I too am living with a bad back. I have both herniated and bulging discs as well and I bow hunt. Even when it gets real bad and I have shooting pains down both of my legs into my feet I can still draw my bow.....can't walk that well but can draw. It's not allways that bad for me, I try to keep in shape and that helps. Most of peoples back problems are muscle related. Get your back as strong as you can and get some meds from your doc to reduce the inflamation.

Stalking might pose a problem but if you hunt from a blind or stand you shoul be able to enjoy bowhunting.

BTW......drawing a long or recurve is not easier than a compound, don't let the lower draw weight fool you. I would much rather shoot 100 shots with my 70lbcompound (easy) than with a 50lb long/recurve bow any day. You see the actual act of drawing is not as hard as holding at full draw for the time to get on target and make a good shot. You see your muscles are in movement and that is not as taxing on them as when they are static, ie holding at full draw. Holding a compound with 65% and up let off is way easier than holding 50lb with 0% let off. Now repeat that 100 times and you will see just how hard it is to hold and keep it"on target" after about oh........60 shots or so.