Heavy Bows...a lifestyle choice?

[David Yukon]

I have a 70# longbow that I use to shoot all the time, it was my only bow and I was shooting a lot! My "new" bow is a 60# and I do shoot it more that the 70 pounder, just cause I don,t shoot as much any more( working on that) but still like t let go a few arrows with my 70# one, it just feel good!
cheers

[bawana bowman]

Been shooting heavier weights since I was a kid. Guess it has to do with my Dad buying me a 45# Kodiak when I was 7. I may not have been drawing 28" at that age but, by the time I was 12 I was shooting 65-70# recurves. Still don't know if I was drawing 28", probably not. But I believe this is the reason I always have shot heavy weights. Grew up doing it, and it has just always felt right.
Sold my 108# HH at age 40, and have pretty much stayed with 65-80# for the past 15 1/2 years.

Decided about 3 months ago to better prepare for an upcoming Africa hunt I wanted to start shooting 100# bows again to gain strength and endurance. Well made a post in classifieds looking for a bow. This past Thursday I received Raging Waters (Matt Hamiltons) 102# Bamabow Hunter at the Post Office.
At almost 56 years old I was very surprised that I can almost get it to full draw. Figure just by shooting it I should be there without over doing things in a month or 2 at the most. (Can actually make full draw left handed, But I'm right handed as is the bow. Left arm keeps breaking down when drawing right handed, need to work on left arm strength.)
But for me the best thing about shooting heavy weight bows...... It sure is a lot more fun than going to the Gym for exercise.

[reinmb]

nice matt i have to say that i have never seen anything like that on a bow

[zwickey2bl]

Have shot heavy bows for over 20 years, although my definition of "heavy" has changed a little. I bought a used Jerry Hill 76# back about '92, it came apart on me. Sent it to Jerry to see if he could repair it. He said no, but he'd build me a new bow for 1/2 price. I had him build me a 68" 80# Wildcat and shot it effectively for years. Killed several deer with it over the years. It began to be a little much a few years back, and to make a long story short, I've reduced my poundage to 65#, which many would still consider heavy. At age 52, I'm happy with a 65# Hill-style bow. Time and age may further alter my definition of "heavy", however. As long as it'll still shove an arrow through a whitetail, "heavy is as heavy does."  

[Sacred mt]

"Every passion has its destiny"
                    Billy Mills

[Rik]

I don't really think it's a lifestyle choice, it has more to do with who we are, and what feels right.

I don't arm wrestle little skinny guys, because it just wouldn't feel right.

I don't put on the gear and fight little skinny guys full contact, because it just wouldn't feel right.

And I don't shoot my wife's little skinny 52-pound bows because they just don't feel right.

I do shoot my 75 and 80 pound bows because they feel JUST RIGHT.

(Plus they kill elk dead).

. . . and mule deer, and bears, and wild boar, and big nasty Australian buffalo, and anything else that gets downrange of a heavy arrow launched from my bows.

My bows are not heavy to me, they are just right------Sweet and smooth as honey!

[Kingstaken]

Greyfox said something important about release many guys don't think of. A heavier bow will give you a cleaner release with the string naturally falling off your fingers. I try to get friends to shoot heavier and once they do they say like RIK above said it really feels right.
Drawing a heavier bows demands boths arms and back to work in unisinc just as one went lifts weights maintaining control of the bow very rarely having issues like dropping your bow arm after release.

[traditionalman]

I used to shoot a 90 pound and have shot a 100 pound hill. Then agent orange, dibetices,  heart disease, and extreem disc disease made me come down to 80 pounds and then 70 pounds and now 65 pounds. It does take effort to shoot the big ones but I always loved it.

How did Hill put it when he saw someone straining on a too heavy bow, "I could cut washers off your rump."  I see people blowing their form when shooting heavy stuff and torquing their bodies to get the bow back in some of these pictures on here.  It concerns me that they could hurt themselves.  I hurt myself a couple of times with the super heavies, the worst time was with that damn Jennings thing.  What ended up getting me was not the shoulders , but the release fingers.  I made certain that I was not violating the Hill form when I shot the heavy bows, even good form cannot prevent everything that can wear out.  I never ever look down on someone that shoots a light bow, especially if they are out shooting me.  A good shot is just that and a bad shot is just a bad shot, the wayward arrow forgets very quickly how hard the shooter was straining.

[Rik]

I don't think the bows were are discussing fall anywhere near "ultra heavy."

For me, ultra heavy would be around 110 pounds or so. For some of the larger guys here, I am guessing it would go even higher.

70? 80? Pretty light and comfortable actually, unless you never train to be stronger than the bow.

If I had to strain to draw my everyday hunting bow, I would be (1) overbowed, and (2) a moron for hunting with a bow I had to strain to shoot.

[YORNOC]

Rik,...showoff! 70 to 80 is not exactly light for the average bowhunter. You are blessed. I tried a 110 longbow once and it stopped dead two inches from anchor, I could not budge it to save my life after that.
 I can't shoot an 80 pound bow without straining unless I  work up to it. Then I'm okay, but naturally I'm not capable of shooting anything over about 65 pounds without starting to strain. Body type, bone structure, etc all plays a role. You play with the cards you are dealt.

