I have a bag target that was blessed by the Pope. It's very "holy" now. In the middle of the target where there is a very deep hole, I place a large pine cone in that spot. I practice at 5, 10, 15 and 20 yards. That pine cone is my "pick a spot" and I can really scare the hell out of that pine cone at 20 yards with both of my low poundage recurves.

Practice is what makes a bowhunter a good and confident shooter whether it's with a 35# trad bow or whether it's with a 65# trad bow and every poundage inbetween.

I'd say 95% of the kids I see bowhunting; from 13 years old and up, they're bowhunting with compound bows, not trad bows. And the kids shooting those compound bows are very good at 20 yards and under due to mounted sights, peep sights, release aids and high letoff percentage. The lowest poundage I've seen them shoot is with a 35# compound. Put it this way; at 20 yards and under, I wouldn't want to be a deer that's standing broadside still to these kids. If I were a deer and did that, I'd be hanging from a meat pole.

My wife shoots a 34 pound recurve and the trick is PERFECT arrow flight which she gets.. Two blade broadhead and she blows thru deer and turkey with no issues!

Arrow weight and head type are everything. What is this tuning nonsense? I thought I was on a traditional forum, guess not.

Any bow needs to be tuned to get the most out of it--preformance, accuracy, and penetration--traditional or not. Like Dalebow noted--perfect arrow flight makes all the difference.

You just tune a tradtional bow differently--adjust brace height, point weight, arrow length, etc.

Chad

"Tune" is a word bow shops use to charge money. If you need some one to "Tune" your longbow or recurve, you need a compound. About 25 years ago a co-worker asked how I could possibly get a deer with a recurve. He shot a compound in a league and considered it a super human feat. I explained that I was a bow hunter, not a bow target shooter. There is a big difference. When the old bows started becoming popular again people wanted to go simple and fun. Human nature being what it is, it wasn't long before "Experts" started selling Fast Flyte string and wanted to tune your bow. Eventually the tide will move towards mechanical bows again. I just have to wonder if all these people that swear by stickbows will stay loyal. It was awful lonely out there in the woods with a stickbow in the early 80's. At one time I had over 300 bows in my collection. I wonder where those guys went ? Hunting with a stickbow is an attitude, not just another hunting tool.

What traditional shops charge for advice on tuning a traditional bow? There are tons of discussions on it, and a large section of a website devoted to it-- www.bowmaker.net .

Tuning is something any informed archer wants to do. A tuned bow is a better shooting bow. Better performance, quieter, better penetration, less hand shock, better consistency.

Most tuning costs very little if anything. Adjust your brace height. Adjust your silencer placement. Use a serving that fits your nocks properly, or vice-versa.

I once saw a fellow posting about not being able to get pass-through's on whitetail deer, suppossedly shoot 80# bows. If he was telling the truth, then it's obvious he didn't have a clue about tuning. You might not get a pass-through with a poorly tuned 80# bow, but a well-tuned 40# bow will slide on through like a hot knife through butter.

"Fast Flight" isn't anywhere near the first major improvement in bowstring material. Do you use stinging nettle fiber for your string? Sinew? Squirrel hide? If not, then you must be "into" those new-fangled products. :lmao:

35# being the min poundage for most states,
if they felt 35# wasnt enough sure regs would indicate higher min,
i been shooting a 60-70# and have been looking for a 35# for small game,
would like the ease and speed of drawing a light bow over +60#

for big game, although legal, would be hesitant to go with 35# bow,
but would probably go with a 40-50# bow,
lighter poundage does make it easier to keep your bow steady and on the mark longer.

Lbr
 

If you have an untuned bow I don't see how you could hit a deer anyway. An 80 pound bow and it won't pass through the lung area of a deer? You think that is a tuning problem ? I have been at this a long time, apparently longer than you. I made a lot of my own bows, hundreds of strings for people getting into this "Traditional" nonsense, and plenty of arrows. I won't put a nock position on a string. A stick bow is a personal thing and has to suit the guy shooting it. I may answer some questions, but you can not get the "feel" of a bow for someone else. There is half a dozen things that affect the problems you mentioned and none of them has anything to do with "Tuning".

Someone that knows how to shoot can get away with a lot. A few years ago Bill Leslie borrowed a selfbow from one fellow, some wood arrows from another, and even though they weren't matched at all he placed in a big tournament.

I'm not in the same league as Bill, but I can take an untuned bow and mismatched arrows and still hit a target at reasonable hunting ranges. The simple fact of the matter is an arrow that isn't flying straight, i.e. isn't tuned to the bow, will not penetrate well.

I don't know what else it could be. That kind of poundage would push a blunt point through the lungs of a deer if the arrow were flying straight. The only way I can think of where it wouldn't penetrate is if the arrow were flying near sideways, i.e. not tuned.

Could be, but that has nothing to do with anything. I've seen folks that have been shooting literally for 40+ years that knew less about what they were doing than some guys shooting just a few years. FWIW, I've been shooting traditional bows for close to 20 years--somewhere between 15 and 20.

I never said otherwise.

What are they? I bet I can relate most, if not all, to tuning.

Chad

I was out of town for a while. It is easy to see why an 80# bow will not pas through a deer's lung area. I hunt land open to the public and always did. I see "hunters" sitting in one fence row and shooting at deer 60-70 yards across the field. That is the only reason to shoot an 80# bow when hunting deer, more range. I don't doubt that he is shooting the lightest arrows and heads he can find to get more speed. I know two people (very well) that shot deer in the shoulder (accidentally) with compounds over 55#. The arrows bounced off the shoulders. The arrows were very light and the heads were of the chisel point style. I screwed up and hit one in the shoulder with a 43# bow and it broke out a piece of bone and penetrated the heart, actually coming out of the other side of the heart. I use Zwickey or Bear 2 blade heads. His arrows may be under spined for the weight of the bow. That absorbs a lot of energy until the arrow clears the bow. The main reason he won't get a pass through is probably that he knows nothing about deer anatomy and is hitting them really high or too far forward. The quickest way to slow down an arrow in a deer is to hit solid meat. I have been hunting with a bow for over 40 years, and it is obvious that you are a target shooter and not a hunter when it comes to recurves and longbows. There is a big difference.