saw a thread the other day about pain in the shoulder. I don't know if anyone else here has torn a rotator cuff shooting a bow but wanted to pass along my experience just in case it proves helpful. I was shooting the bow and had just a slight twinge discomfort in the shoulder and arm. Nothing to indicate anything serious was wrong. I decided to take on last shot before leaving the range and when I pulled the bow back the last time my muscle tore. eventually took surgery to sew up the muscle and a year of rehab. the take away for me was the shoulder and arm muscles give very little warning when they are overstressed. In the future if anything doesn't feel right I'll take a break from shooting and see the doc.
I tried to post to your thread yesterday but couldn't get it to go. I'd definitely get it checked before shooting further. just not worth it.
Take it from me. Im 27 with two shoulder surgeries under my belt. Once you get to the third time there is nothing you can do anymore. I am taking every step I need to make sure that I can keep shooting my bow and function as a soldier.
Roger that, I retired out of specops and was fortunate my injuries through the years were not shoulder related. knees, and everything else but not the shoulder. after surgery I replaced the 65# limbs with 50# on my Z7X. only cost about $150 and is much easy on the joints. while I miss the speed of higher poundage the 50# will take care of whatever I hunt down here. good luck with your shoulder.
Yep. Not worth it. I tore a rotator cuff playing sports. I now shoot 55-60 pounds on my bow. Plenty of poundage to bring down a deer or elk, but still easy enough to draw that it doesn't stress the shoulder so much. My biggest suggestion is to use a draw weight that is easy for you. If you have to struggle, sky your draw, or anything like that, you are putting yourself at too much of a risk. The difference between 60 and 70 pound draw weight at normal bowhunting distances (Less than 40 yards), is pretty negligible.
I've got a bad right shoulder. I should probably get surgery. I'm sure when I'm 55 I will be hunting with a crossbow.
I injured my right shoulder in 2011 while shooting at a buck. I was twisted around backwards and squatting low to get the shot, and I felt a burn. Nursed it for a while, and the pain never fully went away. Did physical therapy, and thought it was better. It crept back over the following year. When I realized that my shoulder was reducing my activity level significantly, I decided to have it looked at again. They discovered that the rotator cuff was torn, and the labrum. There were also bone spurs and impingement, because the space in the joint was only half of what it once was. I had surgery last february, and am still healing. I will be ok for bow season, but I lowered my draw to 55 lbs, and I won't take weird contorted shots. I worry about climbing trees, and dragging bucks. All I can say is, protect your joints, because the recovery is incredibly slow for shoulders. Doc says six months minimum, and more than a year for some. Not much blood flow in that area.
