Recurve stories

[North Idaho Stickbow]

PM me, if that is a thing I can do. I am new to rokslide.

I was laying on the sarcasm of my lack of animals on the ground with my recurve

I’ve put down a few animas with my longbow in the past, but my first recurve kill was this spring.

 

[ammonnhonduras]

As I shot my bow today I actually thought “Ive been shooting these bows for about 25yrs now, and even though it doesnt happen on every shot, there is something about that perfect shot, when you let it go and watch the spot you were fixated on just disappear by the arrow covering it completely.” Ive killed more than my fair share of big whitetails. Ive missed some big ones too. Missed some does. Have a goal to kill a moose with my bow some day. When it doesnt go right you’ll want to quit. You’ll eventually think “How is it possible that anybody could ever miss with a compound?” But stick with it. Not many people can say they have ever killed an animal with a trad bow. And I like being one of those people.

 

[Wrench]

My only sad story was from 1992 93 or 94...I can't remember. I blew up a custom on a hunt when I twisted a limb.

I transitioned to longbows after that episode.

I'm actually carrying a recurve again this year. The uukha vx1000 limbs seem nearly impossible to twist.....I hope.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Different friend...Gary from Kentucky...was at my place and we were shooting bows. I had a Robertson Prairie Falcon and really shot it quite well. I had a big old ethafoam roll in the field behind our home. It was September and hunting season was a few weeks away....

Before the first arrow was shot Gary noticed a big fall grasshopper clinging to the foam. Dollar bet was in order and I lined up a 20 yard shot. The arrow was on the money, but the hopper jumped straight up at impact and landed in the tall grass.

Gary: "You missed him by a fraction. Just under him. Good shot but you dropped your bow arm a little".

Me: "Your eyes need checked. Liver hit. We'll give him an hour and find him easily. Won't go far. I'll collect back at the house".

When we pulled the arrows a big healthy grasshopper jumped up and fluttered away.

Gary: "I guess you're gonna say we should've waited longer".

Me: "No. Different hopper. Just a spike bedded nearby".

We argued over the money later. Gary finally relented and let me buy him a cold Coke.

 

[Boxerboxer]

IMO if you're thinking about having a recurve made at some point, buy a cheap one (Samick Sage, Southwest Spyder, etc) and start shooting now so you don't still suck when your custom bow is in your hands.

Here's my one and only good recurve story:

Finally punched a tag with the recurve!

I’ve been trying to kill a turkey since 2017 when I shotgun hunted a private farm in IL. I missed so many opportunities that year. “That’s way too many gobbles to be anything but a hunter calling” prevented me from going after several turkeys, and not knowing what a Jake was prevented me from...

www.rokslide.com

 

[FLS]

I started bowhunting in 1983 with a compound and had a decent amount of success. In the spring of1997 I bought a Traditional Bowhunter magazine during a layover in Omaha NE. Not long after I had a 45 pound Bear Grizzly that I shot every day that summer. Sept 1st was the archery opener back then and I was in a loc on watching a well used trail deep in a SC swamp with that Grizzly and a Cat Quiver full of XX75 2016s tipped with Bear Razorheads. About 30 minutes before dark a cowhorn spike in velvet came up the trail, stopped at about 15 yards and suddenly there was an arrow buried to the fletchings right where you would want it. Id like to say I remember the shot, watched the arrow fly to its mark etc, but I dont. The arrow was just there. He made a mad dash out of sight and I thought i heard him crash. I sat till dark then got down , pulled out my flashlight, walked to where I shot him then followed a 50-60 yd blood trail straight to him. The sense of satifaction with that kill was immense, as much as ive ever had hunting. I didnt have a cell phone then, and didnt take a single picture. But I still have that little rack with the velvet on it out in the barn. There are probably more than 100 racks in that barn, some of them are pretty nice, and ive forgot the details about alot of them but, Ill remember that hunt till i die.
I proceeded to miss the next 8-10 deer I shot at with that bow...

