Bad Shoulders

[br549redneck]

I bow hunted for years but the past 5 years or so I have been setting bow season out, my shoulders are bad. I want to start bow hunting again I miss it allot. That being said, with the new technology in equipment are the newer bows easier on your shoulders? I hunted with a Martin Lynx bought it new in the early 90's. 55-70# I shot fingers and aluminum shafts 2117 with 125 grain Muzzy's . I know allot of the older guys on here have the same problems What have yall done?
Thanks br549

[Mudslinger]

You do not have to pull as much weight with the new bows today, 60#'s will kill anything here and 50#'s would also. There are bows that have a really smooth draw too.

[hogdaddy]

i feel your pain brother. last year was a bad one, in oct i could only pull 40 lbs. once standing up, i tried doing it sitting down and shot a hole in my buddys blind turtle. finally felt well enough to set up my own set in december ended up killing 4 deer with a 40 lb. 350 destroyer. kind of hard on the man card but never been a better time to be a (seasoned hunter). good luck

[br549redneck]

I tried shooting some last year but both shoulders hurt for weeks after just a few times I did shoot. I may have to go to academy and try out some of the new bows just hate to drop money on one and not be able to enjoy it. On the man card thing I been looking through the classifieds on here at some of the kids bows . I am short and have a short draw length to go with it. Best I can remember my draw is 25-27 some where in that range.

[muddyfuzzy]

my outback was the last 60-70# bow i will ever own. when i picked up the rush i went 55-65# and i also shoot a 50-60# z7x tactical. i'm totally over the big draw weight, the less i hold the better i shoot. my draw shoulder has been sore most of the spring and all summer so i decided to give myself a break. i enjoy shooting more now and also shoot with more confidence.

[wlfhound27]

Maybe you should use a recurve at like 50# or 55#. Go old school for your shoulders sake. At least you already know how to shoot with fingers. I will do that one day. I have a hoyt vector and I love it. If you looked into a good bow on ebay youll be suprised. Good luck

[howie1968]

i have the same problem got rid of a couple recurves turned every compound down that i have and bought 2 crossbows, using a cocking aid they are so much easier on my shoulders, while some may not agree with xbows it has its place ive been shooting for 30 years with no breaks ans my shoulders are wore out so i will shoot crossbows some

[rjbowmaster]

try a mathews and shoot lower pounds, my wife shoots 42lbs and even gets a pass through about half the time

[DRT]

Low poundage, mild cams and high let off.

[reddogdan]

The Diamond Edge is a great bow and has a large range of adjustment for weight and draw length. My wife shot my daughter inlaws last year and had no trouble with drawing it. This was her firsttime to ever shoot.

[TX_Kevin]

I might be one to side step common logic here. My right shoulder was in bad shape, but has gotten better over the last five years. It's not fixed, but it's better. I have a Mathews Monster XLR8, and I was shooting it at 70 lbs. It shot a very heavy arrow, very fast, and hit very hard. Just fooling around I bought some 40-50 lb limbs for it, and had them installed. At 50 lbs I can shoot it all day long, and it doesn't take anything special to draw it. Even at 50 lbs I am shooting a 434 grain arrow 266 FPS. Plenty. At some point I might switch back to my 70 lb limbs, but I don't have to. A speed bow with a lower poundage will surprise you.

[sambo73]

I might be one to side step common logic here. My right shoulder was in bad shape, but has gotten better over the last five years. It's not fixed, but it's better. I have a Mathews Monster XLR8, and I was shooting it at 70 lbs. It shot a very heavy arrow, very fast, and hit very hard. Just fooling around I bought some 40-50 lb limbs for it, and had them installed. At 50 lbs I can shoot it all day long, and it doesn't take anything special to draw it. Even at 50 lbs I am shooting a 434 grain arrow 266 FPS. Plenty. At some point I might switch back to my 70 lb limbs, but I don't have to. A speed bow with a lower poundage will surprise you.

Sounds like something to look into.

[br549redneck]

Thanks for all the replies and tips . I did go to my local Academy store yesterday I was amazed to see a bunch of bows just crammed in a shopping cart with other items piled on top of them. I should of taken a picture of it. There was several cross bows hanging up and some youth bows. I will do some looking on ebay and some pawn shops around town see what I can find. A couple of questions though.
1. Do I need to go with a heavier or lighter broad head with the reduction in bow poundage?
2. Do I go with the "new" carbon arrows or stick with my 2117's?
As you can tell I am old school shot the martin set up for years because it worked I didnt see any need to change.

[old killer]

2117's will be to stiff and heavy for light poundage. You will probably need a carbon arrow with around a 400 spine. Carbon Express has a large selection of spine, weight, and quality (price) arrows.

[AJ the TP Guru]

Having had bursitis and other shoulder problems, I empathize.

Two things - 1) the new bows will give you at 50# what you're used to seeing at 70+#, and 2) consider shortening your draw length. That did wonders for me.