1.) Triton Rich - 10/15/2016

[B]Around 5 weeks ago, I was taking a few shots with my 43# recurve. It was going poorly as usual for me. The inaccuracy was normal but I was having a little trouble holding at full draw. I only took a few shots and decided to switch to my 60# compound. I tried to draw and nothing! Couldn't pull it back at all. Normally, I can draw it quite easily without pointing the bow up or anything just straight back to anchor with the bow pointed on target. Eventually, I struggled and strained to draw and shoot 3 arrows and put it away. I realize now that was probably a mistake but too late now. I waited a week and tried again, same thing. Waited another week, cranked the bow down to 55# and took a handful of shots with minor straining. Waited another week and took a shot at 55# and it felt ok. I cranked it up to 60# and took 3 shots that felt ok. On the 4th shot, it was more of a struggle. Another week brings us to yesterday where it was a bit of a struggle to shoot but not as bad as when it first happened. I never felt anything pop or tear and there hasn't been a lot of pain in any one area in my shoulder or back. Mostly just weakness with some minor pain. I know I'm getting older but this happened suddenly. I was shooting just fine the week before it happened. Does this sound familiar to anybody? [/B]

2.) Swamp Fox - 10/15/2016

Several years ago I had something that might be similar. I think I pinched or strained something without really knowing I'd done anything. All of a sudden I had problems with the bow as well as with lifting stuff. My best guess was that it was due to a combination of trying to pull somebody else's too-heavy, harsh bow back just once, and then lifting something not insignificant over my head. Maybe. Who knows? But that's how I remember it.

In any event, I afterwards had a problem with my hunting bow from a treestand that developed suddenly and without any warning. I could get the bow back while standing flat-footed on the ground, so obviously it was a problem with using different muscles for different kinds of shooting.

So you're having more trouble than I did, because I could at least get my bow back for practice. I had to put that bow up for the hunting season, though, and go to a bow that was easier for a while. If I remember, it took a significant amount of time for the problem to resolve itself. Basically, I had to rest my shoulder almost completely, from shooting as well as lifting. Several years later, the problem has not returned (knock on wood).

3.) Triton Rich - 10/16/2016

[B]Without knowing what is going on, my guess is that I probably shouldn't shoot for several weeks and let things heal. That's an awful tall order being Oct 15. I could always back it all the way down to 50# and be totally fine as far as being able to perforate a deer out to 30 yards. Again, tough for me to give up and do that. [/B]

4.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i could kick myself for shooting bows for years at 70 lbs..i remember some mornings where so cold i could barly pull my 70lb bow back, but i needed that 70lbs for some reason..50lbs with todays bows are plenty good.. remember theres always a crossbow oldman..:tu:

5.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i would let it heal at the end of the season..

6.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

old age does happen suddenly...just ask billy.. and dont believe swampy lifts stuff, like weights.. maybe a doughnut, but not somthing heavy..

7.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

back in the day.. 70lbs was the only way to shoot a bow.. are minds where so use to guns and bullets and high speeds..when i was a teenager my jennnys arrowstar was a 70lb bow i think..if it was 68 i would tell them to put it to 70, if i didnt struggle to pull it back, it wasnt high enough...matter of fact the arrowstar had a kick to it...it was like shooting a shotgun..

8.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i turn 51 this summer..my body is broke.. my knee, shoulders, even my fingers hurt somtimes.. i think i have a pinch nerve in the back of my neck for the last 7 months...i will worry about this stuff when i die..

9.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

....

10.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

.......

11.) Triton Rich - 10/16/2016

[QUOTE=crookedeye;44827]i turn 51 this summer..my body is broke.. my knee, shoulders, even my fingers hurt somtimes.. i think i have a pinch nerve in the back of my neck for the last 7 months...i will worry about this stuff when i die..[/QUOTE]

[B]49 in a few months and yeah a bunch of aches and pains. If I knew for sure that this was just age related loss of muscle tone, I'd be a little less worried (depressed, sure but not as worried). I think I'll take some advil for a week and try it again. Next weekend is the last one before the rut starts. If I still have trouble, I can back it down and sight all my pins in etc. Then go see the shoulder doc after the season.....[/B]

12.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

my buddy had the same thing happen to him..he shot 62 lbs. are so. had a pain in his elbow..go figure...had to crank it down to 55lbs..shot a nice little buck with a grimreaper 1/3/4 expandable..blew right threw him..and he is 54..

it sucks but youre getting old..

13.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

[QUOTE=Triton Rich;44830][B]49 in a few months and yeah a bunch of aches and pains. If I knew for sure that this was just age related loss of muscle tone, I'd be a little less worried (depressed, sure but not as worried). I think I'll take some advil for a week and try it again. Next weekend is the last one before the rut starts. If I still have trouble, I can back it down and sight all my pins in etc. Then go see the shoulder doc after the season.....[/B][/QUOTE]

lol..youre no spring chicken...