 

[Gutshot007]

Kinda of a bummer recurve story. Have shot recurve as a kid and teenage years switched to PSE VECTOR as it was the first cam bow and the start of the latest craze. Had a friend that later started building longbows and takedown recurves . For a wedding gift (good friend ) gave me a 74 lb bubinga riser / elm limb takedown bow. Started shooting it and getting the gist of it and elbow deep into trad archery. G fred asbell books . Everything thing I could read . Fred bear, Howard hill , barry and gene w ,traditional bow hunter magazines. Very little info at that time ( pre internet). Three Rivers archery boxes delivered to my house weekly . I was pumped about big woods Minnesota deer hunting with my new found addiction . October rolled around and hit it pretty hard with anticipation of the November rut . One early morning parked at my spot I grabbed my recurve in the dark and went to sting it up and in the process felt the limb suddenly twist and weaken . I brought it over to the light of the and found out what a delamination looked like . I was sick . Bummed out I packed up my stuff and headed home. Once home I unfortunately had to dig up my pse vector as I only had one bow . All that work and practice with my recurve and now I'm taking a compound hunting. I was frustrated. Later that evening I headed out to my same spot with a compound , xx75 aluminum arrows with a zwickey broadhead attached. Sure enough a nice buck showed up and I shot him with a compound instead of my recurve. I was happy, but had somewhat bittersweet emotion. He was was a nice buck. Field dressed 220lbs. 120 class 8 point. Had a weird short "mane " like a horse on his neck. October 21st 1993 my brothers birthday. For me lessen learned ,I never unstring my bows. By the way I sent my recurve back to my buddy and he made me a new set of limbs that have been used to harvest a number of deer. Today that 74 lb recurve has been since retired and I now shoot a 50lb homemade hybrid longbow as that is all the old shoulders can handle. Enjoy the up coming season and shoot straight (with a little cant of course)

 

[skeptic]

I have one:

I grew up in Central Montana as a kid and there was a local guy who made bows that had quite the reputation not only as a hunter, but also as an outstanding person in general. His name was Paul Schafer. Keep in mind, this was back in the 80's and early 90s, so most of what I heard of him was basically through word of mouth and stories overheard at the local bow shop. As a kid, I did not have the means to be able to purchase one of his bows, and there wasn't any way my dad was going to buy me one for "that kind of money". I wanted one in the worst way, but just couldn't make it happen. I could only afford a standard off the shelf recurve, so I hunted with a Martin recurve for a few years. I managed to kill a small whitetail buck with it, and then "graduated" to a compound bow, which I hunted with in various forms up until two years ago.

Fast forward 30 years and I get a call from a buddy asking me if I know anything about recurve bows because his dad had a friend who wanted to sell his. I said I knew a little and asked him, "what kind of bow is it?". His reply was "a Schafer Silvertip". I am pretty sure my heart skipped a beat and I got very interested. He then went on to explain that he was looking at buying it, and then my heart dropped. I asked him what poundage the bow was and he said he wasn't sure, but he would ask. After about a day, my buddy calls me back and says that he isn't going to buy it because he wasn't sure he would be able to draw it without him getting into shape, which probably wasn't going to happen. I asked him if it would be okay if I gave the guy selling it a call and asked a few questions. He said no problem.

I called up the gentleman selling the bow, turns out he was friends with Paul, and Paul had actually built the bow for him. He told me that he had tried hunting with Paul a few times, but struggled to keep up. He also told me that he struggled to pull it as well, but didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't do it. I asked him if I could come up and look at it and he said absolutely. I drove up the next to the tiny farming community that he lived in. He took me into his basement and opened a closet door. In the closet, was a flannel case with the bow inside, unstrung. He told me that he had only put the string on one time, and the original string was in the case with the bow. It looked brand new. I told him that I would love to purchase it from him and added that it was a lifelong dream of mine to one day own a Silvertip. The fact that it was built by Paul Schafer himself was icing on the cake. I am by no means rich, but I had brought a significant amount of money with me to purchase this bow. He named a price that was commensurate with what a new Silvertip costs now and I quickly handed him the cash. I would have paid 10x more than what I did had he asked for it.

After I bought the bow, I got a little emotional, unexpectedly I might add. I don't know why. Maybe it was because it was something I had really wanted when I was a kid and now was able to finally have the means to do it. Or maybe it was because I recognized the odds of me ever being able to get a bow built by a legendary hunter from my past were pretty slim. Either way, I was pretty damn happy! So now I own a Schafer Silvertip built by the man himself, I believe it is #178. It isn't very fancy, or very fast, but I can shoot it pretty good and really enjoy doing it. I thought about just hanging it on my wall, but I don't think that is what Paul Schafer would have done. It rekindled my interest in traditional bowhunting, and I can't wait to get out in the woods with it.

