70lb Recurve?

[bea]

thank you all for the input

 

[Bas]

I'm late to this thread but I wanted to add this tidbit. Used trad bows a lot before shoulder surgeries and found out I could work my way up to 65 lbs. but not 70. You've been given wonderful advise in such a short thread, just make sure you don't lose accuracy for the sake of poundage. If I remember correctly Fred Bear used 65 lbs. for about everything except his elephant (75 lbs.) Wish you the best of luck.

Bob

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Best of luck. Shot a 73lb recurve when I was in my 20's. Down to 55lbs in my mid 60's. Will move down to upper 40's soon. Always accuracy over power. Only took me 40 years to learn it.

 

[bea]

thanks for all your input. as much as I love my trad bow / recurve I've decided to use a 70lb compound. I'm shooting grizzly sticks (915 grains total arrow weight) and single bevel broadheads. I'll keep yas posted.

 

[Tra3]

I also shoot grizzly sticks and love them. They fly better and are the toughest arrow I’ve used.

I think you’ve chosen a great setup.

 

[bea]

thanks for all the input...took this huge ol cow. One arrow....175 yard recovery

 

[jeff]

Congrats !! What broadhead did you use.

 

[bea]

Congrats !! What broadhead did you use.

used an alaskan 315 grain from grizzlystik and one of their 340 950 gr arrow

 

[IvW]

Permissible bows for bow hunting 26. The following are acceptable types of bows for bow hunting-
( a) longbow;
(b) recurve bow; and
(c) compound bow, excluding a compound crossbow.
Categories of wild animals for bow hunting 27. The following norms apply to the hunting of wild animals with bow and arrow- ( a) small game, including gamebirds, small carnivores, hares, hyraxes, rabbits and pygmy antelope (Category 1 )- (i) bow with a minimum draw mass of 40 pounds; (ii) bow generating a minimum kinetic energy 30ft/lbs; and (iii) minimum arrow weight of 300 grains; (b) medium game, including reedbuck, impala, blesbuck, warthog, bushpig, springbuck, and nyala (Category 2)- (i) bow with a minimum draw mass of 50 pounds; (ii) bow generating a minimum kinetic energy 50ft/lbs; and (iii) minimum arrow weight 400 grains; (c) large game, including wildebeests, kudu, gemsbuck, zebra, waterbuck, sable, and hartebeests (Category 3)- (i) bow with a minimum draw mass of 60 pounds; (ii) bow generating a minimum kinetic energy of 60ft/lbs; and (iii) minimum arrow weight of 500 grains; (d) Cape buffalo (Category 4)- (i) bow with a minimum draw mass of 80 pounds; (ii) bow generating a minimum kinetic energy of BOft/lbs; and (iii) minimum arrow weight of 750 grains; and (e) giraffe (Category 5)-(i) bow with a minimum draw mass of 90 pounds; (ii) bow generating a minimum kinetic energy of 90ft/lbs; and (iii) minimum arrow weight of 750 grains. Additional norms for bow hunting equipment 28. Notwithstanding the requirements contemplated in Paragraph 27 the following conditions apply- (a) in the case of mechanical broad heads 5% additional kinetic energy is required for Category 1, 2 and 3 wild animals; (b) broad heads must have at least tv.o cutting edges; and (c) the minimum permitted arrow length is 50cm.

 

[jeff]

used an alaskan 315 grain from grizzlystik and one of their 340 950 gr arrow

Please post a hunt report, I am leaving for archery buff in two weeks!

 

[Tra3]

Very nice! Pass through? How did the arrow and broadheads perform? Other animals?

Hunt report?

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

My two cents. Data relevant to kinetic energy need to be read in conjunction with the Momentum data, as the former drops faster with distance, than momentum. Shot accuracy is also a factor, a recurve requires a lot more precision in the draw than a longbow (due to limb configuration), given that being face to face with a cape buffalo might "alter" slightly the concentration on form, I'd rather get this factor out the way and opt for a more forgiving bow. I have a Black Widow recurve, great bow but heavy to carry a full day tracking and stocking; comparatively LB are feather light.
A good 70# longbow (I like bamboo laminated bows) can develop about 190 fps with a standard B50 string. A moderate speed compared to compounds but not everything is lost. If you ran any of the on line calculators on kinetic energy and momentum, with an arrow weight of 850 grains (attainable even with a wood arrow), considering 30 yards, you can have a kinetic energy at impact of 66 ft-lb and a momentum 0.7 lbs-sec, with a drop of about 40-44 inches. At 20 years the drop is only 20 inches, so figure if 25 years distance is a more reliable proposition. Arrow weight is a fine balance, trying to push light arrows at high speed is a battle lost at the beginning, light arrow loose speed at a faster rate than heavier arrow.
Concerning the broad-head I stand by the two blades, single bevel (easier to sharpen), however I would look also at the length-width (at the base) ratio, 3:1 seems to be the optimal for penetration, it goes without saying that top steel is a must.
One last word about arrow weight and FOC, wooden arrow for those like me that like wood, are less amenable to weight distribution fine tuning, than carbon arrows. 11/32 diameter in Douglas fir has a good density but a 28" shaft can only go around 450 grains with everything on but the broad head, increasing the weight of the broad head can result in a tip heavy arrow with an FOC outside the optimal range of 10-15% (I prefer closer to 12%). Carbon arrow have a higher GPI of the shaft and with inserts and other amenities, they can be really fine tuned in weight, FOC and spine (considering a longbow with a moderate arrow rest window). One last consideration, the arrow must be perfectly tuned so experiment before settling on one confguration.

 

[Buffalo1]

I would suggest contacting Pat LeFemine who had killed cape with a bow and Neil Summers with Bowhunting Safari Consultants who has also killed cape with a bow.

 

[Forrest Halley]

Well this is a cool thread. I have pursued some traditional setups a little heavier than this. I have a 95# recurve and several 100# longbows and a 102# R/D. There are decent arrows to be had in the Alaska Safaris and also another fellow CarbonTech Safaris. The ABS use a proprietary nock size which is annoying, but I feel like they recover from paradox faster at heavy weights. Allegedly you can get them to 1200 grains of more. I was only ever up around the 900 grain mark. I think the CarbonTech Safaris are very tough arrows. I shot one at a disappearing target at a range in Katy, Texas and it missed, skipped on the floor and put a huge dent in some heavy schedule pipe covering the air lines. The arrow was recut behind the break and reused. I lost the head and insert and maybe two inches of shaft. I used a 250 grain three blade and a 215 grain 2 blade from Australia. Both were accurate. I was only hunting whitetail which was very difficult due to the cold and keeping draw muscles warm enough to draw and shoot the heavy bow accurately. I imagine hotter climates would have certain challenges in body condition upkeep.
I think a recurve or an R/D is the way to go, but the guy I read about killing a buffalo did so from a tree stand due to the ribcage having better openings from the down angle.

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

I'd like to add a note to my previous post on the FOC, I have never had the chance of experimenting with the higher than 15% FOC, as passionately advocated by Dr. Ashby. He makes some good points on EFOC (>15%) with regard to penetration, or better bone penetration capability vs. bow draw weight (I can recall his comparative report of the 82# vs 40# bow on bone penetration). I'd like to hear some opinion/experiences.

 

[JPmbogo]

Thank god some bow hunters are out there using real bows!