Recurve guys

[SteveB]

One thing I was told and found true is that your draw length is often shorter with a traditional bow than with a compound. Just food for thought.

 

Mine is over 1/2 inch longer.

[Terry]

Mine is over 1/2 inch longer.

Longer with traditional?

[SteveB]

Correct. Stand up and use your back with a bow weight one can handle and there should be little/no difference.

[dbHunterNY]

not sure if I agree with all that's been said so here's what I think....

recurves are easier to shoot better than longbows.  there's hybrid long bows out that are a little more equal but yea.  Bear bows are nice... I've got a Super Kodiak.  the bows labeled draw weights are at a 28" draw.  you gain 2.5-3# per inch of increased draw.  starting off i'd get a bow that's 45-50 lbs at your draw length and no more.  you'll be able to hunt with it fine and you'll maintain better form until you gain more experience.  also arrows should be around 500+ grains of finished weight and FOC will be anywhere from 12-20%.  I've got Goldtip traditional .400" spine carbon shafts left full length, 4" fletches, 100gr brass inserts, 20gr adder insert weight for each, and 100gr Hellrazor heads.  cut on contact broadheads are the preferred choice.  get a finger tab or glove.  Damascus gloves have thinner leather and help with feel of the string for just starting off.  also get a stringer to string and unstring your bow.  don't put it behind your leg or anything like that, it'll cause limb twist and ruin a good shooting bow.  Flemish twist strings are nice and allow to be twisted or untwisted to make for easy tuning.  throw a couple string silencers on it and put a nock 1/2" high from square.

 

There's a bit that goes into tuning a recurve too, so like SteveB said you've got a lot to learn if you don't think so.  First shoot your bow (with one of your arrows).  twist or untwist the string a couple full twists at a time to increase or decrease the brace height.  shoot your bow at each brace height setting and you'll find that at a certain brace height your bow shoots a lot quieter and vibration free than any other length.  now paper tune it at that brace height like you would a compound.  adding point weight up front to weaken the full length shaft or cutting in down to strengthen it will correct your left and right paper tears.  moving the nock up or down will effect your high or low nock paper tears.  then do the same making slight adjustments while shooting field tips and broadheads to get them to impact the same.  before doing this you should've matched weight of heads with finished arrows and spin tested them all for broadhead alignment.  I'd also have odd fletch out with the broadhead aligned for the least surface area when seen from left to right.  it'll act like a rudder when you first release your arrow and you're maybe applying some torque at the shot.  the arrow won't start rotating from the fletching until it's left the bow and gone a foot or so.

 

anchor point is huge and it's hard to get a clean release if you're wrapped around the string deeper than the first joint off your finger tips.  when you release your hand's relaxed, then relax your fingers to let the string pull away, all while keeping back tension to pull on the string.  this will help keep a good consistent follow through which is right up there with anchor point.

 

different ways to aim, but the best way is to shoot instinctive if you can.  you just focus dead on the target and shoot as if you're throwing a baseball.  this is harder and slower to pick up in the beginning but it'll be more reliable than aiming the tip of your arrow a certain point off your target for a certain yardage.  sometimes you might see the blurred arrow in your vision and that's a reference to double check when you first start out.  muscle memory and feel can be more accurate than you'd think.

 

another I think 20+ yards is a darn good shot with a recurve.  I think more reasonable hunting range would be 15 yards or less.  aim small miss small.  minute of lung isn't a good strategy.  there I think i'm done. sorry.

 

[dbHunterNY]

One thing I was told and found true is that your draw length is often shorter with a traditional bow than with a compound. Just food for thought.

 

depends on the height of your anchor with a compound.  mine's pretty much the same between to two I think.  I anchor index finger tip to corner of smile with a recurve.  with my compound my string goes from tip of nose down, touching corner of smile, with my hand on the corner of my jaw bone.  more points I use for reference but that's enough for a description.

[SteveB]

Some good info DB. Weight one can handle easily to gain consistency.

 

[MACHINIST]

Cool lots of good info,Thanks bud!!