Archers! Assemble!!!!
 

How many archers do we have on the site?!

I used to be an avid gun person, but when i came home from Iraq after my last deployment, i lost most of my interest in them. My family got me this beautiful recurve for Christmas that year (2006), and i fell in love immediately.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/...c78f12e2_o.jpg

I can lose all track of time shooting that thing. One time, i spent almost 5 hours. It's incredibly relaxing and focusing at the same time.

A few months later i picked up this bad boy for hunting, although, i think when i'm proficient enough with the recurve at unknown distances, i'll prefer to hunt with it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/...80a86203_o.jpg

I did a semester of archery in college, as a P.E. credit. LOVED it.

I'm not much of a hunter (nothing against it, but I was raised in more a fishing family than a hunting family), but target shooting with a recurve is a very good time. Combines like that feel like cheating to me--I shot one in class for a couple days, and it just didn't feel like I was FEELING the bow, you know? I was accurate as hell with it, but it just didn't seem right--too much mechanical assistance.

Interesting, I'll have to give recurves a shot. I shoot my hunting bow every now and then, it's fun, but not enough to keep my practice regular.

I did archery at several summer camps throughout the years, also archery was part of our junior high PE program. Always found shooting relaxing. Taxing on my muscles, but relaxing.
Never considered hunting with a bow.
Then again, I'm not a hunter.

I'm actually not much of a hunter either... it's been more of a recent development. Even when I was still into shooting guns all the time (growing up, and most of the years in the Marine Corps), I always kinda wanted to go, but I just wasn't feeling rifle hunting.

I agree that recurves give you more of that archer feeling. Once i got my compound sighted in, I only practice with it a couple times a month, where as i take out the recurve almost every day. It's one of the very few things these days in which I can get totally lost, and let go of all concept of time. I'm actually learning how to build my own warbow (medieval english long bow... 150lb draw), for that truly authentic feel. :D


EDIT: I'm jealous of all you guys who had this in PE. My schools through the years never offered anything nearly as fun.

Enjoy it while you can. Pretty soon it will be dubbed an "assault weapon" as it can easily police body armor, doesn't require any kind of registration to own, offers a quick follow-up shot and is quieter than a suppressed .22

Uh, thanks for the input.

Hey, guess what? Tt and I just ran across a free archery range in a nearby state park. We might just have to find a bow or two.

And requires about a 100 times more training to be anywhere near as deadly as some schmo with a gun. There are plenty of better offensive options out there than guns, but they all require way way WAY more training to be effective. So I highly doubt they'll ever classify a bow as an assault weapon.

I'm going to assume this is sarcasm, because it would be a lazy-ass troll.

Fun fact: When AG Holder spouted off about a new AWB, Pelosi was the one to say "We need to enforce the laws we have." God bless that little GMILF.

i bow hunt as a hobby, i find it pretty relaxing and atleast this way the deer have a chance

Always wanted to get into archery, this kind of rekindles that interest! Thanks

Nice looking bow there. Even since my dad let me use his bow when I was younger I have wanted to get into archery (wouldn't hunt, only target practice). I remember not using any hand/wrist protection and hurting myself multiple times.

As recently as 3 years ago, my records for most bullseyes and highest number of bullseyes in high school still stood. I really need to get a nice recurve and a hay bale for the backyard, I was good at it and really enjoyed it.

I bow hunted for years. Started bow hunted after climbing up out of a canyon one day to find two drunk rifle hunters had me in their scopes for a while. They thought it was funny as hell, I wasn't laughing. Ordered a Oneida Eagle from Cablea's after that season ended. I really enjoyed it. The woods are nearly empty during bow season. Bow hunters don't drive around with their bow sticking out the window and a bottle of jack on their laps waiting for a bull to hop out of the woods in front of them so they can drop it. They get out and "hump the brush" (totally different then humping the bush, btw)

Calling in a bull elk is a rush and one of the many things I miss living down here.

I learned last year with my brother. Lots of fun. We got a hunting bow, and look to get another soon. We like to spend our time off at the local shooting range, practicing.
Its become a great hobby of mine. And it really strengthened my arms! Bonus.

Stronger farms, never thought that would happen!

I love archery, but have not done any in donkey's years. Anyone know of a range in southern England?

I'd like to give it a serious try and to show my daughter (currently 9 years old) abut it.

Question to TH - is a compound bow any different to use?

awww damn, I missed that. THen again, I did post around 5am, heh.

to clarify:

farms=ARMS

Don't know how that F snuck in there...haha

Yeah, well I'm really not the guy to point out tpyos... err I mean typos. I too was posting early. So just having some fun F'ing with ya!

