Learning to shoot a recurve.
 

Hello all,

Well, after this season is over I am going to likely get a Samik Sage recurve to learn to shoot over the winter. I know nothing aside from watching a couple youtube videos.

Some totally basic questions:

- What draw weight is good to start out with to gain good form and what draw weight should you work up to for deer?

- What arrows should I get to start off with to practice at both a range and in the woods with a target.

- Any accessories I should get right away, or just get the bow arrows and target and fly at 'er?

Thanks for taking the time to answer. My goal is to go out next year for archery season. I do not have the cash to go compound right now and may well in the future. I think the recurve will be a fun skill to learn and look forward to getting out an extra month next year even if it is improbable that I will get close enough to comfortably attempt to harvest a deer.

Glove or tab ( I use a Damascus three fingered glove)
Quiver , brace height tool, tgatviscabout it.
Aluminum is nice because you can change heads easily , field points, judo heads fir outside , broadheads etc .
That being said I still enjoy wood shafts and use hot melt glue on them fir fastening the heads .
Best advice I can give is to get with a mentor that knows how to shoot traditional archery and have fun!
Cat

If you live in Calgary I can meet up with you and help out. Check out the Alberta traditional bow hunters association, we have a website and a group on “face slap”

Recurve
 

Start with low draw weight to develop good form and shooting habits. 45 lbs or lighter would be reasonable for most.

Inexpensive 500 spine carbon arrows will suit well to start off. Fletch with feathers of course.

All you need to start shooting is an arm guard, glove, bow and arrows.

Traditional shooting is a super fun sport regardless of your skill level.

It does take a massive amount of shooting and practice to become proficient enough for hunting but incredibly gratifying once you get your mojo.

Good luck

Thanks for all the input so far. Pretty excited to try this out, even if it is a long road. I figure that I can always bring it with me when I go out to crown land for scouting or shooting to practice and I have an archery range 10 minutes from my place.

I will fire you a PM!

I've been shooting for a handful of years and just found this video recently. It would bhave saved me alot of headache and time if I'd only know about it sooner. I've heard the same thing from people who've been shooting there whole lives aswell. It covers everything!

https://youtu.be/1E1vKkSSoNs

The part about finding a mentor who knows how to shoot traditional is key.
One of my sons has always wanted to shoot recurve (no accessory sight)...he is 15 and at the moment has an OMP Mountain hunter but is saving for a custom English longbow.
For the last few years he's had pointer from a few locals. Even the guys at Jimbows Edmonton (the absolute best dealer in Alberta in my mind) gave him some pointers.
Than we met up with a traditional 'expert'...placed 2nd in the Canada Cup traditional division a few years back.
Turns out most of what my son had been taught, aimed at compound bows was just flat out wrong. Stance, anchor points...pretty much everthing is different.
Within a couple of months he went from accuracy of minute of small deer 30-40 yards to minute of small bunny at the same distance.

That video is a labour of love, thanks!

Good for me to know that I should be seeking out advice from traditional archers. I am hoping that I can connect with folks at the range close to my house.

Gotta appreciate that video, I have an old recurve and have thought about trying it out, now maybe I will try some targets and see what it does.

I never liked shooting three fingers under or string walking nor using a tab instead of a glove like in the video but o know archers who swear by all of the above .
I have tried and shot the above styles for target shooting but always went back to the traditional style of shooting that Bear, Asbell, Hill, Jones, Fergusson and others use .:)
Cat

Update
 

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the feedback.

Just an update: I went to the local range and shot a 25lbs and a 40lbs bow. I then bought a 25lbs bow with 6 carbon arrows, a stringing tool, and an arm gaurd off Kijiji for a good deal.

Will practice with this bow and also get a 45lbs bow in the near future to work up to. If I need a step in between I will get some 35lbs limbs.

Now I just need to practice and hope to hook up with some experienced guys after rifle season is done!

Matt

I agree. I still shoot with a glove. I tried numerous tabs but couldn't get used to them.

Tom Clum Sr. is well known in the trad community and should be having video lessons coming out soon. checkout rms gear on Instagram they had a post about it a few weeks ago.

Will check that out, thanks!

Just thought I would drop a quick update.

Have watched "The Push" video a couple times now and have been listening to their podcast which is equally well produced.

Made myself a leather tab and it seems to be working really well and have almost finished a leather arm guard as the one that came with my bow is kid sized.

Tried string walking... but this is impractical with a 25lbs. bow at 20yards, so I am going instinctive now. A 45lbs. bow may be in my near future and I will revisit the string walking again.

Set up a target in my garage that is pretty close, but I have realized I need to shoot some every day if I am going to go up in weight. Drywall already full of holes around target.

