# Barebow Recurve ?



## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

If there are any barebow or specifically, barebow recurve shooters here I'd be curious about your 28 target field scores (Field or Hunter round). When I am focused I can shoot in the low 400s (yesterday with a new set-up I shot a 404 field round) but any loss of that focus puts me in the 380s & 390s.

I'd also be curious about techniques you are using. I know most BB shooters are string walkers but I am an oddity in that I face walk (4 different anchors). Hope there are a few of you out there! (smiley face goes here)

Dave


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

I shoot Barebow with a Barnsdale Classic X, scores run mid 460's, I just try to shoot 28 targets clean with no blanks. Years back I shot Traditional with a recurve, shot low 400's in practice but could never break 400 in a tournament
Face walking seems to me would be more difficult than stringwalking, man I trouble with just one anchor!


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

460s - Wow, I bet that's pretty to watch.

I tried string walking and it felt like I had no control of the arrow. Couldn't get over that sensation. Face walking, combined with memorized points of aim for each target size and distance works for me but I seem to be pretty much a loner with this style. That's OK, some of my best friends are string walkers. (LOL)

Dave


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

It ain't so pretty..................
Sometimes it's a real struggle. I shot 28 targets yesterday afternoon and the heat and humidity in Houston was so bad that when I got to full draw-anchor that my glasses would fog up to where I can barely see the target
I shot with David Hughes a couple of weeks ago at our State Campionships, He shot a 488 on 28 Hunter targets and 497 on 28 field targets. THAT is impressive to watch, David has been dealing with the big "C" for the last couple of years and does not have the strength and stamina he once had.


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

Shooting a recurve I can only imagine (and that with difficulty - lol) what shooting scores like that must be like...without sights. KOOL!

Dave


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

I confess I'm a little surprised there aren't at least a couple barebow recurve shooters out there. Guess I'm more of a dying breed than I thought. (smile)

Dave


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

Barebow seems very very difficult to me. 

More art than science I would think. I mean, guys like Furgeson (sp?) make shooting barebow look fun and easy, but everytime I have attempted it. . .

. . .well. . .

I'm painfully reminded of the extent of my archery skills (or rather, lack thereof). 

I'm just like every other bloke who can't hit the broad side of a barn at 20 yards without my sight, stabilizer, and rangefinder.


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## kraven (Jan 25, 2006)

I shoot barebow recurve. 
I don't shoot competitions, since I'm strictly focused on spiritual development and hunting. 

It's like anything else worth doing. It takes time and practice. 
Without gadgets and doodads to take the place of discipline, you have to practice your form and get it right shot after shot. You have to be able to concentrate without regard for the things happening around you.

I can shoot a Deer out to 30 meters and not sweat it at all with a bare recurve. 

But, I do the homework and practice a lot.


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

kraven said:


> . . .I'm strictly focused on spiritual development and hunting. . .


Silly question, but do you also study/practice Kyudo? I think that is the most beautiful archery form in the world. Very Interesting. I would like to experience it someday myself.




kraven said:


> . . .Without gadgets and doodads to take the place of discipline, you have to practice your form and get it right shot after shot. . .


Hmm. Interesting perspective. I don't necessarily agree that 'gadgets' replace discipline. You have to practice form and get it right every shot with the doo-dads, too. The shots don't make themselves. I have yet to see anything you could bolt onto a bow that instantly made one a better archer without practice and hard work. Bob Ragsdale writes about this very subject at length. 




kraven said:


> . . .But, I do the homework and practice a lot.


I believe that this statement is the key to it all. . .practice. 
No matter the discipline, technique, or equipment- practice WILL make you a better archer.


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## kraven (Jan 25, 2006)

I don't practice kyudo, but seek out some of the same goals in some of the same ways. It is beautiful and I also enjoy watching. 


Ragsdale's a good writer.
In your own words:


> I'm just like every other bloke who can't hit the broad side of a barn at 20 yards without my sight, stabilizer, and rangefinder.


Practice is the key. And, good practice is necessary, not just flinging arrows. Anyone can launch an arrow from your bow. But you know your bow better than almost anyone on earth.


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

WrongdayJ said:


> I don't necessarily agree that 'gadgets' replace discipline. You have to practice form and get it right every shot with the doo-dads, too.


I agree Wrongday. I shoot Barebow Recurve which is an Olympic style aluminum riser & ILF limbs with a magnetic rest & plunger (very gadgetity to some). I don't have a clicker, stabilizer or any aiming device, other than the end of the arrow. I do have an aiming system and I am a face walker.

