Kansas, it is very difficult for me to determine without actually measuring or seeing the draw force curve of your particular bow. Here is a draw force curve of a particular bow (I don't know what bow it is).



You can see that this bow starts stacking just over 28". It looks like this bow is set at 58# at 28". But when it gets back to 31" draw, the bow is drawing I'm guessing around 75 pounds. On some bows like the one I mentioned earlier, it feels as if you hit a wall where the limbs are stacking.

I'm actually a little surprized that the fellow let you leave the store with a bow that could not be pulled back at least close to your anchor. It is correct that a beginner to traditionals usually starts with about 15-20 pounds lighter then what they would shoot with a compound. But your added draw needs to be taken into consideration.

Like Art said, when you pull back a bow that does not stack, it is like night and day. I can easily handle my 56 pound longbow at 31" draw, but when I shoot the 58" 45# recurve, forget it.