First year hunting with recurve advice

[Samdemarais]

This will be my first year hunting with a recurve. Thinking I’m gonna hunt off the ground with a Ghillie suit and some out of a stand. Any last words of advice? Thanks

 

[smoke]

I think my best advice is to be patient and wait until the animal is well within your comfort zone. For me, with whitetails, that is 20 yards or less . . . so I've watched a lot of nice deer stroll by at 25 but that's how it goes. I do believe the satisfaction of taking an animal with trad gear will make it well worth your effort! Best of luck!!

 

[oldgoat]

Practice from both ways, ghillie suit is a whole lot of opportunities to get stuff caught in the string during a shot which will throw your shot off, treestand is fairly straight forward, but if you cant your bow, limb clearance is a new worry that you didn't have to think about with a compound!

 

[Btaylor]

Have your shot process completely dialed in for both types of setup as mentioned and have fun.

 

[Gutshot007]

Let em get close and pick a spot. Don't shoot at the whole animal (hard when your looking at headgear on a a nice buck ). Have fun and good luck.

 

[Geewhiz]

What will you be hunting?

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I'm a lot more prone to having the string hit my clothing with a recurve than with a compound, so I make sure to practice in exactly what I'll be wearing while hunting. An arm guard is a must have for me to keep my sleeve out of the way. I don't use one currently, but I would also consider a chest protector if wearing a particularly bulky/loose-fitting top.

 

[Wilderlife]

I'm not saying neglect your shot process, but focusing more on getting as close as possible and less on your shot is a good mindset to be in. Once you get to about 25 metres, every metre you gain increases the chance of making a good shot more and more. I can group OK at 30 metres but when you're stalking an animal, 30 metres looks like a very long way. Especially pigs (a lot of what I stalk) as they don't stop moving very often. Get your shot to the point where you feel fairly comfortable/confident inside about the 20 metre mark and then do everything you can to get inside that mark.

This is coming from another newbie, mind you. I've followed this logic for the last few years and I've done OK. I've let plenty of stuff walk, too.

 

[RedRidge]

Don't shoot if there is any doubt in your mind on range. Too many folks try to get that first kill so bad judgement on shot selection starts to diminish quickly (Im guilty on this one my first year). Work hard on getting closer and being patient when an animal is inside your range. First year I would recommend 15 yards max, but 10 would be ideal on deer/hogs. Broadside or quartering away only. Keep your broadheads sharp. Misses will happen, just keep at it. Best way to learn is to just go do it. Just my .02. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Recurve Man]

In all honesty id ditch the gilly suit and hunt from a stand. The suit will cost ya more shots then the stand hunting will. You have to move to draw on your target. Stick bows are not like compounds where you can draw early and hold. Takes practice and misses to learn from. My advise is sell your compound if ya have one cause you'll wanna go back to it after you blow some shots. Ive been killing deer for 40yrs with a recurve. I can still blow a shot. The good thing about traditional bows is there quite and sometimes you get another shot cause they don't know what happened. Enjoy the hunt and keep your head up. Sharp broadheads are a must. Your not gonna shoot through everything now. I shoot Simmons Interceptor 190gr. Rarely get a pass through. Im gonna tell ya though when that arrow stays in them its cutting everytime they move.

 

[ammonnhonduras]

Stick with it. 10 years from now you’ll be amazed at what you learn still and didnt really know about trad bow hunting right now. And dont give up. You are going to miss at some point. When you end up missing a big buck one day, wait a few weeks befofe you throw your bow away and go buy a compound. Cause thats what you will want to do at first. Have fun!

 

[SevereTravis7]

get up in a tree

 

[Anye425]

My first year going with recurve as well! Super excited and also mildly nervous
Don't mind me, just reading through all the info nuggets in this thread!

 

[Samdemarais]

In all honesty id ditch the gilly suit and hunt from a stand. The suit will cost ya more shots then the stand hunting will. You have to move to draw on your target. Stick bows are not like compounds where you can draw early and hold. Takes practice and misses to learn from. My advise is sell your compound if ya have one cause you'll wanna go back to it after you blow some shots. Ive been killing deer for 40yrs with a recurve. I can still blow a shot. The good thing about traditional bows is there quite and sometimes you get another shot cause they don't know what happened. Enjoy the hunt and keep your head up. Sharp broadheads are a must. Your not gonna shoot through everything now. I shoot Simmons Interceptor 190gr. Rarely get a pass through. Im gonna tell ya though when that arrow stays in them its cutting everytime they move.

 

[Samdemarais]

In all honesty id ditch the gilly suit and hunt from a stand. The suit will cost ya more shots then the stand hunting will. You have to move to draw on your target. Stick bows are not like compounds where you can draw early and hold. Takes practice and misses to learn from. My advise is sell your compound if ya have one cause you'll wanna go back to it after you blow some shots. Ive been killing deer for 40yrs with a recurve. I can still blow a shot. The good thing about traditional bows is there quite and sometimes you get another shot cause they don't know what happened. Enjoy the hunt and keep your head up. Sharp broadheads are a must. Your not gonna shoot through everything now. I shoot Simmons Interceptor 190gr. Rarely get a pass through. Im gonna tell ya though when that arrow stays in them its cutting everytime they move.

I have trimmed the suit for clearance and where a long compression sleeve on bow arm. I am going to give it a try in a few areas where I’m targeting some slew bucks with few trees. I have a pretty dialed sand paper system for sharpening iron wills that you could shave your face with. Shooting 48# and 490 grain arrow.

 

[TaterTot]

Only advice I can give in my 4th year of trad hunting is don't try to force a shot. Be prepared to let an animal walk if it doesn't feel right. You'll know what I mean when you get out there.

 

[ammonnhonduras]

I have trimmed the suit for clearance and where a long compression sleeve on bow arm. I am going to give it a try in a few areas where I’m targeting some slew bucks with few trees. I have a pretty dialed sand paper system for sharpening iron wills that you could shave your face with. Shooting 48# and 490 grain arrow.

Id try to figure out a way to get another 50-75gr on that arrow. I’ve killed plenty Alabama whitetails with an arrow that same weight. Got 1 pass through in the rib cage. Many that didnt pass through and didnt even break the skin on the other side. Had to change the set up.

 

[0815]

Depending where you hunt, the ghillie suit may be a bad idea. If it is public land, I would not hunt from the ground as you may mess up a bunch of other hunters in treestands. A ghillie guy stalking through the woods into the range of other hunters in treesrands won't make you any friends. You have a right to do it, but not a smart choice imho. If you hunt from a treestand, maximum arrow launch elevation should be 16 to max. 20ft. Play the angle game and see how rapidly the target area shrinks by going higher.
For short shots 12ft stands = 16 ft launch height is the max I would do.

 

[Samdemarais]

Id try to figure out a way to get another 50-75gr on that arrow. I’ve killed plenty Alabama whitetails with an arrow that same weight. Got 1 pass through in the rib cage. Many that didnt pass through and didnt even break the skin on the other side. Had to change the set up.

Randy cooling has killed 100s of animals with 490 gn arrows. If she is flying straight and has a sharp head I think it will do the job.

 

[mparks270]

One arrow practice. I always have a small game/stumping arrow and will often shoot it from stand at a leaf or something right before I climb down. In short, try to prepare as much as possible for a likely shot scenario. I shoot groups during the summer, but switch to one arrow at a time right before and during season.