Yuku free message boards

I too shoot a recurve at a round bale. While I'm not into hi-tech "primative hunting" (I've even seen a compound bow with a laser sight), I do recognize its one major advantage and that is killing power. The old recurves (which are hi-tech compared to a long bow) can't come close, which means more tracking and inevitably some lost game even with well placed shots. I haven't taken a deer with a bow since age 16 (a long, long time ago) and tracked that deer for close to half a mile despite a decent lower lung shot taken at about 50 feet.

However I am getting the urge again. Since my farm is overun with deer and gun season just puts a dent in the population, it is time to take advantage of the more liberal season for archery. While I'm comfortable with the recurve, the days of just cutting across multiple neighbors' land tracking a wounded deer are pretty much over with around here. As such I'm thinking of taking up a compound bow as a compromise between tradition (for me at least) and the desire to more quickly put down a deer. Now keep in mind that deer hunting on my property is akin to grocery shopping....just quicker, so "sport" as such really isn't a consideration. Lots of deer to shoot and the only reason for a long shot is poor planning, so the additional range of a compound isn't a factor....just the ability to get them down quicker.

Opinions of course vary and everyone is entitled to theirs, just as everyone has their own personal max draw weight they can hold for sighting (yes I know it goes up with more training....but still you reach a personal max). On a recurve or long bow that is also the point where max energy is imparted. On a compound bow with the same release weight, depending on its design, the imparted energy is higher, sometimes a great deal. As to sharpening techniques, I know broadheads and techniques have changed a great deal over the past 40 years, as have the shafts and just about every other aspect of the sport. However given the same arrow and broadhead, the one that starts with the most energy is the one most likely to go all the way through, and energy efficiency is what the compound bow is all about. I may be out of date in your eyes, but the laws of physics haven't changed.

I know with my 45 pound recurve I only got 2/3rds of the way through on a classic 90 degree broadside shot. Knowing the limitations of myself and my gear back then, I wouldn't have taken any other type of shot. A decent compound with a 45 pound release and the same arrow would have gone all the way through….and would have allowed longer or less optimal target position. While they were on the drawing board back then (patented in 1969), I don't ever recall seeing a compound bow in the field for about another decade.

As I said at the start, I'm not really into the hi-tech "primitive" hunting, whether a compound bow or the latest in-line muzzle loader. However they exist because of their advantages, not aesthetics. I also own two classic English long bows I inherited and now use from time to time, but would never take either hunting if my goal was the quick and efficient harvesting of nuisance deer. They are just plain too darn long to fool with in the brush.