Would this be crazy?

[Shawn Leonard]

Sorry but I kind of disagree, only because we need more info. If you are 20 and bench press 300#s than the 17#s more may not be very difficult to shoot. You actually may get a cleaner release. When I started in trad, I shot 55#s to start and quickly jumped to 72-75# bows and shot them very well. After a few years I settled at 62-65#s only because I shot wood and to find arrows that spined 90-95#s or more were hard to find. I now shoot 52-55#s and am happy with that! I have not read the whole thread but again if you are a strong guy and can hold the bow at full draw for 10 seconds and not shake or your muscles tremble than you may not have a problem jumping that much in weight. Shawn

[Claymore]

Might want to think about a ILF rig. That way all you will have to buy is limbs as you progress. Hoyt Excel is one a lot of us have. I think it's about $179 and limbs can be had for $89 or even cheaper on the used market.

[Looper]

I agree with Shawn.  When I was 16, I got my first laminated longbow. It was a 55#@28" hill-style.  I pulled it to about 30".  Up until then all I had shot were my hickory selfbows.  I had no problems shooting it.  Now, I didn't stand in front of a target and sling arrow after arrow, but I would spend several hours at a time out stump shooting.  I took a lot of game with that bow, and have suffered not ill-effects from doing so. That weight is still my preference, some 25 years later.

When I was 20, I had a couple of 90# hickory backed hickory bows.  They were fun to shoot, but it was difficult to find arrows for them, so I ended up trading them away.

I was pretty strong then, too.  Working on a farm, loading hay, splitting wood (with a maul), fooling with horses and cows, etc.  I also played football and lifted weights on a regular basis.

I also had pretty decent shooting form, which came from a lot of trial and error with my weaker selfbows.

Of course, not knowing you and seeing you shoot, it's practically impossible to know whether you can shoot the heavier weight or not. I personally don't think that 57# is all that much. Borrow a bow of similar weight and find out.

[Zbearclaw]

Doesn't seem crazy to me if you are actually shooting 100 arrows a day with #40.

There are a lot more variables you could fill in though.

[Ari]

I'm not a huge guy and I don't do weights but I do practice holding the 40# for 10 seconds and could probably hold it back for about 30 before I really start to shake, I do this even tho I normally release as soon as I hit full draw(shooting instinctively).
Almost all of  my practice is stumping lately but I do sometimes shoot really close range bales to work on form.

Also I would still have the 40# to train with like CaptainJ said, but don't know how long it would really take to adjust.

[Looper]

I'd say get the one you want.  Personally, I'd go the used route and get something that has some resale value.  I wouldn't shoot it as much as you do the lighter bow, but it won't take long for you to adjust to it.