For many years I was what the traditional crowd likes to call an instinctive shooter. In my case it was better described as point and hope. When I decided to take field archery seriously I found it woefully inadequate to the task and came up with a way to increase my accuracy using just the bow, arrow and my brains. The gadgets (ILF limbs, riser, rest & plunger) just allow me to tune my rig for optimum arrow flight. It will still miss if I don't do everything correctly. (smile)

Dave


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

Good point Kraven, but all sarcasm aside (my own that is). . .I don't practice barebow. . .that is why I am no good if I shoot that way. 

If I were to. . .then _practice_ would be the only route to success.

@ Dave. . .when do you usually shoot? I'd like to meet you at Usery Mountain for a round.


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

Wrongday, PM sent.

Dave


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Dave:
My best scores for 14 targets are in the 180s with the longbow and wooden arrows. With the FITA recurve barebow, which I don't use very often, about 218 is my best. I use conventional form and a single, side of the face anchor. Those would be 360s for the longbow and 430s for the recurve. Of course, my average and competition scores are less. - lbg


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

With a one piece wooden recurve and aluminum arrows my best is just under 200 for 14 targets. Double all of the above to approximate my best scores for 28 targets, on a good day. - lbg


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

lbg, that 218/14 with no string or face walking is very impressive to me. I sure couldn't do it when I was shooting that way. Heck, I can barely do it now as a face walker, on my best practice day. (smile)

Dave


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Regarding barebow recurves:
From Quigley Down Under- "I said I didn't have much use for them. I never said I didn't know how."

Actually, having read this thread I drug the FITA recurve out this week and shot it for three days-- not very well, as I have forgotten my elevations, I shot it very well at close range and in windage. Today I switched back to my longbow and am now shooting two feet high at 60 yards. I guess I lengthened my draw, which will be a good thing once I have assimilated the elevation change. 

That is the main reason I shoot light target recurves from time to time. They enable me to extend my draw and improve my form. And then I take it back to my beloved longbows. 

The longbow is a considerably more difficult implement. ' We do this not because it is easy, but because it is difficult.' -JF Kennedy.

The longbow is very light in the hand, less than a pound and a half, and there is no mass to absorb the forces of the shot and steady your tremors. The wooden arrows are less perfect and heavier than inorganic ones. The straight limbs are a bit less efficient. So, you need more draw weight, maybe ten pounds more.

On the other hand, the longbow is nimble and the long, long limbs give a kind of stability in quick, dynamic shots and when shooting from imperfect positions. Most trick and aerial shooters have used longbows. And if I had to make a quick shot in the game fields, especially at something big and nasty, I and many others would prefer to have a longbow and heavy arrows in our hands. - lbg


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Regarding barebow recurves:
From Quigley Down Under- "I said I didn't much use for them. I never said I didn't know how."

Actually, having read this thread I drug the FITA recurve out this week and shot it for three days-- not very well. Today I switched back to my longbow and am shooting two feet high at 60 yards. I guess I lengthened my draw, which will be a good thing once I have assimilated the elevation change. 

That is the main reason I shoot light target recurves from time to time. They enable me to extend my draw and improve my form. And then I take it back to my beloved longbows. 

The longbow is a considerably more difficult implement. ' We do this not because it is easy, but because it is difficult.' -JF Kennedy.

The longbow is very light in the hand, less than a pound and a half, and there is no mass to absorb the forces of the shot and steady your tremors. The wooden arrows are less perfect and heavier than inorganic ones. The straight limbs are a bit less efficient. So, you need more draw weight, maybe ten pounds more.

On the other hand, the longbow is nimble and the long, long limbs give a kind of stability in quick, dynamic shots. Most trick and aerial shooters have used longbows. And if I had to make a quick shot in the game fields, especially at something big and nasty, I and many others would prefer to have a longbow and heavy arrows in our hands. - lbg


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Oop. Scusa da dupe. - lbg


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## Dave T (Mar 24, 2004)

LOL - lbg, I was gonna say you didn't have to say it twice, I believed you the first time. (smiley face goes here)

Dave


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

For past score comparisons check cbhsaa.net. They show scores from the state championships for the last few years and also list the state records, for field, hunter, animal and aggragate, in all of the styles and classifications.

Recall that prior to this year it was shot at a single venue over two days. This year it was done as a one day event at multiple sites. - lbg


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