Hope you didn't take offense, it was meant to be light hearted.

---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 PM ----------

I know you're addressing this Q elsewhere But let me just say yes. A recurve doesn't "breakdown." On a compound once you get it passed a breaking point it's much easier to hold it in the drawn position much longer. Almost every bow hunter I know uses a compound simply because they can hold it in the ready longer waiting for the game to be in just the right position.

Haha, no offense taken, just mild embarrassment for a bit there. It passed :P

As for compound versus recurve, yeah, bang on Tully. That's why I prefer the recurve. I built up my resistance training, so its not so much a problem anymore. But I don't actually hunt with my bow, heh.

You can build up resistance with a compound too, just up the torque and poundage. The pull, release, repeat.

When I first got my Eagle I torqued it up to the max and pulled on it thinking "no prob." Yeah, right! Took a few months to get where I could draw it up in one slow smooth motion. Slow steady motion is everything in Elk hunting (that and odor.) I swear they can see stuff behind them.

i didnt think i would ever find someone else who shoots a deer master recurve... I purchased one last year and love it... Have you ever tried shooting flu flus at aerial tragets? its a blast..

Sorry for the late reply!

Yes, a compound is very different than a recurve or traditional longbow. Compounds have a "let off" at the end of the draw, so if you hold your shot, you're not actually holding the full weight of the bow. Mine has an 80% let off, so instead of 75lbs, it drops to 15lbs, which someone could hold for quite some time waiting for the perfect shot. Also, as others mentioned, you can adjust the draw weight to some degree. Mine goes from 60-75lbs.

Also, my recurve has no aiming device, so shooting it accurately takes TONS of practice and patience. The compound, however, the basic principles are the same as shooting a rifle, so within a few shots, you can be pretty on target.

Thanks for the information, everyone. :thumbsup:

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Mine's a PSE Beast. Used for target shooting only. I also enjoy shooting with a recurve but don't currently own one

Okay, let's say that this thread gave Crompsin a rangin' crotchbat and now he's interested in buying a no-frills-basic-but-not-obsolete-tomorrow bow.

I did archery for a while as a kid and was rather good, but guns replaced that the second I got a .30-06 in my shoulder pocket.

Bows: What should I look for? I'm interested in target shooting, but I could see myself eventually dropping a deer with one.

It depends on what kind of experience you want to have whilst shooting your bow. :D

Both bows i own would be well suited for either of the types of shooting you want, and neither one would be obsolete tomorrow.

But, shooting a compound bow is similar in some ways to shooting a rifle. They even have a trigger release for the bow string, so you can get a consistent release every time. The sight generally has multiple pins for different distances, and overall shooting one of these bows has nothing to do with tradition beyond the fact that it's still Archery. Someone who has handled a rifle can pick up a compound bow, and have it all figured out within a few shots. They're very easy.

Recurves or longbows have no sights, and take MUCH more time to learn how to accurately shoot. Modern recurves have the advantage of some modern tweaks, but you can still find some that look exactly like they would have in the medieval period, and enjoy one of them. Without the trigger release, it's more difficult to get consistent releases, and is yet another skill that must be practiced.

That's not necessarily true. I switch back and forth between a hand held release system or "trigger" and finger release. Mainly because the one trigger release I really liked wore out and I couldn't find one that acted exactly the same. The last two season I hunted with a standard two finger glove. And yes I got my elk both years.

I also wouldn't say it's very easy. Certainly not as easy as shooting a scoped rifle. Compound do break down and are easier to hold in release position longer then a recurve. But it's not like shooting a firearm, there's an amount of stress involved in holding it in the release position.

Admittedly recurve is much more difficult then a compound. I never was very fond of recurves. But my goal was to get my elk. Using a recurve would have made that much more difficult.

---------- Post added at 05:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 AM ----------


Check e-bay and the other usual suspects. I sold my bow on there for less then 25% of what I paid for it three years prior to selling it. Whoever bought it got a good deal, arrows, broadheads, practice tips, sights, stabilizer, case etc...

Hope they have a much fun with it as I did.

I never said a scoped rifle, actually i was meaning a non-scoped rifle. The principles of sight alignment and sight picture remain the exact same regardless of what's in your hands, as do the principles of breathing control, trigger control, etc. So yes, it's similar in some ways to shooting a rifle, and the obvious differences you pointed out are why i didn't say they're exactly the same. Also, i would say it's very easy to learn how to shoot a compound if you're familiar with rifles to begin with. I grew up shooting rifles, and i was in the Marine Corps Infantry for 7 years. When i first got the compound bow, it only took a few shots to get used to it, and a few more to sight it in, and only a few more after that to be shooting consistent tight groups.

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