The recurve bow delivers an arrow at a greater speed than a straight bow would. These bows are used by both hunters and archers, but, how do you choose the best recurve bow?
The information in this article is designed to help you select a recurve bow that will be beneficial to you. Our hunters and archery experts have considered a vast amount of bows and chosen five that they think are better than the rest. We have also compiled a list of things for you to consider about these bows so you can compare the features and pick the bow that you think will serve you best.
The 5 products listed below are our expert picks. These bows are not listed in any particular order.
The 5 Best Beginner Recurve Bows Reviews
#1. Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Recurve Bow
This is an excellent recurve bow, and it makes an excellent bow for beginners and experienced archers alike. It has been designed with a forgiving learning curve that allows you to practice, improve, and learn with confidence.
You can get one of these bows specifically designed for either left handed shooters or right handed shooters.
It has a varying draw weight between 20 pounds and 60 pounds. The draw weights are changed in five pound increments. This helps you to learn what draw weight is best for you.
The manufacturer offers a stringer tool for anyone that needs one. This tool will allow you to safely restring your bow.
The instruction booklet included with this bow is very detailed, and it covers how to use the bow with step by step instructions that are illustrated.
This is a great bow for hunting game or fish. It is light and it is very accurate. It is very easy to learn to use, and it is versatile enough to allow you to use either the Flemish or the Fast Flight bowstring.
The Drawback: We discovered that the string that comes on the bow is not very reliable.
#2. Genesis Original Kit
This is a particularly wonderful starter bow kit. It is manufactured with single cam technology so the bow has less recoil, it is quieter, and it is more accurate.
This bow manufacturer has designed this bow so that anyone can shoot it. In their design, they have eliminated the let-off requirements and the draw length requirements that limit usage to a particular individual.
The bow is adjustable so that as the archer grows the bow can be adjusted rather than replaced. That makes this a great bow for children.
The draw weight is very light. When you get the bow it is set at 20 pounds, but you can lower that to ten pounds.
The National Archery School Program chose this bow as their official bow. The kit comes with the bow, a belt tube quiver to hold your arrows, an armed guard that is adjustable, 5 arrows with aluminum shafts, a 3/16” hex wrench, and an easy to read owner’s manual.
The Drawback of this bow: The arrows that come with the kit are not the best.
#3. Samick Sage Takedown Recurve Bow
This bow is primarily designed for beginners, but advanced users will also enjoy shooting it. The limbs of the bow are lightweight so that is better for the beginner, but they are high quality. The limbs are a combination of maple wood and fiberglass. This mixture allows them to be light, flexible, and still retain strength and durability.
This bow design works better as a target practice weapon. It helps you to develop the strength you need to be effective in archery. Once you have mastered the archery then you can upgrade the limbs and increase the difficulty of shooting the bow. The limbs are held in position by metal pockets.
The bow can be designed for left or right hand shooting. You also have a varied selection of different draw weights that are available. This bow is capable of being upgraded and growing with the archer, so it is a good choice for a young archer who has not reached their full height.
The Drawback of this bow: The necessary stringer tool does not come with the bow.
#4. CenterPoint Archery Youth Compound Bow
This is a compound bow set that comes complete with everything you need to start developing your archery skills. It has a draw weight of up to 15 pounds so it is a light weight bow that would be ideal for a pre-teen archery student who shoots at a beginner to intermediate level.
This bow and arrow set is a great tool for learning the fundamentals of archery. It is made of durable materials that provide the proper archery elements so you can learn to shoot arrows with a straight and true trajectory.
This set can be used for small game hunting, but is better suited for target practice and skill development. The bow will allow you to enhance your strength and learn how to properly position your arrows so they fly farther, straighter, and hit their targets more often.
The Drawback of this bow: The design is not well suited to hunting. This is mostly an archery set for beginning archery students.
#5. Toparchery Archery Takedown Hunting Recurve Bow
The limbs of this bow are crafted from a mixture of fiberglass and maple wood. The maple makes up the core and is encased in the fiberglass for added strength and durability. This bow is strong enough to be used in archery practice and it is strong enough to be used hunting. It is great for beginners and experts.
They have labeled the top and the bottom of the limbs to make assembly easier on beginning archery students. The metal riser is a high quality piece.
The rubber grip makes it easy to hold the bow without letting it slip or move in your hands. This is really important in the hot months when your hands tend to sweat.
The limb length on this bow is 53 inches. It has bow tips that accommodate the majority of bow strings manufactured today. This gives you the ability to choose the bowstring that you prefer. It does come with 14 strand Dracon strings that are ready to use.
The Drawback of this bow: This bow is specifically designed for right handed shooters and does not accommodate left handed shooters.
Things to Consider while Choosing the Best Recurve Bow for Hunting
If you are considering the purchase of a recurve bow then you might want to read the follow things that should be considered before you purchase the bow.
Choose according to your uses purpose
Some people simply want a bow that they can use to develop archery skills. They plan to shoot at targets, and possibly enter shooting competitions. The bows designed for this purpose are not as heavy, and they tend to be less expensive. This is primarily due to the fact that they do not have to be made of the strongest materials.
Some people want the bow so they can hunt game. The bows designed for this purpose are usually made from heavier materials that have more tensile strength and durability.
Choose Your Desired Length
The draw length of your bow will be determined by your size. You need the perfect draw length if you want to develop accuracy. To get an accurate measurement you need to:
- Have outstretched arms and position your hands with your palms facing the front so you are looking at the backs of your hands
- Take a measurement starting at one middle finger and stretch the tape to the next middle finger (this is easier to do with help)
- The number you got from the measurement is your arm span.
