I love small game hunting . I have felt that my compound is too fast for alot of the shooting I do . SO ,,, I plan to pick me up a recurve this week . It's been a long time since I've shot a bow with-out cams . The plan is to go and buy a PSE kingfisher , install a whisker bisquit , some string silencers and buy a couple of flu-flu's ,, then I'll have a small game bow , and can switch to a fishing bow . I've tried the flu-flu's with the bisquit ,, I think they we're made for each other . I can't think of any advantages of shooting of the shelf . If you've got one please let me know . I've got a budget , but if you have any suggestons ,, let me know . Thanks .

Welcome to the club. I might suggest that if you choose to shoot off a rest, that you try something that allows you to see your arrow. It's harder to point or sight down your arrow if you can't see it. Shooting off the shelf puts your arrow closer to your hand and makes aiming more like just pointing your finger.

If you use the arrow to aim with you can give up on the bisquit.

Thanks , I hadn't thought of that . I'll try it both ways and get a feel for what I like more . I'll be picking it up this weekend . I hope I can hit the target with no sights . I'm always up for a challenge .

I bought the bow on Friday . I found out on Saturday that it takes a whole lot of muscles to hold that thing back at full draw . Pulling 65 lbs. is a little different than holding 45 . For now I have some " training wheels on it " . I installed the bisquit and a sight . I'm learning to shoot with my fingers . At close range I'm pretty accurate , tho I did miss the pigeons I was shooting at . Already - it is easier to pull and hold , I hope to get a kill with it this coming weekend . Once I figure the bow out - I'll try the "no sight" thing again . One question - Does the fletching hitting the riser and shelf throw the arrow to the left ? I havn't even tried it ,,,,, but it seems that it would .

If you are shooting feathers, there should be no problem with them contacting the riser or shelf. They fold up as they pass over the obstacle. One tip though, your arrow will fly better if you have a single point on the shelf it rests on rather than the entire length of a flat shelf. That's why many recurves have radiused shelves.

What is the advantage of shooting off the shelf? Easier to aim? I am using a flipper now with vanes.

It's just my opinion but a trad bow just doesn't seem happy shooting vanes. I personally hunt with bows I've made from trees shooting off my hand, a very old 40/45 pound Bear recurve that's take a few deer and a 250 pound russian boar, and compound bows. With the single string bows though I only shoot with feathers, mostly fletched with hand cut feathers stuck on with sinew. Anyhoo, on a recurve with a shelf, using feathers I actually have a patch of leather glued onto the shelf and it works perfectly fine. You don't need to be scared of keeping things simple. The self sticking fuzzy stuff, a patch of leather, whatever... It's all good.

It's just my opinion again, but for small game and a simple shelf maybe you should consider a lighter weight bow with shield fletching and not even bother with flu flus. Another thing to consider is forgetting cedar shafts, they break too easy. Try sitka spruce. I've been shagging the same half dozen, shooting them on the last 25 bows I've sold ranging from 80 pound Warbows to 35 pound kids bows. Because each bow is different I've had some pretty bad shots before getting the feel of the particular bow. I've bounced them off of trees, hit rocks, shot my pole barn, tested penetration by shooting through 1/2 inch CDX and even with that abuse not one arrow has broken or is unservable. I still have the original 6 to put Zwickeys on.You can gain even more feather clearance by buying tapered or barreled shafts. A great source of sitka spruce shafts or finished arrows is through Foxfire Traditional Archery. Tracy McQueen is good people and makes great arrows.

Advantages of shooting off the shelf: Simplicity. Durability. Gets the arrow closer to the hand so it makes it easier to point and shoot rather than taking deliberate aim (although there is no law that says you can't take deliberate aim while shooting of the shelf ).

Advantages of using an elevated rest. Easier tuning. Sometimes allows more leeway in arrow spine selection. Better fletching clearance. Sometimes = increased arrow speed. Capable of better accuracy and consistency (more conducive to deliberate aiming techniques than for instinctive/poke-n-hope shooting). Also allows the use of plastic vanes, if you're so inclined.

For tournament shooting, where I needed the best accuracy possible, I nearly always used a bow with an elevated rest. For hunting, where the last thing I needed was a broken rest, I almost always shot off the shelf. Also, there are some 3D classes/tournaments that outlaw elevated rests.

I ALWAYS shot off the shelf for bowfishing. No rest hanging out there for the line to get tangled on.