Bow Style Question...

[GreyGhost83]

OK, So my Martin X-150 is what sparked this question. I haven't shot a recurve in some time. It usually just sits in the corner and I seem to shoot it better than my longbows. So my question is, can it be possible for a person to shoot one style of bow better than the other? It just seems when I shoot the recurve I pretty much consistently knock the arrows together in super tight groups and with the longbows I still shoot good groups but hardly ever slap the arrows together. I just didn't know how it would be possible to shoot one style of bow better than the other shooting from the shelf. Anyhow that's my question. Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

[Greyfox54]

Alot has to do with your confidence in a particular bow . Some bows just feel right and when you find that one for you then stick with it . I shot great when I had one bow , now I have several favorites and my shooting isn't what it used to be . My thoughts Fred

[Stumpkiller]

I shoot a recurve better if probably only for the reason of the high wrist grip.  It gets my arm in line and it's like I'm pointing at the target with my bow arm right out to the inder finger.

That, and all my recurves are faster than my old klunker longbow so I have less problems with high and low arrows.  A modern hybrid reflex/deflex is less of an issue.

[Night Wing]

I shoot recurves only. I'm a very good shot with them. However, I can't shoot a longbow accurately. I just can't get comfortable with a longbow's  straight grip style and that is the problem. I'll never buy another longbow.

[cbCrow]

I used to shoot both recurves and longbows, but was better with recurve. I came to a  point that I felt that a decision had to be made,  and because I was always enamored with LB's the decision was easy, I went with LBs. That was over 20 yrs. ago and I have not looked back. Though the LB is slower it is just something about watching the flight and its arc off of one of them to me. Choice is personel, but I feel you can be good, but not proficient with both styles of bows.

[Cromm]

Hi,
Like said above. I was told by a Pro that if you want to shoot a bow well then shoot one bow and don't jump from one then another, as each bow shoots differently.
It is all about what you are happy with.
Thanks for your time.

[Rik]

I had the same problem for many years, yet I was determined not to go back to shooting a recurve.

So. . . I kept buying one to two or three high-dollar longbows every year, trying to find a longbow that I could shoot as well as a recurve, any recurve.

Finally, almost as an accident, as I had been led to believe they were the worst of the worst of all the longbows, I tried a Howard Hill longbow.

BINGO! Dead tight groups again, just like with a recurve. I was not prepared for that, but it was repeatable, over and over and over.

I cannot decide if the repeatable accuracy is due to the straight grip, or the lack of deflex (Hill bows have reflex, but no deflex), but it's one of the two, or both, that make Hill bows, for me, shoot just as accurately as a recurve. I have not been able to do that with any other style of longbow.

could be your arrows arent tuned to the longbow as well as they are to the recurve,.............. just a thought....

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I do pretty good with a recurve but for me unstringing a longbow and throwing it as a spear would be the best option to try to kill something with it.  I shot Dad's Habu hybrid last week (high wrist grip) and shot it fine, but those extreme hybrids are just recurves with long hooks as far as I'm concerned.  I can't even go there with a low wrist, have to use it as a club.

Rik - Kelly just told me a couple days ago that you are a dead shot with a recurve...kind of surprised me, I always thought of you as a longbow only guy!

Ryan

[Rik]

Ryan,

I'm not really a longbow guy, I think of it more as just being a bowhunter who likes challenges, and the longbow is a bit more challenging. Not a lot, but a bit.

To even it out a bit and make them more like shooting a good heavy-handled recurve, I shoot sleeved takedowns, which adds weight to the bow, and I put on a seven or eight-arrow quiver. With longbows, my groups are noticeably tighter with a quiver than without.

The one thing I really really miss about hunting with recurves is the increased power. All of my recurves were 80 pounds, and my Wilderness recurves shot 212 feet per second. The flat trajectory made accuracy at longer distances easier, and MAN did they drive an arrow deep.

I also miss the three-piece takedown aspect of recurves. It's so much easier to travel with a three piece bow, but I have tried three-piece longbows and broke all three that I bought. They broke at full draw, and if you haven't experienced an 80-pound longbow limb hitting you in the forehead after snapping at full draw, you are definitely missing out. The slim-handled three-piece longbows just do not have enough wood in the handle to hold up to a heavy draw. It's a shame, because they are perfect for traveling.