Times have changed. Bow # ?

[James Wrenn]

I personally think people are just getting smarter myself.They finally came to grips that where you hit something is much more important than what you hit them with.Most will be more accurate with lighter bow weights than with the  heavy weights.Pretty simple if you think about in those terms. jmo

[pktm]

I think the less you focus on how much you draw it back to how accurately you draw your bow, it won't matter much if your drawing 60 or 45. Accuracy is not measured at the target but how we accurately reproduce our form. For some that is  weight dependant for others it is not.

[Orion]

I agree that most of the mass produced bows in the 50s and 60s clustered around the 45# mark.  Folks in fact where smaller then (both height and weightwise) than they are now, but I doubt they were weaker. Most made their living with their hands. Yep. I was around then.

A number of plausible reasons have already been offered for the recent trend toward lighter bows, sedentry lifestyle, a maturing awareness of a bow's lethality, etc. And, there's little doubt that most folks shoot lighter bows more accurately.   Otherwise, competitive target shooters would be shooting heavy bows.

I do think, however, that some folks have gone a  bit overboard and have an inflated view of the lethality of light bow/arrow combinations on critters bigger than deer.

[LimbLover]

I'd have to agree with you on that one Orion.

I'm pretty confident that my 45# bow at my draw could kill anything on the continent. That doesn't mean I would feel comfortable shooting a bear, elk, moose, etc with it. It may just be paranoia but bumping up a few more pounds seems like the thing to do for bigger game.

I would want to be in the 60# range for a hunt like that - even if just for that hunt.

I still wouldn't want to shoot heavier than a 45# regularly. I've seen the negative effects on several older friends I know to do so. Too many shoulder surgeries.

Yeah, Ol' Fred could pull a lot of weight - but he was Fred Bear after all. There is a reason he is a legend.

[pktm]

Let's not forget that not all bows perform the same either. Individual bow performance in my mind is critical in a hunting situation.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

All I know, and I'm pretty new to this, is that at 45 pounds I can hold full draw for quite some time. It's something I appreciate while waiting for that voice in my head to yell "now!!!" My shooting is much better when I pause before letting go.

Also, a question for George, I have dacron 16 strand on a 45# @ 28 bow. It's modern with glass. What kind of string can I switch to and what sort of performance gain can I expect? PM please.

[champ38]

Curveman, I agree 100 % !

[Ia Hawkeye]

Ray,
Guess I qualify for an old timer. I remember when I SERIOUSLY got into full time archery back in 1962, that most of the bows were indeed in the 40-50 range,
I started with a 42#' er and worked up to a 65#' er. Now, in my 70's, with health problems, I shoot a 40# (at my draw weight) and still kill my deer regularly. I only hunt deer and occassionaly small game, so my 40# is all I need. For bigger game, I too would recommend more weight.

Had a friend back in the late 60's who was the Big 10's 165 lbs wrestling champion who shot 42# and killed some P&Y deer with it and a bear. I'm sure he many more successes after he graduated and I lost contact with him.

Good shooting !

[Danny Rowan]

When I stated seriously in Archery in the 60's, I shot heavy bows 80#, shot that weight up until just a few years ago. I can still draw and hold that weight, but I cannot control my shot at that weight anymore. I now shoot 60-65# recurves I also have a 50# recurve. At 58 years young, I shoot better now than I did before and as long as I shoot good and can control my shot at the weight I currently shoot, I will, if I need to drop down a bit I will and no I do not have any shoulder problems from shooting the 80# for many years.

It is all good!

[RaybowTx]

In my opinion.  The ol' times were times when archery was a field shooting hobby.  It was a time when most believed that bows were inferior and not suitable for resposible hunting and there were no magazine racks that showed animal harvests by trad shooters.  In fact trad shooters were it(before machines).
The years of the 45# bows were introductory years for archery enthusiasts not hardcore trad shooters that had developed the insane addiction of shooting stick bows.
A 60# bow would have set on the shelf, because those shooters were mostly hobbie shooters.
The pioneers of this sport didn't lay the foundation for us with 41# bows and history will prove me right in that statement. The pioneers were not stupid and looking for a way to show their manhood by the poudage of bows they shot. They were shooting poundages of bows that they knew by eperiance would get the job done.  They had access to the 45# bows and had shoulders like ours.  But their choices of bow weight had to have something to do with success or the old hunting articles would have explained that Fred or any of the rest took a 'blank, blank' trophy with a 45# bow.  In my experiance of being around shooters of the light weight bows do not have physical limitations of shooting a 55# bow at their draw length.  They have the mind set of something that needs less effort to master, which in order to master meens practice and practice and hours and hours at the target.

