How heavy did you start?

[Bowwild]

45@ Ben Pearson Cougar recurve in late 1960's.

45 years later I'm still shooting 45-50 pound recurves (at my 26" draw).

[threeunder]

45#@28".  I draw 27.  I should have started at 40# or even 35#.  I would be a better shooter today if I had.

[JamesKerr]

I started with 45# @ 28 which was only about 38# at my draw length when I was 12. Nowadays I shoot mainly 55#-60# at 28".

[PRK]

Started out with a 75# HH LB in the early 1980's.  Hunt with 50# now.  Do a lot of shooting with a 36 and 44# during the off season.

[Friend]

Little Bear... 20# @ 24"s - 1969...11 yrs old

>>>Still have it<<<

Before that - numerous bows made from limbs

Sierra Shakespeare...50 @ 28 - 1973...15 yrs old
......Note: I was over-bowed but loved every outing...

[Widow's Son]

Started out with Dads Ben Pearson lemon wood flatbow at around 45#. Got into compounds for a little while and then got a Sky Eagle at 60#. Took me several years and dozens of missed deer to figure out I was over-bowed. After shoulder surgery I keep it down to 45#s. I don't miss as often either!

[jsweka]

When I started bowhunting at the age of 13, I used 40# Bear Whitetail compound.  When I made the transition to traditional I went from an 85# compound down to a 55# Great Plains recurve.

[bowhuntingrn]

I started with a 50# Indian archery compound at 15. Moved up to about 65-70# 1.5-2 yrs later. The last 15 or so years I shot wheels it was 60-62#. About 3.5-4 yrs ago started dabbling in traditional with a 50# "selfbow", thought I could handle the poundage, but found it was too heavy for my typical extended shooting sessions. Dropped down to 43# when i started shooting exclusively traditional a little over 2 yrs ago, then 45#, working my way back into a 53# now. Probably won't go much heavier. As general rule, I'd advise anybody just starting traditional to go at least 5-10#'s lighter than you think you can handle. Work on your form / technique, then work your way up. I was hard headed, ended up buying / trading 2-3 bows that were too heavy and have learned my lesson...I think.

[Duncan]

Started shooting in about 1968 with a Shakepeare 25# fiberglass bow. Then when I was about 20 I got a 47# Bear Alaskan off a co-worker for 15.00. That was my first hunting bow and I killed my first deer with it. I worked my way up to 55# but today I'm most comfortable with 45# or 50# bows. Have not shot the 55# limbs in years. I have made some 60# and 65# self bows and enjoyed stumping with them but these days bows that heavy are just not for me.

[Lineman72]

Started with a fred bear montana 45#@27, went up in # to 62 to quickly. I regret doing that. Was only about 3 months of shooting. Went down to 50-55#. Settled with that for about 4 months before i got my hands on a 70#@26, my draw is to 27, made sure i came to anchor, released and was wowzified by the speed and flat trajectory of the woody made for a 55# bow. Took about 2 weeks to where im comfy shooting it. Now pulling the 50's seems so ez. Start low, work your way up by either asking to borrow, rent, buy used bows. Thats what i did and dont regret. My wife on the other hand... Another bow???? :-)

[Daddy Bear]

Started out as a kid in target archery followed by small game.  No clue on the weights, but I'm sure it was about the same as kids today.  Still have the bow dad built for me when he felt I was ready to hunt deer with a bow.  He marked it 45 pounds, but I was probably drawing low 40s.  Back then, dad's hunting bow was too heavy for me, so I started using my grandfather's marked 50 pounds. Eventually, I became the apple that didn't fall too far from the tree and fell into the 60 pound range.  Been my favorite hunting weight since.

[Archie]

My first bow had 49# and 61# limbs at my 31" draw.  I shot the light limbs for a couple of years, and still like shooting the 48# and 49# setups that I have.  My preference is to shoot heavier, though.  I like the 55# - 65# range.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

(1969) 45 lb grizzly I was 13.

[old_goat2]

About 45 at my draw length

[ermont]

60#. What a mistake.

[nineworlds9]

I started with a 33# Tigercat in my Tweens/teens.  Took a long hiatus from trad, got back into bows through 70# wheelie, ditched that quickly for boredom, dusted off the Tigercat, fell in love all over, graduated to a Samick Sage with 45 and 60# limbs, so as to work on form and build strength, then went hog wild a few months later and started shooting customs anywhere from 40-71#.  I built my real strength shooting a 90# warbow for 3 months and now 45 feels super light to me.  My favorite weight is 53.  And my heaviest bow is now 65.  I found the system of shooting both light and heavy bows very nice.  I'm 6'2'' 250/ firefighter.

[Caughtandhobble]

I started with 60# Montana, I shoot 45-50# these days. I never shot the 60# bow as well as I can shoot the lighter bows.

[Gil]

Started with bamboo bows my father whittled when I was around 5,weight unknown. At 15,we were able to buy a used Ben Pearson that was 30#.Now have a 60#@29" longbow and slightly lighter ILF recurve.

[Phrogdrvr]

45# Alaskan, Halloween bow.  Given to me when I was a youngster by my Grandfather's next door neighbor.

Tom

[slivrslingr]

50lb