if your shooting out of a pop up,, a bow thats a little shorter is easier,, its always a trade off...if your blind is natural material,, you can make it so a longer bow will work,, but I still find it easier not to hit the tip on something with a bow thats not too long, especially when you get excited,,:)
What FDP said x 3. Fred and the marketing guys at Bear were geniuses to convince macho archers that a shorter bow was more 'magnum' ( the opposite of the lang-accepted definition) ,better- suited to hunting and worth more money, when in fact the 'magnum' models cost less for materials, less for labor, than the longer bows they replaced. all the other major manufacturers quickly followed suit. They really doubled down with 'Super Magnum' a few years later. The reason 56" 1959-60 Bear Kodiaks are hard to find was because they were hard to sell in 1959-60. Odd thing is, if you watch all those Bear hunting movies, Fred's never toting a Magnum or Super Magnum.
"The reason 56" 1959-60 Bear Kodiaks are hard to find was because they were hard to sell"
Wait a minute -- are you sure it's not because they were only sold during 59/60? Or maybe because people hold on to them rather than sell them? Could be a few reasons. :)
My favorite bow is a 54" Browning and I won't let it go for the world.
Got to agree with mangonboat on this. Fred Bear was a fine archer, a very knowledgeable hunter and a just plain old good old boy, but he was a Salesman first. He knew how to promote and move a product. I carry a KM when I walk my dogs simply because it is light, handy and adequate for short range stumping. It is certainly NOT a MAGNUM performer.
Out of my two dozen bows I have a variety of lengths. I have shot most from a blind. But there is a big difference between a longer bow. And a shorter one. I like my 58- inch Schafer for blinds and tree stands.
When i got my first HH Big 5 i was 25, there were not popup blinds. I sat flat butt on the ground and shot any direction without issue. Key was making sure you didn't have any clutter within arms reach. Hunted in the rain with bottle liners over my fletch and only wool to keep warm. Now at 67 i have a popup, a blanket and a heater if needed. Oh and a 40# Bear kmag.
The question you asked revolves around blind size. Say you have a dog house from ameristep, you’d best not be using real long bow, you might even find mid size tough. If it’s a big blind you leave on a spot, which imo if you’re actually hunting isn’t the best idea but any bow could work
I was thinking along the lines of a 52” recurve, I haven’t shot a recurve for a long time but my interests and desire to shoot traditional is coming back , thanks again everyone!
Cant help but laugh at negative comments on short bows , especially the Bear Kodiak Magnum. They were real popular until the target mentality of longer bows being the only thing worth shooting came into popularity. Yes a longer bow will do better on a target range but for the real world of close range bowhunting the short K. Mag style type bows work just fine unless you have a long draw. Used nothing else since 1968 and a lot of downed game both big and small tell me they work just fine at twenty yards and under. Short, light, and maneuverable what is there NOT to like. Spend the time shooting them and you just might find they work for what they were made for, hunting, real well. There are a lot of pre conceived notions pushed today about short bows that you might find just are not that true if you evaluate one for yourself under conditions and accuracy requirements that replicate actual hunting requirements.
"They were real popular until the target mentality of longer bows being the only thing worth shooting came into popularity."
I had a discussion with an old bowyer of some notoriety about this very subject one time. He was around when folks went from long hunting bows to short hunting bows, and in his opinion as well as the opinion of many other bowyers of his generation the short bow phenomenon was spurred by the use of tree stands.
Prior to the mass popularity of hunting from tree stands most all bow hunters used longer bows because they hunted from the ground....and not out of commercially made blinds that are mostly marketed to compound and crossbow hunters.
Had or has nothing to do with "target mentality" at all.
Fred had his son-in-law, Charlie Kroll, to use the Kodiak Magnum to great extent, the first video of that bow was the year it was made...1961. The video was "The Oldest Game" and still my favorite Bear video. Whatever the blind allows is what you should use, or basically what you shoot best. If you have average to shorter draw, then the K-Mag is a great bow and plenty accurate out to longer ranges.
Fred had his son-in-law, Charlie Kroll, to use the Kodiak Magnum to great extent, the first video of that bow was the year it was made...1961. The video was "The Oldest Game" and still my favorite Bear video. Whatever the blind allows is what you should use, or basically what you shoot best. If you have average to shorter draw, then the K-Mag is a great bow and plenty accurate out to longer ranges.
