Recurve Bow Hunting

What changes when a recurve bow goes hunting

A recurve that's great for backyard targets can be the wrong bow in a deer woods. Hunting adds four things a target session doesn't ask for: enough weight for an ethical shot, a bow that fits where you sit, silence, and a heavier arrow with a broadhead on the front.

The bow itself is the same simple tool. Riser, two limbs whose tips curve away from you, one string, no let-off. If you need the basics first (how the specs are measured, how to string one, how to size it), they're on the main recurve bow page. This page is about what a hunting recurve bow needs on top of that.

The table under this page only shows recurves offered at 40 lb or heavier, as the maker or the listing states it. That's above the usual state floor for deer, and in the range Archery 360 says recurve bowhunters commonly shoot. Your state may differ, and the table can't check your draw length, so read the next section before you trust a number on a label.

The specs that decide a recurve bow for hunting

Hunting draw weight is the number at your anchor

Archery 360's comparison gives the two benchmarks. A state's minimum draw weight for deer is usually about 35 lb, considered the least force that drives an arrow through a deer. Recurve bowhunters commonly use 40 to 50 lb. And unlike a compound, you hold all of it at full draw.

The label is measured at 28 inches. Every inch you pull past that adds weight: about 2 lb an inch by Archery 360's rule of thumb, and 2½ to 3½ lb on most stickbows, per Bowhunter's guide to buying a traditional bow. So the bow you hunt with is the bow at your anchor, not on the limb sticker.

Quick math, the other direction: a 40-lb bow drawn to 26 inches gives up roughly 4 to 7 lb. That can put a short-draw hunter close to the floor without knowing it. A shop with a bow scale can tell you in about a minute. ("It felt like about 40" is not a measurement. no matter how confidently it's said at the cabin table.)

Archery 360's test for beginners holds up for hunters: a steady hold at anchor, no shaking, for a few seconds. On a hunt, those seconds stretch. The deer steps behind a tree, you wait, you hold. Practice the hold, not just the shot.

Bow length is a trade between the blind and your draw

Shorter bows are easier to swing in tight places, like a ground blind or a stand with branches close. But short bows pay for it. Improve Your Archery explains that shorter bows stack sooner, because they hit the steep part of the draw earlier. That's stacking: the last inches of the draw get heavy fast, and a heavy end is a shaky hold.

Archery 360's ILF guide gives a starting point for bows on a standard 25-inch riser: a 66-inch bow for a draw of 26½ inches or shorter, 68 inches for 26½ to 29, and 70 inches past 29. Hunting risers run shorter, and Bowhunter's traditional bow guide notes some hunters prefer super-short recurves for blinds, then calls bow length a personal preference. Fine, as long as the preference fits your draw.

So size the bow to your draw first, using the maker's chart and the table's max draw length. Then, if two lengths fit, the shorter one is the hunting pick. Don't go shorter than your draw allows to save a few inches of clearance. You'll get them back as a harsh, inconsistent shot.

Takedown helps on the walk in and with limb swaps

A takedown recurve comes apart into a riser and two limbs. For a hunter, the Archery 360 anatomy guide's two reasons both count: a smaller package for the pack or the plane, and limbs you can trade up in weight while the riser stays. The limb trade matters most. Start at a weight you can control, move up a step once your form holds.

Assembly is simple but not optional. One bow maker's traditional recurve manual says to snug the limb bolts until the limb bottoms out on the riser, not overtighten them, and never string or shoot the bow with a bolt backed off. Check the limbs before every hunt, not just when you build it.

Limbs, weather and a hot truck

The limbs column uses the same four materials explained on the main recurve page. Hunting adds rain, cold and the cab of a truck to the list of things the limbs have to put up with.

• Wood-core limbs: the bow maker's manual says moisture can get in where the finish is deeply scratched; reseal the scratch and towel the bow dry after rain, no heat source
• Carbon and foam-core limbs: Archery 360's limb guide calls them more consistent across weather
• Fiberglass: the budget entry point; Archery 360 says it tends to stack more late in the draw

The same manual warns that excess heat, like a sunny day inside a closed vehicle, can cause component failure. So the bow comes inside with you at lunch.

Max draw length, hand and arrows in the box

Three smaller columns that still decide a fit:

• Max draw length: the longest draw the listing says the bow handles. Draw past it and the end of the draw turns into a wall.
• Hand: named for your drawing hand. Archery 360 says to check eye dominance with the thumbs-up test before you buy.
• Arrows included: boxed arrows are for the target bale until a spine chart says they suit your bow and draw.

