Musings on recurves vs. longbows

[Flying Dutchman]

Like some other people said already: I love hybrid longbows. For me they offer the best of two worlds. Very smooth draw, very fast, very light and gracious with lovely lines.

[Sixby]

DeadDoc:ONE EXCEPTION My son got a wonderful Eagle Wing from Sixby a few weeks ago My First shot with it drilled the dead center of the target first shot! LOL! MY son laughed his butt off

That was a funny story. He told me about it and then you wrote me that wonderful letter.

I have developed D and R limbs for that bow now and the owner of the first one shipped out will probably be posting on it fairly soon. God is good in that these and the Talon limbs work equally well with same brace height on both top mount and belly mount bow risers.

God bless you all, Steve

[TSP]

Stick bows (and stick arrows) are just fun, period.  Recurves were my choice in the 80's and hybrids came after, but lately Hills and similar designs provide the most in shooting satisfaction even if they are more demanding.  There's just something about how these bows look, shoot (wood arrows of course) and handle that just 'oozes' traditional archery the way I want it to be.  The differences from other bows (and arrows) is hard to describe, but if you've ever seen twin fawns running around a field and kicking it up just for the joy of it you'll have an idea of what executing a good shot with a 'real' longbow and self-made wood arrow feels like.  Other bows are nice and generally better suited for targetology I will admit, but they can't compete with oldschool Hillstyle for challenge and simple blue-collar shooting fun.  It's a hoot to play with them all, but for me the traditional Hill-style longbow and wood arrow are just too cool.

I think most bows will shoot well enough, if you shoot them the way they need to be shot.  The big one for me, more than 95% of the time when one is hunting the bow is not being shot, it is being hung or handled. How a bow handles when not being shot will make a big difference to what the bow is doing when a smooth quick shot is all of a sudden required.  As an example, I hung my cold metal handled bow on a branch to warm up my hand. I then moved to get the wind at my back to light my corn cob to further warm my hand.  While soaking up warm morning sun contemplating my cold bow hand, a nice 12 pointer came in behind me,(12 yards) then a 16" 8 pointer came in to challenge the big 12. That cold clumsy bow allowed them both to escape unshot at. Light handling D bows for me.

[Widow's Son]

Most folks I hear are saying that they love longbows even though they shoot the recurve better. For me the opposite is true. I love my BW MAII and the way it hums those Beman MFX arrows but I shoot my Roy Hall Navajo stick much better. The first arrow always seems to be on target and it seems to love my cedar arrows. As has been said already these hybrid bows are great. For me the best part is how quiet they shoot plus the speed of a recurve and the heel down position just feels natural to me. I want to try a Hill style bow as soon as I can get the funds put together but for now the Caddo model Navajo Stick is "it on a stick".

[Sixby]

String follow bows have not been mentioned here but I have always been enamored of them. Therefore I have designed one and am in the process of building the forms right now.

Like Tony  (TSP) said , Stick bows are just fun/!!!!! Lord willing I will be sending Ralph Harris a bow to test out here pretty soon.

God bless you all, Steve

[Goshawkin]

I shot both recurves and longbows from the mid '80's up until about 2005. I had a Black Widow MAII that was my "go to" bow. If I was hunting or shooting in a comp,that's usually the one that went. I got a SAIII after that one and loved it too. I monkeyed around with longbows,but prefered the Widows.I always wanted to get a Hill longbow,but never did. I just got back into shooting this year and decided to get a Hill. I bought a used one off the classifieds on here a few weeks ago.Man,I wish I got one years ago!!! I like it so much I just ordered a new one from Craig at HH this week.String follow too.Think I'm gonna stick with the longbows this time.

[SELFBOW19953]

I shoot both longbows and recurves-short and long.  My favorite, by far, is a wide limbed longbow-a flatbow (I have several made by different bowyers, but one particularly is my favorite).  Their looks, feel, and performance are to die for.  I have just started shooting a string follow longbow.  They are awfully sweet.

[Bladepeek]

I have both and enjoy shooting both. I'll disagree with the often stated advantage of longbows being lighter. The lightest bow on my rack by a large margin is a 60" 50# recurve by Kevin Cramer. No heavy tropical woods in the riser, but it's definitely not skinny - just light and quick.

[maineac]

Some great thoughts.  Ross I can shoot tighter groups (by a little) with my curves, but like you feel more spot on with the first shot out of my longbows.  Of course my recurves are both takedowns. The zipper is not nearly as heavy as my checkmate.  I would love to shoot a two tracks ambush as an example of a light one piece curve, but for now my stable is full.

[ron w]

maineac.....if your stable is full you need a bigger barn.......      

[njloco]

I am very happy to say, I can shoot either equally as well or bad depending on one's view point. It's all in how you hold the bow, it's basically the same grip unless you want to make it into rocket science, I have proven this time and time again by taking all of my bows out, recurves and LB's and taking one shot out of each, since they all shoot the same arrow, as long as I hold the bow correctly which is pretty much the same with some minor variations I group all arrows together, 2-3"" at 20 yds. For hunting that is all that is needed.

I must thank Moebow for this, as he posted a how to when it comes to holding a bow, I notice that between recurves and LB's it was very similar for me.

[elkbreath]

honestly, reading through all this, its seems to me that I've found the best!  :-)

I'm shooting an 81# one piece GN super ghost at the moment.  ITs SUPER light in the hand, very quick, great small grip, shoots lights out, long and gorgeous...

Seems like maybe a shrew little favorite fulfills the wants of alot of you guys?  especially in a two piece

[jonathan creason]

I always thought I shot recurves better, that is until I tried a Treadway longbow this past weekend.  I just couldn't miss with that thing.  I kinda with I had never tried it, because I know there's no way I'll ever be able to afford one.

[jonsimoneau]

Guess I'm different than most. Never liked longbows with the exception of hybrid types that are basically recurve risers with longbow limbs.  I prefer my bows to be heavy. More stability. One longbow I would really like to try though is a shrew. Right now the closest thing to a longbow I am shooting is a habu vyperkhan with the longbow limbs.

[maineac]

Kenneth I understand what you are saying.  I tried the same thing one night.  I had three bows in my screen-house.  A 60" 50# three piece recurve, a 50" 50# three piece recurve and a 62" 57# three piece longbow.  I shot an arrow out of the 50" from 29 yards (distance from the door of the screen-house to the target), stepped in and hung it up, took another down and grabbed and arrow, repeated with the 57#.  They were all a bit high and to the right a bit, but not a bad group considering it was three very different bows with different grips.  I believe if you have worked on your form and release you can shoot any bow reasonably well.

 
Sorry the photo is sideways, don't know why it loaded to my host server that way.

That was my point in stating this thread.  I like both styles and can not find one that I can claim is the best for me.  It has been a lot of fun exploring, and I hope to continue.

[cahaba]

To each his own. I feel akin to anyone that shoots any kind of traditional bow. I prefer longbows; but not just any longbow. I like Hill style bows with stringfollow and a straight handle. I am accurate enough to bust a nock most practice weeks and can kill game with it. I like the thump in my hand as I loose the string. It feels alive. I like the long narrow deep cored limbs and narrow handles. I have never felt like I was missing anything with a longbow in hand and a quiver full of arrows.There is just something about them that makes me like them best.

   

   

23 measured yards

[njloco]

Michael, I agree, work one's form and one can shoot just about anything very well.

Dave, breaking knocks is the least of my problems,

 

 

I stopped taking pictures after six of these because, this gets expensive.