Damon Howatt recurve question, please help

I use 3 under and anchor my index finger on my upper lip and middle finger in the corner of my mouth. With the full length shafts this puts my point on at 30 yards, meaning I now have a known thirty yard pin. Using this as a reference I can hold appropriately under the target for closer shots, or over for longer ones. The full length shaft will decrease the size of the gap from roughly 18-22 inches for a 29 inch arrow to roughly 8 inches at 20 yards (for me), hence the recomendation. Some other benefits to the full length shaft are a longer sighting plane which cleans up the lefts and rights tremendously, better arrow flight due to the stability of the longer arrow (thats why javelins arent short) which helps your fletching do what they need to do and also allows you to use over spined shafts with heavier than normal point weight to up the arrows front of center. Without a a lengthy discussion, when it comes to FOC under 60 yards more is better, a bunch is best.

Now before anyone fires up on me for the gap thing, I will tell you that after a couple months the appropriate hold for the appropriate distance does become second nature, so yes it does have a place in hunting, I use it effectively and yes it is "traditional" (whatever that means).


BTW toddm- Thats one helluva big Mulie you got there. LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif
 
that would, indeed, be a big muley. That is 650 pounds of roosevelt elk. Our Bulls are bigger in body and smaller in horn than the Rocky Mountain elk.

I shot him at 20 yards in heavy timber during the rut. Watching him answer my calls, bugle, and thrash a small cedar tree repeatedly was the most exciting 5 minutes of my life.
 
Lots of good info here guys.... yotenaylor your right on. What ever makes you shoot your bow as "second nature" is what you should use. Regardless of how you shoot. For me my anchor point on my recurve and compound is the corner of my mouth. I use 2 finger below and 1 above. As far as arrow weight goes the 10 grains per pound is a rule of thumb. I have found that every bow just like every gun is a lttle different and they have a tendancy to like different things.

Long Cruise,

Your right most compound guys are trying to go way to light and way to fast. Sure it is great for paper to have a light arrow light fast arrow, but I will never shoot it. I shoot a heavy aluminum arrow with a 125 grain tip. No mechanical blades no light arrows etc. Last 3 elk wee complete pass throughs.
 
I guess I'm as qualified as anybody to share a bit of the Damon Howatt history. My father, Dwaine went to work for Damon Howatt and his master bowyer Earl Silvers in the late 1950's. He brought me my first Howatt...a 30# Coronado with green glass for my seventh birthday some 45 years ago. It has shot countless arrows and is as solid today as when I shot my first arrow across it's rest. He worked up through the mid 1970's, was the plant foreman and master bowyer, but left the company, due to his shoulder failing from test pulling countless bows. Of course the wheel bows taking over the industry and Martin acquiring Howatt were factors too. I have inherited many of his one of a kind Howatt's but alas was born left handed and cannot at this late a date switch over. I personally own fine left hand examples of the Hunter, Hi-Speed, Del Rey, Coronado, and of course a couple examples of the Super Diablo...rosewood vintage which I believe is every thing my father was quoted as saying in Mr. Camaron's "Birth Of A Bow" article. Please feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer. I'm not sure how to post a photo...but will be glad to send a copy of the aforementioned article to anyone interested in Early Damon Howatt History.
 
I took my first whitetail buck with a 48# Damon howatt high speed. And my dad apparently thought this guys bows were pretty cool too because he named me after this bow. Damon Finley. 100% true!!!!!
 
My father was a master bowyer at the Howatt Plant during the golden age of recurves...50's to mid 70's. Your Hunter was made after Martin Archery acquired Howatt...based on the curved lamination in the riser, which was a Martin development of the Howatt design. I own and shoot all of the vintage pre-Martin Howatt models. I"ll bet yours shoots a nice arrow.
 


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