Curious about your interests or thoughts.

[Cherry Tree]

Been thinking about this for a while for myself, and my transition to shorter length bows I'm a bowhunter so my focus is on hunting. I always used longer bows 66" even 68" and never complained in the woods I can say I've lost deer due to a limb hitting tree limbs also. But the last few years I've dropped to very short recurve less than 50" and really see the benefits of the short bows. I see more and more of people going longer and smoother and very forgiving bows and I think bowyers are really stepping it up in that area and the performance of there bows. So does any body have interests in extremely shorter bows i know little suckling is the shortest on the market to my noledge but i have never seen one and don't even know if there in business and with materials and bow designs at a peak in my eyes do people have no interests in the short bows much?

[Trenton G.]

The shortest bow I've shot was the Bear Super Mag 48. It just didn't feel good for me. I draw 29", and I know there are guys with draw's the same as mine that are shooting them, but it just didn't work. I was unable to get a good release from the finger pinch, and it started to stack on me. It also just felt really unstable in my hands. I definitely can see the advantages of a shorter bow, and would love to be able to shoot one as well as I can my longer bows. It just doesn't seem to work for me though.

[Bvas]

Built myself a 54” r/d last year. Simply love it. Carried it all of turkey season. I shoot the bow nearly vertical, and it was great being able to shoot from my knees sitting back on my feet  without worry of the bottom limb hitting the ground.

[Orion]

Hmmmm.  Seems to me the trend has been toward shorter bows recently, not longer, particularly 54-58-inch hybrids. 

The shortest bow I've shot is the 52-inch Kodiak Magnum. Didn't like it much.  Too much finger pinch.  56 inches is about as short as I'll go in a recurve.  My 56-inch Bear TD works well for turkeys out of a blind.  Plenty smooth, and not a lot of finger pinch at my 28-inch draw.

Other than that, though, I do lean toward longer bows.  I like 62-64-inch bows in hybrids and 66-68-inch ASLs. When I'm not hunting out of a blind, I configure my Bear TDs to come out at 60 inches.

I like the longer bows for the cleaner release I get with them.  They may be a little smoother, but that's more a function of design than length.  I do think a longer ASL is more forgiving of shooting flaws than is a short recurve.

But, whatever floats your boat.  Lots of bows of all lengths out there so we can each find what suits us best.

[Bowguy67]

The last post was a good one. “Whatever floats your boat”.
That being said you asked for opinions. Longer bows have many shooting advantages. No one will win a competition w a short bow. That oughta say something. 
Kinda like carry guys, sorry guys but many like small carry guns. It’s nuts if you ask me. Why exactly you carrying it to feel cool or in case you needed it? If you needed it and it didn’t shoot accurately you might as well carry rocks.
Back to the bow, you already alluded to no problems, why change? A little shorter may be a fantastic compromise though so keep this in mind.
Kinda reminds me too of all the turkey gun builds w youth guns. It’s not getting easier handicapping ourselves so I’d advise against it

[WVFarrier]

60" is about as short of a bow as ive felt good shooting.  I own a couple 58s but it amazes me the difference in the feel

[DocWolf]

Shorter bows for me. I have fell in love with Kegan’s 56” Native model.  It is a hybrid. I don’t see myself going back to the longer bows for a while.

I draw close to 32” (I know this because I don’t cut my 32” arrows and I unknocked an arrow when the broadhead hit the riser the other day). I  have not noticed finger pinch. I know that does sound like it makes sense and I can’t explain it, but it is what it is. I am actually shooting better with the Native than the 64” Omega.

I like the maneuverability of the shorter bow, because I am a hunter, above all. I feel like I have a better shooting window when in the tree stand. 

[Sam McMichael]

Since I got involved with longbows, I haven't shot anything shorter than 68" more than a handful of times. Now, short bows just don't feel right. Yet, back in the day of the recurve, those same short bows felt just fine. I guess it comes down mostly to what an archer gets used to shooting. I have never tried out the hybrid, but I know some guys who like them and shoot them very well. With all the money I have invested in ASL's, I sure hope my interests don't change too much. I am, however, fooling around a little with primitive archery. I have some well made stone points, cane arrows, and a couple of flat bows, so maybe a slight change in the action may come about.

[TradBrewSC]

I do agree that there seems to be less focus on short bows and more on shoot-ability/stability these days.

