Monie

If you are asking whether you need to back it off, then you need to back it off. There's no need to be macho and hurt yourself. I once heard about a chick taking a huge bull elk with her bow set at 45 lbs. So, 70 lbs isn't necessary, unless you plan on going to Africa to hunt. If you can't draw without first pointing your bow to the sky, then your are pulling WAY too much.If the draw weight is set right for you, you should be able to pull your bow back smoothly, stright across your face, without skying. Rob is right, you need to work on your form. Drop your draw weight to where it's comfotable for you and just work on your form. The extra draw weight will come later, if that's what you're in to.

If I wanted to I could shoot 70+ lbs all day, but it's just not necessary. I have my bow set at 60 lbs and that's only because I'm not allowed to go any higher for IBO.

Bradkoz

people kill all kinds of animals with 50-60lb recurves if i rember right thats about the same energy as a 35-50lb compound. theres no need from over-bowing yourself. but i fyou really like you set-up and you like shooting flatter then keep shooting everyday and you'll build up to it. there def alot of mucles being used that you otherwise wouldnt. my friend is huge he lifts all the time 6'1 230lbs and hes trim. me im 175lbs 5'11" im in good shape but not a body builder. when we shoot i can easily shoot three times as many arrows as him even though we both shoot 70lb bow. that i can say for sure i average about 200 shot in three hours when i do warm up and techno hunts and some paper shooting (used to do it every friday after work) so just work up to it.

Huckypuck

This is some goodstuff guys, thanks. I might back it off a little and focus more on being smooth with my draw and being able to hold full draw a little longer. I am not "skying" when I draw because I was told to never do that in case you might accidently let an arrow go. No ego here, I don't care what weight I'm shooting as long as my tag gets filled.

Paul L Mohr

You should technically be able to look at your aiming point, raise the bow and point it at the target, then draw the bow on the target. All this without ever taking your eyes off from the aiming point. It should all be nice an smooth without straining yourself.

I will give you a few tips for shooting more or longer. First of all shoot less arrows at a time. Try shooting three arrows, then going and gettting them instead of 5 or 6. Your out of luck if you shoot 5 spots though.

Another great tip is doing an aiming excercies. You pick a spot on the target then draw on it. After doing that you aim for a few seconds until you settle down. Then you let the bow back down. DO NOT fire an arrow, just aim, hold and let down. This is great practice for target panic, it helps you hold more steady and helps if you have trouble getting the pin on the spot. But more so it build up muscles quickly. With high let off bows it is actually a bit harder to let the bow down smoothly than it is to draw it.

You will get tired fast doing this, so go easy to begin with and take your time.

Oh, and pick a different spot for every shot.

Also practice drawing your bow from a stand. It makes a difference. I can't draw nearly as much weight when I hunt from a stand as I can target shooting off the ground in casual clothes.

And for non hunting stuff, who cares about draw weight. Especially for indoor stuff where the distances are known. I shoot indoors with 45 lbs sometimes. 3-d would probably want the extra poundage for increased speed though. Keep in mind you only gain about 2 fps per pound of draw weight. Turning your bow from 65 to 70 lbs may not even increase your speed enough to make a difference in trajectory in real life. However 5 lbs of draw weight might be enough "felt" draw weight to cause your form to suffer and make you shoot worse, especially after 10 targets or so.

Nothing in life is free.

Paul

heeze gutshot shortee

drawing a bow is physical..gotta get in some type of shape....even weight lifting

nodog

The longer I'm in the sport the more details intrigue me. Read a report last summer that took one of the details and studied it, the time between shots. It was a good study and clearly proved that it does matter. I don't shoot many but I do try and shoot daily and am more interested in the first shot going where I want it too. If it doesn't I try and understand why. Shooting a bunch after that doesn't help me do anything, but waste my target. I also do not pull until I'm going to shoot. Deer have a way of stopping just before entering a lane and the time they stop maybe much longer than I can hold. They are often a slow moving beast checking everything out. It is a blessing and a curse for them. If the activity requires many shoots than being able to do that is it. Hunting requires only one sweet one, sent out D.O.D, dead on delivery.

Arthur P

Without getting too nerdy and going too deep into the physiology of the deal... the cells in your muscles store a bit of fuel for instant use. It takes about a minute for that fuel to be replaced. So, if you're not taking a full minute between the release of one arrow till drawing the next, you're running your muscles out of fuel and making them get fatigued.

That's especially true if you're putting your muscles under a great load, at the upper end of their capability. If 70 pounds is all you can draw, then those muscle cells are using up nearly all their fuel each shot. If you're shooting more than an arrow a minute, you're not giving them time to 'recharge' and it's not going to take long before the fuel is completely depleted.You feel fatigue set in.

That's as far as I'm going with that. I've done my best to forget everything I learned in those 16 hours of anatomy and physiology classes, and recalling even that much has given me a headache.If you want to be nerdy andknow more about the basics of it, this is a fairly decent article: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson24.htm

If you don't want to know more, can't say I blame you.

Anyway, bottom line is,if you want to shoot more then reduce your draw weight and wait a minute between each arrow. Then you should be able to shoot for hours.

For target shooters (and I'm talking about the NFAA paper punchers who shoot 4 arrows per target and 112 arrows per round, not thewimply 3D guys who can't shoot more than one arrow per target and 30-40 arrows a day is 'challenging'[8D]) it's not uncommon for their target bows todraw at least 10 pounds lighter than their hunting bows.

vietvet50

continue to shoot every day even just a few groups You should build up the endurance. I shoot seven days a week twice on sat. and sun.I am 55 and have had a bad shoulder for years but since I have started shooting again it actualy feels better.

NewbHunter

I would say to back down the draw weight alittle. Shoot 62-65#'s. I usto shoot 60#'s and i noticed that i got really slopy after shooting for a while. I backed it down to about 52#'s and now i shoot as long as i want. I think thats enought for deer hunting. Dont need to be pulling so much. I feel alot more comfortable shooting now and even get better groups.