Like others noted, I spent considerable time shooting different longbows before settling on my 55# Hummingbird. I did a lot of this at the Cloverdale, IN, traditional shoot held in early June of each year. I went from bowyer to bowyer, trying their bows. Generally, the first few shots let me know if I was interested in the bow, and that was primarily due to hand shock or lack thereof. The ones that lacked hand shock were few and far between with the Hummingbird winning out. I've taken several deer with it and can shoot it better than any of my recurves that I turned to when returning to traditional archery after starting to loose interest several years agoin deer hunting with my compound. I now feel equally comfortable hunting with my longbow, compound, or newly gotten crossbow. Funny how time and experience changes things! Tom