Recurves like any bow need to fit the shooter. I would suggest shooting as many different ones as possible. When you do buy one do NOT over bow yourself. Get one in the 35-45 lb range. There are many good used bows to be had. For a new bow check out the Samick brand bows the Sage is very popular for beginners but they have others.
I have a sage and am shooting pie pan groups at 60 feet. Not great, but not bad for being out of archery for so long. There are a couple downsides to the sage. First, while the quality and durability of the bow is good, it can be spotty. If you can find an archery shop that sells them, assemble the bow (make sure the limb bolts are nice and snug) and check for any lateral movement. Mine was perfect, but I shoot with folks who had to return them for another bow. Cabela's sells the bow (they call it a Vista Sage, same exact bow, new limbs for Samick Sage/Journey both fit). Bein' a lefty, stumbling into a 50# sage was amazing. The other thing is the grip is REALLY REALLY big. I carefully traced my fingers over the grip and using a dremel w/ the drum sanding attachment very carefully thinned the grip where my fingers would lay, and also took down some of the massive palm swell. If you do this, take very little off as you will be surprised how much a small amount will change the grip feel. The grip is so massive that the small amount you remove will not weaken the bow. I would definitely recommend buying one with limbs at least 20# less than what you regularly shoot with a compound. There has been a bit of criticism of hunting with a recurve, and for good reason. I got back into archery after a long hiatus and the best I could consistently shoot with my sage was pie pan sized groups after a moderate bit of practice. I can shoot 1 1/2" groups consistently (60 feet) with a compound with once/week practice. The point is that shooting a recurve requires a LOT of practice to get good enough to ethically hunt, and frankly, most of the folks I see at the archery range have no business hunting with a recurve, though they do. I am still practicing with my recurve, but will not hunt with it till I can get reliable groups of 4" or less, and then only hunt at the range I can do this. Last year I passed on a nice 120 pt buck because he only gave me a head on shot all the way up to about 10 yards, before he spotted me and boogied on down the road. Oh, the finish on the bow sucks. Here is what before and after looks like... ...before- ...after-
