To make up for my lack of experience, I would like to ask for your experienced opinions rather than take a busy bowyer`s time to ask them, when I am not ready to buy yet. I am 5`7" and have a 25.5" draw. Would I still be OK with a 62" R/D longbow ? How about a 64 inch ? Would a 64" of the same # be easier to draw than a 62" or a 60"? Thank you, duck66dawg
Good question, I have the same DL
The advantage to having a long draw, is you get good performance from the bow, the disadvantage to having a long draw is you have to use long length bows or get finger pinching. So you can go with what ever length you want.
My draw is 26.5" and I shoot bows from 48" to 70" but I really like them around 56"-60".
Hope this helps.
With that short of a draw length, a 60', 62", or 64" will all be fine. I doubt you will be able to tell a hill of beans difference in the easiness of the draw on any of them.
Bisch
I would go 58 to 60 on a short R/D longbow. You could also have a longer riser put in it also to give the bow a shorter working limb and give you a little more speed at your shorter draw. I would do a 58" bow with a 18" riser just a personal preference.
A busy bowyer just took the time to answer your question on here and you could do a lot worse than a Lost Creek longbow. I have talked to lots of bowyers on the phone and have never bought a thing from any of them. I never once got the sense that they did not wish to talk to me. Unlike many other business people custom bowyers tend to be friendly and great people to talk to.
I actually have one bow that I got new from the bowyer and I have never talked to him since he will not answer his phone. That bow is a 58 inch r/d longbow and I shoot it at about 30 inches.
When a busy bowyer is really busy they often get their wife or children to answer the phone and once again you will find them to be knowledgeable and friendly. The truth is phoning a custom bow company is usually just a lot of fun. My favourite is the time Dick Robertson told me about how his kids all ended up with names that start with the letter "Y". Or call Neil Jacobsen at Bearspaw and get him going about the editing of his goat hunt article. These are good people who love what they do.
I have a 25 1/2" draw and don't own a longbow under 62". All my favorite R/D bows are 64" and my Hill style bows are 66" and 68". I like the stability of a longer bow. I add 5 or 6 pound of draw weight to compensate for my short draw. It's true you will get more performance from a shorter bow however. It's also true I get plenty of performance from my bows and good accuracy. I'm willing to bet they shoot a little smoother than most shorter bows as well.Try different and as many bows as you can to see what you like. I feel it's more advantages to have a short draw than too long a draw. Shoot what you like and tune it and your arrows to your draw length.
I draw 26", sometimes just a bit under. I'm most comfortable with 66" in a Hill style, 62" in a mild/moderate D/R, and 58" in a hybrid or recurve.
I only shoot recurve bows and my draw length is also 26" (I'm 5'6"). I've shot them from 52-62". Most of my bows are 58". I find 58-60" to be the best length in recurves for me in terms of comfort, stability, and resulting accuracy.
I'm 5'7" and draw just under 25. I shoot a 62" Robertson longbow well. Tried a 64 and shot it well too. Try a few out , pick the one you like and don't worry sbout length. You'll notice no performance differences unless you chronograph and then may be only a couple fps
I draw around 26" and believe I get more zip from hybrids and recurves bows in the 56"-58" range.
Have a good bowyer build you a draw specific bow and you can shoot a 60 to 62 inch d and r that will zip an arrow like you would not beleive from your draw length. One man mentioned longer riser and that can be a good key. So can power lams, tip wedges and your limb tapers when a bowyer that is able to utilize those tools properly builds your bow. There are several that can do that. Its way way better than buying a bow a certain length and generic 28 inch draw performance wise;
God bless, Steve
I'm 5'8" with a 26.5" draw,both my 62" JD Berry and my 54" shrew shot great for me.Talk to the Bowyer,they have the best idea on what works with their design.