My wife has gotten interested in archery recently but is very short. She is a about 5'3" and when drawing a long bow say 60" or 62" the string actually hits her body because of the angle of the string. Her draw length is 25". My thoughts are that a much shorter bow more suited to her height and draw length would eliminate this issue. Anyone else have any experience with this problem? So, who makes bows in the 48"-52" range?

Oh and I guess I should mention that I shoot with my bow pretty heavily canted as does she. I know if she were to shoot with an upright olympic for that would eliminate the issue. She wouldn't be able to shoot from an elevated stand though because most bows are as tall or taller than she is. This is my reasoning for wanting to go the route of a super short bow.

Hill country bobcat - longbow or recurve. Best short bow I have found.

well i have a horse bow 48'' long made by samick and hell it is fast and easy to shoot  canted or upright and is as light a feather to carry so light ya can hunt and walk all day and not get tired you  should have a look at one. oh forgot something they draw real easy as in ya have a #50 and it feels like #40-45  and you can take that puppy anywhere  

Actually there are quite a few in the 52 in range. Cascade,Bigfoot, EagleWing Talon 11 Static, I believe Bob Morrison has one but need to check that, Hill Country, Check out most of the sponser bowyers and just about all of them have short model bows , Chuck Dresslers Ambush just came to mind. There are a bunch of them though.


God bless and good luck, Steve

Another short bow I would recommend for short draw is an eagle wing. Talk to Steve he hooked up a kid I ran into looking for a bow that was for short draw shooters. The kid is VERY happy with that bow. And it was absolutely gorgeous!!!

This model is called the "Yeti"  I build these in 52", 54" & 56"

X2 JeffB ............. Kaya has one now available to North America, Wind Fighter. $275.00 available on the auction web site.

Toelke, Two Tracks, Bigfoot, Hoots, Kanati, Shrew, Leon Stewart

Lots of them out there, but Check out Hoots and Toelke. I sold a Lil Hoot and kick myself in the butt now.

Hummingbird is making a short recurve check out their web site.LCH

The Toelke Kestrel is a beautiful and great performing little recurve.  I bet Dan could easily tiller one to 24-26" for her.  A used short 52-54" Shrew would prolly be great too.  Or a Two Tracks Ambush, or the Bigfoot Yeti.  So many choices!

two tracks ambush recurve
Hoots lil hoots recurve
cascade  night hawk

Good stuff! Thanks for the info guys. So far I haven't had much luck except with Bodnik Kiowa and the Black Mountain Sheepeater. This will be her first bow so I am price conscious but she shows a lot of promise! She and I are both pretty excited about this.

bob lee

How about an old Bear Kodiak Magnum? I think they're 52"amo. Should be able to get one for less than $300 I would say.

You don't want a short bow built that is adequate for a long draw archer (most short bows fall in this category).  You want a bow that is proportional to the stature of your wife.  In other words, you need a short bow that shoots well for a short shooter.

I would buy a good 13" ILF riser and a set of medium ILF limbs.

I'll post pix of a couple of choices, but need to change to another computer first.

Left-hand riser is a Dryad.  Right-hand riser is a Morrison.

Javaman makes an excellent 52" Elkheart, and 52" Inferno. Also, depending on her draw weight, you might want to check out some youth bows. A lot of them are designed to be drawn 24-25".

I shoot a roughly 48" horse bow as well, and I'm 6' 4".  My best friend is 5' 6", and he can shoot it just fine as well.  It will accommodate just about anyone, so long as you match the draw weight to where you can pull it to.  Mine is of a light enough weight that 25" would be nothing, but at my 36" draw it gets pretty fearsome.  All you would need would be a heavier starting weight, I think.