longbow

[stxhunter]

just got this bow going to try and shoot a hog first chance i can get out to the ranch.I've killed them with my compound this will be my first time hunting with a longbow any advice would be appreciated

this is a bobcat i shot this year this is not the one mounted my son shot that one with his 22 single shot at about 5 paces one in pic is at the taxidemist

 

[James Jones]

if your not framiliar with shooting the stick bows you need to practice , its alot differant shooting instinctive than with sites. I personaly "snap" shoot my stick meaning that as soon as it comes to full draw the arrow is released. I also shoot a very heavy long bow (119lbs at 31") so holding it for any length of time is not an option.
But the big thing is practice practice practice.

Are you shooting wood , aluminum or carbon? I rather real feathers over any type of vane as I shoot off the shelf of the bow and they are fletchwith a strong left heilical to hep straten out the arrow as soon as possible.
Also with the stick bows shooting so much slower that the compounds your gonna want a heavy arrow.

 

[stxhunter]

this bow is 56# at 28 i've been practicing as you described draw and releasing right away. I can keep them in an 8-10 inch circle at 15yards right now i deffinitly want to get better than that i can do that at 60 with my compound. I'm shooting cedar arrows with real feathers 125 gr broadheads you must have really good upper body strenght to shoot 119#.

 

[Dan B]

Shooting base bow is all about form, form, FORM!!!

I shot competitively and hunted for years with fixed pins and fingers...so I already had the finger shooting part down pretty good. In January I took up shooting a stick to make archery fun again...it had turned into work with all the comp's. I've worked up to being about to easily hit a half gallon jug at 25yards.

Learn your form and after that it's just hand/eye coordination. A good way to do this is stand FEET from the target and shoot with your eyes closed...concentrate on hand placement on the grip, then feel the string on your fingers, smooth draw, hit your anchor point, release and follow through. You'll never feel most of this with your eyes open.

 

[James Jones]

You might want to make sure that the spine on your arrows is correct also , I'm not to sure why but the incorrect spine on your shafts with a long bow seems to affect accuracy more than with a compound. I have converted to shooting a realy heavy carbon arrow , they are alot straiter and stiffer.

As for the upper body strength , I'm a pretty big boy that competes in powerlifting and body building but I have to tell ya I train with some guys that are as strong as me but can't even come close to drawing an 80lb longbow. Their are muscles in your back and upper shoulder than simply can't workout unless your drawing a bow ,I've even had judges mention that they can see a differance in my right upper back and shoulder.

 

[Dan B]

[ QUOTE ]
.......can't even come close to drawing an 80lb longbow.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny! I was 14yrs old and shooting co-op for Hoyt USA...my competition bow was 76#! Hunting bow was 82#! Granted they were compounds....but I was 14! It was a hoot to see grown men try to pull a bow that belonged to a "kid".

 

[stxhunter]

My younger brother and I started shooting compounds about the same time. He's 6 years younger and at that time alot stronger than me. I use to bench about 130 back then about 3yrs ago. My brother could bench 230 but he had a hard time drawing his bow till he developed the other muscles needed for it anyway i've been working out the last yr and can bench 255 now not bad for weighting 180 and fixing to turn 44

 

[BountyHunter]

Years ago Jennings made very limited run of T-Star compounds called the "Elephant bow", ie 100 lb pull and on compound at 50% letoff.

My friend who runs an archery shop, put one in with a sign, $1 a pull attempt and $20 if you pull it.

He made a lot of money with that bow!!!

BH

 

[James Jones]

I've had alot of folks try to draw my compound in the shop , they try then look at it like its locked then try again and claim its broke , then I step back ahd shoot it and claim its fine. I've found that theirs alot that plays into drawing a heavy bow like the letoff , draw length and what type of release used. I have found that the higher the letoff the harder it is to ge the bow to break over into the valley but alot easier once you get their.
alot of people ask why I shoot such a heavy draw bow since they can shoot as FAST at 60lbs as I do it 104lbs but I shoot a big expandable 4 blade broadhead at some tough critters somtines and I'd hate know that I had to pass on a trophy animal because I diden't have enough energy to make a full frontal or rear shot and pennitrate to the vitals. With a 100+lbs of KE I know I have alot better chance .
If I coulden't draw it easly I woulden't shoot it , I see some guys try to shoot heavy bows and they look like a circus ack trying to pull it , no way in hell would they pull that off on a hunt.
The guys at the bow shop pick on me cause I shoot a "cannon" for a bow and shoot smaller calibers for rifles.

 

[Supermag]

I've even seen something on the History Channel or Discovery about the archers from medieval times. They dig these guys up and the bone structure in there right shoulders is actually bigger (significantly) than there left shoulders. I believe these guys shot bows in excess of 120 lbs (they had about a 300 yard range, spray and pray).

 

[Sendero_Man]

JDJONES.... you on steriods ?? 119 lb longbow at 31 inches... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

heck son, you must be able to kick Arnolds butt one handed.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I am 6'3" and 225. little fat and I shoot a 64 lb bow... it takes me 2 months to get my shoulder in shape before elk season shooting 5 nights a week.....

HOLY COW !!! 119 lbs ???

POST A PICTURE OF THAT BAD BOW....

 

[James Jones]

17 yrs of hard work and competitive powerlifting and reciently body building. I'm 6'3" 300-315lbs ij the off season at about 10%-12% body fat , I bench just over 600lbs and thats clean , no shirt or elbow wraps , I use 385;bs for my last set of bent-over -rows , one arm bent over pulls with the 200lbs dumbells and my squat is in the upper 700's , so no I'm not a little fella , but I'm no where near the level of the pro body builders these days but yea I'm a about 25lbs bigger than Arnold at my stage weight. I've been playing with the idea of dropping a little weight and getting into some M.M.A. fights (UFC Style) as I've been training is martial arts for 21yrs now but the wife isin't to happy about that idea!! Weight training is my #1 hobby with shooting and guns my close second

The bow is beautiful but its realy just a big stick looks like a bigger version of a regular long bow. When I get a new camera I'll get some pics and post here.

But again , the size and strength of the man is a pretty big factor but I have seen some regular size guys shoot bows in the 80-100lb class and I have buddies my size and strength that can't even think about shooting a 80lb bow.

 

[sambo3006]

JD,
I'm 5'9" 165 lbs. I used to shoot a heavy Black Widow recurve 80# @28" and I shot a 93# compound like a toy. I was at a stickbow carnival and a guy had an older Black Widow that was 93# @28" and nobody could pull it back. I have a picture of me at full draw with a 31" arrow with the tip all the way back to the arrow rest. I figure 100-110 lbs draw.

15 years and bilateral rotator cuff surgeries later I shoot a 52# Widow recurve and a 53# Hoyt compound. You are right about physical size not necessarily translating into more strength to pull a bow. Just wish my shoulder joints could have kept up!

PS I appologize if I have ever said anything on here to offend a person of your size and strength! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Just kidding.

 

[stxhunter]

well my brother got a new highcountry iron mace. i use to have a bowtech black kight and his new bow makes that bowtech look like its shooting in slow motion he had it set at 70 and it was penatrating all the way though my block burying the vains in the target we had to turn it down to 60 to stop ruining arrows still penatrating up to the vains . he says it shoots close to 400fps i know i had a hard time following the arrow while it was in flight i was really impressed it was fairly quit to. the reason i got rid of my black kight was because of how noise it was