First off let me introduce myself by saying... I'm not much of an archer. I don't really know much of the nomenclature and technical side of things. What I do know is that I've always been fascinated with archery and that I love the look of a beautiful wooden recurve or long bow. I can tell you exactly when I became fascinated too. It was the summer before 2nd grade when I went with my mother to Japan to visit family there. One of my uncles was a practitioner of Kyudo, which is a Japanese form of martial arts centered around archery. To a young kid their tools were utterly fascinating and impressive. The asymmetric Yumi bows were a towering 6-7 feet long and the huge long arrows with large tail feathers were quite a sight to behold to a small kid.
Now as a grown up I'll go to those big box outdoor stores now and I enjoy walking through the archery section. But, it's not the fancy 300fps carbon fiber and unobtanium compound bows with their cold hard efficiency that draws my eye, it's beautiful wooden recurves the longbows with their rich warm texture and beautiful sculpted lines. There is something visceral I get out of even the cheapest wood bows that I just don't get out of the most accurate and fast shooting compound bows.
Now I own a compound bow which was given to me by a (female) friend moving overseas who didn't want to bother trying to pack it. I couldn't tell you the brand, the draw weight (Guessing lower since it came from a female), the draw, length, etc other then it is a compound bow. I enjoy shooting it in the back yard, nature offering me numerous targets of opportunity in the tree and stump filled woods behind my house. I'm not much of a hunter but I do enjoy killing time with it when I get the chance.
That brings me to the root of what has prompted me to post after lurking for so long, I've gotten the itch to replace my fiberglass and plastic time killer with something with a little more character made from materials that grew out of mother earth. Of all the traditional archery forums I browsed through this one seemed the most knowledgeable and friendly so I thought I would ask you about my conundrum.
I was shopping around looking at the "you finish" bows and/or cheap hickory sticks I've seen at the auction house with the word "bay" in the name and through many dealers on the internet. The idea of a cheap $60-80 stick to chuck arrows in the back yard sounded like quite an economical way to satiate my desire for a traditional wooden bow without really ticking the wife off (She thinks I spend too much money on Golf already and spending $300 on a trinket I would not use very often would cause her to remove an appendage from me that I find of great value and prize dearly). I was given the opportunity to buy fron an aquaintance what looks to me to be a very nice looking and handsome piece. I have only seen pictures and given descriptions, but it is a Custom made Cherry and Hickory long bow with walnut grip area. It really is a beautiful piece, and the guy says I can have it for dirt cheap, well within and actually below what I though I would have to spend. But, the specs are a little weird. It was for his long limbed wife, the Germans grow their women big I suppose. 72" long, 30# @30".
Now I am not going to kid myself into thinking I can shoot a big heavy arrow with that this with any appreciable velocity, but I'm curious what you guys think about it as a plinker used in the back hard just for stump shooting? I draw a solid 28" so I'm worried that maybe the bow will be way too light, even for just shooting in the back yard. Will I find it way too slow? I wanted to get a feel for what people with more knowledge on the subject thought before I invested the time to drive an hour (to and fro so two hours total) out of my way to take a look at it.
Forgot to add, I am just an average sized guy, but I have shot recurves in the 40-50# range before with no problem.
sounds like a good starting point to me. Most start out over bowed. AND a light bow will MAKE you be a better shot.
oh yeah, Hello and welcome :D :wavey:
Great to have you aboard. 70 inches is long 30# at 30" would put it at around 25#or26# at 28".later if you want more waight on the bow send it to a bower to have it shortend this will increse the draw waight..
Welcome aboard. If the bow is well made, you could easily take off four inches length (two from each end, of course) and bring its weight up to the mid-to upper 30s@28. Pretty easy to do yourself. All lyou need is a saw and small rat tail file. Good luck.
QuoteOriginally posted by Orion:
Welcome aboard. If the bow is well made, you could easily take off four inches length (two from each end, of course) and bring its weight up to the mid-to upper 30s@28. Pretty easy to do yourself. All lyou need is a saw and small rat tail file. Good luck.
Hmmmm... that's an interesting idea.
Now what if the bow is not well made and I only have a cheese grater and an old hubcap off a 57 Chevy to attempt the mod? :D
I bet I could dig up a file and sw out of the shed if I look hard enough...
Put the hubcap back on the '57 and sell it too me! Sounds like you don't need it. :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
Welcome, hope you find all the answers and ideas you are looking for.
Who is that guy on here that makes and shoots light weight bows? He would be great to talk to about the efficiency of that bow. I kind of thought that the lighter your poundage the lighter your arrow and you could still shoot a very acceptable trajectory. Is it seattledick or Dickinseattle
Dick in Seattle seems like a super nice guy who does a lot of stump shooting with lite bows. do a search and find him
Never underestimate a cheese grater! It can take an appendage right off! And I am sure that you like your index finger just the way it is. :wavey: