50 lbs is a fair amount of weight even for a male.  You can shoot clean through a deer with a 40 lb bow all day long.  You will never go wrong shooting a lighter bow.

Samick bows are economical in price and perform as well as most higher priced bows.  I bought my daughter a samick one piece recurve a few years ago and am amazed by its quality function and appearance.  I bought it off Amazon.

You didn’t elaborate on the circumstances of your “spectacular failure” at hunting with your wasp.  Care to elaborate?  If we can know the circumstances, we might be able to better commiserate.

Hi Laura

Welcome to the forum and ditto all Steve’s remarks. We trad bow folks always recommend a drop in poundage for people trying to developed or enhance their tradbow skills. It definitely speeds the learning curve.

I noticed in your remarks – your hunting with the recurve problem and if I understood you correctly, what could be occurring is as follows;

Since you have hunted for sometime and successfully with your Compound, my guess is you use a sight on it ( but not one on your Wasp?) If this is the case – when hunting your eye is focused on the deer till just before you shoot – with the compound your focus goes to the sight for the shot. Something you have now trained to do under stress ( hunting) . With the recurve ( instinctive)  you need to focus on a little spot right in the center of the animals vitals, up to, including, and after the shot. If you shoot at the whole animal ( unfocused) we usually miss.  Your thoughts ?

I liked a number of the Browning bows, the Wasp is a great bow and worth keeping.

Scout aka Ray

For what it’s worth;

You might keep an eye out on EBay under ‘recurve bow’.  Just might run across a Wasp in the weight range you’re interested in.  If not, ………… there are a LOT of recurves on EBay and one of them might call out to you.  A bows gotta have ‘the look’ before you can shoot it well and beauty, eye of the beholder, all of that. …………

Then …………………… once you get your new (to you) shooter, practice with it and once you’re warmed up, try a few shots with the 50#er, remembering form. Always form !! Then finish up with the lighter bow.

Good luck & keep us posted on how it goes.

If you must kill a deer, then the rifle or a compound are likely your best options.  There are few among us who can claim (truly) to kill as many animals with a traditional bow as the more efficient weapons already mentioned.

Aside from commitment to perfecting form (a lifelong process), tuning gear, and sharp broadheads, the successful traditional hunter will find more satisfaction from the process of hunting than from the outcome.  Killing a deer with a traditional bow is icing on the cake.

Shooting a longbow, for me, is a reminder that I should not take myself too seriously.  This lesson is reinforced each time the deer bests me, or my arrow flies wild.  Thankfully, the deer are enthusiastic teachers and never tire of reminding me of my place in the woods.

Part of the joy of traditional archery is the commitment to it.  Once you commit to it, then the power of your choice will help you along the path.  As long as you hear the siren call of your compound, your journey is at risk.  If you feel the tug of the traditional bow, my best and simplest advice is to get rid of your compound and all its trimmings.  Only then can you become a silvan archer.

Hi Laura

It looks like you sorted it out on your own.

In answer to your response to my last post. I know people who have the ability to go back and forth between trad and compound. Very few do it well. It is better to pick one and concentrate on that type. we here of course prefer trad. Please continue to update us on your progress.

Scout aka Ray

PS if the limb is not too ” twisted” sometimes it can be ” adjusted”. If you have Tradbow – Fixing twisted recurve limbs by Jason Wesbrock- is in the download library.

Laura

Thanks for the kind words for our group.  You are always welcome and please join us often

Happy Arrows

Scout aka Ray

The best tip I’ve heard and used for getting stronger and therefore handling a bow that might be on the heavy side is to hold your form at full draw.  At the end of a shooting session, come to full draw and hold your aim for 5-10 seconds.  Repeat up to a dozen shots.   It’s exhausting and you’ll need to take a couple of days off but I have found no better way to build archery muscle strength.  Pretty soon holding for 2-3 seconds will feel easy.  -MT

I second Mtrouts suggestion for building strength.  Holding at full draw also helps a person focus on using the correct shoulder/back muscles and learning to relax muscles that should not be engaged.  I would add to his suggestion that when performing this exercise, the archer do the following:

• Look at the bale and focus on a spot.
• Come to full draw while focusing on the spot
• Close your eyes, and count to 10
• Open your eyes, re-acquire focus on the spot and re-aim the arrow as needed
• release.

As Mtrout cautioned, it is important to build up to 10 seconds rather than starting at that time.  You’re deltoid and trapezius muscles will be very sore in the beginning.

