Thread: Recurve help

I would like to get myself a recurve bow. I am totally new to archery and have no clue what im doing or what to look for as a good starter package. I would like something thats somewhat "traditional" ie: I dont want some brightly coloured aluminium and fibreglass monstrosity.
Ive had a look at a few different bows online but dont really have any options nearby to go and take a look at a bow before purchasing. Im somewhat confused as to what exactly is a right/left handed bow. I would shoot with the bow in my left hand but draw with my right hand, is that a left handed bow? I am left handed but I do a lot of things right handed, I shoot rifles right handed for example.
I would like to be able to shoot targets to begin with and then move onto small game and possibly at some stage a fallow or chamois if one is silly enough to let me get within bow range and I dont really want to go down the whole path of purchasing a "learner bow" then having to purchase a big boy bow later on, so I want something thats forgiving, but versatile. cheers for any help

You are right handed in bow speak


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Ryan, check if there is a local archery club in your area.

I know the one near us does a "intro" course, where they give you basic instruction and let you use their equipment for starters.

There is one is Ashburton and a couple near CHC

I have recently gone down the same rabbit hole .
I have purchased a Samick Sage recurve 35 pounds draw weight.
It is regarded as an entry level bow , but the reality is that it can and will do everything you need for ever more.
Don’t be tempted to go to high on draw weight to begin , recurves don’t have the mechanical advantage of a compound and even guys who shoot an 80 pound compound only shoot maybe 50-55 recurve .
The Sage is cool because as your ability increases you can buy higher poundage limbs for not much money.
Good luck it’s very hard to master a struggle stick and I’ll be honest and say I’ve moved to a compound myself
To keep my sanity and to actually hit stuff

I haven't been able to find anything to do with archery here in Central haven't even been able to find a bow hunter to learn off have a post on archery in here and only had 1 response and was a x bow hunter

@Ryan Songhurst - Just took the missus on the same journey you are going on.
Today we went to Advanced Archery in Auck's (I'd pre booked a timeslot with Carol on the previous Tuesday). Got her to try both pulling a recurve and compound bow from there they then do a 101 course of 3 half hour sessions or one 1.5 session to get you started using the training methodology they get her to learn all the basics correctly from the get go and then match the bow that is the most comfortable for her. That way you end up with the best start and options...

Maybe these guys do something similar? https://www.bowhunt.co.nz/ in CHCH.?

The Samicks are a good first option, likewise the Ragim line of bows. I really like my Ragim Black Bear.

Be aware that drawing a recurve to your anchor point "feels" much more difficult than many compounds (depending on let off).

For example my 50# recurve feels much harder to anchor than my 70# compound purely due to no mechanical assistance.

stickshooterssupplies.co.nz was pretty f@cken good to deal with so I would suggest giving him/them a sniff

Probably Dumb and no help but the latest NZ hunter has something about bow hunting
Never got past the cover

Is this a recurve? Looks like fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eulNShXb0MQ&t=932s

@Ryan_Songhurst - probably the first thing to figure out is which is your dominant eye?

This matters quite a lot if you're going to shoot your recurve 'instinctive' or barebow style i.e. no sights. It's a lot like shooting a shotgun as you don't aim as deliberately as you would with a sighted setup.

You can train your muscles and brain into shooting a bow or rifle the opposite way to whatever feels 'natural', but you cannot change your eye dominance.

I'm like you being left-handed, but shoot rifles right-handed as I'm right eye dominant. When I did archery for a few years I went with shooting a bow left-handed (bow riser held in right hand, draw string with left) as I only shot with sights with my right eye shut. If I tried to shoot instinctive I would very likely have to re-train and shoot right-handed.

Might be worth talking to some experienced people from the bowhunters organisation for advice NZ Bowhunters

There is an archery club in Dunedin that does beginners courses (Olympic style target), though I suspect you may find it a little dry for your tastes

Originally Posted by Steelisreal

@Ryan_Songhurst - probably the first thing to figure out is which is your dominant eye?

This matters quite a lot if you're going to shoot your recurve 'instinctive' or barebow style i.e. no sights. It's a lot like shooting a shotgun as you don't aim as deliberately as you would with a sighted setup.

You can train your muscles and brain into shooting a bow or rifle the opposite way to whatever feels 'natural', but you cannot change your eye dominance.

I'm like you being left-handed, but shoot rifles right-handed as I'm right eye dominant. When I did archery for a few years I went with shooting a bow left-handed (bow riser held in right hand, draw string with left) as I only shot with sights with my right eye shut. If I tried to shoot instinctive I would very likely have to re-train and shoot right-handed.

Might be worth talking to some experienced people from the bowhunters organisation for advice NZ Bowhunters

There is an archery club in Dunedin that does beginners courses (Olympic style target), though I suspect you may find it a little dry for your tastes

His dominant eye used to be a .270 one. Then a .222 one but that faded quickly and changed to a 308 one. That seems to be losing its sight in favour of an arrow one.

@Ryan_Songhurst i have shot recurve and compound both right and left handed, taken a few goats possums and rabbits with the compound but not a lot with the recurves. i started with righthand as im right handed but realised after the fact im left eye dominant and with a shoulder injury could no longer use a right handed bow. so picked up the old mans lefthand recurve and got a new string made up, hoping to get onto a deer with it at some stage, just moved house so have room to practice now, if your in the outram area let me know and you can give it a try (only 50lbs draw) its quite possible you are left eye dominant so would be good to confirm this before you make a purchase. i make my own arrows up with either cedar shafts or just recently made some carbon ones with a timber veneer on the outside which gives the best of both worlds (straightness and weight and look traditional) i purchased my products from stick shooter supplies and if i was in the market for a new bow i would look at the slikstick, really nice light traditional bow with a really high speed for draw weight (as far as recurves go) good reviews on youtube etc, nowhere i know of in the south to look at them tho.

I'm pretty sure I'm right eye dominant? I use a rifle right handed although I just recently got a spotting scope and it doesnt seem to matter which eye I use, I naturally start using my right eye as I'm used to looking through scopes etc with my right eye but if I get tired I switch to the left and doesnt seem to make any difference. I have a buddy who's gonna play rugby for West Taieri this coming season so hes just moved down from the Kurow area so I'll possibly come over for a visit at some stage, will keep in touch, cheers

This thread got me motivated to try the Sage again, but with I tried “ string walking “ for the first time .
What a difference, in 10 minutes I was grouping better than ever before .
I will be using this technique from now on for sure .
The group in the picture 15 yrds is fairly consistent with what I'm achieving now which is miles better than when i was shooting split finger gap

here's a pretty simple way to figure out your dominant eye, i use index and thumb fingers on both hands to make a small diamond shape to use as a sight, look through the diamond shape at a small object with both eyes open, close each eye while remaining looking at the object then when it stays inside the diamond it confirms your dominant eye, attached a link with easier to follow instructions(just a bigger sight picture)
https://www.allaboutvision.com/video/dominant-eye.htm