Recurve shooters....I NEED HELP!!

[willyqbc]

I recently acquired a PSE Impala takedown recurve at a benefit auction for one of the fellows in our bow club who broke his back. I have a bunch of questions I could use your help with. It is a 40# pull, 60" string at 28"draw according to the limb. My normal draw length on my compound is 32", do I need to get a longer string or is this set-up ok? Also the arrows that came with it are aluminum 2216's, with 100grn feild points, they look to be full length shafts, with feathers not vanes. Is this an appropriate arrow for this bow? I have been trying both glove and tab and am equally horrible with both!!! I'm figuring out how high or low I need to hold and the groups are not too bad for a novice, but everything ends up 2 feet to the left?? any suggestions as to why? Any addditional tips or info would be GREATLY appreciated, cause I'm REALLY, REALLY HORRIBLE with this bow right now!!!
Thanks
Chris

 

[T Bone]

Willy,
No new string is needed for the longer draw length. If its 40# @ 28", you'll be pulling between 55# and 65# at 32". This is called "stacking".

The 2216 arrow spine is too soft for that kind of weight out of a recurve. For aluminum, you need to be shooting a 2413, 2512, or 2514.

On accuracy, the main deal is to find out if the arrow is flying straight out of the bow. If its porpoising or fishtailing, your nock point and/or arrowrest need adjusting. If you're shooting off the shelf, then make sure you're using feather, not plastic vanes.

After the arrow is leaving the bow straight its practice, practice. Hope this helps

T Bone

 

[MEATHEAD]

If you would like to go back to a lower poundage you can get a longer string. Then you might be able to use the arrows you have.

 

[willyqbc]

Thanks for the tips! Do you think a carbon express 400 with a 100grain head would work well?? Also any idea why I'm so far to the left? I have been anchoring to the corner of my mouth and actually sighting off the tip of the arrow.
Thanks again
Chris

 

[archer]

the bow arrow combo you have will be fine if your pull weight stays under 60 the 2216 is spined for 45-55 i shoot a recurve for deer and fun and shoot 5olbs w/2216 arrows and 125gr magnus with nice results . if your arrow is leaving your bow mostly straight you may want to tilt yous upper limd ti the right slightl to correct the left flight

 

[MEATHEAD]

Willy, are you shooting you bow straight up and down or areyou scanting yur bow to the right. Like archer said it will correct your left shooting. I'm not sure that the carbon express 400 is stiff enough spline or not. Try shooting it thur paper to see if it's coming off the bow straight.

 

[ELKCHSR]

One more thing that you as a compound shooter may be doing is not pulling and releasing almost immediatly when the string hits the anchor point, that was the mistake I made with my long bows also. You are supposed to just pull them back and release at your target.

 

[Steamer]

Welcome to the world of traditional archery. Don't give up you will enjoy it. Shooting with a traditaional bow takes lots of practice but the rewards are worth it.

First of all do not put on a longer string. The one that is on it was made for that bow. You need to learn to tune it. Yes you can tune a traditional bow. First thing you need to do is determine the proper brace height. That is the distance from the riser to the string. To do this you need to shorten or lengthen the string by twisting it or un-twisting it. You will know when you have the proper distance. Your arrows will fly the best and your bow will be quieter. I suggest that you start at the lowest brace height. When you twist the string do it by taking off the bottom loop. By the way if you haven't invested in a stringer I suggest you do so. This will prevent any injuries to you and prevent a twisted limb.

When you think about arrows you need to determine your draw length and arrow length. This will normally be shorter than what you are use to when shooting a compound bow. If you have a draw length longer than 28" the poundage of the bow will increase.
Most people would have to stand over 6' to have a draw lenth over 29". Remeber with a tradional bow you will most likely anchor at the coner of your mouth. If you are drawing over 28" your bow will increase by 2# per inch. 40 X 5%= 2# per inch. Now if you do have a draw length of 32" your bow will be 44#.

Now you need to determine the arrow length and spine. As the length lengthens the spine of the arrow decreases. So for every inch above 28" go up 1 size with an aluminum arrow. If you are going to shoot wood arrows increase by 5# for every inch. The 2216 arrows you have have a spine rating around 60# so you may want to go to a different shaft if you want to shoot aluminum arrows. For more information try this web site. http://www.bowhunting.net/TraditionalArchery/default.htm#top

For information on shooting a trad bow pick up a copy of "Instinctive Shooting" by G. Fred Asbell.

I know there has to be traditional shooters in you area. Go to your local archery shop they will put you in touch with them. When you find them you will have all the help yo need.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 03-27-2003 19:43: Message edited by: Steamer ]</font>

 

[ELKCHSR]

Good post Steamer!!!

 

[willyqbc]

Well, thanks again for all the great tips! I'll give you an update on my progress;
I went to a 125grn tip to soften up the spine some, and it seem to make a big difference. Also canting my bow to the right. These two things seem to have me hitting in the center of the bag. I am still sighting off the tip of my arrow and it seems to work allright, but I would very much like to shoot instinctively, but I haven't figured out how to teach myself to do that yet. I can get not a bad group, when sighting off the arrow tip, but when I try to just look at the target and hit where I'm looking, I'm lucky to even hit the bag!!!LOL! Any tips on how to promote the instinctive shooting, I know shooting and shooting, and shooting some more is needed, just wondering if there's anything I can do to help this process along?
Again, thanks for all you tips, you have me started down the long road to being proficient with the stick and string!!
Chris

 

[MEATHEAD]

Don't look at the traget look at a spot. Don't stop your draw and just release when you hit your anchor point.

 

[ELKCHSR]

The way I do it, is since the arrow is usually about an inch and a half below my eye, I look over the top of the tip of the arrow about the same and look at the little spot at the other end...