- Divide your arm span number by 2.5
Which perfect for you Weight
The draw weight tells you how much force will be needed in order for you to draw the arrow back fully.
| Draw weight | age | Gender and body weight |
| 10 to 15 pounds | children | Under 100 pounds |
| 25 to 35 pounds | Teens and small women | 100 to 160 pounds |
| 40 to 55 pounds | Young men | 110 to 175 pounds |
| 40 to 60 pounds | Older men | 175 to 200 + pounds |
If you are hunting you need to have about a 40 pound draw weight.
Consider the Materials Used
The limbs of your bow can be made from a variety of materials. Some of the most popular materials include:
- Wood like maple, cedar, bamboo, red elm; the problems with these materials are that they can become permanently deformed into the curved shape, they can break and split if too much pressure is applied to them
- Composite materials like fiberglass are strong and can withstand more pressure than wood alone can
- Combinations of materials such as aluminum or wood centers with fiberglass outer casings are great because they retain the flexibility of the center material and gain the strength and durability of the outer material
- Carbon is the strongest material but it is also the most costly of all of the materials
What size Recurve Bow Right for you
You can use your height to choose the right recurve bow. Also, you can use your draw length to choose the right recurve bow.
The following chart will show you the length of the bow you need according to your height:
| Height | Bow Length |
| 5’6 and below | 64 inches |
| 5’10” to 6’ | 66 inches |
| 6’ to 6’2” | 68 inches |
| Over 6’2” | 70 inches |
You can also measure to find your perfect draw length and then use that number to find the right bow length. The following chart uses your draw length to suggest a perfect bow length.
| Draw Length | Bow Size |
| 14 to 17 inches | 48 inches |
| 17 to 19 inches | 54 inches |
| 19 to 21 inches | 58 inches |
| 21 to 23 inches | 60 to 62 inches |
| 24 to 27 inches | 64 to 66 inches |
| 27 to 29 inches | 66 to 68 inches |
| 29 to 31 inches | 68 to 70 inches |
If your draw length exceeds 31 inches then you should use a bow that is between 70 inches and 72 inches.
Parts of a Recurve Bow
A recurve bow can be a bow made from a single piece of material. The take down recurve bows has three compnents that are put together to create the bow. These components are the upper limb, the lower limb, and the riser that goes between the two limbs. The riser is generally made of metal or something hard like carbon.
A more complete breakdown of the recurve bow is listed below:
- The limb tip at the end of the top limb
- The top limb
- The clicker
- The sight if your bow has one
- The grip
- The riser
- The bottom limb
- The limb notch located at the very end of the bottom limb
Beginners Shooting Guide with Recurve Bow
1. If you have never used a recurve bow before then you should look at the following step by step guide to shooting a recurve bow.
2. Stand with your legs at shoulder width. Your complete body should be lined up at a 900 angle to the target you will be shooting at. You will load the bow by positioning an arrow on the seat, nock it on the bowstring, lift the bow to the appropriate height.
3. The bow should be shoulder height on you. You want that bow arm to be straight with your elbow locked into position. Let the bow push into the inside section of your palm when you are pulling the string back.
- Keep your shoulders down while shooting
- Make sure you do not have your elbow turned so that the string can hit your elbow when you release it
- Your head is turned facing your target and your body is at a 900 angle to the target
- Pull your bowstring about half of the way and take notice of your positioning.
4. Pull the bow string back completely. The string should reach the corner of your mouth when it is completely back. You should have your hand just below your jawline. When you are pulling back you use the muscles of your back to do the work instead of using the muscles in your arms.
5. Use your dominant eye to line the arrow up with the target. Your other eye should be closed while you are taking aim. To release the arrow you simply allow the bow string to slide through your fingers. This should be a slow motion and not a quick jerking motion. You simply relax your grip on the bow string and allow the string to slide through your fingers.
Stay in position until your arrow has made contact. Your movement will not affect the trajectory of the arrow but you are training your body to hold the position so you can learn to have more control when you are aiming and letting go of the arrow.
Can you hunt deer with a recurve bow?
A. As long as the draw weight is around 40 pounds you can use a recurve bow for hunting deer. You want to make sure that the arrow you are using is designed to be used for big game hunting.
What size recurve bow do I need for hunting?
You need to have a recurve bow with a draw weight capacity of at least 40 pounds to have enough power to hunt larger game. Some of the lighter draw weights could be used if you were hunting small game.
What are the best arrows for a recurve bow?
Carbon arrows are the most durable, and aluminum arrows are the lightest. You want to measure your draw length and add one to two inches to the draw length number to determine the length of the arrow you need to be using.
How far can a recurve bow shoot?
If you have your stance and positioning properly adjusted you should be able to shoot an arrow up to 70 yards using a recurve bow.
Final Word
The recurve bow is specifically designed to allow an archer to shoot an arrow at longer distances. The common long bow required the bow to be longer to add to the distance that it could launch an arrow. When you wanted an arrow to travel as far as 700 feet, and you were average height, your bow had to be longer than you are tall. That is not a comfortable shooting length.
Recurve bows shoot the arrows farther, and hold the arrow trajectory tighter than other kinds of bows. They are simple to learn to use, and they do not require as much strength to pull the bowstring back and load the arrow.
The recurve bow is the ideal learning bow for beginners.