Building the arrow end of a hunting recurve

The bow gets the attention, but the arrow does the work. Three rules, all from sources you can check.

Respect the minimum arrow weight. The bow maker's manual sets 5 grains per pound of peak draw weight as the floor. A 45-lb bow means no arrow under 225 grains. Below that, the bow can be damaged and the shooter hurt.

Heavier is quieter. Archery 360's arrow weight guide says heavier arrows are slower but quieter, drift less in wind and penetrate deeper. Recurves don't win on speed anyway. A heavier arrow plays to what the bow does well.

Feathers off the shelf. Archery 360's fletching guide says feathers flex and lie flat, which is why they're the pick for shooting off a recurve's shelf. Spine, weight and the rest are on the hunting arrows page and the recurve arrows page.

Fixed-blade broadheads suit recurve energy

Bowhunter's broadhead guide names traditional bows as low kinetic energy setups and says true knife-blade, cut-on-contact heads are the choice for them. It adds that an aggressive mechanical belongs on small animals or on a setup with above-average energy, which a recurve isn't. Most of those knife-blade heads can be resharpened by hand, too.

Tune before you hunt. A major arrow maker's tuning guide says broadhead tuning only works after your field points group well, and it warns never to shoot a broadhead on an unfletched shaft. Shoot your broadheads and field points at the same spot and adjust until they land together. More on head types is on the broadheads page and fixed blade broadheads.

Keep broadheads in a covered quiver, and keep fingers away from the edges when you thread them on or off.

Quiet it down before the season

A recurve is a simple bow, which also means there's nothing hiding its noise. Two fixes do most of the work.

Brace height. Measured grip to string, it's the first noise knob. The bow maker's manual says to brace its traditional recurves to the height with the lowest sound on release and the least arm slap, somewhere between 7½ and 8½ inches on its own bows. Change it a few twists at a time; the manual warns you can skip right past the sweet spot.

String silencers. Small fuzzy pads tied on the string soak up vibration. The manual has one caution: don't draw or shoot a bow without string parts like silencers and the nocking point properly installed and secured, and it recommends a pro shop install them.

One more, from Archery 360: practice in your hunting clothes. Bulky sleeves can catch the string, and you'd rather learn that on a target bale than on opening morning.

Know your range, then shoot inside it

Here's where recurve bow hunting is honest with you. Archery 360 says recurves generally have a shorter effective hunting range than compounds, and that effective range depends more on the archer than on the bow. New Jersey's wildlife division puts a number on it for every kind of bow: you may be proficient at 40 yards in practice, but keep shots within 20 yards in the field.

My one opinion on this page: with a recurve, the 20-yard line is the whole plan, not a suggestion. The reason is in those two sources together. You can't hold yourself to a yardage you're guessing at, and a traditional bow without sights leaves no room for guessing. Range your landmarks when you sit down: the fence post, the big oak, the corner of the field. Rangefinders are on the hunting rangefinder page.

Hunting a recurve from a ground blind or a stand

Ground blinds are where bow length shows. Sit in the blind with the bow before the season and draw it toward every window. If a limb tip hits the roof or the wall, that's your answer on length, or on chair height.

Stake the blind, every corner, and tie the wind ropes. The one time Hemlock Run skipped that, a pop-up blind ended up 40 yards downhill against a hemlock with nobody in it. Walt still points at the tree when he drives past. A recurve hunter who shoots from a blind wants it exactly where it was set, because every shooting lane was ranged from that spot. Blinds are on the ground blind page.

Tree stands and saddles give the limbs more room. Wisconsin DNR's safety advice applies to every bow: wear a safety harness, keep three points of contact when you climb, and raise and lower your bow on a haul line. Stands are on the tree stand page.

Who should skip recurve bow hunting this season

If you can't practice through the summer, wait a year or hunt with a compound this fall. In Archery 360's comparison, the compound is the bow most people get accurate with sooner, because its cams and draw stop do part of the work. That's not a knock on the recurve. It's a schedule problem.

Skip it too if you can't hold the weight your state requires at your draw for several seconds without shaking. A shaky hold at full draw is how good animals get wounded. Build up on lighter limbs and come back.

Draw weight and broadhead rules vary by state. Check your state wildlife agency before the season.

The rest is practice. Lots of it, at the yardages you'll actually shoot, in the coat you'll actually wear.