I have been in archery since 1971 and have never used anything but a recurve or longbow. Still have and shoot my first recurve. I have tried my buddies compounds but never liked them, so never had one. As long as I can keep health will stay with them. Maybe someday when I get to old ( I'm 58),to use them I will go to a compound.

About 14yrs ago,I sold my compound(and everything that went with it) and bought a custom longbow.Haven't shot a compound since.
If you want to hunt with your compound,hunt with it.the recurve-hunt with that too.It's all good

Thanks too all you guys that responded!! I will more then likely be trying to get a used one this late winter/early spring! I believe I will probably hunt with both, but will probably end up fallin into the recurve trap like some of you all.
Bowhunting is my passion and i think a recurve will really get me pumped to achieve acuracy and my first kill with one!!

I am sure you all will be hearing a lot ore from me when the time comes to buy one! To be honest I dont know if I have ever been into a proshop that even deals/works on traditional equipment, so I will be leaning on you all for support! Thanks again!!

i went to the recurve over the compound due to injury and surgeries. i am unable to hold the compound anymore due to the physical weight of it. todays bows are so heavy and i am unable to hold a bow and shoot it. i lost the use of the muscles in my bow arms and hand. i can shoot a recurve because the one i am shooting is under 3lbs and like 2.3lbs and the draw is only 45lbs which is comfortable to me. i can hit a pieplate out to 20 yards consistantly and i know i can shoot an animal with as i killed my first a merino ram in texasone weeks ago. what a blast. he was shot at 11 yards and i got the worse case of buck fever i have ever had and had to talk myself down. something about a traditional hunt that is definately different
i will try to post my ram for you
rob k

Hello,
I’m not trying to highjack this thread, but I have some questions that I’d like to ask that seem to fit here.
I know what a long bow and a recurve look like, but don’t really understand the pro’s and con’s of them. Why one would be chosen over the other if you will. Also, I have no idea what a “self bow” is that I’ve heard mentioned.
Any info would be great, and I apologize for being so ignorant on this subject, but since I need a new bow (currently have a compound) I thought I’d explore all the options before deciding on one.
Thanks,
KP

I stopped shooting my compound because it was becoming unsafe, delaminating on the edges. I had always shota bare bow instinctive with fingers and was having a hard time finding a compound with long enough "a to a" for finger shooting in this world of parallel limbs. BobCo suggested I try a traditional bow and I found it fit my style in more ways than one. Don't plan on going back to compounds.

I shoot both, hoping for a Buck with my Trykon and 2 doe with my trad, ( not too good yet with the stick bow so I'm gonna take a few doe before I go 100% for buck with the stick bow)

KP, there's not that much difference in a lot of them. Get down to the strict definition of a "longbow", they generally have the shelf cut shy of center (less forgiving of arrow spine), have more hand shock, are slower, but some feel they are more forgiving of shooter error. These days there are longbows with recurve risers, recurves with longbow risers, and pretty much everything in-between. The biggest difference is in personal preferance.

A selfbow is a primitive bow--no glass. Generally one piece of wood, or two billets spliced together. Some are backed with another wood, sinew, or snake skin.

YJRR, for what it's worth, I think you need to put things in perspective. A deer is a deer, regardless of head gear. Does aren't out there for target practice. Know your limitations and stick with them before you go hunting.

If you meant that does are more plentiful and easier to shoot in your area, my apologies. In my neck of the woods, a mature doe is at least as much a challenge as a buck, and to me every bit as much a "trophy".

Chad

no offense taken, yea in the area I hunt you could about take a doe with your eyes shut and with a baseball bat but the real reason is that I'm new to Trad archery I've always been a compound kinda guy until recently, plus I am insanely picky with my shots since I dont want to injure an animal with either my trad bow or my trykon, I want clean fast kills just as much as any other respectable hunter.

In my opinion if your going to shoot traditional shoot traditional. There is so many differences in the two bows with your draw length and your release point and the style of shooting. Alot of the big shots will tell you the same thing. My dad for one has been shooting a long bow for 20 years now and he still catches himself once in a while using his ancor point he had used while shooting his compound.