i finally got back

to shooting my bow on a regular basis.

I've had a 'lull' in shooting archery as of late as the weather has been so unbelievably hot i was drained of the desire to break out the ole recurve and shoot.

since the weather has broken and we're now having temps down around the 50's and 60's it's decent to go outside and shoot a bit.

i have two main 'go-to' bows now that I've aged enuff to have to shoot the lower poundages and i have that ole bug-a-boo visitor, arthritis in my hands and right shoulder. maybe a result of all the years of shooting heavier draw weight, poundage, bows.

the two main bows are a Bob Lee take-down recurve (i have two sets of limbs for it...one of 40 lbs the other at 51 lbs) the other is a Hoyt GameMaster with a set of 40 lb limbs on it.

some day, i may like to trade another recurve for a 45 lb set of limbs for the GameMaster or a set of 40-45 lb limbs for my Quinn Stallion (it now has 55 lb limbs on it) but...for the moment, that's on the back burner. time, along with other more important issues have to be settled.

I'm finding that, after all the years I've been shooting archery, that 40-60 lbs draw weight is plenty for almost ANY game animal on the north American continent. in my opinion, those that shoot over 65 lbs draw weight are wasting their time.

black widow bows, as i recall, did a study and determined that anything over 65 pounds draw weight had no measurable effect on performance UNLESS you could shoot a heavy enough arrow (in excess of 1000 grains as i recall) in other words, arrow technology in not up to bow technology.

there are more than one factors involving the taking of a game animal with an arrow. the most important one being a properly sharpened broadhead being precisely placed where it do the most damage; in the heart/lungs.

it's downright amazing what a razor sharp broadhead will do when placed into the heart and lungs of an animal. just read up on the dynamics of bleeding some time.

I've shot arrows thru animals and was amazed to see the arrow not even slow down until striking the earth on the other side of the animal.

a razor sharp broadhead is, indeed, a rather...sinister, for the lack of a better word, device, that DEMANDS respect because of it's intended purpose.

it doesn't take mega-poundage to shoot a razor sharp broadhead thru an animal.

I'm not really disappointed in shooting less poundage for the bigger part, i don't have to struggle to hold back the bow as much and accuracy increases with that factor. not only that...the enjoyment factor increases dramatically when I'm able to hit what I'm shooting at more often than not.