I have not wanted this topic to be a subject of angery debate or try to offend those that choose a lighter weight bow.  I only desire to express an opinion that I believe is correct but can be corrected as well.....Thanx.......Ray.......

[Jedimaster]

All I can say is what happened yesterday is history.  What another man did or found necessary is interesting and makes for good reading, conversation, and debate but little else.  This is today and I am me    .  I didn't get into archery to impress or to have a social outlet or to live anothers vision.  I just like to be out in the fall with the simplicity and beauty of a "traditional" bow.  My set up didn't come from another and it may not work for another but it has sure been good to me.  Walk your own path whatever it may be.  Legends are cool, being your own man is much more rewarding.  Shoot what you can shoot well and do it in a way that respects the game you pursue ... I'll have no quarrel with you over your bow's weight if it gets the job done. JMHO.

[rainman]

I remeber walking into Hoyt Archery in 1979 and telling Anne Hoyt I wanted a 65 lb recurve.  She looked at me and said " why in the world would you want a bow that heavy".  Anne was a world champion archer and Earl was pretty good also.  It took me a long time to realize she was right.

Dan Raney

[RaybowTx]

BTH...
I haven't thought about 'too short' in a long time.  What has happened to him?  Talking about a man with phyisical ailments but keeps going is something.  He would shoot lite in his choice of drink if he could.  But he has always gone to the hard stuff (its proven to be destructive).  He is deffinately an Icon of trad archery that most today will not ever know. Eccept for those that are hardcore and not into the feelgood society. He's bad medicine...

Suger in the gas tank is still a chukkle  

Ray..............

[Curveman]

Thanks Champ38!

[reddogge]

RaybowTx doesn't have it quite right as far as what we did in archery in the old days.  I started as a kid in the mid 50s but didn't get real serious until the mid 60s when I bought a Bear Grizzly.  So my motivation to get into organized archery was hunting and target archery was a secondary objective.  There were basically two archery disciplines, field archery and hunting.  Most of us participated in both.  We used target bows in the 35# range for field archery and shot bows in the 45-50# range for hunting.  I owned a used '66 Bear Tamerlane target bow and the '67 Grizzly.  We were passionate about both disciplines and practiced both at the ranges and backyards.  In the 70s growing interest was generated in the hunting competitions and classes so we just shot our hunting bows in competition.

We were definitely not a bunch of hobbyests out for a Sunday archery outing.  As far as shooting 45-50# bows goes most available on the shelves were that weight so we sort of took what was availble.  Custom bows and bowyers were as scarce as hens teeth.

As far as short drawing a bow when hunting I  had the opposite experience.  The adrenalin pumps through your system and when you pull you bow back on game the bow felt like a rubber band and I would almost overdraw.

[Clint B.]

One thing has definitely changed with the advent of "modern traditional archery" - draw length. The 30", 31" and even 32" "natural" draw lenths I read about on archery websites were unheard of in the pre-compound era. Until the advent of aluminum & carbon arrows, I don't think such long draw lengths could even be readily accomodated. In the old days, the tall, broad shouldered guys just learned how to make a 28" or 29" arrow work for them. Today, I even hear some average height guys saying they draw 30" or more.

[RaybowTx]

Reddogge.  
I was starting in the '70's days and you may be right.  I wouldn't know?  I just read how it was.  Your right about the intrest in archery from your perspective.  Yall weren't hobbiest.  Yall were serious and what I am talking about is the mass of people, not the average.
I just want an explanation of why the greats 'Fred'  lets start with him.  Why didn't he shoot 45-50# bows?  Did it have to be because of release problems or was it the 'keeping up with the big boys'??  I don't understand?

Raybow.........

[rainman]

Ray if the average archer was shooting 45 to 50 which was the question in your last post you already have your answer.  Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, and Howard Hill are to average archers what Babe Ruth was to average hitters.  Not a good comparison.  Fred Bear also is quoted as saying a 55 lb bow was more than enough to kill anything in North America.  These men also took shots that no one would take today.  

Dan

[Stone Knife]

My 45#er put my arrows right through deer, I don't get the shakes on deer, I just get serious when I see one. My new recurve in high tech, but I have killed deer with my 70's Bear Grizzly 45# @28" that bow zings em right through deed as well.

[James Wrenn]

Hunting was not the same for those pioneers that shot heavy bows as it is today.Now bowhunters tend to shoot much closer shots and have many more chances of getting those shots on animals such as deer.Lot more deer in many more areas now.

Back then when they saw something..they shot at it.It did not matter how far it might be.They kept shooting arrows at it untill they either hit it or it ran away.Heavy bows are good if you are slinging arrows out to over 100yds.When you are shooting a broadside animal at the 20yd range like most do today the difference in 80lbs and 45lbs means nothing at all on a deer sized animal.