Originally Posted by
Rednef
BCRules, the 30# reccomendation is just a nice "safe" reccomendation that gets the newby a shootable bow with some degree of decent cast. It prevents overbowing the newbies and thereby leading them to develop truly bad form. Its a common reccomendation because we have no idea what somebody can or can't handle. Generally the newby himself has no idea what he can or can't handle! The lack of let off is a big surprise to compound shooters.We can't see them shoot. (And BTW neither can you.) This is in line with Night Wing's advice to make an effort to get ahold of a real recurve and see what the shooter really can or can't handle. All too often that is not possible for a newby. So, we're back to the "safe" reccomendation. First off, "Do no harm."
I don't know. I see this all the time. Especially by older guys. Everyone's different. I see it by older guys, and then I ask them what they learned on, and they go to tell me it was a 45lb bear or a 50lb whatever. I am like, "you just told this guy, whatever".
I know for me, I have shot trad bows from 35lbs to 66lbs. I like em all. I had no issues whatsoever with my first longbow of 50lb martin. In fact, I learned more from shooting heavier bows then lighter bows. I know I started shooting a 66lb widow longbow and I can't believe how much strength I gained and how fast from shooting it. Going back to my 45-55bows seemed effortless. I could easily shoot 4 3d rounds in a day. It was good training, and I had much cleaner releases.
Same with longer range shooting. I make myself shoot 30-50yards all the time. Now, will I shoot at animal at that distance? No way. But it makes my 20yard shots feel easy. Little tuning problems show up so appearantly shooting that far.
I have no idea how strong this shooter is. My advise for any new shooter is to pull it back full draw and hold for 15-20 seconds. If you can hold to full draw without letting down, thats your wieght to start. If not go lower.