 

[Newtosavage]

Oh do I have recurve stories. LOL Not enough space on this page for them all so I'll just start with this one and try to be brief.

In the early 90's, my brother and I decided to go hunt mule deer and javelinas at the Black Gap WMA near Big Bend NP in West Texas. That's back before you had to draw. My 55# Jerry Hill longbow had just failed on me and was in the process of being replaced, so I borrowed my older sister's 45# Wing Red Wing Hunter for the trip and off we went. My first shot at a big game animal with a recurve should have been a slam dunk but I got nervous and my arrow sailed over the back of a mule deer buck that was drinking at a guzzler at just 10 yards. I had too much time to think about it, and I flat missed. It made me sick thinking about it the rest of the day. However, late that afternoon my brother and I were stalking along a ravine, with him on a knife ridge above me between two washes, and me down in one wash. We heard a pack of Javelinas ahead of us, so - communicating through hand gestures - we knocked arrows and headed in the direction of the pack. My brother indicated he saw them and that he was going to take a shot from the end of that ridge. As he drew back, I dropped to one knee and got ready for whatever came my direction. When he shot, his aluminum arrow missed and clattered through the rocks, sending the javelinas in every direction like a covey of quail. One of the boars appears in front of me, running full speed from right to left in front of me at about 18-20 yards. Without even thinking, I drew back, led him by about a foot and released. That arrow caught him right behind the front legs and stopped mid-way through him with arrow sticking out either side. Blood was gushing as he kept running full speed. He makes a 180 and starts heading in my direction. He sees me and makes a beeline for me as I knock another arrow and draw back, aiming at his head this time because that's all the shot I had. Right before I released, that javelina expired and nose plowed through the sand and gravel, coming to a stop only about 5 or 6 yards from my feet, then tipping over on one side stone cold dead. I caught my breath and looked up for my brother on the ridge. When I saw him, he was doing the "I'm not worthy" bow toward me, having seen the whole thing start to finish. To this day, that story gets told (by him) at every fishing or hunting trip or family gathering. It was pretty epic if I do say so myself. The cool thing to me is that shot doesn't get made with any other bow besides that one. That was the day I was hooked for life on hunting with traditional gear. I had finally made that epic hunting shot just like my childhood hero Fred Bear.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

My story is; don't leave it strung inside a vehicle for two days in Southern California while you hack a trail through the Manzanita to your remote backpack hunt location. Been there, done that.

 

[Te Hopo]

As a 9yo kid in the early nineties, I was a bookworm and remember my teacher giving me a copy of Hatchet by Gary Paulson.
Man that book had a huge influence on me, that connection with primitive hunting to survive.

I found a kids fiberglass recurve bow and some arrows at a garage sale, an old plywood canoe elsewhere, and along with my dog we were away.
All the usual things, rabbits, ducks, quail, trout, eel, i didn't know about any game laws at that age and my folks are non hunters and absent a lot of the time.
But I will say that almost everything I killed was eaten by myself or the dog on our trips.

Now after 20 years of rifle hunting I'm back to a bow and loving it

 

[mjh]

Got my first tom turkey with my Blacktail Takedown. From a blind about 18 paces. Full mature bird about 20lbs dressed, 11 inch beard, Spikes over an inch. If I had to choose one thing to hunt and only one thing it would be Turkey and I'd travel the country doing so. All three of my Blacktails were made by Norm Johnson. Still have two. New owners are doing just fine with the company and bows being made. Sending in my takedown soon for a 3rd set of limbs. Going to get some light weight limbs for my old age. I really like this takedown of mine and Blacktail is discontinuing the model so I thought I'd get some limbs to take me into the future for when I might need them. Economically maybe not the best choice but the riser and wood combo's are one of my favorite. No sense shooting a bow you don't like. I have an ILF rig too. I'm hunting with that this year, if I ever get out. Property own were I hunt is in his last days and while I know some of the family I don't want to bother them while there dealing with hard times. I'll always shoot a recurve so long as I'm still physically able to do so.

 

[bighornhtr]

Lots of good stories, but any traditional guy (or any archery guy) will tell ya there are some bad stories. Practice and "pick a spot"

 

[Tradchef]

It’s super fun man. All good info above for sure. Get some help to figure things out, get around guys and gals that kill shit consistently instead of talk about it. It makes a huge difference. Make the mistakes, learn from it and make them again and keep learning. Admit your failures and accept your strengths. It shows you each of them in black and white for sure. Lots of good folks on here to chat with and get good info from. Beyond that start shooting and learning. It gets better every time you shoot and understand what you are doing right and wrong. Most of all have a good time with it.

