I'm not new to hunting but I am new to archery hunting. I use a Marlin 336A for whitetail deer, Mossberg 500 for Turkey, and Ruger 10/22 for squirrel and rabbit. So, I know enough to know I need more information in order to make my archery hunting ethical and respectable. So here we go with some basic questions for a new archery hunter (and yes, practice, practice, practice, I get it): Please keep in mind I'm looking strictly at Recurve Bows and Whitetail Deer hunting: 1. What poundage is need to kill a deer? My state (Georgia) has no regulations on this that I can find. I'm assuming 45 lbs is a good starting point but I am unsure. I do know that if you get into compound bows you can go upwards to ~80 lbs but I THINK that is more so due to longer shots. 2. What range can you expect to ethically shoot and reliably kill with a 45 lbs bow? 20 yards? 30 yards? 3. I know the market has gone to carbon arrows but are aluminum arrows still "acceptable" means of hunting use? Or do you need to stick with wood arrows for recurve bows? 4. What size broadhead is acceptable to use? I've been doing a little window shopping at a couple stores already. One fella told me I need 85 grains due to the recurve bow having less strength. Yet, I find that it seems the "standard" is 125 grains. 5. Fletching. It was explained to me that on a recurve you "need" feather fletching, especially if you're shooting off the bow itself instead of a raised shelf. The reason for this is if the rubber fletching hits the bow, it will slightly deflect the arrow. 6. Target shooting. Does the grain of the target head need to match the grain of the broadhead for consistency's sake? 7. For target shooting, is there much of a difference between a target head and field head? Any other quick tips you can give would be great! Thanks for the replies!
Good questions. I killed the first three deer I shot with a 55# recurve. 45# is probably the minimum I would consider. 20 to 30 yards is a good range with good deer positioning. Aluminum arrows still fly well. I shoot 100 grain broadheads. I do use feathers if I'm shooting off the shelf. Your target points need to match your broadheads. target and field points are very similar. You started off correctly in listing practice as the first priority. Most of all what you should always do is to keep it fun!
45# will do the job. 15-20 yards will work well for white-tail deer. Nothing wrong with aluminum arrows. IMO.. cut on contact broad heads are the best. Keep broad heads and field points the same weight, 125-135 grains is probably average weight.. If you're going to shoot off the shelf you will need to use feathers, plastic will deflect the arrow badly. feel free to ask lots of question. Chris
1. Poundage does not kill deer... hitting the spot does. 45 lbs draw weight would be minimum but what you can shoot comfortable is the key. Most recurves do not have a lot of adjustments like compounds. Best to go draw and shoot different draw weights to see what suits you best. 2. If you can hit a tennis ball at 30 yards then a good "cut on contact " broadhead will get the job done. 3. Good shafts with right spine will work no matter the type. 4. Weight will help more than speed. Back in the day my 145 grain Bear Razor Broadheads on cedar shafts did the job. I shoot 125 gr. Snuffers SS on all my hunting shafts now. 5. Depends on rest. My recurve has a screw insert and will take about any style rest. Shoot a Whisker Biscuit rest on mine with carbon shafts. But on a shelf rest feathers work better. 6. Broadhead and practice point need to be the same weight and FOC needs to be very close and the the shafts the same spine. 7. About the same thing. Most people do not have a problem drawing 50 to 60 lb recurve and with practice get comfortable with it. Need to try different draw weights and you will find what is good for you. My fishing recurve is 35 lbs and pokes holes through 60 lb fish. Bowfishing is a good way to pratice and get used to shooting. My hunting recurve is 55 lbs 62 inch OMP with biscuit rest and carbon 400 spine shafts... Max range is 40 yards. (My comfort zone) I shoot with a release on both recurves and compound bow. Fingers get wet bowfishing so more comfortable and keeps anchor point and draw the same no matter which bow I am using.
My hunting weight bows range from 37 to 43 1/2 lbs., Plenty for whitetails. Your effective range can be established from your degree of accuracy on your targets. The truth is about 90 % of the longbow/recurve shooters can't consistently hit a six inch circle at twenty yards using a 300 round as a guideline which is 12 ends/ 5 arrows per end If you can do that at 30 yards you are a World Class Archer. 300 rounds is a good way to size yourself up. Overbowing yourself will be your worst enemy as a beginner
I've been doing some reading but still not finding a logical method to choose Broadhead weight other than "85 grains is too light". Any help?
You're a long ways from needing broadheads. You can determine that after you find the arrow best suited for the bow you don't have yet that you haven't developed shooting skills with ! By the way I've killed deer with the 85 grain Wasp on 1913 aluminums shooting a 37# hybrid longbow. Use the same weight BH as your field tip.
