Stickbow update.

So I've gotten back into shooting my 50lb recurve for a month now. I cleant up my release a bit and was getting decent groups but I was still having fliers. So I decided to install a DIY limb clicker set at my 29.25" draw length. All of a sudden my bow felt heavier and my release even more inconsistent. I got curious and decided to measure the draw weight...
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Turns out my bow was 70lbs at 29.25" (and 67lbs at 28")!! To ensure my scale wasn't off I measured a 25lb weight, and it was dead on at 25lbs. I contacted the seller on Amazon to see what the hell was going on since the highest draw they sell is 50lbs. They had no idea either... they have a 2-3lb error on their bows usually but not 17lbs!

Safe to say 70lbs is NOT a good place for a beginner shooter to start, so I ordered a 40lb black hunter longbow. Much better reviews and I'm confident I'll have a much easier time shooting it.

Thanks for the update. Maybe you should try the scales with 50lbs and 70lbs of weight on them just to make sure?

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Originally Posted by GloryHole

Thanks for the update. Maybe you should try the scales with 50lbs and 70lbs of weight on them just to make sure?

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I made sure my scale was working. I took one of my 25lb exercise plates and it was dead nuts on 25lbs. It's not stacking either because the draw weight increments per inch are still around 2lbs/inch from 27-29", being around 67-68lbs at 28".

40lb should feel better, I was shooting 70lb on a compound and even that was a tough pull after a few shots.

I like your low dollar approach. It's tough to figure out what works when you are only looking at pictures and reviews. It's nice to do some trial and error without spending a million.

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Originally Posted by MihajloSimsic

I made sure my scale was working. I took one of my 25lb exercise plates and it was dead nuts on 25lbs. It's not stacking either because the draw weight increments per inch are still around 2lbs/inch from 27-29", being around 67-68lbs at 28".

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What I'm saying is your scale may work at 25lbs but not at 70lbs. Didn't you notice the difference when you drew the bow?

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Originally Posted by GloryHole

What I'm saying is your scale may work at 25lbs but not at 70lbs. Didn't you notice the difference when you drew the bow?

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I was always told 50lbs is a heavy start for a beginner so when I got it a year ago as my first recurve I just assumed it was heavy because I was a beginner lol. I was still able to get some good shots out of it surprisingly. Also the scale I use is rated for 800lbs so I'm very confident it's not the scale.

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Originally Posted by dean.f

40lb should feel better, I was shooting 70lb on a compound and even that was a tough pull after a few shots.

I like your low dollar approach. It's tough to figure out what works when you are only looking at pictures and reviews. It's nice to do some trial and error without spending a million.

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That's one of the reasons I gravitated towards a trad bow. The effectiveness of the bow is entirely user-based. You can hunt with the same efficacy with a $100 bow as you can a $700 bow. It also gives me more hunting opportunities because I can fit it in a backpack and can hunt waterfowl in no-gun zones.

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Originally Posted by MihajloSimsic

That's one of the reasons I gravitated towards a trad bow. The effectiveness of the bow is entirely user-based. You can hunt with the same efficacy with a $100 bow as you can a $700 bow. It also gives me more hunting opportunities because I can fit it in a backpack and can hunt waterfowl in no-gun zones.

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vs compound? Compounds are legal for use on waterfowl.

You can use archery, but not crossbows for waterfowl

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

vs compound? Compounds are legal for use on waterfowl.

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Yup. There is a huge difference in the performance of a $400 compound vs a $2000 compound. A cheap recurve may be louder and less ergonomic than a super expensive one, but that can easily be fixed for almost zero cost and it doesn't effect shooting. Plus compounds are cumbersome on backpacking trips and takes almost all human error out of shooting, I'd rather use the crossbow I already have instead of just blowing another $1000 on a compound.