Stickbows?

Anybody on this site shoot and hunt with recurves, longbows, or selfbows? I've hunted with all three for about 25 years now, mostly with a recurve. Manage to kill an elk , Blacktail, or a turkey now and then. My effective kill range is limited because I'm right handed and left eye dominant. So I pass up quite a few shots that most guys would take without a second thought.

My current hunting bow is a Blacktail Elite, 64" 60# @ 29" I make my own arrows from Douglas Fir shafts, many of them from scratch. My broadhead of choice has been 125 gr Wensel Woodsmans since they came out.

Just curious if there's other old school bowhunters on here?
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'Ike'
What do those look like?!? :))
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Tree Killer
"'Ike'" wrote:What do those look like?!? :))
 Stickbows or old school bowhunters? <--------) :))
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ABert
I've got an old lefthanded recurve that I haven't used since I got a righthanded compound a few years ago.

Yep, I can shoot a bow either way. I'm a better switch bow shooter than I am a switch hitter in baseball, though.
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Kemo Sabe
I started hunting with a recurve in '71 and didn't switch over to a compound until just 4 years ago. I love compound archery, but I've really got the itch to get a new recurve. I got to shoot a Black Widow PAIII recently and I'm trying to rathole a few dollars. Problem is, when I went to a compound I didn't think I'd ever go back, so I gave away all my traditional gear. (@@)

Wish I was smart instead of so dang good looking.
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I've built and shot longbows since 96. I do have a PSE and a Hoyt compound, but I prefer to hunt with the longbow. It's heavy timber here in Arkansas where I deer hunt, but if I lived out in more open country I'd probably fire up the PSE.
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I shoot them all but go back and forth :) It's been several years since I made a primitive bow and have been making one just for this season. It's a short bamboo backed Osage covered with bull snake skins. I will be shooting River cane and Ash shafts with turkey feathers and trade points of my own making.

It's going to be a fun season, I will be hunting Elk in Utah, Antelope,Whitetails and Turkeys here in Kansas. I like the WW my self Ron, Awsome broadheads!

Tracy
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BOHNTR
I still hunt with my Brackenbury recurve once in a while....pigs, small game, etc.. Cuts my effective range in half, but fun to hunt with. It's a beautiful piece of art, IMO.
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I havent shot a recurve for years. i'm just starting to hunt with a compound
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Tree Killer
Nice to see a few guys shooting the simple weapons. I'm not smart enough to figure out those "mechanical arrow launching devices", so I have to keep my tools as simple as I can.
"BOHNTR" wrote:I still hunt with my Brackenbury recurve once in a while....pigs, small game, etc.. Cuts my effective range in half, but fun to hunt with. It's a beautiful piece of art, IMO.
 Roy...my first recurve was a Brackenbury Drifter I bought from Jim in 1985. I still have it and have no plans to part with it. Jim drowned in 1992, so the original bows are kind of priceless. Is your Brackenbury an older model or built by Bill Howland?

My old Brack had brown glass on the limbs, and after I bought my new Blacktail several years ago I put snake skins on the limbs to spruce them up a bit.
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Tree Killer
"KSTRAPPER" wrote:I shoot them all but go back and forth :) It's been several years since I made a primitive bow and have been making one just for this season. It's a short bamboo backed Osage covered with bull snake skins. I will be shooting River cane and Ash shafts with turkey feathers and trade points of my own making.

It's going to be a fun season, I will be hunting Elk in Utah, Antelope,Whitetails and Turkeys here in Kansas. I like the WW my self Ron, Awsome broadheads!

Tracy
 Hey Tracy, how's it going? You didn't tell me you were going elk hunting this fall! :thumb

What you making your trade points out of? I made some from an old saw blade one time, took some experimenting to get the weight I wanted. I mounted them with elk sinew on some cedar shafts I had.

Those Woodsman heads sure fly good and the bloodtrails are AWESOME! 10sign:
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'Ike'
Ron, you should post a few pic's of yours and Santiams bows up, very nice if I do say so myself! Speaking of Bill, where's he at? :-k
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I didn't draw any tags this year for Mulie's or Bull Elk that I put in for ](*,) but the unit we hunt in Utah is over the counter for spikes and cows, At least I can pull a bow a hunt and thats good enough for me. I miss the over the counter bull tags there in Oregon though :thumb

I have used skill saw blades and hand saw blades and both work good. I'm hunting with a four blade trade point that I have been working on for awhile this year, There shooting great and can't wait to see how they do for a blood trail.

Tracy
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I'm a new member long time reader. I started bow hunting 8 yrs ago, the first 2 with a PSE compound which I gave away ,and bought a longbow 62" 58lb @ 28 " draw by Spirit Bows maker Brian holly. My draw is 30 " and at first was hard to get use shooting with it. My buddy has the baddest,fastest Hoyt. I made the mistake in letting him take a shot at 30" muley @ 45 yds and missed.I will never do that again. I love my bow and have more confidence shooting it than a compound,Now if I can just get a chance at an elk. 15 yrs and elkless but I will never switch back. I would like to start shooting woods but need some advice. All my buddies shoot compounds and are no help.
Thanks
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Tree Killer
"colo72jimmy" wrote:I'm a new member long time reader. I started bow hunting 8 yrs ago, the first 2 with a PSE compound which I gave away ,and bought a longbow 62" 58lb @ 28 " draw by Spirit Bows maker Brian holly. My draw is 30 " and at first was hard to get use shooting with it. My buddy has the baddest,fastest Hoyt. I made the mistake in letting him take a shot at 30" muley @ 45 yds and missed.I will never do that again. I love my bow and have more confidence shooting it than a compound,Now if I can just get a chance at an elk. 15 yrs and elkless but I will never switch back. I would like to start shooting woods but need some advice. All my buddies shoot compounds and are no help.
Thanks
 What you shooting now carbons or used beer cans(alum)? My favorite wood arrow shaft is douglas fir, but quite a few woods make good arrows. P.O.Cedar is the most traditional, but fir, spruce, lodgepole pine, tamarack, and a variety of hardwoods all make good hunting arrows.

Do you draw a full 30 inches? That's a LONG draw with a stickbow! If you draw 30 inches you'll most likely need a 70-75 spine. 25 years ago when shot a compound my draw was 33", but with a longbow or my recurve it's closer to 29". I shoot with a straight wrist, bent elbow to keep from slapping my arm with the string, plus I use a somewhat open stance. All those combined shorten my draw considerably.

Here's some of my hunting arrows. I just put a crest on them this weekend. These particular shafts are P.O.Cedar spined at 70-75 even though I shoot 60# @ 20". They fly better then the 65-70 spine arrows I have. The fella that made my Blacktail recurve told me the heavier spines would shoot better, and he was right!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/treekiller/huntingarrows.jpg" alt="" />

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
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I hunted with a recurve from 64 to 94 at witch point early one morning just before daylight I was forced to break it over a gators head hwile wadeing to astand I had back in the swamp. I hated parting with it but at the time I had no choice. The recurve I wanted cost more than a new compound so I tried a compound. It took me almost six months to get used to useing sights but now I still use a compound for big game.
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