Recurve bow hunting

[Mulienewbie29]

Hey guys, new to bow hunting and would like some help on few things. Im looking to buy a recurve bow this year but not sure of what are some good brands to buy money not problem. What kinda arrows be good to use? What kinda distance can you shot with a 45 or even a 60lb draws never really shot much for bows? Would a 45lb draw be ok for dropping elk or moose ??? Not worried about deer more looking for a good recurve for bigger big game animals. What would a good draw be for moose and elk. Help be greatly appreciated.

[petew]

You can find a lot of reviews I did on many brands on my site www.peteward.com look in the trad review sections.

As for recommending a draw weight, that will depend on what you can easily handle and shoot accurately. As to range most good trad shooters want a Moose or Elk 30 yards or less and a deer at 20 or less. {deer is smaller target}
The arrow will kill as far as it flies, but you can't be accurate as far as it flies.

Most start out 40 to 45#, or less, but you need 40# to be legal to hunt.

If I can help get you going just ask,

Pete

[ramonmark]

I would recommend getting a 3 piece take down bow with 40lb limbs. Practice with that and maybe you'll be happy and not change. But if you feel in the future you want more poundage then you can get heavier limbs for that riser later on. I've spent alot of money trying to figure what I wanted and switching all the time. Look at the Chinese Mandarin duck recurve. I just purchased one and it really shoots and feels as good as my very expensive custom bow. I have 4 bows now and find that mandarin duck can just plain shoot!

[calgarychef]

Unless you’re not too strong I’d suggest 50 lbs. as a good hunting weight. You can kill anything with it and you won’t have to get a heavier set up later.

[mattthegorby]

I am going down the same path... learning to hunt with a recurve.

I read to start with a #25 bow to practice with, glad I did. After a month of frequent practicing with that light bow I had strained my shoulder. Bought my #45 bow shortly after and had no problem pulling it, but still injured myself with a lighter bow.

After a taking a break from the bow and weight training I am now practicing with the #45. It felt immediately more comfortable to shoot longer distances (for me that is 20m rather than 15m, lol).

If you go with replaceable limbs, you can get some lighter practice limbs and some hunting weight ones. What I did was buy a cheap #25 off Kijiji for south of $100 with 6 arrows. Tons in almost new shape at lighter weights as parents get them for their kids.

I went cheap, all the inexpensive take-down recurves look similar to my novice eye. I have Samick Sage Recurve in #45, I love it, but dunno if it is better or worse than anything else. Finish is nicer than my PSE Razorback #25.

[petew]

Unless you’re not too strong I’d suggest 50 lbs. as a good hunting weight. You can kill anything with it and you won’t have to get a heavier set up later.

We need to remember draw length when we talk draw weight. A 50# bow and a 31" draw is a lot more than 50, probably closer to 60# , and at 25" draw it will be a lot closer to 45#. Try before you buy. Also different bows of the same draw weight are totally different to draw depending if they load up early , or late in the draw cycle . Early draw weight is typical of higher performance bows like the ACS, or Border's , high performing bows, where easy to draw in the early part of the draw is typically a bow with less performance.