I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with my Kodiak Magnum from a ground blind. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to use my Kodiak Magnum for any shooting. I've shot field rounds with it at targets up to 80 yards.
This was a group at 40 yards. I don't always shoot this well but I did this day. The Kodiak Magnum on the other hand will always shoot this well if I do what I'm supposed to do.
This is contrary to some (above) - I personally find shorter bows easier to maneuver when ground blind hunting. BUT you can construct/build a ground blind that accommodates pretty much any bow length... it's just that shorter bows requires less accommodation.
Any size recurve will shoot out of a suitable blind, I'd buy the bow that I wanted and then get a blind to fit it. I have a Primos that I have shot a 66' LB out of with no issues.
Fdp I am not talking about then I am talking about now, the current short bow hate comes from people who are more interested in target shooting and feel the short bow will not give them the accuracy that may be required for tournament shooting. Old time hunters, say the early sixties used longer bows for sure but I suspect that is because there were not many what we call shorter bows around that performed to well. Go on some other forums where the emphasis is more directed to target shooters who hunt as opposed to hunters that sometimes shoot tournaments and see what I mean. And as one who was there at the time I feel the short bow became popular before everybody was crawling into tree stands. Yes they are excellent for tree stands and even small blinds but they work darn well hunting off the ground to.
Just my own opinion but I would choose a shorter bow, of about 58 in. I would use my Redwing Hunter, or Bear Grizzly, which are both that length. I have a couple shorter bows but I am going to sell them because I feel the pinch too much when I shoot them.
The OP didn't indicate an intention to hunt in a roofed pop-up blind, a covered pit blind for geese, a tree stand or to undertake target shooting. If we start letting the confines of our contraptions dictate our choices, we'll all be shooting X bows. My point is to shoot what you want, rather than what you've been told you 'need' to shoot.
A few others have mentioned this, but ground blinds are as versatile as those who build them. We made some ground blinds a few seasons back. One was tall enough I could stand up in it and shoot my 66" longbow. I taken a longbeard from that very spot and blind. It looked like a scaled version of a grain silo, but with enough Mesquite and Cedar tied to it and on top, nothing seemed to be to bothered. I have shot that same bow out of Much shorter ground blinds just as FDP indicated. You may have to adapt your cant, or angle of shot some, but it is all doable. Pick a bow you want to shoot, or something you shoot well, and then make the ground and terrain work for you.
I shoot a 64" recurve and will soon be shooting a 68" longbow out of my blind, a Baronett Big Mike. The blind is taller than most at 84", but I could shoot comfortably with a lot shorter of a blind.
"Not sure I want a 78 inch tall blind.Kinda conspicuous and harder to brush in. I am sure many bows would work out of the taller roomier blinds."
Any pop-up blind is conspicuous to deer, especially the old doe that knows every stick and rock in her woods.
If you leave it out long enough ahead of time they'll still know it's there but maybe less wary, but it'll likely belong to someone else before that kind of time can pass.
I have that big Barronet blind and shot a real nice 85” coues buck out of it with my 64” recurve.
I have a 31” DL and just don’t shoot those 56”-58” bear recurves well.
It is tricky sometimes for me to get a shot as if critters come by in the wrong spot, I can’t shootem.
I can see the advantage of going with one of the Shrew type short recurves If a lot of your hunting was going to be from a pop up ground blind.
That said, I would try shooting one of those Shrew, Mad Dogs, Bear recurves to see how you like them first.
Also, I think there is something to be said for shooting lighter poundage, a both that you can really handle in case you get in awkward positions sitting down in a ground blind.
i've killed antelope from ground blinds with a 60 inch recurve and longbow. i draw 28 inches and those bows were what i was shooting at the time, and not specifically chosen because i was hunting out of a ground blind.
obviously the size and height of the ground blind is a factor but, for me, 60-62 inch bows are about as long as i would want to go.
i think the other factor is how are you shooting from the blind - are you sitting on a chair or are you on your knees?
i have a 56 inch kodiak hunter and i had a 58 inch fox breed that would be a good choice for hunting out of a blind.
somewhat related, make sure you practice shooting from a blind. it took more of an adjustment and 'getting used to' than i expected.
