ILF question.

[Jbogg]

I am only six months into my Trad journey. I started last October with an inexpensive Fleetwood Knight take down recurve. It is not ILF, but it did come in several different limb strengths so I started with 30 pounds to develop form, and then moved up to 40 pounds for hunting. My draw length is right at 30 inches so I think I’m holding 45 to 46 pounds at my fingers.

I feel like I’m shooting good enough groups out to about 17 yards for hunting purposes, but I have been thinking about going to the ILF route so that I can try to come up with a combination resulting in a shorter bow that I could still shoot three under with a fixed crawl. At 66 inches my current bow is difficult to use on steeply angle shots out of my treestand or saddle. I Missed a deer at 8 yards last fall due to the bottom of the bow hitting my leg upon release.

With all that said, at 6’5” with a 30 inch draw and wanting to stay at 40 pounds at 28 inches what would be the shortest bow you would consider if shooting three under with a fixed crawl, and also what length riser would you recommend in an ILF rig for a long draw shooting three under? Why would someone choose a short riser over a long one, or vice versa for hunting?

 

[Mcnasty]

Highly recommend calling rocky Mountain Specialty Gear in Arvada CO. They know all the things and have a lot of options in stock for ILF hunting setups.

 

[nevadabugle]

I am only six months into my Trad journey. I started last October with an inexpensive Fleetwood Knight take down recurve. It is not ILF, but it did come in several different limb strengths so I started with 30 pounds to develop form, and then moved up to 40 pounds for hunting. My draw length is right at 30 inches so I think I’m holding 45 to 46 pounds at my fingers.

I feel like I’m shooting good enough groups out to about 17 yards for hunting purposes, but I have been thinking about going to the ILF route so that I can try to come up with a combination resulting in a shorter bow that I could still shoot three under with a fixed crawl. At 66 inches my current bow is difficult to use on steeply angle shots out of my treestand or saddle. I Missed a deer at 8 yards last fall due to the bottom of the bow hitting my leg upon release.

With all that said, at 6’5” with a 30 inch draw and wanting to stay at 40 pounds at 28 inches what would be the shortest bow you would consider if shooting three under with a fixed crawl, and also what length riser would you recommend in an ILF rig for a long draw shooting three under? Why would someone choose a short riser over a long one, or vice versa for hunting?

This answer is tailored to your 30 inch draw.

I would not go any shorter than 62" with 64" being better. If you draw is infact 30" error on shorter riser with longer limbs.

The decision point for many on limb length is their draw. A person with a 26" draw will not cause a long ILF limb to open up fully and loose performance. A 30" draw with a short limb will cause it to open too much and likely stack.

If I had a 30" draw I'd shoot a 21 or 19" with longs. Making a 66 or 64" bow.

My current set up is 19" with Mediums (62") and I have just under a 29" draw.

 

[nevadabugle]

My backup bow is a 21 with Mediums.

Another thing to think about is the Super Curve limbs make a shorter combined package because of the extra curve of the limbs. Think Morrison or Borders.

Some like these limbs, others do not. I have shot them off and on for more than a decade and like them, but they can be a bit more finicky to form errors. Especially with bow hand or string hand inconsistent pressure.

 

[Jbogg]

Thanks for the responses. I have hunted the thick woods in the southeast for most of my life. As a result, I never needed lots of different guns, or bows for that matter. Always kind of been a keep it simple stupid kind of guy. I shot the same compound bow for 20 years. Once I find something that works well for me I just prefer to stick with it.

If I could only move down to a 64 inch bow, I probably would not bother changing anything, but if I could get down to 62 inches and shoot it consistently that might be worth working towards. I’m shooting my current set up pretty well, but it’s just a little limiting on steep angled shots out of the treestand.

 

[nevadabugle]

Thanks for the responses. I have hunted the thick woods in the southeast for most of my life. As a result, I never needed lots of different guns, or bows for that matter. Always kind of been a keep it simple stupid kind of guy. I shot the same compound bow for 20 years. Once I find something that works well for me I just prefer to stick with it.

If I could only move down to a 64 inch bow, I probably would not bother changing anything, but if I could get down to 62 inches and shoot it consistently that might be worth working towards. I’m shooting my current set up pretty well, but it’s just a little limiting on steep angled shots out of the treestand.

Canting your bow can help with lower limb clearance as well.

I do not cant, but there are many who do successfully.

 

[Beendare]

I have a 30 1/2" DL and shoot a 64" recurve. I can shoot a fixed crawl with it up to 3/4" but its loud. and .tune is tricky. .. it would be much better with a 66"

I can shoot a 62 and have a couple...but wouldn't try to string walk with it. I just shoot a 64" better.

Canting....and being able to shoot horizontal if needed is key. I had to shoot an Axis deer with my bow horizontal while kneeling in the tall grass on the Hawaiian islands...otherwise no limb clearance.

.

 

[Jbogg]

Thanks again for the replies. I ended up finding a like new Pat Norris 19” ILF riser over on tradtalk.com along with a couple of black max 2.0 long limbs. It should arrive in a couple of days. I have tried shooting while canting my current bow and was surprised that after just a few shots I was actually fairly accurate with it. I ended up climbing a white oak in the backyard with my tree saddle and was able to make it work for the most part. Still hoping my new bow at 64 inches will be a little bit easier to maneuver while not creating too much finger pinch to mess with my release.

 

[ammonnhonduras]

Im 6’4”. Been shooting ILF bow for 5yrs or so now. 40# at 28in. I have a 30in draw. By far my favorite bow. 19in riser. Medium limbs for a 62in. bow. I love it. Hunts great at 62in shooting out of a tree stand. Have killed quite a few deer with it. And big bodied bucks at that.

 

[Beendare]

I would add, I'm shooting 64", 3 under 30." or 30.75" DL depending on the bow, no crawl. If I wanted a dedicated SW bow- it would be a 66".


In my experience with a fixed crawl on my 64"....its awesome if you don't have to crawl far. For example, if I crawl more than about 5/8", it gets tricky to get good BH arrow flight.
Those long crawls make tuning a biotch. A longer arrow with a closer PO helps make that crawl better.

If a guy is only hunting slot distances- say tree stand shot from 20-25y- then yeah, you can setup a crawl and tune for that. The problem with a setup like that is I was getting bad arrow flight on 15 and 30y shots with my finger touching the nok, sometimes really wonky.

Currently, My gap at 20y is only 3/8". The only reason I would crawl now is if I wanted better pinpoint accuracy for 3D.