 

[riversidejeep]

Back in the early 80's my hunting partner and I had been hunting with recurves for a while and we really enjoyed it over the compounds. We decided that we need to get custom bows made, I decided to get a custom Bighorn from G Fred Asbell. It was a butt load of money that I didn't really have extra and after 6-8 months I'm getting pretty antsy as I think my cool custom 3 piece takedown would be showing soon. Phone calls from my partner and his brother " Has it shown up yet?" were come quite often. Then FINALLY the U.P.S. truck pulls up to the house and delivers this nice long box to me from Bighorn Bow Hunting!!!! I rip open the box and behold it was a old kids #15 fiberglass bow those prick friends of mine had cut into 3 pieces and boxed up , then had the friend U.P.S. guy deliver. 40 Years ago and I haven't forgot but I've sure gotten even ! . We both still hunt with the bows we had made.

 

[nevadabugle]

I told this story on South Coxs podcast so I apologize if you've heard the long version already.

I once snuck up on four 4point bucks bedded in a rim rock ledge. I was able to sneak within 8 yards of the closest and 20 yards of the farthest.

When I drew my bow the closest buck caught the movement and ran out to 20 and stopped. I loosed an arrow and it went about a half inch over his shoulder. The second buck then squirted out and stopped at 20 yards so I shot again, and again was a half inch high. At the shot the third buck ran out and did the same thing. I nocked a third arrow and starred at the sight picture long and hard and sent a third arrow high...

By now I was so flustered that when the fourth buck came out from below me and stopped I thought I had shot all 4 arrows in my quiver so I just watched him walk away. I felt even dumber when I looked down and realized I still had an arrow left.
The whole incident took maybe 20 seconds. Stories like that one make connecting with any buck such an amazing feeling.

Here's a picture for proof that I don't always miss!

 

[ScottinPA]

Pretty good advice above.

It's a blast hunting with a stickbow but it has it's limitations. For me, I'll sacrifice some of the kills for the thrill of the hunt. Lots of critters still on the hoof because I had my recurve still no regrets.

Stories -
First deer 20+ years ago. Missed many that year but it finally came together with a 17yd shot at a WT doe. She flinched at the impact, Coughed a few times while continuing to feed, then laid down and died.

Closest deer - was walking in with my climber on my back. Saw a doe at 40yds feeding upwind. Nocked an arrow and she fed in my direction. At 3 yds she licked her offside hind quarter so her head was behind her body. Snap shot even I couldn't miss.

Raghorn bull at 10 yds broadside while he was focused on the caller above me. Never knew I was there

 

[Happy Antelope]

I have one:

I grew up in Central Montana as a kid and there was a local guy who made bows that had quite the reputation not only as a hunter, but also as an outstanding person in general. His name was Paul Schafer. Keep in mind, this was back in the 80's and early 90s, so most of what I heard of him was basically through word of mouth and stories overheard at the local bow shop. As a kid, I did not have the means to be able to purchase one of his bows, and there wasn't any way my dad was going to buy me one for "that kind of money". I wanted one in the worst way, but just couldn't make it happen. I could only afford a standard off the shelf recurve, so I hunted with a Martin recurve for a few years. I managed to kill a small whitetail buck with it, and then "graduated" to a compound bow, which I hunted with in various forms up until two years ago.

Fast forward 30 years and I get a call from a buddy asking me if I know anything about recurve bows because his dad had a friend who wanted to sell his. I said I knew a little and asked him, "what kind of bow is it?". His reply was "a Schafer Silvertip". I am pretty sure my heart skipped a beat and I got very interested. He then went on to explain that he was looking at buying it, and then my heart dropped. I asked him what poundage the bow was and he said he wasn't sure, but he would ask. After about a day, my buddy calls me back and says that he isn't going to buy it because he wasn't sure he would be able to draw it without him getting into shape, which probably wasn't going to happen. I asked him if it would be okay if I gave the guy selling it a call and asked a few questions. He said no problem.