As to the bow length question…  I think the chart you found is for straight end longbows.  Recurves are a different matter.  I know plenty of folks (with longer draw lengths than yours) that shoot well with bows that have 56 inch lengths.  It is true that longer bows are more forgiving of form.  But I doubt that your bow is unsuited to your draw length.

Laura

I also am wondering about that chart?

My -go to- hunting bows which I shoot often, are both 54″. They are RD ( hybrid) cross between a recurve / short longbow. My draw is 26.5 and they shoot fine. Yes, they are more difficult to shoot than longer heavier bows but work fine within their parameters.

However if the limbs are twisted ( on your wasp) it could look funny at full draw and cause shooting / accuracy issues ? Plus learning to shoot trad with a short powerful bow is immensely more problematic — the bows I just mentioned and shoot now are not what I started with….. Shakespeare Ocalla 62″ 50lb large recurve ( still have it).

Scout aka Ray

Laura

Yes, on the internet’s ability to contradict itself. It truly can be a minefield of mis and or dis information. If you are looking for some reasonably priced new bows, you might browse Kustom King and 3 Rivers Archery Cos.

Scout aka Ray

A friend of mine and his wife, an elderly couple, shoot the long range competition, 60 yd, 90 meter? stuff. He’s good enough that he was once Florida state champ.

He has helped me with some advice,….. draw bow to anchor, hold for the count of 5, close one eye and let down… it is amazing how your brain wants to shoot when you close the eye, more than likely your non dominant one, and you’re looking down the arrow to a dead on sight picture. Shoot instead of let down. Nope, let down..   It’s a good mind control thing….Also a good muscle tone builder…

It’s helping me to resist the “target acquired, shoot” thing that I have.

Ralph;

I can’t wait to try that. !!!!  I tend to do that ‘target acquired, shoot’ thing back around my point on distance and beyond.  Thanx !!!

Not too sure about that chart.  I just had a Bear Mag. 48″ arrive. According to the chart I should be drawing about 15 inches ???

FWIW; I’ve only shot the Bear 48 a bit after making a call to the expert dude at 3 Rivers to find out what the brace height should be and making a new string. (The 10 1/2 ” brace height seemed to be a wee bit excessive.) .  Still getting to know my Lil’ Buddy but I gotta say ………….. the thing’s flat out fun to shoot.

I don’t understand what that chart has to do with the price of China in Peru………..A bow is designed to shoot with a given +/- brace height.

Shorter draw, longer draw??? Like you Bear Mag, info I found is an 8″ brace height.  Now that’s a plus or minus some to tune to you…You start messing with shorter, longer strings you mess with the dynamics of the bow.  If you shoot a shorter than 28″ draw, the bow still needs the correct string length for the bow to function properly.  You have to make the arrows match your draw length and the corresponding bow weight that ensues.

Just my thinking.

Just to be clear, the 10 & 1/2 inch brace height was the string that came with the bow. The 3 Rivers guy suggested 7 & 1/2 to 8 & 1/2.  It’s shooting well at 8 & 1/8 but I still want to try somewhere about 7 & 3/4 just to see what happens.

Laura, and All;

I picked up a book on eBay, “Shooting The Stickbow” by Anthony Camera. Have not had the chance to read it page by page but have thumbed thru it a couple of times and am very impressed.  Seems to be a very well written reference manual that covers just about everything stickbow.

A fine book, well worth the coin. !!!!  I recommend  it highly.

Richard

Yes, Camera’s book is excellent.

I remember the brace height for the Bear Mag at around 8 to 9 “. I think that was what the factory recommended .

Scout aka Ray

Right now I have the brace height on the Mag 48 at 8 & 1/8th. It’s not ‘quite’ as fast as my Super Diablo, but it’s close.  Fun bow ………….. glad I got it !!!

Richard

Great bow for a tight stand or hide. I always thought they looked really cool.

Scout aka Ray

I agree.  I started on compounds at 16. Got into traditional at the urging of a friend who started the same way but at age 45. I have the same Wasp from a garage sale. $40. But I started w/a Texas Archery  27#, then a Ben Pearson stick now 35#,  & finally  my 40″s vintage Bear Grizzly  42#. I won’t use the Browning til I kill something with the Grizzly.  You obviously felt the difference from a compound.  I shot a 65# compound (Jennings Mag-T, 1983) but couldn’t jump into that 35# Pearson.  Start lite work up to it & if you don’t or can’t you’ll probably find something you love along the way.

Edward

Welcome to the forum – nice classic bows listed. Glad to see you are shooting them …

I still have my first bow , a 50lb Shakespeare Ocala. Works just fine.

Scout aka Ray