I started shooting bows a little over 30 years ago when I was about 4 or 5.  After the cheesy 5 and dime fiberglass bows, I started shooting my grandfather's old Bear Grizzly.  It was probably about a 40# rig, and it grew with me.

I started out shooting old pie tins, and soon enough I was toting it through the woods after small game and birds.  I went through a small forest of cedar shafts, before embracing the cutting edge aluminum shafts.

A few years later, my brother and I were out cruising the town on our bikes, and found a couple of old Bearkat takedown bows.  We shot them every day after school in the back yard for years.  Challenging each other and having a lot of fun.

When I was 13, I had saved up enough lawn mowing money to buy my first compound bow.  Once that began, I seldom shot my recurve bows.


Fast forward to a couple of years ago: a friend was moving out of state, and gave a couple of his old recurves to my best buddy (who at the time did not shoot)  He loaned me the old Browning folding recurve, which I have fiddled with a little bit.

I'm still shooting my compound (now an Elite) and hunting with it.  A few months back, I saw a really pretty longbow hanging in a shop, and it got me to thinking.

Today, my wife and daughter presented me with my very first longbow.  A Bear Montana, 55# model.

I took it outside to monkey with (I only have 1 appropriate arrow for it, need to pick some more up this Saturday) and had some fun.  Out to 5 yards, I'm still able to keep the arrows in the 6" center of my target.

I realized something however: I really need to hit the weight pile.  I can't quite draw this to my anchor point.

Any tips, tricks, ideas on what to work on to get where I need to be?  Is there a way to effectively reduce the draw weight of this bow?  This is the first time I've ever felt "over bowed", and I'm not sure how to proceed.


For now, this is just a venture into fun.  A toe in the water just to test it out if you will.  There is no telling where this may take me.  I could very well wind up stringing my old Bearkat or the Browning somewhere along the way as well.

No easy fix to reduce the bow's actually draw length.  Shooting a bow that is too much poundage is a very good way to develop bad habits.  Best way to work on better upper body strength in my opinion is to do pushups and draw the bow to your anchor and hold it there, then let down.  Do this as many times as you can reach you anchor and do it everyday with both arms.  Another option would be to get a lighter weight bow an work up to the heavier poundage.  If you want to shoot arrows right now, that is probably your best option.  otherwise take it slow and develop those muscles while maintaining good form.

My advice is to see if you can get a lighter bow to get your form down with then when you feel you are ready to do so move up to the Montana.

I absolutely agree with James.  The alternative is a  whole can of worms that you don't want.

I've seen people on here suggest using those rubber exercise bands to simulate drawing a bow. I'd recommend that. And don't forget to do both arms/shoulders.

Also, great story. Funny how we always seem to come full circle, huh? I'm in basically the same situation as you - switching to a longbow after 27 years with a compound.

If you follow this path very far, you will end up with more than one bow. So with that in mind jump out there and get yourself a thirty to thirty-five pounder. This will help your form at the same time build your strength.

I appreciate the suggestions fellas.

The bows are piling up, I still have 3 recurves, my compound and now the longbow.

I still shoot the compound (63lb) a few times a week.  I will need to string up one of my recurves to get used to the 0% letoff thing again.  :D