, did that one hurt! Almost chucked a thousand dollar bow off the mountain that day…
Took my homemade longbow out that evening and drilled a nice 6x6 bull. Weird, I know.
The longbow just seems to work for me. Recurves, not so much.
After probably over 50 years of shooting traditional bows, I still love it and learn something new all the time. Recently took lessons from a professional (Tom Clum) and actually learned a lot! So glad for that opportunity and would highly recommend getting a good start from someone like that to anyone that wants to take up traditional bowhunting.
Shooting traditional bows brought back my love for Archery and bow hunting. A compound was just getting to be too automatic.
The ‘You have to commit” comment is right on the money. The degree of difficulty is much higher…many guys that never learn good form get frustrated and quit.
^^^ Ditto. Form and focus....repeat forever! Once the bow is tuned it's ALL you. That's the beauty of it. And after several thousand arrows, the form becomes part of you. After that it's focus, focus, focus. You don't pick a "spot", you pick a MOLECULE! Like in the movie "Patriot" in the scene where Gibson tells his boys...."Aim small, miss small". 4 words that say it all!
And If you don’t have a mentor. but have some questions. you can always go to stickbow.com and somebody on the Leatherwall . Will try to answer your questions the best they can. So if you’re thinking about giving it a try;) Good luck! And if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong;)
its all i use...i just think its more fun and thats why i hunt...fun.
Started with a Browning recurve in 1976. Went to compound about 1989 and back to longbow/recurve in 93. Compound blew up in 97 and never got another one. I have taken every big game animal native to my home State with stickbow (whitetail deer, black bear, Eastern wild turkey) killed feral hogs in VA, TN, SC,FL, OK and unsuccessfully hunted Blacktail deer and elk with stickbows. (Missed on Blacktail, never saw elk) also killed fox squirrel, gray squirrel, groundhog, field mouse, Holstein bull, feral domestic cat, feral chickens and several species of fish with stickbows.
I started stickbows in the early 1960's, never quit. The choice of weapons is simply a mindset, you can kill animals with any of them if you choose to do so. Nothing is difficult here.
I tried a recurve and I liked it.
I shoot daily and it's as lethal as anything else if I do what I need to do.
It's not for everyone but nothing is. Give it a try and see for yourself.
I also tried.....and ultimately failed. I gave it 3 seasons with the long bow. Loved the idea of it and loved shooting it. I got to shooting pretty good in the yard but in the field I really struggled. Missed many animals at very close range early on. I think I would have stuck with it had I connected on a couple of those. Time and opportunities are at a premium and I put a lot of both into getting to that moment. I decided I couldn't afford to put all of that work and time in and blow a chip shot. I did kill a big bear in Canada with it but I missed and wounded a lot. Off the top of my head..... 6 bulls, 1 deer, many turkeys and shouldered a buck that I did not recover. I will say it made me a much better hunter in the end. Now with a compound in my hands my confidence is through the roof so that helped. I don't regret it and I have a ton of respect for the longbow/recurve guys on this site that get it done year in and year out. I just ain't there yet.
Not wanting to talk you down from trying. In fact the opposite. I would say go for it, you've got nothing to lose. Give it an honest effort, that's half the fun. Being challenged and learning something new is worth it even if you don't achieve success in terms of animals in the field. I don't regret it one bit! Learned a lot and ultimately became a better hunter.
It’s easy, practice a few months and go shoot a buck! Don’t be afraid of it, if you’ve shot a bow most of your life you can shoot a recurve or, in my case, a longbow. It’s great fun and put the excitement back in whitetail hunting for me!
That's an awesome buck Justin. Very well done!
I went back to a recurve 8 years ago, best thing I ever did. Made me realize the enjoyment of shooting, almost to the point of not sure what I enjoy the most shooting it or hunting with it. It has not limited my kill from the compound as I usually set up for under a 20 yard shot. I recommend it for anyone that really likes archery and wants to take the next step up. But, if you do, focus on good shooting form, release, and how to properly tune bow/arrow/point before getting frustrated and giving up. Amazing at what you can do when done correctly.
On my first trip for Quebec caribou, I jumped in the boat with four arrows in my longbow quiver. Our boat driver asked, "Where are the rest of your arrows?" We were the first trad hunters he had ever had. I told him I only had two bou tags so the other two would be for ptarmigan. He looked skeptical, shook his head and said, "Compound guys bring a whole tube of arrows, and they shoot them all".
The next morning I centerpunched a nice bull that didn't go 5 yards after the shot. I looked over at him, standing there wide-eyed, and he said, "I guess you CAN kill something with one of those bows."
Hunting with trad equipment is as much a mindset as it is a technique. As others have said, you have to commit, and never think about how you could have killed the animal with your 70 yard compound. Instead, you commit to figuring out how to set up shots within your effective range, commit to becoming the best you can be, commit to shooting as much as possible and honing your shooting skill, and accept that the learning curve can be slow and frustrating. But when it clicks and you kill that first animal, it's a rush.
Good story Lou thanks for sharing it
"Hunting with trad equipment is as much a mindset as it is a technique."
YES!!! But that's also why your biggest obstacle isn't the equipment, it's your HEAD!
I went to a 3D shoot one time by myself (thank God!), and it was NOT a good day. With each target my shooting got worse and worse, to the point where I was missing the bales entirely. I quit early and went home. When I got home I thought I'd take a Judo and go in my back field just to try and shoot ONE good arrow before I put the bow away. I focused on a dandelion head at about 15 yards, took a breath and released. DEAD center. I shot for about another 10 minutes and hit EVERYTHING I aimed at. Go figger!!!
