Survivalist Forum banner

Recurve bow realistic for SHTF?

17K views 85 replies 46 participants last post by  Rural Buckeye Guy 
#1 ·
Ammo runs out, you have snares and a recurve bow as game getters. set the snares for smaller game and have a tree stand for hunting larger game with the recurve with self made arrows, how viable is this option honestly?
 
#6 ·
A few years ago I made couple red oak flat bows with spider wire for strings. With modern wood working tools they are very easy to make. I used popplar seedling for arrows. The better one was around 55 pounds draw weight. I got accurate enough with it that I probably could have taken a deer at 15 yards. The only hunting I did with it was fishing though.
 
#7 ·
I still have my recurve bow and arrows. In my earlier years I killed 17 squirrels with it in one hunting season. I still have a large quiver full of arrows.

As a matter of fact a friend of mine re-fletched 8 of my arrows last year. As was said, large game will go fast and much of the meat spoil before it is eaten.

Small animals reproduce quicker than say deer. Squirrels are good eating. They are picky eaters as opposed to say raccoons and opossums.
Where I live is a good place to harvest: ducks and geese; turkey; deer; small mammals; fresh and salt water fish.

SHTF: If you can kill a fox do it. They are killing the same small animals you are hunting. And as was said, you can make arrows by hand. No equipment is needed but very helpful if you have it.

I have kept my recurve for SHTF or bad times. I do need to get a fishing arrow or two. TWO: One is None....
 
#12 ·
One of those things that takes a bit of practice and work. But if you do, it'll work just fine.

Fred Bear of Bear Archery did pretty well with recurves. Killed a pretty big grizzly at about spitting distance with one. Of course Fred had brass ones, and he could draw a 125 lb. bow.

Your hunt game should be pretty could, as it will be hard to get close to pressured animals.

For ease of use, and the increased speed and power, I'd think about a compound if you wanted to stick with the archery route.

The bows in the last few years are insane.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghost863
#18 ·
Legit commercially made traps are by far the best way to obtain protein short of raising your own livestock. Much more efficient and usually more effective than actively hunting. Learning how to trap is extremely useful. You need to practice and try it out though. Traps can be tricky things to handle, you need to actually study them a bit, and a lot of traps can hurt you bad if you just grab it and start figuring it out as you go. If you're going to trap your hand in a conibear, do it while you can still call someone to get you out of it.

Your home-made traps are going to fail as often as they work. A commercial trap will have a MUCH higher success rate.
 
#14 ·
The light bulb was invented in 1879 and useful electric motors to do industrial work followed soon afterwards.

So if the end of the world comes and EMP renders all electronics and electrical devices unusable, you are going back to 1879 at the earliest.

The difference of course, between the past and the new present is books and the knowledge of what is really possible will still be in people's minds. It shouldn't take too long to get electric motors working, gas engines, etc. EMP is an "Event", usually of short duration, but the Sun could have solar storms that could last days or months, but not years, etc.

The solution might be to just put everything in a grounded metal building, etc. Some things will survive, but the ability to manufacture new micro-chips may take decades to recover and 100% restoration of what we have now (hopefully better) could take 100 years.

Don't plan on going caveman, not going to happen, unless the public school system continues on its current course unabated, no EMP or Zombie Apocalypse required.

Buy a bow and arrows and do the whole William Tell thing if it makes you happy. You won't need it. Better to spend the money on more ammo, body armor and training.

Good Luck
 
#16 ·
I agree to a point. There may be times when you don't want too or cannot draw attention to yourself. I have an air rifle also. But I cannot defend myself with the air rifle but I can with the bow.

"If I shoot a gun people will know where I am. I have been trying to hide from others but I need food. I can make a DAKOTA fire at night and cook but I need that rabbit".

I like to be prepped for all eventualities. I think I have a lot of it covered.
 
#19 ·
Recurve bows are very light. If you can draw and hold 65 pounds you can take an elk with some hunting and shooting skills.

Quiet - yes. But it often takes hours for the animal to bleed out.

On the subject of survival food - I read about a guy who bought a ton of lentils off of Alibaba for $700 - as I recall. Maybe it was 1/2 ton. Easy to remember the wrong numbers.
 
#22 ·
a bow could work... if you have a takedown with a well built rider that would never break it'd be so easy to make limbs via laminations... another option that looks interesting to me though are slingbows.. you can use them as a slingshot for things like rabbits and squirrels, or launch arrows in bow mode that can take down a deer or pig

me, personally, i'll just continue to stock 22lr and 9mm ammo because i doubt ammo will run out before game does, as others have said.. and what if you find yourself physically unable to use the bow?
 
#24 ·
i dont, swinging a sword properly takes a lot of practice and skill to lead with the edge in a manner that will actually cut, they take maintenance like rust prevention and sharpening with actual stones.. another skill that takes a lot of practice to do well... and lastly, swords are not everlasting, they chip and break, even top quality ones, for the price of an adequate "battle ready" sword, which you're looking at at least a couple hundred bucks, you can buy enough ammunition to win more fights than you would with the sword
 
#36 ·
Sure a recurve bow and a bunch of arrows are a good add-on to preps if you or someone in the group is good at using one. I know many people that bow hunt and although the majority of them use compound bows, some use recurve. Many of them seem to fill their deer tags most years. But they still have freezers also so they can harvest the kill without much waste.

One guy has a big garden and shoots rabbits messing with it with a recurve. He is that good. But it's easy to use a rabbit without much waste. He uses a shotgun on deer. Still has the freezer advantage though.

I'd guess if you are situated in a place where you are secure enough to make a lot of jerky, smoke meat, etc, taking a deer is great. On the other hand, if you are starving, harvesting a deer and taking the choice cuts only may be the thing to do. Situational dependence on the issue though.
 
#40 ·
Did your perusal of the bow and crossbow section not help, or did you not even bother looking?

Btw, you do realize that bows have ammo too, right?
 
#45 ·
WOW, did this thread get sidetracked? I picked a 35# compound bow this winter to complement the two 60# compounds in the garage. Also picked up 3 dozen arrows for each, both carbon and fiberglass. I practice with the glass and use them on rodents. the 35# is the most pleasant to shoot. I also picked up a PCP pellet rifle. In a time of chaos, I don't want people knowing who is at the end of the road and that they are harvesting game. I keep a few bolt action rifles just in case I am forced to do social work. I also hunt with those rifles during season. The bow is a great weapon, but history shows us that guns are a better weapon. I suggest the you learn to use both and use each one appropriately. Oh, the PCP pellet gun will really give a bad guy a belly ache at 50 yards
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top