Who prefers long bows for hunting?

[dnovo]

I’ve been shooting longbows for 42 years now. I’ve settled on my favorite length for a mild r/d longbow to be 64” and 66 for an ASL. I’ve never had problems from any of those from a stand or from a saddle 

[Squirrel Hunter]

I’ve been shooting Hill-style longbows, both standard and reverse handle, exclusively for 37 years. I make my own so can have any length I want. I like a 63-64” bow for some ground blinds. Other than that, my bows are all 66-69”. The only time that is a problem is putting them into the truck. 

[Sawpilot 75]

I have become more and more of a longbow fan over the years. Recurves treated me well but there is something about a longbow that I prefer. They feel and shoot better for me.

[Wudstix]

My Big River Kodiak clone is getting some love this year, in honor of John.  It also is longbow light.  Next year I'll move back to Big River, MOAB and/or Kota longbows.  They all shoot hunting weight arrows faster than recurves.  Hope I have a few years left in me.
 

[Wilderlife]

I haven't killed many animals with each but I feel like I like my longbows more. I can shoot my recurve better and it feels more stable but I enjoy carrying the longbow around the bush more.

[Kirkll]

I am definitely a long bow fan myself. Push pull stringing, and slides threw the underbrush much easier.

 But.... i prefer a short hybrid long bow from 60-62" lengths. I have a 30" draw and have no issues with string angle or finger pinch on my Sasquatch design....You don't really need a 66" or 68" length to shoot well. but they sure look cool.

 Look at the string angle of this Hybrid at 32" draw.

[Steelhead]

I have shot most my game with a 64 inch longbow.

But thier are situations where I prefer a shorter bow for thier compactness in specific places,scenarios and the hunting techniques I will be employing.

[kstout]

I hunted with recurves for about 20 years before buying a longbow in 1992.  Since then I've stuck with longbows.  I've shot 64", 66",68", and now have a 62" bow.  Shooting Black Widow bows, Northern Mist,  Howard Hill, and self bows that I have made.  I still own several recurves also.  Every once in a while I'll get out a recurve to shoot, and they are so much noisier than any of my longbows, that I hang them back on the rack. I think I can shoot the recurves better, but at hunting distances I'm plenty accurate with the longbows, and the quietness of the longbow more than makes up the difference.

[BillyJack1975]

I just recently started hunting with a longbow this year. I started hunting with traditional gear a couple years ago. I definitely can see myself hunting more with the longbow than my recurves.

[toddster]

I first hunted traditionally with a recurve, took few deer with it.  One day was hunting from tree stand, had the bow hanging on a notch.  I was glassing the other way for game, when the strong breeze came in, heard a noise of something hitting the ground.  I looked down and there was my recurve.  I got down and strung it up and one of the limbs was slightly twisted, that ended the life of that bow. 
Few years later after hunting with a longbow for while,  I was walking next to a deep drainage and slipped in hole.  As I caught myself from falling on my face with a heavy pack on, the bow got tossed.  I looked down and had flashback, the bow was down in the drainage unstrung, my heart sank.  I worked my way down, got it looked it over, strung it and with exception of a few scratches bow was fine, matter of fact, shot a deer that evening with it.
My opinion is a longbow is a tank, it will take a lot of abuse and keep working fine.  Which is what I need because I hunt hard and deep and do not want to have to baby my equipment. 

[mnbwhtr]

I prefer which ever one I pick up for the day. I started with 60" recurves, Bear Kodiak and Black Widow in the sixties and from 1980 -1992 shot 70" ASL's, Schultz, Armbrusters(zebra), Maulding bighorn and Ken Becks bows. A couple times the length messed me up by catching the lower limb when not being careful where I was. The last 30 years have found me shooting Bear T/D's 62" but 58" in ground blinds for antelope and turkey where my shots are 15yds or less. I tried 64 limbs on my T/d but they always felt awkward for some reason. I bought a 62" Toelke Whip and really like shooting it, Guess it will be my goto again this year. It shoots out of blinds and trees equally well.

[Joshua Grimshaw]

Last buck I got was with a Bob Lee Stick longbow; very quiet but not a speed queen. Would like to use my Widow PL longbow, but it is much louder than my PSR recurve. I am not sure why. Need to work with it some more. I prefer a longbow style handle even on a recurve.

[Kirkll]

"The last 30 years have found me shooting Bear T/D's 62" but 58" in ground blinds for antelope and turkey where my shots are 15yds or less. I tried 64 limbs on my T/d but they always felt awkward for some reason."

I'm curious what length riser you use on your TD Bear?  I build some aftermarket "Bare" limbs in both RC and Hybrid long bow that you may like a lot....   Kirk

[MSU]

I have killed around 50 deer and 14 black bear with longbows.

[mnbwhtr]

I have both A&B risers, A primarily for blind hunting and B for everything else. I really like #2 limbs that make a 62" bow.

[Terry Green]

MSU, where to you hunt black bears?

[Kirkll]

I have both A&B risers, A primarily for blind hunting and B for everything else. I really like #2 limbs that make a 62" bow.

Do you think you would like a Bare riser that was between an A & B ?  17.5" with the same #2 limbs that make a 60" bow....... I know where you can get one.      Kirk

[Tim Reese]

64”-68” I have no trouble hunting with. I even end up using my bow as a walking stick sometimes in the swamp. Not a normal Thing but I have had to before. Probably wouldn’t do that with a recurve and I feel more accurate at hunting distance too.