Granted, I may be a long ways from a Broadhead in skill level, yes. But it doesn't mean I'm dumb and can't learn the concept now.
I think you are being generous with "90% of the longbow/recurve shooter can't consistently hit a 6 inch circle at 20 yards". I would be very surprised if the number wasn't closer to 95% or more. I was at an outdoor range last year shooting with a fellow who had a compound. He was shooting very accurately out to 40 yards, nice little groups in the 4" range. I was shooting much closer, 10-15 yards with a 50# recurve. Fella wants to shoot it so I figure no problem, he was a lefty like me, so.... Well, instead of aiming at the close target he orients himself to the 40 yard target. I says to him, "You ever shoot a recurve?". "Naw, can't be much harder than a compound though...er...buddy, where's the sights on this?" I made him give a $20 bill before he could let fly to cover for a lost arrow. As you can imagine, it was a horrible thing to watch. A 50# recurve is significantly more challenging to pull back than a 60# compound. He tried to aim it and after a couple seconds he was shaking like a 90 year old man's first visit to a strip club. When he finally let fly, the arrow headed to the next city. While the line went cold to get arrows, he spent 15 minutes looking for the (now his) arrow. Gosh, he sure was not very popular. And yes, when he realized I wasn't going to give him back my $20 bill, he took umbrage and demanded I make the shot. I laughed and told him there was no way I could guarantee hitting a turkey sized target at 40 yards with a recurve, and that that was the reason I was shooting at 10-15 yards! The point is a shot at game should never be further than you can always, that is 100% of the shots, in the kill zone when practicing. I say this because a hunt is going to add issues that will make it hard enough without the basic skill of getting on target not being 100%. It is just unethical. My 2 cents.
What I am saying is you're putting the cart before the horse. Reality doesn't make anyone "dumb". You asked for help and you've been fed some good stuff. Find yourself a recurve that you can control, if you can't control it you will be releasing the arrow before it's time. if you are in control, your ability to reach consistent accuracy will be achieved without frustration and discouragement. Good Luck.
On an average, most places carry 125 or 145 grain field points.. Using a broad head of similar weight makes things a little easier and you really do need to have them match weight. Is there a reason you want to use a different weight? Chris
I find this hard to believe. I shoot swimming fish all the time with my Sand Shark recurve and some of them are gar only 2 inches in diameter. I have seen people shoot flying pheasants and running rabbits. Heck... I have personally seen a guy shoot an aspirin after shooting a tums in the air. My only "Robin Hood " came shooting a recurve. Most of the guys and gals in the KBA do pretty fair at hitting the target.
Because of all the stores I've been window shopping at and asking questions (two cabelas, one bass pro, two academys, and multiple local small shops) the majority of heads are 100, very few 85 and 125 and absolutely no 145.
I'm just guessing but most likely the shops you're going to are primarily modern archery.. Seldom do they know anything about the equipment needed to hunt with a recurve or longbow nor do they carry what you're going to need. Try looking here.. 3Rivers Archery Supply I know this isn't the exact .com address but it should bring it up. Most of the good cut-on-contact broad heads are going to weigh approximately 125 grains or more. Changing broad head or field point weight will change the spine of the arrows you will need. Check out the 3Rivers Archery Supply.. chris
I got a question about quivers. I want a quiver that mounts on the bows. I saw a 3-arrow quiver that I think would be good. It cuts down on weight instead of having a 5-6 arrow quiver. But, they only mounted on compounds. Do they make quivers that mount on recurves? I haven't found any as of yet.
Some new recurves have tapped holes like compounds. For the most part quivers are not mounted to recurves because they are in the way.
If you want a quiver on your bow it's not a problem. Just keep in mind your bow will either need to have holes drilled and tapped or you will need a slide-on or strap-on quiver. I have friends who prefer a quiver on the bow, I don't mind the 3 arrow quivers but don't want anything much bigger. Guess it's all in what you get used to. Most of the time I'm either using a back quiver or cat quiver, kind of depends on my choice of hunting methods on that day. Chris
Ok , get you an Official FITA Field face 40 cm and shoot a 300 round, ( 12 ends , 5 arrows per end, step back 20 yards , then post a pic with your target and score.
If I took a 40cm field target and stepped back 20 yards with my recurve I could put 50 of 60 arrows in the 6/5 bulls eye on a bad day. The archers in the FITA shooting matches are at 50 and 70 meters and scoring 598 out of 600 points or 700 out of 720.(these are records) 50 meters is 54.6 yards and 70 meters is 76.5 yards and these archers hold 4 inch groups in days of competition. Now I know I can not compete with the Olympic archers but I can hit a tennis ball sized target at 30 yards with my recurve on a deer because I do just about every year... and have about every year for the last 40 years... she was a tasty doe at 27 yards this year.
