comfort

Hi guys, sorry for yet another drawlength question:

My recurve draw is 33" so I deduct 1-1,5" for the release/loop and tried the only available 31,5 bow in the shop only to find it really short. Why ? because it seems the bows marked drawlength was really nock to handle + 1,75" which gives me 29,75" actual. With this way of measuring it seems impossible to find a bow other than Hoyts dedicated target range which goes up to 33,5".

My question is, do you know if all bows in the market use this 1,75 rule ? Seems silly to me, whats of interest is the draw I get from hand contact point to nock... or am I twisting it around and missing something ?

mofire

My experience is an inch difference when shooting fingers over a release whether shooting a recurve or compound. My recurve I shoot a 28" arrow this is because I shoot fingers and that takes up a lot of string area, my compound I shoot a 29" with a release.The "D" loop does not chage your draw length, only where your arm/hand end up. You need to make sure that your string touches the tip of your nose to the corner of the mouth. Any shorter or longer can/will affect your shooting abilities.

BGfisher

Something doesn't sound quite right here, at least to me. I'd like to see a picture of you at full draw with your recurve. You really mus be a very tall person to draw that long--something in the neighborhood of 6'10". Either that or you just draw the bow too far back. I cold be wrong, but using the wingspan method (search) should give you an idea of what you should be drawing.

Now let's get to how a bow's AMO draw length is measured. ALL bows are supposed to be measured at full draw from the apex of the string to the deepst part of the grip, then add
1 3/4". It might sound dumb, but that's how it is.

It's easier to measure a compound bow because cams only roll over to a certain point and stop. With a recurve you can just draw it till YOU stop. Might be at your nose, your lip, or even behind the ear (wrong!!!!). That's why recurves/longbows do not have a specific draw length.

In my experience (40 years) I found that converting from fingers to release with a compound bow you usually will be able to shoot about 3/4" to 1" shorter. Put a loop on the string and you may have to shoot a bow about 1/2" shorter yet. That would suggest to me that if you indeed anchor in a fairly proper position then a bow with a draw length of 31" to 31 1/2" should fit you well.

If you find that bow's with the draw lengths I'm stating are too short then there are too possibilities. One is that you really are a big guys with a wingspan of about 80" or you have just anchored too far back for so long that something shorter is bound to feel short.

In any case, I would suggest going to a reputable pro shop and get measured to see what you should shoot. Then, when you buy a bow get one that is adjustable for draw length either by changing modules or a rotating module.

There is some good info about technical stuff at www.huntersfriend.com and searching "shooting form" on www.archerytalk.com. Randy Ulmer has some good info on his website also.