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Draw length and bow length

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Muskyman:
Can I make a bow with a 66 long Osage stave with my draw length of about 30 inches?
Just a self bow with no backing. Or is that asking for trouble.
I guess if not I can make one for momma with it.

bradsmith2010:
if you make it bend through the handle,, its doable,,just needs to be a good stave and very careful on tiller

superdav95:
Hey mike. How tall are you?  Are you certain your draw is in fact 30”.  I shot compound for years before switching to primitive and always had trouble getting a bow to fit my 32” draw being 6’6” and having arms like an arrangatang my draw was always an issue.  Draw length with primitive bows is a different thing.  Generally the draw is gonna be shorter on a primitive bow.  For example my draw length is 29” with a primitive bow.  My anchor is different when shooting my primitive bows then it is when shooting my compound.  I shoot split finger and shoot instinctive bringing the middle finger to the corner of my mouth and my bent thumb knuckle tucked behind my jaw.  Not sure how others shoot and to each their own to a certain point but if you are using your draw from a compound draw it’s gonna be shorter.  There are many reasons for this as I figure.  The front arm is more locked out generally with compound shooting.  I keep my front arm more bent for control when shooting primitive bows.  This shortens some draw length.  I’ve made some shorter bows that draw fine out to 30” but it’s is not recommended for your first bows.  I think you should be able to get 28-29” draw with a good clean Osage stave at 66”length. A nice pyramid bow style would be a good design to start with.  There’s a whole discussion that can be had about proper primitive draw length.  I don’t want to open a can of worms here but my belief is there differences between primitive and compound shooting and even traditional for that matter.  My point is that unless you are quite tall or have arms that hang down past your knees you likley overestimated your draw length to be 30”.  I’m sure others here will chime in on this too.  Let us know how you came to 30”. 

bradsmith2010:
agreed,,it might be shorter,, and then the stave wont be as strained,, just shoot it as you tiller,,, and stop when its good,,

Muskyman:
Dave, I’m pretty sure but, could be wrong about my draw length. I shot a 75 lbs recurve for years at a 30 inch draw when I was younger of course. I got a test kit of arrows from 3 rivers archery cut at 30&3/4” and I can’t say I really looked at how far they were from the back of the bow but I’m pretty sure they were pretty close.
I’m not quite as tall as you but I’m 6’-3” and have a wing span of about 6’-4” inches.
I’m not going to take a chance with it. Also I kinda promise my wife I’d make her a bow with it. It’s from a piece of the Osage I tried to split and it ran off to the side. It was the last piece I cleaned up and it turned out to be big enough for a shorter bow.

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