Sometimes it might be best to leave your head at home! ;-)
Great advice in those last few posts.
My dream bow would be the new carbon express from Mike Steliga, Bruin Archery from Antigo Wis............... I shot trad for over 45 years,,,,,, dont shoot junk, or cheap bows that stack etc...................... You dont have to spend a fortune either, but once you find a sweet bow, there is nothing like it good luck..........................
I am blown away with the amount of good solid knowledge out there today to get off to a good start with a traditional bow, quickly.
Guys like Tom Clum and Joel Turner are cutting that learning curve to get started shooting a traditional bow effectively down to a mere blink of an eye compared to those of us that started back in the “dark ages” before the internet.
The only reason a lot of us in my generation stuck with it was because we were just damn hardheaded! At least three quarters of the books and articles I read, trying to get better, were garbage and hurt more than they helped.
If you’re interested in learning to shoot a traditional bow, it is worth the time to get some good training from a good coach. Hell, an old dog like me even learned a lot going and spending a day with Tom, even though I had been doing it for almost 50 years and had been relatively successful killing animals with a bow from Alaska to Argentina…
Had a similar story Lou. We were unloading gear from the bush plane and we had our bows in a 8" pvc tube. One of the guides assumed it was fishing poles and you could have heard a pin drop when we told him it was our bows. Never had trad guys before. All went well and had all the camp staff shooting by the end of the week.
"At least three quarters of the books and articles I read, trying to get better, were garbage and hurt more than they helped."
Ain't that the truth. One very popular "expert" in particular saved a lot of critters and a lot of our generation are still deprogramming.
I’ve killed a few deer with a recurve - shoot a compound and a longbow now. Don’t overbow as has already been stated - 45# is plenty to start with and you may never feel the need to go higher.
There is just something about shooting a recurve or longbow that is very satisfying.
The best part about hunting with a recurve, it gives you an excuse if you don’t kill anything
I shoot compounds and recurves. I’ve only killed a pig and a turkey with my recurve. I still can’t decide if I like instinctual or gap aiming. I’m equally bad at both. ;-)
Matt
Many used a sight pin on recurves.
Or you can do like I did. I didn't buy a recurve or longbow, but went straight from a compound to making selfbows, longbows and recurves. By the second year, I was taking deer, sometimes two or three a year with my own selfbows and that's all I've used for 24 years. It's not as hard as many folks think.
The truth of it is... anyone with a desire to hunt with traditional gear needs no convincing and are more prone to stick with it. I tend to help those folks and don't try to sway the others.
Glunt, I read that expert's book too, tried to convert, got there but was wildly inconsistent. Had to rebuild my whole shooting sequence to move forward and get good.
I would contact TWIG Archery,,,, put you into a bow for about 200.00 good guy, and the actual weight the bow is shooting at, will be marked. Call him, nice guy to deal with.... Good way to get started
is a recurve crossbow considered trad?
You mean the ones they were using in 500 AD? Nah....too modern!
While I shoot both, the compound and recurve bow, I remember the stick bow kills most often. Fun to shoot and fun to hunt with. Just keep the recurve bow shooting within its bounds as it is a short range weapon. Mine is 25 yards and less and mostly 20 yards and less. Go for it and you will soon realize if the stick is for you. my best, Paul
Like many of you older folks here, when I started shooting a bow there was no "trad". It was called ARCHERY. My first non-toy bow was a recurve (Hoyt Pro-Hunter). I shot and hunted with that for almost 10 years before I bought my first compound. I shot and hunted with compounds for about 20 years before I started shooting recurves again. And once I did, I never really shot the compounds again. It just wasn't fun. I also realized that for the last half of the time I did hunt with the compound, I only shot it because I was going to be hunting with it. With my recurves I'd shoot them whether I hunted with them or not because it's not just fun, it's also part of me now. To each his own!
I have enjoyed my compounds for many years but got the itch to try traditional and bought a recurve from South Cox this past summer after watching some of his on-line trad bow hunting videos. It has been a joy to learn to shoot the trad bow. I should say "learning" to shoot. Like others have said, you feel so much more in tune with the bow and arrow. It is also very humbling to go from solid accuracy at long range with the compound to learning to shooting at 10 yards with the recurve. I bought Tom Clum's Solid Archery Mechanics on-line course and it has been a tremendous help in learning trad bow shot mechanics. The test will come this next hunting season when I leave the compound behind and carry the trad bow. I think it will be a lot of fun. Someone said that being a trad bow hunter makes you become a better hunter.
When I switched back to a recurve I also started ground hunting, most of which is stillhunt/stalk. The first deer I killed that way with the recurve (12 yards from my knees and never even looked at me) was THE best "trophy" I've ever taken! It's not the size of the rack, it's the HUNT. THAT'S the "trophy".
Some guys like the old school bows ;)
You will not regret it, even us simple rednecks can get it done. It's called gettin close.
Jaq is right on the money
I learned from Masters of the Barebow, 1 &3, a nentor, jimmy blackmon, watching and shooting with great archers at tourneys, the push, jake kaminsky is excellent as are lots of resources on youtube.
Then videoing your own form/shooting to self diagnose works well.
Its the, “like throwing a baseball” guys I would disregard.
