Bow Length vs Draw Length

[Mr. Natural]

On a different post I asked about replacing a broken limb for my 64" T/D.  I draw 32" and am wondering if that I shouldn't be going with a longer bow or is it OK to even use a 62" bow?

[Ragnarok Forge]

I would say that you should be shooting a minimum of a 66 inch bow and preferaqbluy a 68 inch bow.  I draw 30.5 inches and the 66 imnch bow is the minimum length I will shoot in a longbow.

I would shoot a 64 or 66 inch recurve as well.  A shorter bow leads to stacking and potential the limbe being overstressed.

[Chris Wilson]

With that long of a draw, you'll probably find a longer length bow more comfortable in the last 3-4 inches of your draw.  I draw 29" and currently shooting a 68" recurve for 3D and 64-66" for hunting.  I've shot shorter bows but those lengths just feel better.

[Terry Green]

Wrong Forum.....moving to PowWow.

[BobW]

its all in the design.  I have a 32"+ draw, and use bows from 56" to 68".  You won't find all of them able to do this, so the best thing is to ask your bowyer what he feels.  I have also blown up bows due to drawing them to 32".

[Rick Perry]

I think the long draw/long bow thing is overblown  .......... especially for a hunting bow  ......... the accuracy factor is slight IMHO and a nonfactor for hunting  ........


 however not being able to take a shot at a hawg whitetail because he is too close and your long recurve /longbow wont clear your treestand  or the ground when you are sitting or you just cant really feel comfortable trying to shoot it out of a tent blind ............. is a factor......  

[Looper]

I don't think it's overblown if a person's naturally long draw over stresses a short bow.  We're not talking about someone picking a longer bow for accuracy purposes.  We're talking about picking a bow that won't explode, or stack, or pinch your fingers.

[jeff w]

I'll take a smoother shooting bow with less finger pinch, that is more forgiving on the release over the idea that a short bow must be used for hunting in order to 'clear' brush, treestands, etc.  That is what I have found to be overblown.
I think it is somewhat relative anyway depending on how tall the archer is.   A guy 5'6" shooting a 56" bow isn't that much different than a guy 6'4" shooting a 66" bow---both bows are 10" shorter than the archer.

[wingnut]

Well there is a difference between a bow that will shoot at that draw and a bow that will shoot comfortably at that draw.

We had a fellow with a 31 inch draw shooting one of our 56" curves at Compton and it shot great.  I sold him a 60" because it shot great and was more comfortable too shoot.  The string angle gets so tight on the short bows it just hurts the fingers.

In a longbow with my 29" draw I like the 62" for hunting but tend to go with 64 or 66 for target.

Mike