Yep, hopefully by next season I will be bowhunting with a recurve. I favor the recurve over the longbow because that is what I started shooting many years ago. I only will hunt with one if I feel confident, practice a lot, and get proficient. If not, hunting with the recurve will wait. My range may be limited to 20 yards but heck, most of my shots are 20 yards or less anyway. I really don't think I will have a problem shooting without sights again......not to brag, but I have always been good judging yardage and throwing a baseball to a spot....played lots of that!

One side note........my compound will not collect dust! It is going to be ready to go. I just am ready to hunt with a recurve again......all I needed was to make myself do it and by gum I am! Man, I am already excited about the prospect!

Go for it brother. Whatever makes you happy is the key. I too have a really nice recurve here that is collecting dust.[:'(] Again....[:'(]I just bought a new bow stringer and I'm looking to get a lighter weight recurve, so I can work on my form. We'll see.....The last time I tried to make the conversion, I didn't became proficient enough to confidently hunt with the recurve, so it was back to the compound. Good luck to you!!! Jim

Coug, it's like riding a bicycle. You'll fall flat on your face the first couple of outings but you'll eventually get the hang of it again. You just have to stick with it and not get frustrated. There's always that compound monkey on your back too. Tapping you on the shoulder, reminding you how easy it is to hit with it.

Just find your good anchor, where you've got the nock of the arrow directly under your eye, point the arrow in the right direction (there ain't no sin in holding for a second or two to AIM!) and let 'r rip.

I'd like to suggest a few exercises that have helped my shooting a bunch:

1) Draw, hold and aim for 15 seconds (or as long as you can until your arm starts shaking), then let down. Do it about 10 times before shooting to groove in your anchor and form. If your shooting starts going sour during the session, go back to doing this a few times and re-establish your form.

2) Aim your bow up at a 45 degree angle. Pull 1/4 and hold for 10 seconds. Pull 1/2 and hold for 10 seconds. Pull 3/4 and hold for 10 seconds. Pull to anchor and hold for 10 seconds. Letdown using the same cycle in reverse. You can vary the amount of time you hold at each stage - shorter if it's too tough or longer if it's too easy. Repeat 10-20 times. This is one that strenthens your shooting muscles. You should not do this exercise on a day you intend to be shooting because it's whole purpose is to fatique the muscles and make them respond by getting stronger. You don't want to be shooting with pre-fatiqued muscles.

3) Stand at a target about 10 yards away with ONE arrow. Using your very best form, pick a spot, draw, aim and hold. Focus your intense concentration on the very center of the center of that spot until everything around it fades into the background, then shoot. Pull the arrow. Repeat as often as you need to. Some days I spend an hour doing nothing else.

Learning to focus your concentration like that takes a good bit of work and practice. You might have to start out just staring at a spot on the wall. At first, you might not be able to get everything but the spot to fade into the background, but keep at it. It will come. It's learning how to have tunnel vision on command. When you shoot, you're shooting down the tunnel - You can't miss. (Yeah, right)

Anyway, learning to focus your intense concentration, on demand, is the main thing that seperates a good traditional -or barebow compound- shooter from a poor one.

Good luck and have fun with it.

Cougar, it's a long off season. Now is the time to be challenged by that recurve, again. It will be frustrating for awhile but the rewards of your efforts will be memorable dividends indeed. Start slinging em'.