So father time has caught up with these Army Airborne Ranger Shoulders. Back in the day we did 100's of diamond pushups weekly. The Army eventually phased these out due to shoulder injuries etc. At 53yrs old now a 63lb bow is kicking my butt. 2021 I was doing side lateral raises and front raises. Shooting 3-5 days a week. Shot my #1 hit list buck and 2 turkeys! This spring (April) I grabbed my bow which I hadn't shot since December 2021. Stretched a few times and drew back and oh the pain. I couldn't hold my bow up with my left arm. Month later a gallon jug of milk still caused pain to hold out in front of me. Drew a 55lb bow in June and still a little discomfort. I have a crossbow for the heck of it but I'm not ready to use that yet. I own a 1,000yd outdoor range in NC and rifle hunting is boring. Normal activities don't bother me, just trying to draw the bow. Should I try a 50lb draw weight? I should probably go see a DR, but my business I can not be down for months from a surgery. I'm on heavy equipment weekly maintaining my 100acre range. Thanks for any ideas. I so love bow hunting!!
I'm dealing with something similar. And it really depends on the root cause. If you have serious damage in the shoulder (like Rotator cuff tears), it's not going to get any better. Otoh, it may be something benign that a steroid shot and/or some PT may help. See a doc, get the diagnosis, go from there. The other thing I did was look into shoulder rehab exercises. Lots of little shoulder muscles you can strengthen with very light weights, bands, etc which stabilize and help strengthen the shoulder.
Sounds like a rotator cuff injury to me. Typically those manifest in pain when holding your arm straight out or slightly above level - like reaching to put something in a cabinet, wash your hair, or hold your bow. I had one a few years ago and it SUCKED. Luckily it wasn't bad and it was during the off season so it had time to heal on it's own before fall. I agree with seeing a doc, getting a prognosis, and then deciding what to do. At least you know what you're dealing with then. As for shooting 50 lbs - there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. That's more than enough to get the job done.
Uncle Ted shoots 50 lbs and has for many years. Like he says, "what difference does it make how far the arrow sticks in the ground on the other side of the deer?" I used to shoot low poundage in the Spring for turkeys to reduce movement and started lowering the weight on my deer bows also. Shoot what you are comfortable with and use a good cut on contact head. Also, I used to think I would never use a crossbow and when the day came that I had to, I found out that they have their own challenges and it was far more enjoyable than I had imagined it could be.
Watch what you say, man. Advocating for crossbows and not getting pass-thrus is likely to get you ostracized from the cool kids group of the hunting Interwebs.
Get that thing looked at! Around the time i joined this forum about 5 or so years ago i transitioned back to a compound after a few yrs of crossbow due to shoulder injury. I bought a smooth drawing bow set at 55lbs and it was no problem killing deer. I can only think of 2 deer i have shot with my current bow when it was set at #55 that i didnt get pass thru’s.( I have it maxed at #60 now) Both times it was my fault. And both times still resulted in recovered animals. With proper arrow setup you can kill with #50 no problem. Shot placement is more important than how many pounds you are pulling
Thanks. I'm taking some time off this year to do some doe management. Good time to get my shoulder fixed for next year...
Winter Ranger here, I have lived in Alaska for 25 years and have never been so cold as I was in Mountains phase in Georgia December and worse in Florida for phase 3.....wasn't dry for the entire time, SFM....so F-ing Miserable. I absolutely would have killed someone for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup....you would be dead for RPBC.
Remember, the correct doe to buck ratio is 2-3/1, no more then 2 or 3 doe's per buck....it lowers our insurance premiums to boot.
Yes, anything but a crossbow...IMHO a crossbow is a silent gun. My advice is to drop to a 40 compound and shoot 180gr 2 blade
First, Go see a doctor and see what the issue really is and see if rehab can resolve. It does sound like a rotator cuff or a labrum injury to me (I have had 2 surgeries for those, not fun). I had been shooting a 60 to 70# Mathews Feather Max for about 19 years and in the spring of 2017 the shoulder issues got to the point to where I could not shoot more then 20 arrows until I had stop. I started decreasing poundage, but it did not increase the arrows shot count much, the draw cycle was just not comfortable or compatible with my limitations any longer. I was not ready for another shoulder surgery so summer of 2017 I embarked on a 3-to-4-month quest to visit every bow shop I could and shoot every make and model bow I could get my hands on to see if I could identify a bow that would allow me to shoot a couple hundred arrows in a day several times a week. I shoot 66 bows across several model years, and I was successful finding 6 or 7 what worked but (5) that were perfect. I also moved down to a 50 to 60# draw range which still outperformed the old trusty Mathews Feather Max. The final (5) were Hoyt RX-1, Prime Centergy, Athens Rev7, Summit and Altitude. I ended up going with the Hoyt RX-1. I love my Hoyt RX-1 and bought it on Black Friday 2017. The kicker is it only bought me another 4 years before I had to have a complete reverse total shoulder replacement in November 2021. During those (4) years the RX-1 killed a few Deer, Turkeys and Elk, penetration was never an issue. Post shoulder replacement the good news is that by working with my doctor and physical therapist I added archery specific strength training to my rehab and am now back shooting my 50 to 60# Hoyt RX-1 as well as the stable of recurves and longbows I used in my rehab journey. My Shoulder Replacement Forum Post: https://forums.bowhunting.com/threads/reverse-total-shoulder-replacement.99933/
I know your deal very well. I'm 65 and thank God I can still hunt with 80 pounds. But I WORK at it year round. I had shoulder issues myself 20 years or so ago,maybe 25 ? I did the right thing and got a MRI. My ball is too big for the cup. No damage THEN,maqybe now ? But i've had a bicep tendonitis that felt like a sore shoulder for years until I figured it out. After the doctor MRI consultation, I started back with weights again. Off and on,I picked them back up when Covid came when I quit work. I went easy with reps galore. Now I kinda train like a regular old man who uses kinda heavy reps and goes for the pump ,always caring for the shoulders warming up and doing the best I can. I push the shoulder, it isn't 100% it's got a faint pain when over doing heavy reps and pumping it. I could care les, it's not painful,it just a little tweak thing still in there, probably scar tissue ? We have a long running fitness thread running that when and if the time is right,you should stop in. The guys are awesome and inspirational for an old man like myself to kick it in gear and stay in gear so I can continue pulling a string and not cranking a xbow,,,yuck.