I would put myself in that category as well.

I started out shooting 60-62" recurves 15 or so years ago then went short for quite a while. I spent a lot of time with bows like a 54" Thunderchild, which was a fantastic bow!

After shooting longer recurves and longbows for a while now and seeing my groups tighten up so much, I will sacrifice maneuverability for tighter groups. These days I prefer 60-62" recurves and 62-64" longbows for my 28" draw.

[Hud]

IMO if your draw length is within the range suggested by the mfgr, for a particular bow, or under what is on the bow, and you do not experience finger pinch, it might be worth trying. Ground blind and tree stand hunters can benefit from a shorter bow and forward handle bows generally reduce finger pinch. Since you indicted it would be for hunting, be sure to check the draw weight, if your draw length is less than indicated on the bow. Short bows have tended to be less accurate for me in the past, but I am going to try a set of limbs for my Bear TD, "A" handle, making it 56" bow. It will be used primarily in a ground blind.

[Bisch]

Being a hunter, I would love to be able to shoot short bows well. They just don’t get along with me at all, so I just stick with my 64” and 62” bows.

Bisch

[Boone the Hunter]

Of course as stated at the end of the day what fits best for what your trying to accomplish is what wins, myself I’ve been shooting and loving my 62” PSA recurve a few years now shot several deer with it been a great hunting and target bow. I have a new 60” PCH recurve coming just in time for deer season that I intend to have be my main hunting bow. I draw 31” so 60” is on the short side for me and I would never go shorter at 31”. My hope is it’ll shoot very similar (same grip similar weight ect..) I will shoot my PSA for 3D and whatever and hunt with my PCH. I know 2” is minor but hoping for me the it’ll be the ultimate hunting setup. I have had problems hitting bow limbs before in particular in pop up blinds turkey hunting more than once I’ve barely clipped the top. Hoping that little extra will help.

[bigbadjon]

I prefer 62" to 66" bows. I would shoot a shorter bow bow if I was shooting from an enclosed blind or a tripod. The extra length has never been an issue in a tree stand.

[Cherry Tree]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys and experience. They seem to lend the way i was guessing. I will say the 48" super mag is one of the worst short bows I've used but I made a mistake at the time thinking I should shoot my normal draw wait not realizing what I know now is to drop draw wait for many reasons helps so much. So majority of you have never desired or have a desire of a extremely short bow to be on the market much?

[mec lineman]

I think a person's height plays a big role as well as draw length. My hunting buddy is a few inches shorter than me ,but has a longer draw . At 6' I like bows 60"-62" they accommodate my draw and allow plenty clearance shooting from different positions.  I have owned some nice 58 bows that were nice at my 28" dl, Dwyer Endeavor, Timber Ghost Smoke, Assenheimer. You never know till you try!

[BostonChicken_Hunter]

I have a 50” Samick Mind Korean Bow that shoots very well for me. It draws smoothly all the way to beyond 30”. I also have a more generic t/d recurve that is 58” and stacks like crazy. I think the horse bows are less prone to stacking at long draw lengths.


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[Oscar-eleven]

I ran into Kiko Tovar hunting in WY one year and shot one of his bows. If I remember correctly it was 44". I've had the hots for a short recurve ever since but I prefer shooting longbow.

[Bowwild]

My draw length is 26”. I much prefer a 56 or 58” recurve.  I se lots of options for this length now.  I don’t know if  a bow greater than 60” would be a better shooter for me because I would never own one, 

[ron w]

I have always had a thing for 58" bows but will admit I shoot longer stuff better. 68" ASL's and 62-64 R-D longbows just work well for me as do 60-64" recurves. Hunting from the ground in a blind, short is good.

[Boone the Hunter]

Yeah I suppose a year from now I’ll have to let ya all know how I feel going from the 62” to the 60” haha. I hunt a lot from “one time hunt” trees that I setup on the go and so they can be a little more unforgiving with limb clearance without having the proper time to trim ect.. I’ve wanted to try the 60” bow for a few years now I owned a 60” mojostik when I first started and always liked it. For general shooting I’m sure a 64” or even 66” recurve at my height 6’7” 31” draw would be nicer but I’m a hunter first with archery so I’ve always tried to walk the line of short and light/ shootability. My primary hunting bow for years was a 64” plx longbow and I loved it. Went on a lot of great adventures with that rig and put down a lot of game.