RE: Shorter ATA Bows?
IL Rancher, seems to me you are going about this the right way. Take your time and shoot a lot of bows. And "good for you" in determining a drawlength. There are many that will say to draw the old recurve in the bow shop and see what you get. You did this. The problem is that often times the person helping you does not even know when to tell you to stop drawing or doesn't want to offend you. And that's the problem with that method. How is a person that doesn't know how to determine drawlength going to help someone that doesn't know how to determine their drawlnegth? The thing to take into account is that if you felt think that 29" felt too long for you then it most likely was. Absolutely, because archery is a lot about "feel".
And I imagine you're learning other things as well. The ATA issue is another one. Considering your height I'd say you can shoot anything down to about 34" well, with 36" to 38" being a bit easier. Riser/limb design all come into play. That's why general statements never cover everything.