Shooting hunting weight recurves and long bows in my basement, during winter, does great things for my shooting basics skill level and strength.

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And it can do great things for you as well. Sure, most basements are at max 10 yards but that is all you need for the most important basic skills.  Skills like good form, draw and release, follow thru, and important back muscle strength are the foundation for your back yard bullseyes and vital zone hits on wild game.

Outside, many tend to concentrate more on the target and bullseyes which takes another level of concentration, sometimes leaving the basics in the back seat like a poor release and follow-thru.

Twanging the string sideways at full draw, means the arrow will fly left or right. And taking down your bow too quickly upon release can affect arrow flight.

You can practice a perfect release by drawing your imaginary bow and releasing your hand and fingers in a rearward motion to touch the back of your ears and neck.

It’s what happens at the bow that makes the shot, just as it  is the golfers swing that creates a great straight shot or a bowlers step and follow thru.

Real pros know that, if you can’t be master of the basics, then you can’t master the craft. Further, at short range, it is easy to see that your string nocking points and brace height contribute significantly to arrow flight. I have two bows braced for practice and discovered my knock point was too high on one and perfect on the other bow.

Bare shaft tests through paper at say 3 to 5 yards can aid in setting knocking points too. On a compound you also set your plunger button left/right and tension. There are books on bow tuning.

If I have not shot in a week or so, I will shoot a bow of less poundage for a few day and work back up to a bow of higher poundage. You will also discover a bow poundage which allows full use of back muscles like 50 pounds. But then shooting a heavier bow of say 55 pounds, you are not coming to the same full draw as with the 50 pound bow.  Regular practice allows the building of  muscle and soon the 55 pound bow will be drawn to the same full draw. Just remember not to over practice and damage your back muscles. Stop at a high point of your practice session.

Arrow spine and length are also essential but we will save that for another time.

Good Shooting!

Training to shoot heavy poundage bows like 55 and 60 pounds accurately, on the first arrow, takes dedication and perfect training daily or every other day… for my older bones.

In my case, in long years past, I have dedicated time for a heavy weight custom traditional recurve hunting bow of 68 pounds. Once I stopped shooting that bow for months, it was back breaking for me to get back to shooting it with accuracy.

The answer was to build up with lesser weight bows which I did not have, and could not afford, at the time. Moving forward to today, I am retired from quality assurance engineering and have access to inexpensive recurves and long bows at a fraction of the cost to train without muscle or shoulder injury. Recovery, from a shoulder or muscle pull takes months.

I wrote an archery article in August 2021 for hunters to get back to preparing for deer hunting. I was shooting a 45 pound Samick Sage takedown recurve that cost me $140 dollars. See photo below. Great bow for the price. I learned that I could purchase separate limbs for it for just $74 dollars. I bought 50 pound limbs and was happy to step up and begin training in my back yard in October moving from 45 to 50 pounds in draw weight,  but I did not stop there.

Recently, I purchase a Bear Montana longbow, shown below, in 55 pounds and training indoors in my basement on form, draw, anchor and release. I used to shoot instinctive but found my overall accuracy improved by shooting 3 fingers under the arrow. I created the leather quiver 20 years ago, and gave it a coat of polish. 

Below is a 42 pound hickory self-bow recurve backed with deer sinew I have just completed.  It started as a long bow stave in my office for 20 years collecting dust. Nice to have it finished.  Shoots smooth! 

I walk the string an inch lower than the nock for better eye alignment with the arrow. I am  having so much fun indoor basement shooting at 10 yards in training that I purchased a 60 pound set of limbs for  my takedown recurve and  just began shooting it. I am working up slowly on the 60 pound limbs but shooting the 55 pound long bow regularly. The arrows fly like darts! Wow! I think 60 pounds is enough. 

Good Hunting!

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