Bow Hunting

>>944767

The first decision to make is compound vs trad. Trad will be cheaper initially but it'll take much longer to reach a hunting standard of accuracy and consistency. Compound will conversely cost more but be easier to reach standard and (provided you're good enough) will let you hunt at longer ranges.

If you're shooting trad and hunting deer you're more or less limited to fixed two-blade heads. Compound gives you a few more options (mechanicals, hybrids, fixed 3- and 4-blade heads) - all of them work and are basically trade offs in cutting diameter, penetration and ease of tuning for flight against one another.

Birds and small game can be shot with broadheads, but there're a range of small game heads and blunts out there designed to kill by transferring energy (rather than cutting) and to get snarled up in grass/turf rather than getting lost on a pass-through or a miss.

Shooting fish needs a bowfishing rig - a fibreglass arrow with a harpoon point with a line spooling off a reel that attaches at the bow's stabiliser bushing.

Arrow choice will depend on trad vs compound. Carbons are great for either. Conventional wisdom is that for trad hunting you want to build an arrow weighing 10-12 grains per pound of draw weight (some shoot up to 15gpp) and for compound anywhere 5-10gpp that achieve the desired combination of speed and momentum (7gpp is pretty common).

>>944779

If you go compound, I'd get a 60# peak weight compound with an IBO of 320+ fps, get it set up at a pro shop and get it tuned to shoot standard diameter carbon weighing 400-440 grains. The simplest set-up would be a whisker biscuit, a fixed multi-pin sight (4 or 5) and your choice of 8" stabiliser.

As to specific bow, pick is going to be informed by what you like and what you can afford. Being a newer model and more expensive in compound bows does tend to translate to performance.

>>944779
what is the difference between a compound and a recurve bow? After searching for a bit, I thought about getting this one: https://www.amazon.com/Samick-Sage-Takedown-Recurve-Bow/dp/B00IRBZPTU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

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Pic related is a compound bow. They have let off (i.e. at the end of the draw cycle the resistance drops off making it easier to hold and aim), are faster than trad bows and a back wall (it won't draw beyond your adjusted draw length, improving consistency). You shoot a compound with a release aid rather than with fingers, again improving consistency. You can mount your choice of sights on a compound as well.

I think that mostly sums it up.

>>944786
That sounds pretty damn cool. What do I have to look out for to not get a shitty bow? I can't invest more than $200...

>>944787

Basically brand name. PSE, Prime, Bowtech, Hoyt, Mathews, Martin, Elite, Bear and the other major bow companies all make good gear. Everything's well over $200 though, especially with arrows, sights, rests, stabilisers, release aids etc. Could always check out second hand and basically look for brand name and condition.

Trad is not a bad way to go though and much more achievable for the money. The thing with trad is you'll be shooting 30-35# to begin with (enough for small game and fish), but if you want to hunt deer you'll need to work up to shooting 40-45# minimum (which will mean new limbs for a Sage).

>>944779
Why can't you use 3-4 blade broadhead with recurves?
Also in your opinon is what is better for recurve: 3 finger under or 2under 1over?

>>944906

The trade off with the number of blades is cut vs. penetration. A couple of 3-blades for use with trad bows exist, but they're longer and skinnier than the majority of ones you'd see (often quite broad or with abrupt transitions into cutting edge). A two-blade head with bleeder blades is technically a 4-blade as well, but is fine out of a recurve.

Basically compound bows hit a great deal harder than trad bows and creating greater drag/sacrificing a bit of penetration for a larger cut or a "choppier" cut one isn't a big deal when the arrow is already going to hit the deer, come out the other side and keep going for 20 yards.

Trad gear needs to optimise penetration with the amount of energy/momentum available, so you use a two-blade because it drags less in flesh than a multi-blade head and it usually the structurally strongest kind of head.

