Willy, traditional bow thread

[Stinky_Hooker]

I need some traditional ideas and thoughts. I love my compound bow but have a nice Pearson Recurve that Im starting to get back into shooting. I want to kill a deer and pig with it.

Im wanting to maybe build my own wood shafts rather than buy them?

I was just going to build some carbons for it, fletch, crested, etc...but Im think ing I may go wood. Thoughts>

[tsubaki]

You can't stop there.
You gotta split feathers and knap your own heads too.

[Stinky_Hooker]

One day...one day....

[willy]

StinkMan, sorry for the delay in response. Was away at a beach house with the family since last Sunday.
So, on your question just some quick thoughts.
Stay with a recurve, though I have shot and still do both a recurve and a longbow, I have pretty much narrowed it down to all recurve for my hunting especially.
The longbow requires a lot more practice to develop the humane accuracy needed in hunting. It requires a lot of practice shooting nothing but for form just to get decently good. Some guys pick it up quick and consistently practice and if you think you will be one of those guys then it is a fine weapon.
A recurve has a more natural fit in the handle(pistol like grip) and it is easier to develop good consistent shooting especially if you have someone around by you who is a real archer to help you develop good form.
It is also a faster bow generally than most longbows and easier to hunt with from the ground or a tree due to its much shorter length..
It is also easier to tune and match arrows for as the riser is cut past center which means it is a lot more forgiving of arrow spine and those times when you don't have the best release due to body position, weird angle's or just plain outright buck fever.
Draw weight wise stick with a bow in the 50-58 lbs. range and you will cleanly take any animal in North America. And, this is important, you will be able to shoot very accurately which is the most important thing. A lot of men over bow themselves and never shoot well along with developing bad habits.
Arrow material wise any of them are good with everyone having their own preference. Wood is beautiful, but not as strong as aluminum or carbon.
The big problem with wood is it is tough getting good quality shafting now in spite of what you may see in advertisements. Good Arrowsmiths buy them by the gross which I believe is 144 shafts and are lucky to get three to four dozen matched shafts in that case.
The beautiful flight of a well placed arrow does not depend on the material it is made from. The fletching does matter a lot. Feathers only, no plastic.
Broadheads for hunting. Buy TWO BLADED BROADHEADS IN A WEIGHT THAT MATCHES YOUR FIELD POINTS.
Learn to sharpen those puppies and you will put a pig down with a entrance and an exit hole. Think blood trail. Do not buy chisel point types either, you want a cut on contact two blader, starts cutting the minute it touches anything and does not get pushed side to side as it slices through.
There are other broadheads with three and four blades that others will say are great, salesman will try to sell you etc. They do work, most of the time.
A good sharp two blade works all the time. Nothing penetrates like them.
Your finished arrow should weigh at least 9 grains per pound of bow draw weight. Less is too noisy at the shoot and does not maintain energy on target down range. Especially on tough skinned game like pigs. To heavy, say 12 grains per pound of bow weight and it will work fine but it will be detectably slower which means more arrow drop, and more time for fast animals to do their drop down and boogie routine(jump the string).
You want the bow as quiet as you can possibly get it at the shot. But don't put to much crap on the string to dampen the vibration if any. weight on the string dramatically slows down a bow and makes tuning harder.
If you are looking for a good quality custom recurve let me know, I have one I bought for my son but he decided the compound was more for him.
It is a beaut, I would keep it but I already have at least six now, two of which I hunt with all the time.
Let me know.
Oh and if you are having troubles shooting do yourself a favor, have that pretty wife of your take a video of you shooting from the side, the back and the off side of you shooting several arrows and post it. It will reveal your issue real quick and I will be able to give you the correction.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
Willy

[Stinky_Hooker]

Lotsa of good info....thanks Willy. Ill keep you updated as I get things rolling along. I think Im going to stick with carbon/feathers.