First question would be have you pulled a bow before? I would take the folks' advice regarding lesser poundage seriously. Realistically unless you're freakishly developed in muscles orientated toward archery (ones you won't know you have until you've pulled a few rounds!) you will find an ideal beginner poundage to be between 26-30. This being that as others have stated you will become frustrated, also you'll end up beetroot red, heaving and shaking like a leaf trying to group any in gold. I wouldn't recommend compound until you have the basics of recurve. Most clubs will not teach you compound until they pass you for basic safety and skill. Recurve/longbow are deadly Compound is ABSOLUTELY deadly and in unskilled hands very very dangerous! From experience when I started I was exactly the same as you tomcoles but the most important thing about archery is technique and repartition learn that at lower poundage and it will serve you in whatever you do from then on a decent recurve bow using carbon arrows, with a poundage of 28-32 (you can change limbs to upgrade poundage with decent recurve bows) will hit 50 yards easy with decent accuracy. Most of all you need to enjoy it and improve over time!
Compound bow
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First question would be have you pulled a bow before? I would take the folks' advice regarding lesser poundage seriously. Realistically unless you're freakishly developed in muscles orientated toward archery (ones you won't know you have until you've pulled a few rounds!) you will find an ideal beginner poundage to be between 26-30. This being that as others have stated you will become frustrated, also you'll end up beetroot red, heaving and shaking like a leaf trying to group any in gold. I wouldn't recommend compound until you have the basics of recurve. Most clubs will not teach you compound until they pass you for basic safety and skill. Recurve/longbow are deadly Compound is ABSOLUTELY deadly and in unskilled hands very very dangerous! From experience when I started I was exactly the same as you tomcoles but the most important thing about archery is technique and repartition learn that at lower poundage and it will serve you in whatever you do from then on a decent recurve bow using carbon arrows, with a poundage of 28-32 (you can change limbs to upgrade poundage with decent recurve bows) will hit 50 yards easy with decent accuracy. Most of all you need to enjoy it and improve over time!
But how much do you shoot? Not how frequently, but how long in a single session? A few shots isn't an awful strain with a 40# bow, but an hour of steady shooting is quite another thing.
That sounds doable and even enjoyable for an experienced shooter who's developed applicable muscles. But not so much so for a beginner (unless he or she was already a rower) Did you shoot that long when you started?
Yes but it was winter so we "queue" for our boss indoors taking turns. So less shooting was done I guess. I did find it a huge step up from 40 to 45 though.
Why is that mate?
I have a steel takedown recurve that I bought from an antiques fair years ago. I'v not used it much and I'm now wondering if i'v been handicapping myself
Also... probably more pertinant. My bow is 40# @28". But my draw is 27" so you lose an inch of power.
I'd be careful using an old steel bow. My dad has one and we've been advised not to even string it in case fatigue had set in.
Bows with longer limbs tend to be more 'forgiving' of poor form. I think this is down to the total power output being less altered by variations in draw lengths.
Straight, flat-limbed bows and longbows (selfwood) have the the longest limbs of all and are the most forgiving but tend to have slightly lower power for the draw weight than a full recurve. Simple semi-recurves are similar when they are long.
Compounds put most of the energy into the arrow part-way through the release action so aren't affected by draw length variations in the same way. However, my feel on them is that they are noisy, clunking heavy things that don't do it for me aesthetically at all.
Modern takedown full recurves have fairly short limbs and are hence most affected by variations in draw length. This will be very apparent at longer distances but out to 40m not so much of a factor. Use of a clicker mostly overcomes this but I've never liked them, partly because I used to hunt (in Australia, where it was legal) and a clicker would startle game.
The sami horsebows liked by quite a few people here seem to have longish limbs for their size (due to the short riser) and would be nice to use for casual shooting. If you are going to spend much time paper punching I'd suggest starting with a conventional modern target recurve of about 30lb draw weight. Most clubs will have some club bows you can borrow and you'll probably be able to get a second hand one cheap from someone trading up.
Straight, flat-limbed bows and longbows (selfwood) have the the longest limbs of all and are the most forgiving but tend to have slightly lower power for the draw weight than a full recurve. Simple semi-recurves are similar when they are long.
Compounds put most of the energy into the arrow part-way through the release action so aren't affected by draw length variations in the same way. However, my feel on them is that they are noisy, clunking heavy things that don't do it for me aesthetically at all.
