Bow weight advice

[Ari_Bonn]

I need some help guys.  I have a 50#@28 longbow and a 70#@28 long bow for of them are r/d and 62".
  The 50 not problem can control it all day and night the 70 I can control with decent form and accuracy but starts to become difficult around 40 ish arrows.

Chuck is building me an echo longbow soon which will be 70" but I am having problems deciding between 55 or 60# draw.

[McDave]

No doubt at present you could control a 60# longbow just fine.  40 arrows at a time is a lot to shoot from a 70# bow.  My only reservation is, I don't know how old you are.  I shot a 65# bow fine until I was about 60.  At 72, 50# is about my max, and 45# is more comfortable.  

Everybody ages at a different rate, but nobody escapes it completely.  My guess is that most people can maintain their full strength until about 55-60, assuming no chronic injuries.  After that, it all depends on whether you chose your grandparents wisely    

[Ari_Bonn]

Just turned 25, started shooting almost 2 years ago. Started with a pse 45# recurve. I had a 65# robertson purist and a 55# super grizzly at one point. The 70# is a rodney wright firehawk and the 50# is a bearpaw mohawk.

My form and accuracy and strength have improved since I had the Robertson but it felt so much more easy to pull than the 70#

[Ari_Bonn]

Shoot 4-5 times a week. So perhaps 60# will just take some practice and developing a relationship with it.  Plus I think I would be happy in that poundage hunting wise and there is a fair while to fall hunting season.

[McDave]

Yea, 60# should be fine. I'm sure at 25, you'll outlive the bow!

[Ari_Bonn]

Thank you I appreciate your advice. I have a local pro shop near me but its difficult to get advice from them as most are wheel or tourney recurve shooters. So finding anything over 50# to try pulling is very difficult.

[Deno]

X2 what McDave said. 60# should be a good choice.
I'm 71, and shoot a HH Wesley Special @ 70# almost every day.  40 arrows is alot for a session.  I may shoot a couple dozen to 30 in a session.
 Good Luck with your choice.
Deno

[Sam McMichael]

If you are shooting 40 controlled shots with the 70# bow, that is good to go for hunting. That is, if you can shoot it this way in the cold and in odd positions. Back when I was younger, and could handle heavy bows, I would shoot the number of arrows that were comfortable, then shoot 5 or 6 more. soon, these extra arrows would fall into the "easy" category. It will probably never be comfortable for 3D and such extended target use.

However, if you go to 60# as suggested, you may be able to shoot it well for considerably more than 40 shots. Personally, I would not abandon the 70# bow.

[dbd870]

I have a friend who is in his 70's now but had to give up vertical bows of any kind several years ago. One of the things he blames it on was years of heavy recurves when he was younger. You roll the dice and take your chances.

[Orion]

Depends somewhat on how you're going to use the bow.  60# is certainly enough for just about any critter on this continent.  A bit heavy for a lot of target shooting though.  Might like 55# better if that's all you're going to use it for.  

I shot 60-70# when I was in my 30s through 50s.  70# was definitely on the heavy side of what I (thought I) could handle. About the same as you.  After 30-40 arrows, had difficulty keeping it together.  Looking back, I think shooting bows heavier than necessary initiated and exacerbated my target panic.

[Ari_Bonn]

The problem with the 70 is that I absolutely hate the handle, was an in stock one that was originally made for someone else very different from the regular straight grip.

I'm planning on dedicating my time to this one bow  for target and hunting. Was not a true hill bow but I always shot that Robertson the best out of any of them and I like the straight grip very much.

[damascusdave]

I once talked to an international level FITA shooter near Edmonton about his shooting style. One thing he told me is that the Korean men will shoot 55 pounds for 8 hours of practice.

DDave

[damascusdave]

Far more enlightening was his assertion that he has seen a 10fps difference due to tab material and composition. There are many factors that Trump draw weight. And yes I noticed what spell correct did.

DDave

[stagetek]

I'm not a doctor, but I know more than a few guys who developed shoulder issues later in life, from shooting heavy recurves early in life.

[Orion]

db,stagetek:  Not sure I buy that.  I'm over 70 now and have never had shoulder problems, at least none I can attribute to archery.  I dislocated my shoulder in high school sports, and have re dislocated it several times over the years.  Despite that, it's never affected nor been affected by my shooting a bow.

As we get old, we just start deteriorating in general.  More than the shoulders go.  Most can be traced to other things we've done, injuries we've incurred earlier in life.

I'd argue that to the extent that archery does play a role, it's probably due more to improperly drawing, aligning,shooting the bow than it is to the weight drawn.

[Ari_Bonn]

I find that with high draw weights swing draw only because shooting them target style is going to mess your shoulder up reaching so far forwards.

[crazynate]

I'm 34 and know a few gentleman that still shoot 60-70# longbows. They have always done it and no shoulder issues for them. For me I'm only 34 but I hurt my shoulder in the Corp and that causes me issues with shooting. I only shoot 50# now for hunting and 47 on most of my other bows. My 47# I can shoot for hours. Id recommend a 45-50# for you. just my 2 cents

[Rob DiStefano]

my simple philosophy with regards to "bow weight" is to employ the most you can consistently control for accuracy.  if you can add on more weight, go for it.  you'll know when too much is just that, too much.  then either build up the weight or back off and save both yerself and the game you hunt.

however ...

base yer bow holding weight (not the weight labeled on the bow) on the typical larger game you'll be hunting.  know what holding weight it'll take for you, not me or others, to ethically kill either rabbits or deer or elk or whatever.  it's too easy to go "over bowed", and then everything suffers, and for what?  

being in control of any bow, or for increasing yer holding weight, is based on keeping in bow shooting physical shape.  you know what that means.  

be aware that it's far better to be in control of the bow, for consistently accurate shot placement at normal hunting distances, than to add 5# more holding weight that could jeopardize your shot control.

everyone's different, and so can be yer hunting venues.  

what bow holding weight you find easy to control during good weather at the local range or on yer home property, and with you in top physical shape, can become worrisome in colder/hotter weather, or in more difficult terrain, and other endurance/strength sapping conditions.  in such cases, you might be wishing for lighter tackle.

good luck, and go kill something good for suppers!

[Ari_Bonn]

I think I'll go with the 60#, thank you everyone for your opinions.

I just tested myself in the garage about 32F in shoes and a thin t shirt.  My max is just shy of 80 shots with the 70# I feel 60 of them I had complete control.

[Bowwild]

Be sure to warm up before shooting.

In my 46 years of shooting bows I've encountered almost no one who warms up before drawing a bow.  I think I aggravated a baseball shoulder issue in two separate years by not warming  up. (I'm 63 this month).

These days I do whole arm, slow windmills for about 30 seconds before shooting--both directions.   I also draw the bow (without an arrow) 1/4 draw, 1/2 draw, 3/4 draw ...before full-drawing.

Those two times I hurt my shoulder shut my shooting down for nearly 8 months BOTH times. No surgery required but no shooting and ice was required for a long time.  I'm not 100% sure it was the over-bow drawing that did this harm, I was also carrying a bunch of lumber on my shoulder in one case and carrying sectional couch into my son's house in the other.

I'm getting ready to get a bow or limbs for a bow that draw 6-10 pounds lighter than I hunt with (40 vs. 46-49).  I want to be able to do anything I want with that bow, get in perfect form, hold it as long as I want and then execute the shot. I'm a bit concerned about doing this because I fear dropping down while improving enjoyment of my form, will make it more difficult to shoot my hunting bows.

I have never in my life drawn a recurve (I don't do LB) greater than 60 pounds.