Hey guys just wanted everyone's thought on compound bows and recurve bows. I have a custom made recurve bow but want to get a Bowtech Assassin. Is it worth the cost? Which one do you think is worth it I want to take it hunting one day. Recurve or compound. I know compound pulls more weight but what about the rest?

I would not take a recurve hunting, because I am not precise enough with one to make an effective and humane shot on game. I can put arrows on top of arrows with my compound, so I pick that as a hunting bow. If you're actually going to be hunting, please be sure you can make a humane shot with whatever weapon you choose.

Also keep in mind that hunting with a bow may require you to draw the arrow and keep it drawn for a couple minutes. That's much easier to do with a compound bow than a recurve bow, in turn giving you a more accurate, and more humane shot.

I have hunted both Compound and recurve..........

 

I think we can as bowhunters get all caught up in the tackle/gear......

 

I hunt an old Darton Vapor at around 65lbs....with a ??75%?? let off... I forget the actual amount....I also use older bear archery recurves in the 50-60 lb range....

 

There is HUGE difference in hunting with a compound as opposed to a recurve...all that was said above is true....BEYOND the gear...is the skills....

 

SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT.... If you do not there is not enough consistency to be confident when the time comes.... I shoot at my max distance of 45yards....but I never take that out in the field...

 

My .02....

 

If your going to treestand or blind hunt, compund will work....if you want to stalk a recurve can work nicely.......

 

but do not get hung up on gear.......

 

WOW Nick,,, You are a man for all seasons...

 

Agree. If you are going to hunt a compound is easier to shoot WELL with a release. Pre season I shoot about 25-50 arrows a day,

 

And when Nick says SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT he's right, you can't shoot enough. I practice at 25 yds and kill at 15yds most time.

 

You really have to evaluate your ability and be ethical.

 

Study deer anatomy VERY important. Only take broad side shots you know you can consistantly make. Double lung pass through and you're golden. And after you shoot don't come home without a deer. And remember if you hit the slightest twig, your arrow is off a mile.

 

A good measure for me is to touch a 2" square consistantly at 25yds.

 

The longest I've had tp hold at full dreaw is about 45 seconds which is a long time.

 

Go here: http://www.huntersfriend.com/

 

They have lots of info about the different attributes of different bows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

shooting a bare bow takes pure skill and talent. my uncle used to be into compounds, getting all the latest garbage for them. until he picked up a recurve, and promptly shelved his compound and all the shyt he had hanging on it. once you add all the sights, weights, releases, etc. to a bow, youre no longer an archer....youre operating a machine. if you dont care about that and just want to hunt fast and easy, then fine, get a compound. but there is nothing in NJ you cant kill with a 45-50lb recurve and good arrows.

 

in terms of accuracy, its the same as using a red dot on an AR vs, no sights at all, and just looking down the flat top. BUT, with proper skill, practice, and form, a bare bow with instinctive aiming can be as accurate as any compound. once again, my uncle can prove that, with 5+ arrows at 15 yards inside of 2in.

 

i have a martin hatfield, and though ive lost interest in it, i was good enough to consistently hit a paper plate at15-20yds. true instinctive shooting is entirely mental. you need to become one with the bow, and as cliche as it sounds, you get in touch with the inner hunter that every human use to be, from the first stone age bows up to medieval times, as a recurve or long bow was the sole man portable ranged weapon.

shooting a bare bow takes pure skill and talent. my uncle used to be into compounds, getting all the latest garbage for them. until he picked up a recurve, and promptly shelved his compound and all the shyt he had hanging on it. once you add all the sights, weights, releases, etc. to a bow, youre no longer an archer....youre operating a machine. if you dont care about that and just want to hunt fast and easy, then fine, get a compound. but there is nothing in NJ you cant kill with a 45-50lb recurve and good arrows. in terms of accuracy, its the same as using a red dot on an AR vs, no sights at all, and just looking down the flat top. BUT, with proper skill, practice, and form, a bare bow with instinctive aiming can be as accurate as any compound. once again, my uncle can prove that, with 5+ arrows at 15 yards inside of 2in. i have a martin hatfield, and though ive lost interest in it, i was good enough to consistently hit a paper plate at15-20yds. true instinctive shooting is entirely mental. you need to become one with the bow, and as cliche as it sounds, you get in touch with the inner hunter that every human use to be, from the first stone age bows up to medieval times, as a recurve or long bow was the sole man portable ranged weapon.

 

+1 Agree with you on this...

 

But even with a compound, you do need to practice and get proficient with it. Yes, it is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to shoot a compound, but there is still some proficiency that's needed. I love my compound bow, but I just picked up a nice recurve and going to focus on practicing and getting good with it so I can eventually hunt with that. What a compound buys you, which a recurve doesn't, is range, speed, and a flatter arrow trajectory over longer distances... With a recurve you're launching arrows at well under 200 fps, where with today's compound bows you're getting speeds of more than 300 fps (some new compound bows now advertise 350+ fps IBO speeds!). You have to be extremely proficient with traditional archery to be accurate past 30 or 40+ yrds, where with a compound it is much easier to be accurate at that range. With a compound bow you can become proficient enough to get good clean, humane kills at up to 20 yrds in a very short timeframe. With a recurve, it can take months of constant practice to do so... but once you've mastered it, you'll never look back... or at least that is what all my friends that are very experienced with traditional archery, tell me. Also, traditional archery is something that you have to practice consistently, even once you become very good with it... to keep your skills sharp... whereas with a compound, you can take a long break from shooting and pick up the bow and be accurate very quickly. I started shooting a compound bow last year, which was the first time in my life I even shot an arrow, and I can now get 4" to 6" groups at 40 yrds. 40 yrds doesn't sound like much, but with a bow, that is a pretty long distance.

Recurve is the simplest, cheapest and quickest way to get started. Rather than starting out on BIG game, take your archery course, practice with your bow continually, and then take it small game hunting. You'll hone your skills trying to hit small targets. ("Aim small, miss small.") If you're successful at that, move to bigger game. Then move up to the more sophisticated and expensive compounds.

 

Practice, practice, practice.

A little late on this but I am going to chime in. Back in the late 70's / very early 80's I was heavy into archery as a teen. I started with a cheap recurve and saved my dollars to buy a use Shadow 300 which was a decent compound for the day. As I got taller, my draw length put me out of the 'stock' range of 28 to 30 and I stopped shooting. I recently with the changes in NJ bow hunting laws decided to get back into it.

 

So, I bought a nice used PSE 60# that had a 30" draw and I figured with those new releases I would be golden. Not so much. I like to have deep weld into the corner of my mouth with my thumb knuckle. Even with the release I feel like I am only doing a partial draw. I am NOT a big fan of the mechanical release and am looking to buy either a nice take-down recurve that I can 'over draw' a couple of inches. My understanding is that you typically gain about .5-.75 lbs per inch beyond idea draw length.

 

Sorry for the hijack here...I'll be making a new post seeking advice here.

My understanding is that you typically gain about .5-.75 lbs per inch beyond idea draw length.

Actually on a recurve, you're gaining about 2.5 to 3 lbs of draw weight per inch of draw length past 28". On my takedown recurve, which has 45lb limbs, I'm actually drawing about 51 lbs since I have a 30" draw length. All recurve bows are rated for for their specified draw weight at a 28" draw length.