Have nockset pliers, square, and nock points on order so I can mess with stuff.

Still need to follow up connecting with some experienced archers once Christmas crazy is over.

Thanks all,

Matt

I’m still available....after christmas

Thanks man, will be contacting you for sure.

I started and continue shooting with a tab. I find gloves clumsy. I can flip the tab backward while roving or sitting and a quick flip and it's in place. The tabs I love have Calf fur on the string side and a rubber separator.

I shoot 52 # setting on my compound for years.
Bought a 40# take down so I could still hunt if ever needed
Bought 30# limbs at a later date as 40 is More as there is no break.
Practice light incresse weight slowly.

That makes sense. I think I will eventually pick up one or two steps between 25 and 45. At first I thought it was just being able to pull the bow back and take the shot that was the concern with weight, but now after practicing a bunch I realize that it is also the repetitive strain. My 25 is no problem pulling back for 2 hours of practice, but the next day the shoulder is tender.

I will keep an eye out for one like that!

I do not shoot as much as I used to but I used to shoot thousands of arrows over the course of year. My advice is avoid paper targets......as in the bullseye targets with the rings unless that is what you're in to. for target or 3D shooting the key is to pick a spot, a tuft of hair or a dandelion in the wild something that will force you to concentrate on a smaller object and let fly.

In the off season or even when I'm not shooting, I pull the bow back 20-30 times daily, every second day or whenever without an arrow just to practise form.

Visualize the shot you're trying to make...….nothing like watching an arrow sail through the air following your imaginary line to the target in question.


Best advice I can give is have fun and enjoy...…….

In the "old days" I grew up roving and stump shooting. It was a great way to judge distance and focus.

The best part is you're not judging distance, your mind just recognizes you've shot at a certain distance many times and calibrates everything for you..... the beauty of instinctive shooting.

It’s one I’ve those things that’s really simple in practice but is hard to learn. I’ve preferred shooting this way for quite a while but I don’t get out as often as I should do I haven’t got comfortable enough to hunt yet. The best advice I can give is practice practice practice

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/pictu...ictureid=10770

I started out with a recurve shooting staw bales then ground hogs then attached a bowfishing rig and shot carp and lamperay eels. That’s how I got started.

The bow was I think a Ben Person fiberglass at 45lbs. (in the picture).
I shot with a three finger glove (index finger over the nock).

Many years later I’m shooting a Golden Eagle compound recurve still using the same 3 finger glove for a release, a friend how shoots competition target (and does very well) tells me to melt bees wax into a can and dip my glove (three fingers inside) into it.
Said it molds the leather into the fit of your fingers, gives you a faster cleaner release.
Archers edge tip from a man who shot a lot.

I had a Bear Whitetail Hunter compound after the Pearson recurve and before the Golden Eagle. It was then I killed my first deer, 2 to 3 after the Pearson, with the Bear bow but
not because the bow made a difference, I simply put in enough time hunting and learning to make it all come together.

The Pearson at 45 lbs would have been more than enough bow to drop that deer, I simply
had decided at the time to upgrade because I spent so much of my time target and small game hunting with that Pearson bow I wanted to try the new stuff.

When I finally learned how to hunt, I was able to get that deer in range (20 yards) relaxed
head down and away, broadside shot, no twigs or branches in the way. Stopped, standing.
That’s how I shot my first deer with a bow, the bow was not the issue. The Pearson could have dropper her same as the Bear didn’t matter. If I could do a lung shot on a ground hog at 20 yards with the Person and I did many times.

There’s something to said about the feel of the shot with a recurve, it’s like many have said “You see the arrows flight upon release that is what you see, but in your minds eye you have already seen it’s path and on the relax of the fingers you see the arrow rock the target. Hitting exacting where you think it was going to go, just before you released.

If you can read all this stuff above and still want to shoot a bow, you are truly a bow hunter tried and true.

Seriously it’s more than well worth the time spent to try it out, it’s not for everyone but
many have made their live better for it. Best of luck, lots of people here to help with it, simply ask.

It was more than a whole lot of fun, I learned a lot, it made me a better person.

Bones.

Would be really cool to see other posters pictures of when they got
started.

Cat you got one from the way back machine ?
Post 'em up.

And now that said that, Cat is gonna post a picture of shooting pheasants
with flu-flu's from last years small game hunt. :sHa_shakeshout:

I have a single flu-flu arrow and shot it at a squirrel in a tree. Many moons ago.
Squirrel remains, tree and arrow are long gone.

What was really neat about shooting that flu-flu was watching it fly.
Like an apollo liftoff, rocket taking off.

I'll never forget that. Even thow I missed the squrill it was great thing to
execute and watch. It almost made it, that close.