Modern takedown full recurves have fairly short limbs and are hence most affected by variations in draw length. This will be very apparent at longer distances but out to 40m not so much of a factor. Use of a clicker mostly overcomes this but I've never liked them, partly because I used to hunt (in Australia, where it was legal) and a clicker would startle game.
The sami horsebows liked by quite a few people here seem to have longish limbs for their size (due to the short riser) and would be nice to use for casual shooting. If you are going to spend much time paper punching I'd suggest starting with a conventional modern target recurve of about 30lb draw weight. Most clubs will have some club bows you can borrow and you'll probably be able to get a second hand one cheap from someone trading up.
My first bow, which i still have and use was a 70lb compound.... I'm the only one i know who can draw it. I have a 32" draw.... Im thankful for the let off on the compounds though. Might struggle a bit with a 70lb recurve. I think i would do well with a longbow, with having such a long draw. I want to work myself up to war bow power levels.. perhaps 120lb.
Rach wants a recurve.... or an "elf bow" as she calls them. She's never done Archery before... I've been looking at some of the bows on Merlin Archery's site... was thinking of getting her one.
Should we go for the 25lb or the 30 lb draw for her first?
Rach wants a recurve.... or an "elf bow" as she calls them. She's never done Archery before... I've been looking at some of the bows on Merlin Archery's site... was thinking of getting her one.
Should we go for the 25lb or the 30 lb draw for her first?
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I found that a recurve is a bitch to use (excuse my language) if you have poor form. You will belt your arm a lot and trust me when I say, that hurts (I've done it myself a lot before I realised it was my form that was bad). Shooting instinctively seems right with a recurve, but more often than not, instinct will give you crap form.
I would reccomend 25lb HillBill. always best to get your technique grounded before moving up. I started learning in the summer months so my rounds (of six) started at 4.30pm and ended at around 9.00pm just for the love of doing it. I see folks point about usage amounts with bigger bows but to be fair if you learn during winter on a big pounder doing rounds of 2 over 30-40 minutes a time then when summer comes a'calling I think it would be one hell of a wake up call. (not to mention the muscle ache!)
Back when I used to lift weights, I'd also hit plateaus where I'd struggle to add just a few pounds.
Ahh. Yeah both of these factors do come into play.
Personally I shoot a 35lb bow, I've shot 45lb too in the past, much to the amazement of the owner of said 45lb bow:
"Can I try your bow?"
"Only if you can draw it"
*ping twang*
"Seems you can, knock yourself out".
When using my bow I tend to use it for extended exchanges of arrows, 5-10 minute bouts loosing arrows as fast as I can, or as fast as the other side return them. It takes a little time to build up even that little strength and stamina. Especially as we're using moving (live) targets.
Anatomy means I have to hold the bow slightly differently to how a man would, which meant working on different muscles. I don't know how smaller chested women fair on this one?
I am pondering getting myself a 50lb long bow, and a 35lb horse bow, when money permits. The former hunt with, the later mostly for play.
Most of my friends shoot 20-30lb, and find no major issue with it. Start small and work up.
Julia
"Can I try your bow?"
"Only if you can draw it"
*ping twang*
"Seems you can, knock yourself out".
When using my bow I tend to use it for extended exchanges of arrows, 5-10 minute bouts loosing arrows as fast as I can, or as fast as the other side return them. It takes a little time to build up even that little strength and stamina. Especially as we're using moving (live) targets.
Anatomy means I have to hold the bow slightly differently to how a man would, which meant working on different muscles. I don't know how smaller chested women fair on this one?
I am pondering getting myself a 50lb long bow, and a 35lb horse bow, when money permits. The former hunt with, the later mostly for play.
Most of my friends shoot 20-30lb, and find no major issue with it. Start small and work up.
Julia
that's a fair point mate, and one that never crossed my mind.....I'll be bricking it next time I usenit now
it does seem to be in good nick though
Interesting cheers, I'll do some reading up that I think
Merlin do a takedown recurve for about £55, in various lengths, I'd look at getting one in the 24-26# range to start with. They appear to do replacement limbs for them for about £30 so could up the poundage after a while if need be without breaking the bank. Definitely start low and increase rather than start high and need to drop. Nothing puts beginners off like struggling with a bow. I'd always advise start low and work up. A lot of the top archers keep low poundage bows to practice their form as you can shoot all day with them compared to higher poundage ones, among other reasons.
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