I shoot three-under with a high anchor point (middle finger at corner of mouth). I'm a fan because it brings point-on distance much much closer (the distance at which, if you aimed down the arrow and put the point directly on the target, you would hit it exactly) which in turn makes your gaps at hunting distances smaller - gap shooting is where you use that idea of point-on distance to work out how far below the target you'll need to put the point of your arrow to hit it (e.g. if you're point-on at 30 yards, you might have a 12" gap at 20 yards, say).

You can gap with a lower anchor point, but at hunting distances you'd be measuring your gap in feet, not inches.

Lots of guys shoot split finger and shoot more accurately than me, but as a someone who started with a compound having a really concrete aiming system was helpful. A lot of the best field and 3D shooters shoot three under and gap too for precision at those ranges.

>>945048
>Basically compound bows hit a great deal harder than trad bows
In the same way that .223 "hits harder" than .44 mag.

>>945328

Yes and no. You're talking about KE vs momentum there. If we shoot a 600 grain arrow out of a 60# recurve and out of a 60# compound, the compound is generally going to shoot the same arrow faster and produce more momentum. If you wanted, you could even eat up that speed margin by shooting an even heavier arrow at the same speed as a trad bow, producing even more momentum.

Kind of further to that, you can typically shoot more draw weight with a compound than you can with a trad bow.

>>945328

No, not the same way. A bullet does a great deal of it's damage with shock trauma. Of course the actual bullet itself will tear and damage tissue as well.

Arrows with broadheads, kill by cutting, causing either the collapse of the lungs for by blood loss. Except for the tissue cut by the edge of the blade, there is no shock damage from the impact.

To all the posters above, good job putting out great information on bowhunting. Lot's of good stuff already up in this thread.

>>945334
I don't think we're talking about the same "harder".

>>945672
Reading comprehension.

>>945677

We may not be. I guess the cartridge metaphor that I'd use is that compound vs trad is like smokeless .45-70 vs blackpowder .45-70.

Wtf is the point of getting a compound for bowhunting?
Just get a crossbow or a rifle, while you're at it, if you wanna tech to do everything for you baka senpai

>>947459
why stop at a rifle?
We could just use technology to construct a biochemical weapon that'll poison all the deer in the forest over the course of several years.

Perhaps some of us enjoy using a compound.

>>947459
Archery season is usually longer and typically you don't have to wear that gay orange. It also arguably takes more skill. Which some people appreciate.

>>947521
Its also silent. So mr game warden never shnows up

>>947459
It requires time to master and, forgive me pls, I don't live in the US, I can't just go and buy guns.

>>947459
You need a license for guns in some places, Aus for example. Crossbows are also prohibited.

Bows are the only thing that haven't been cucked yet, surprisingly.

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>>944767

New archer and aspiring bow hunter myself.

If you go recurve/traditional, get one of the entry-level takedowns made by Samick or PSE. Get the lightest limbs they offer, and focus on fundamentals. Then get heavier limbs as you gain experience.

Reason: you have to build your muscles up. I've found there's a ton a machismo involved with starting with the heaviest bow your can draw, typically 50# recurve, 60-70# compound with the let-off.

But *proper* practice will involve you drawing that bow hundreds of times, a few times a week. You WILL NOT manage that with a bow that's at the edge of your abilities. If you have proper form your back muscles will hurt like a bitch at first, I don't care how strong you are. If you have improper form...well your shoulder simply wont make it through said practice sessions.

And if you try too much too soon, you will get injured. Injury to upper back and rotator cuff muscles can take weeks or months to heal. If you're really unlucky you can give yourself a tear and cause permanent injury.

> t. practiced like crazy with my 25 lb ladybow, first time in years. Then went home and drew back my 50 lb Bear Grizzly. Stiff muscles, resulted in injured rhomboid, myofascial pain, referred/reflected pain...annoying as hell. No practice for 4 weeks till I'm sure I'm healed.

>>944782
Samick seems to be a good cheap option. And compounds are just more accurate/take less skill than a recurve which is just another name for traditional.