I called up the gentleman selling the bow, turns out he was friends with Paul, and Paul had actually built the bow for him. He told me that he had tried hunting with Paul a few times, but struggled to keep up. He also told me that he struggled to pull it as well, but didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't do it. I asked him if I could come up and look at it and he said absolutely. I drove up the next to the tiny farming community that he lived in. He took me into his basement and opened a closet door. In the closet, was a flannel case with the bow inside, unstrung. He told me that he had only put the string on one time, and the original string was in the case with the bow. It looked brand new. I told him that I would love to purchase it from him and added that it was a lifelong dream of mine to one day own a Silvertip. The fact that it was built by Paul Schafer himself was icing on the cake. I am by no means rich, but I had brought a significant amount of money with me to purchase this bow. He named a price that was commensurate with what a new Silvertip costs now and I quickly handed him the cash. I would have paid 10x more than what I did had he asked for it.

After I bought the bow, I got a little emotional, unexpectedly I might add. I don't know why. Maybe it was because it was something I had really wanted when I was a kid and now was able to finally have the means to do it. Or maybe it was because I recognized the odds of me ever being able to get a bow built by a legendary hunter from my past were pretty slim. Either way, I was pretty damn happy! So now I own a Schafer Silvertip built by the man himself, I believe it is #178. It isn't very fancy, or very fast, but I can shoot it pretty good and really enjoy doing it. I thought about just hanging it on my wall, but I don't think that is what Paul Schafer would have done. It rekindled my interest in traditional bowhunting, and I can't wait to get out in the woods with it.

Did you ever shoot anything with it? Having grown up in Great Falls I'm very familiar with Paul, the BO Jackson of Hunting.

 

[bighornhtr]

I have one:

I grew up in Central Montana as a kid and there was a local guy who made bows that had quite the reputation not only as a hunter, but also as an outstanding person in general. His name was Paul Schafer. Keep in mind, this was back in the 80's and early 90s, so most of what I heard of him was basically through word of mouth and stories overheard at the local bow shop. As a kid, I did not have the means to be able to purchase one of his bows, and there wasn't any way my dad was going to buy me one for "that kind of money". I wanted one in the worst way, but just couldn't make it happen. I could only afford a standard off the shelf recurve, so I hunted with a Martin recurve for a few years. I managed to kill a small whitetail buck with it, and then "graduated" to a compound bow, which I hunted with in various forms up until two years ago.

Fast forward 30 years and I get a call from a buddy asking me if I know anything about recurve bows because his dad had a friend who wanted to sell his. I said I knew a little and asked him, "what kind of bow is it?". His reply was "a Schafer Silvertip". I am pretty sure my heart skipped a beat and I got very interested. He then went on to explain that he was looking at buying it, and then my heart dropped. I asked him what poundage the bow was and he said he wasn't sure, but he would ask. After about a day, my buddy calls me back and says that he isn't going to buy it because he wasn't sure he would be able to draw it without him getting into shape, which probably wasn't going to happen. I asked him if it would be okay if I gave the guy selling it a call and asked a few questions. He said no problem.

I called up the gentleman selling the bow, turns out he was friends with Paul, and Paul had actually built the bow for him. He told me that he had tried hunting with Paul a few times, but struggled to keep up. He also told me that he struggled to pull it as well, but didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't do it. I asked him if I could come up and look at it and he said absolutely. I drove up the next to the tiny farming community that he lived in. He took me into his basement and opened a closet door. In the closet, was a flannel case with the bow inside, unstrung. He told me that he had only put the string on one time, and the original string was in the case with the bow. It looked brand new. I told him that I would love to purchase it from him and added that it was a lifelong dream of mine to one day own a Silvertip. The fact that it was built by Paul Schafer himself was icing on the cake. I am by no means rich, but I had brought a significant amount of money with me to purchase this bow. He named a price that was commensurate with what a new Silvertip costs now and I quickly handed him the cash. I would have paid 10x more than what I did had he asked for it.

After I bought the bow, I got a little emotional, unexpectedly I might add. I don't know why. Maybe it was because it was something I had really wanted when I was a kid and now was able to finally have the means to do it. Or maybe it was because I recognized the odds of me ever being able to get a bow built by a legendary hunter from my past were pretty slim. Either way, I was pretty damn happy! So now I own a Schafer Silvertip built by the man himself, I believe it is #178. It isn't very fancy, or very fast, but I can shoot it pretty good and really enjoy doing it. I thought about just hanging it on my wall, but I don't think that is what Paul Schafer would have done. It rekindled my interest in traditional bowhunting, and I can't wait to get out in the woods with it.

Great story, love to see a picture of it!

 

[bighornhtr]

Great story, love to see a picture of it!