[steve58]

I agree with Jaarus about taking it steady. I had been shooting about 6 months when someone let me have a go on a longbow and I was hooked. My recurve was 34lbs @28" and I found I could handle a 43lb longbow (which fits with the +10lbs rule of thumb that seems to be quite common here). However, then I got all carried away and got a 54lb bow (in hindsight this was a stubborn beast of a bow and stacked short of my draw length so I could never get a consistent, confortable shot going). Silly! Spent my first outdoor season over-bowed and really struggled. I was eventually persuaded to come down in draw weight and got my form back together. Now I can manage my 53lb bow. The other thing to say is that bows are very different, some feel smoother to draw despite the weight, when I first drew my current bow I could not believe how it felt, if I had not seen it on Bickerstaffe's scales I would not have believed the marked weight.

Hope you find a bow you enjoy shooting!