[ishiwannabe]

I dont shoot a heavy bow, 55# is what I am hunting with this year. I have noticed that the bow I shot the best was the heaviest I have owned at 66#. If I go below 50#, bad things happen to my form and release. The added weight seems to tighten up my form and "force" me to do things right. Usually anyway. Lol.

Do any of you guys have similar issues when you pick up lighter bows? Fred touched on it, and I know I have issues with lighter weights....just curious.

[Steve Clandinin]

Ishi,I'm the same,for the life of me I have a hard time with light bows.More strain the better.Like you said it forces me to do everything right.

When I was shooting 80 to 90 pound bows when I would try one of our 50 pound bows , it was like the empty bucket in a bucket brigade.  The empty bucket gets tossed in the air when a heavy one is expected.  It was like I did not know how to pull it, all the wrong muscles kicked in.  I did eventually get myself to back the weight down a bit.  Still today, I can hardly feel the difference between a 50 plus bow and a 64 pound bow, maybe if I would stop working out with my two 64 pound bows simultaneously that would change.  However, it is more important to shoot healthy than to not shoot at all.

[Ron LaClair]

It takes training to be able to shoot and HANDLE heavy bows. When I shot heavy weights I shot every day. There was a time when I didn't own a bow under 80#. My favorite 3D bow was an 83# Zebra longbow. My heaviest bow was a 120# LD longbow. Over the years my bow weight steadily declined.

I have bad shoulders from years of shooting those heavy weights. I'll be 75 years old next spring, the same age that Howard Hill was when he died. Howard was down to low 40's in bow weight in his latter years because of arthritis in his hands and shoulders. I have the strength to shoot a 60# bow but if I do my shoulders keep me awake at night. I just got a new bow made for myself and it's 45#...light weight?..yes, but it doesn't hurt when I shoot it...  

Ia Hawkeye said,

   

Shooting heavy bows is limited by genetics, health, age and common sense.

ALL YOU ULTRA HEAVY BOW SHOOTERS WILL PAY FOR IT SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD.It may take 30-40, years or more, but it will happen.If not you will be an exception.  

AMEN

[cacciatore]

Ron,you are 75 young at your age,but I think that everyone does what he likes better and can,so everyone can enjoy the sport.one of the reason i am actually going up on the poundage is for not going down!!

[longbowman]

I can't say I think it's alife style but you do what feels best for you.  I've shot the moderate weight bows for 30 plus years because I could.  I always believed you should shoot the heaviest bow you can handle accurately.  I'm the same age as Greyfox and can shoot 3D courses with my 80# Longbow and I have trouble with my release using anything much under 70#.  Maybe it's because I'm a little guy and I get a kick out of big guys grunting to pull my bows back but I've killed a ton of game with them and will probably shoot them until I get old.  The doe I just shot was with the lightest bow I own at 68#.  The deer died and the arrow went through so I guess it works.  You can only kill them so dead.

[mnbwhtr]

When I started(50 years ago) I was shooting 50#. When I started shooting "shoots" I realized the faster and flatter an arrow got to the target the easier it was so I got another bow 61# and another 70#. These were my field round bows, eventually I stopped at 88#. There wasn't any recurve class then and the compounds had taken over. I am shooting 60-65 now and enjoying it, any less just doesn't feel right.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Originally posted by Ron LaClair:
It takes training to be able to shoot and HANDLE heavy bows. When I shot heavy weights I shot every day. There was a time when I didn't own a bow under 80#. My favorite 3D bow was an 83# Zebra longbow. My heaviest bow was a 120# LD longbow. Over the years my bow weight steadily declined.

I have bad shoulders from years of shooting those heavy weights. I'll be 75 years old next spring, the same age that Howard Hill was when he died. Howard was down to low 40's in bow weight in his latter years because of arthritis in his hands and shoulders. I have the strength to shoot a 60# bow but if I do my shoulders keep me awake at night. I just got a new bow made for myself and it's 45#...light weight?..yes, but it doesn't hurt when I shoot it...      

Ia Hawkeye said,

   

Shooting heavy bows is limited by genetics, health, age and common sense.

ALL YOU ULTRA HEAVY BOW SHOOTERS WILL PAY FOR IT SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD.It may take 30-40, years or more, but it will happen.If not you will be an exception.  

AMEN [/b]

 


I used to shoot mid-70s poundages.  As long as you do everything exactly right, no problem.  Unfortunately, none of us does everything exactly right every time.  I now shoot high 50s and leave the advil behind.

[Grant Young]

I agree with about everything that's been said. My heaviest bow is around 75#- lightest is 65# and like some others have posted, I don't feel they are particularly heavy. Ron brought up a great point; I'm not a big guy, and I'm 56 years old. I have to shoot regularly- every other day at least- to shoot my heaviest stuff. I'm really beginning to pay, physically, for everything I've done to myself and in comparison to most of them, shooting a bow has been pretty benign. I know that the day is coming when I'll drop some weight and I know that 70+ pounds isn't at all necessary for the game I hunt. However it keeps me in shape to a certain degree and if I maintain myself, it doesn't hurt. If I take three months off for whatever reason, I have to train back up. I don't think that's all bad. BTW- these weights are all I could ever shoot well but I'd shoot 100 lbs. if I could. Its not necessary, I know, but I don't believe anyone ever lost an animal because he or she was shooting too much weight. They may have missed a few, LOL, but all else being equal, they didn't lose'em cause of high poundage.  GY