Hey everyone,
I practiced archery pretty regularly when I was a pre-teen/early teen then gradually lost interest as other things arose (women ). Then later I picked up compound for a couple years for hunting but it just didn’t tickle my pickle quite the same way as traditional archery.

I’m 32 now and looking to get back into it as a more economic alternative to shooting for leisure. I’ve always been enamored by traditional laminate recurves or “horse bows” as some call them.

Does anyone here shoot those? Got a few questions before I pull the trigger on one.

Been shooting traditional for decades, got in to horsebows and thumb draw a few years back.  Now I can hardly shoot fingers on the left side of the bow any more.

To be honest,  there are better forums to talk about Asiatic bows and get more opinions.  But I'll give it a shot at your questions

I’m thinking of grabbing either a Scythian or Hungarian style - would you be be more forgiving than the other for a beginner or will they be about the same?

What draw weight would you recommend for a beginner - I’m a 6’, 180 lb man that gyms fairly regular. I don’t wanna go too low and the bow be unusable for anything other than basic recreational shooting.

Sorry for the long delay, alot going on.

I prefer Hungarian and Scythian designs.  I just like the way the handles are shaped snd they tend to be a little longer than Turkish, so a little more stability.

If you're going to traditional thumb draw you'll definitely want to start out low and work your way up.  It doesn't matter how big and strong a guy is, to get the form down you have to start low.  30# at 28".    You'd need to be able to work on form, release, and khatra before worrying about power.  It's so hard to correct bad ingrained technique.

As in..........Yabusame?



I have been doing kyudo for a few years but I'm not anywhere close to being ready to trying it from a house much less a moving horse.