Kind of new to the area and I don' t know who to ask. Please excuse my unbelievable ignorance in this area.

I am thinking about making the conversion to traditional. The question I have for a starter bow relates to draw weight. I would imagine to shoot comfortably I need to step down . . . but I don' t know how much.

I generally shoot comfortably a 60# compound. If I was looking to switch to traditional what weight should I be looking at. I (unfortunately) don' t have the option of trying out different bow conveniently. As you may be able to understand I get the " have you lost you ****ing mind????" Look from people I ask around home.

Target game is mid-sized whitetail and hog.

Thanks in advance.

Parker

To be on the safe side, I' d say 50# max (at your draw length), although 45# would probably be more comfortable. 45# is plenty for deer, and will take care of hogs as long as you don' t hit the " sheild" . It' s always better to hit the boiler room with a lighter poundage than miss or gut-shoot because the bow is too heavy. Arrows that fly perfectly and super sharp broadheads will get the job done.

No need to apologize--shoot, we all had to start somewhere. A good read (short, simple, and to the point) is Byron Ferguson' s " Become the Arrow" . What he says about quality wood shafting no longer applies (you can get it from several places now), but over-all it' s a great book and will help get you on your way. His style may not work the best for you, but it will give you a foundation to work on.

Good luck!

Chad

Hiya Parker, good to see you posting. If I were you, I' d be looking at a bow from 40-45# at your draw length. Most off the shelf bows are a certain weight at 28" s of draw length. It' s been quite awhile since I' ve shot one, so they may have changed, but when I made the switch to trad gear, I lost a little over an inch of draw length, going from a 29" draw to just under 28" . If that hasn' t changed, you' ll want to look at a bow around 45# @ 28" and you' ll fall right in the 40-45# range. If your draw is longer, say 29-30" , then you' ll want to look at a bow 40# or so. It might not make a difference which type of trad bow you look at, but if you want to save some bucks, go with an older recurve. If there' s no one around that can help with the purchase and make sure that you get a fair deal on a sound bow, then buy from a reputable dealer that deals primarily in trad gear. There are quite a few around and I' m sure that some of the other guys here can name one or more for you. Once you have a good bow and some arrows that' ll fly well from it, get close (5' or so) to the back stop and practice form before anything else. Proper and consistent form will make for consistent accuracy. You' re gonna get lots of good info here from some very fine archers and bowhunters. Have fun.