I own a 50# Fred Bear recurve I purchased from the museum years ago in Gainsville with the intent of going trad. It seems a bit strong for me to learn on, should I get a lesser poundage bow to learn on, or build my shooting muscles up with this one? Also, what is your recommended poundage for deer sized animals, and elk sized animals. Thanks.

your legal with 40 in ohio. get a cheap 40 and use it until you are happy with your shooting, then work up to the 50 a little at a time as you practice with the 40. elk? many say 55lb. if you are near Portsmouth, pm me....ron

35# is a good place to start, the longer the bow the better also.

Ned -

Actually, no. You're probably not going to learn to shoot well with any hunting legal weight bow.

To be frank, I've had people starting with 25-30# rigs out shoot their more macho counterparts within months. Once the basics are down, then increasing draw weight starts making more sense. AND, you'll actually KNOW what weight you can really handle.

Viper out.

I see a lot of guys shooting 50+#s at the 3d shoots that never get back to full draw. One guy that comes to mind lets fly at about the 20" mark. I started w 50#s and quickly learned i was overbowed. A light 35-40 # bow will let you learn proper form and as stated above 40#s is legal in Ohio--- you may find thats all you need--- i know i did. Not nocking heavier bows, there are plenty of great shooters using them, but for me and my style of shooting the lighter bows work out better. Good luck.

What Viper said times 20.

Mark what part of Ohio are you in?

That is probably one of the worst bows, for you to start with, and forget them old bows,,,, no disrespect, but for new trad shooters, too much other stuff out there, that does not stack like an old elm tree.....

I would go with about 35lbs, nice ILF system, but hard to say, because you do not disclose your age, or height, and physical condition,,,,,

I agree with Viper,,,,,, you want to shoot something that is fun

Find a weight thats simple to pull and hold as a learning weight. Then once you learn work out with the heavier bow till it's easy to pull before you switch.

Depending on age I’d say 20-35

These days I mostly shoot bows that draw between 55 and 60 pounds, although my 3D bow is about 50 pounds. When I started shooting seriously in 2009 my first bow was under 40 pounds at my draw length even though I could draw 50 fairly easily. Part of my enjoyment of traditional archery has been to challenge myself to shoot increasing draw weights well. I will be 66 tomorrow and at my strongest I could shoot about 70 pounds well.

DDave

Just don't forget to match your arrows to your bow. I shoot 700 spine arrows with my 32# ILF recurve.

I will concurr with 4t5......You will thank yourself later if you listen.....

I knew a guy who shot an 80 pound compound, and he said that a 35 pound recurve would kick his… Well, you know.

It depends on an off a lot of factors, but Viper has taught an awful lot of people how to shoot very well, and I think you’d be crazy to ignore his advice.

If you’re really concerned about investing too much and something that you won’t need for an extended period of time, I would suggest a three-piece take down, so that you could trade off or upgrade your limbs as your strength and confidence increase. But I do think that a lot of people would be well-served by keeping a 25 or 30 pounder on the rack, because you can always use it to introduce someone else to the sport, or as a Form Bow or for warming up, or for rehab, or…

50 is all you will ever need to hunt with. 30 to 35 is all you need to learn with and plenty to target shoot with from now on. Best of luck and have fun. >>>----> Ken

Camodave, thats pretty good poundage. Im 60 and shoot 45 plus or minus 3lbs. When i shot compound i would shoot for 8 hrs at the range with 80lbs. Notany more. Lot easier to pull compound than recurve. Stickbows will humble us quick

The key for me is being able to both shoot in my yard and shoot in my basement. For a long time I hardly missed a day all year that I did not shoot an arrow or two. Lately I do not shoot much at all for a couple of reasons. I am back into guns and I am working far from home.

DDave

Listen to Viper

I must differ with ground hunter in regard to the older bows. Lots of them at very reasonable prices that will shoot right along with the newer bows.

And yes, 50# is too much to learn on. There are some outstanding bows available now that are quite reasonable and you can get light limbs to start and heavier limbs later as you progress. Best of success on your pursuit.

First bow was 48lb and had no problem with it as long as I did not shoot it for a long period of time. Had an instructor get me started though, so I learned to set an anchor point and release with someone watching me. The legal draw weight where I lived was 40lb and those draw weights close to 40lb worked great for many of my friends and my brother in law to get started.

However, it depends on whether you are young and strong as many can pull back 50lb just fine. An instructor can get you started with your 50lb bow and advise you by watching you.

Too many variables including the characteristics of the bow to just recommend a good draw weight. Some bows are difficult to pull back and others are not. Although 40 to 45lb draw weights are common, many shoot 55lb or more regularly. Your 50lb bow may not be too heavy if you can stick with it and get your muscles used to it and even better, find and instructor.

One more thing Ned. I can't shoot a 48lb bow now like I could 55 years ago. Now I like a 1962 30lb @24 inch bow (about a 38 to 40lb @28 inches) on my rack of eight the best. Started my grandson when he was 12 out with a 24lb heavy risered target bow and just bought a used 30lb '59er Kodiak I hope to enjoy, but my daughter wants to use it.

A down side to a low draw weight is most inexpensive carbon arrow shaft manufacturers do not have a large selection of shafts for low weight bows, unless you buy target shafts, but aluminum shafts will work fine.

I had bought a couple of 50# bows and could never really shoot them well. I read Vipers book and that evening I went to Cabela's an bought a 30# bow...best move I ever made!!! I learned to shoot that bow the proper way, and worked my way up to heavier bows. 50#'s is still too much for me, my max is about 45#'s.

You might not know this, but Viper wrote 'Shooting the Stickbow'.

AND indirectly he told you TWO things to get. The first one was pretty direct 25-30 pounds. The second was indirect - PEOPLE HE WAS COACHING were out shooting the macho poundage guys. That means get a coach. Unless you like loooooooooooong learning curves.

Bowmania

Another tidbit- Bowmania is a coach and has helped me by email. He could do much better if he could see what I was doing.>>-->Ken

Ned,. I sent you a PM.

I agree with 25-30# but will also suggest you get a nice looking vintage bow cheap from the used market, the longer the better. There are millions of them out there. Keep it all your life for form practice and to introduce others to the sport. Women, girls and boys can generally also start with such a bow due to their shorter stature and draw lengths.

Then get some 1716 shaft aluminum arrows made up with feather fletching and light target points. Most everybody could probably shoot them alright. - lbg

Think Longbowguy, Viper for sure, 4t5, David Mitchell, Groundhunter, and Therifleman, got it right. Get a used lower draw weight bow and work with it for a while, then go to to back the 50lb bow. You will learn to shoot better, quicker.

By my own experience, I bought a 32lb target bow for shooting archery events within a year after buying my first bow, which was 48lb. It helped a lot.

“A down side to a low draw weight is most inexpensive carbon arrow shaft manufacturers do not have a large selection of shafts for low weight bows, unless you buy target shafts, but aluminum shafts will work fine.”

Not a wide selection, but arguably an adequate one, and a lot of the time you can find inexpensive shafts at a healthy discount. Seems like you’re only in really rough shape if you have a long DL, like my bro-in-law... I think the Industry will catch on to selling full-length, low-spine arrows as more adult archers move into low poundage as we get older...

"or build my shooting muscles up with this one?"

Sounds to me like you already shoot a compound. Your shooting muscles are accustom to let off?

Yes shooting builds muscle, but, not in a balanced fashion. An exercise routine that develops your shoulders,arms and torso will serve you better.

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