Question for heavy longbow shooters.

[moleman]

I can see that this is gonna be a tough decision. After researching some of the fine bowyers and limb combos referred to on here, ive got my work cut out for me.
Matt you are not wrong my friend, going up 10# is gonna take some time and patience.  At 150 lbs, in good physical condition, and determination, i made it to 72# so 80# is on my hit list. Have no fear, this little guy will persevere!  
IMHO, i think there a lot of folks who underestimate themselves and what they can accomplish, when it comes to shooting heavier bows. With a good physical routine, patience, and taking care not to over do to fast, I think anybody can reach any goal they have in mind, given that one is in good physical shape.

[Raging Water]

Originally posted by moleman:

IMHO, i think there a lot of folks who underestimate themselves and what they can accomplish, when it comes to shooting heavier bows. With a good physical routine, patience, and taking care not to over do to fast, I think anybody can reach any goal they have in mind, given that one is in good physical shape.

100% Agree. Either in draw weight or in life. Less Couches more Crunches!


Matt

[ironmike]

a little off topic but how many grains are your arrow at 80#s,i'd think that they heavier draw is for the ability to shoot a heavier arrow?yes,no?that's what i like best abouit my bows, 70-76#

[Raging Water]

Originally posted by ironmike:
a little off topic but how many grains are your arrow at 80#s,i'd think that they heavier draw is for the ability to shoot a heavier arrow?yes,no?that's what i like best abouit my bows, 70-76#

As close to 10 GPP as I can get.

For me the attraction is cast and release.

I like the cast of a heavy arrow to be as flat as possible. I have enough issues with aiming left to right so, that kind solves up and down issue.

The other issue is release. I find my grip strength to torque the heck out of a lighter draw bow. I enjoy how the string pressure equals my grip strength and I get a cleaner release.

My 2 Cents,

Matt

[ironmike]

how many grains are you 80 pounders shooting?

[michaelschwister]

I too try to shoot around 10gpp.  For bowyers that do well with heavier weights, northern mist is up there as the bowyer himself shoots those weights. Same for Craig Ekin at HH. If you can find a  Byron Ferguson made bow buy it, most were 72-77#. Byron is my favorites.  His son Zach is making them now, but I don;t have one of his.

[C.Cannon]

I'm still going to keep my recommendation for a Hill bow because of craftsmanship and fast shipment; but if you want a heavy R/D bow try out a Howard Hill "Black Badger". It's an extreme reflex deflexed bow with a carbon lamination, Craig only makes them on special order.

[moleman]

Mr. Cannon, After doing some looking and being the owner of several Hills, I find myself leaning very heavy towards the Hill recommendations. The quality, smoothness and shootability of the Hills is hard to beat no matter what the poundage. There are other great bows out there for sure, but without the opportunity to shoot them, ill more than likely go with a product ive owned ,shot, and trusted for a long time.

[Raging Water]

Originally posted by ironmike:
how many grains are you 80 pounders shooting?

Okay, time for blasphemy. Names will not be shown, to protect the innocent.

A son of a well known bowyer made me some 650 grain woodies (including the field point) for a 80# plus bow, that his Dad made for me.

I asked about that low of a grain weight and the son said, "Dad is too conservative, his bows are too tough for that to damage the bow".

Oh, the horror of it all!

Matt

[Raging Water]

Originally posted by ironmike:
how many grains are you 80 pounders shooting?

Okay, time for blasphemy. Names will not be shown, to protect the innocent.

A son of a well known bowyer made me some 650 grain woodies (including the field point) for a 80# plus bow, that his Dad made for me.

I asked about that low of a grain weight and the son said, "Dad is too conservative, his bows are too tough for that to damage the bow".

Oh, the horror of it all!

Matt

[atatarpm]

At what point in bow weight is the point of dimminishing returns? Where the gains are not as great as the growing poundage.

[ericmerg]

i think the returns increase as long as you can consistantly pull the bow back without doing any muscle damage and shoot as accuratly the first shot as your can the 40th shot

[ironmike]

my fred anderson bow is rated 71#@27,i pull about 29" and shoot a 15 1/2 gpi fmj /50 grain insert and a 135gr blade,my overall weight on those arrows is about 650gr and they are ideal for that bow .i don't know what i'm accually getting for draw weight,maybe 75#,so thats about 9gpp ,the bow loves it.

[ericmerg]

my 72# bow is rated at 75#at 28 i draw 27.25 so it comes in at 72-72# and im shooting a icsbowhunter 340 cut to 31.5 with a 300grn head its a bit weak but i havnt tuned arrows to this bow seriously yet it comes up to 614 grains so its around 8.5 gpp and it flings like a bullet

[C.Cannon]

Originally posted by atatarpm:
At what point in bow weight is the point of dimminishing returns? Where the gains are not as great as the growing poundage.

I think that depends on the bow designs, I've read that Mongolian style bows max out in speed in the mid fifties or sixties, but I've also read that deep cored longbows (R/D or straight limbed) the limb mass doesn't over shadow the energy in the arrow cast until extremely high poundage’s.
I’m just parroting information, but I’m sure an engineer will come along and give you a real answer

[Gil Verwey]

I have several bows in that weight range. I have a Hill Wesley 68" bamboo limbs at 80#. It is a sweet shooter. Craig is building them as good or better than most.

I would recommend finding a cheap workout bow around 80# to help you work up to that weight. A Tradgang member sold me a 83# one for $70 shipped as a workout bow.

When you feel comfortable I would then look for a used Hill or Schulz bow in the 80# range. The heavier weight bows can be purchased inexpensively, but you have to act fast since there are few people that look for them and will gobble them up.

Good luck
Gil

[kbetts]

At 150#, you're a heavyweight.  I'm 135# and have worked up to a 71# quite quickly.  I plan on carrying the Hitman pass around bow sometime this year.  I think the next 10# will come easier than you think.

The arrow thing I haven't nailed down.  I'm hoping to use GT 75/95.  I have the same draw as you do and think that if I keep my arrow length around 28.5-29.75 I will have enough spine to load the front pretty good.  We will see.

[atatarpm]

Ttt

[C.Cannon]

well I'm in the same boat as moleman with an 8# jump in bow weight. Do yall have any workouts/ warm ups for shooting the heavier bows

[kbetts]

I can pick up the 71# and shoot it without a warm up.

To get to this point I did, and still do a multitude of core and back exercises.  Deadlifts, squats, crunches, and lower back once a week.  After a day or so of rest, its all upper back with seated rows (one arm and two), reverse flys, lat raises, etc.  Your body will quickly tell you what is weakest.  For me, its my biceps and triceps so I work on them more than other things.  Core strength is important though.  I've learned that.