thinking of going traditional, questions about draw length

[lucky33]

My wife is being so gracious as to allow me a new bow for my b-day, however I have some questions.  I shoot a very short draw, 25 inches with a compound.  Im just wondering what draw weight to get as I dont want to be flinging arrows at such an arc as to be inaccurate.  I usually shoot 70 pounds from a compound, and used a heavy arrow weighing in at 490grns.  Any ideas on bows or set up? Poundage?  Speed is not my concern as is accuracy and ease of use.  I am used to hunting mulies in open country but have now switched gears to hunting whitetails in big woods, mountains.  I need some advise before I make a purchase. 

[carpsniperg2]

The best thing you can do is go to a good trad shop and shoot some bows. There is a few around and you will get a feel for what works well for you. Some bows will fit you and others will not.

[npaull]

lucky- you'll love trad gear. I think it's probably fair to say that most people never go back after switching. I certainly love hunting with my longbow way more than I did with a compound.

In terms of gear - start lighter than you think. If you're shooting 70 lbs compound I wouldn't break 50 with trad gear - and that's more than powerful enough. 50# is plenty for any big game in North America, honestly, if your broadheads are sharp and you choose your shots wisely. Anything heavier and you'll have trouble with accuracy. I currently shoot 55# longbow, (I am a big-framed, strong guy) and wouldn't dream of going heavier. Sometimes I think about going lighter, in fact.

As far as bows, it's really up to you recurve or longbow. There are advantages to both. Recurve will feel more familiar to you, at least at the get-go, and if it's a takedown you can get interchangeable limbs, which can be nice. You will probably find your draw length to be a tiny bit shorter with a trad bow but maybe not.

Best of luck and have fun!

[carpsniperg2]

npaull is right there is not reason to go heavy. I have been shooting trad a long time and hunt with my compounds most of the time. I shoot some bows with massive draw weights when it comes to compounds. I still only shoot 50-60 lb recurves and long bows.

[Noiro]

I made two long bows with Jay St. Charles a few years ago. Make your own bow the way you like it and hunt with it too. You cant get more knowledgeable than a St Charles!
I used Osage, yew, hickory and pecan in the two bows I made a Jay's.

http://www.selfbow.com/

[lucky33]

lucky- you'll love trad gear. I think it's probably fair to say that most people never go back after switching. I certainly love hunting with my longbow way more than I did with a compound.

In terms of gear - start lighter than you think. If you're shooting 70 lbs compound I wouldn't break 50 with trad gear - and that's more than powerful enough. 50# is plenty for any big game in North America, honestly, if your broadheads are sharp and you choose your shots wisely. Anything heavier and you'll have trouble with accuracy. I currently shoot 55# longbow, (I am a big-framed, strong guy) and wouldn't dream of going heavier. Sometimes I think about going lighter, in fact.

As far as bows, it's really up to you recurve or longbow. There are advantages to both. Recurve will feel more familiar to you, at least at the get-go, and if it's a takedown you can get interchangeable limbs, which can be nice. You will probably find your draw length to be a tiny bit shorter with a trad bow but maybe not.

Best of luck and have fun!

Thats what I was feeling, I grew up shooting fiberglass recurves and it was a blast.  Any advise on arrow weights/point weights for a short draw? I must also add Ive had many surgeries the last few months on my left arm  and now have some loss of feeling making a traditonal setup much easier to shoot.

[npaull]

I think you'd be fine with point weight of 125 grains and arrow weight of 8 or 9 grains per pound of draw weight. Arrow weight is an absolutely never-ending debate among trad shooters. Some say a bit heavier, some say a bit lighter, but I think right around 8-9 would be about right. Carbon shafts are incredibly forgiving on trad bows, and I've been shooting them for awhile, but am thinking I'm going to go back to wood just because it's classic and fun. Takes more time to figure out the perfect shaft, though.

[lucky33]

Any suggestions on a good model for a short draw?  I really like the Hoyt Gamemaster2 or dorado 

[SGTDuffman]

If there's somewhere you can shoot em first, do that. If not, get something with removable limbs (if you're thinking recurve) and start lighter than you think you need. Then increase the weight after you get your form down. I went from shooting a 60# compound to a 45# recurve. I could easily pull more physically on either count, but I'm glad I chose the 45# and not 50 or 55. That thing doesn't get any easier to pull the further back it goes. 70# on a compound is nothing, once you get the cams rolled over you're holding what 15-20# max? You pull back a 55# longbow or whatever, you're holding 55# until you let go. MUCH harder to do. Try pulling back your compound to the point before it rolls over and hold it there. I bet it sucks.

As far as bow types, typically longbows will be a bit quieter, but are usually longer and can be harder to properly tune, unless you find one cut past center. Recurves for their part generally shoot a bit faster pound for pound than a longbow and are usually shorter, though also usually louder because of the string contacting the ends of the limbs. I've got a recurve and am starting to get the itch for a long bow. Even though the recurve is fun, and much more difficult to shoot well than my compound, it still kind of seems like cheating some how. Like it's not traditional enough or something. Maybe that's because I bought Quinn Stallion and it has an aluminum riser. I've been giving Falco Bows the stink eye. Also toyed with the idea of getting a Bear Montana before getting the Quinn, but the ability to change limbs won me over. There were also some reviews around that time of people having the Bear limbs delaminate on them, so that didn't help. I think that was probably a fairly isolated thing though. I haven't heard much about since then and people seem to love those bows. It was just the wrong place wrong time for me while I was looking at them. Though I'm looking at them again, for whatever that's worth.