14.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

[QUOTE=crookedeye;44825]old age does happen suddenly...just ask billy.. and dont believe swampy lifts stuff, like weights.. maybe a doughnut, but not somthing heavy..[/QUOTE]


LOL...Mmmm...donuts...

Yeah, it wasn't anything heavy. Something like a big duffelbag or a loaded storage tote that I was lifting over my head. But that was some short time after trying to pull back an aggressive bow, so I put the two things together in my mind when I started having pain and then the treestand fail occurred. That was a nippy but not cold day, and it happened with a nice buck chasing a doe under my stand, giving me several shots, so even adrenaline couldn't compensate.

I looked up some stuff on the web and the best thing I could come up with was bursitis, if I remember right. I don't know if that's it or not. It was the middle of the season so I wasn't practice-shooting like a madman, but I tried to be careful with the lifting and it still took a lot of time before I wasn't conscious of the problem anymore. (I'd say several months.)

With me, this kind of stuff almost always comes up suddenly. Fingers, knees, Achilles, shoulders, back and elsewhere: I can almost never point to a specific injury.


BTW, after I knocked on wood yesterday in my last post, my shoulder started bothering me, so I think I jinxed myself. Thanks, Obama.

15.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

my knee right now sucks.. i dont no if its the weather change or what but i'm in pain..i hurt it years ago when i was cage fighting...

16.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

Cage fighting gets to you eventually, I guess...How's your head?...:p

17.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i'm fine...give or take a few querks here and there.. how bout youreself?

18.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

I'm getting better...:wink








I think I might actually be able to get in the woods in a few days.

19.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i got out last weekend..it was more of a camping trip than actually hunting..the whiskey was flowing to good..

20.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i seen alot of deer though..that made it worth while... not one buck though...

21.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

Sometimes you have to work the bugs out before the real hunting can begin. :-)

22.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

thats what i told them..why get in any rush..will get them sooner or later..

23.) Triton Rich - 10/16/2016

[B]I guess that's the one "good" thing. Deer aren't moving at all by me so no worrying about whether or not I'll be able to draw my bow!:-)[/B]

24.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

Rich, if it were me, I'd lay off the practice altogether for as long as you can. Let the shoulder or whatever it is rest.

I know it's difficult, but I think these episodes last a lot longer than they might (for me) because I don't really back off on the activity.

25.) DParker - 10/16/2016

Slackers! I've been out in the woods not shooting at deer for the past 3 weekends (Oct 1 was the archery opener).

I hunt exclusively on the ground from natural ground blinds consisting of nothing but brush and fallen tree branches. On the rare occasion that I get to draw on something I usually have to do so before it's in range or presenting a good shot..if either ever happens. As such I have to hold at full draw for a while, and even with 75% let off my arm starts to get shaky too quickly at draw weights over 60 lbs. So I have my bow set up for a 55-56 lb draw, and although the 1.25 lb or so difference at full draw doesn't sound like anything I've found that it does make a difference for me. And with the one deer I shot at ~30 yds or so I still got sufficient speed out of the arrow to do the job.

26.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

[QUOTE=crookedeye;44838]i got out last weekend..it was more of a camping trip than actually hunting..the whiskey was flowing to good..[/QUOTE]

i didnt think i should be able to drink that much whiskey..i'm surprised i'm still alive...

27.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

we need to get that elk hunt going this year..triton youre in.. i figure me dano swampy and triton.. we can get dparker to boil us a pork shoulder for food..plus if billy goes he can be are camp bitch...:wave:lol..

28.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

i can see how swampys sorenous and pains liger with him...he ran track in high school, there was nobody better in the 1/2 mile relay then swampy..

29.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;44833]LOL...Mmmm...donuts...

Yeah, it wasn't anything heavy. Something like a big duffelbag or a loaded storage tote that I was lifting over my head. But that was some short time after trying to pull back an aggressive bow, so I put the two things together in my mind when I started having pain and then the treestand fail occurred. That was a nippy but not cold day, and it happened with a nice buck chasing a doe under my stand, giving me several shots, so even adrenaline couldn't compensate.

I looked up some stuff on the web and the best thing I could come up with was bursitis, if I remember right. I don't know if that's it or not. It was the middle of the season so I wasn't practice-shooting like a madman, but I tried to be careful with the lifting and it still took a lot of time before I wasn't conscious of the problem anymore. (I'd say several months.)

With me, this kind of stuff almost always comes up suddenly. Fingers, knees, Achilles, shoulders, back and elsewhere: I can almost never point to a specific injury.


BTW, after I knocked on wood yesterday in my last post, my shoulder started bothering me, so I think I jinxed myself. Thanks, Obama.[/QUOTE]

whats this about the treestand fail? did you fall? are was it the time you put floyd up in that old ladder stand..

30.) crookedeye - 10/16/2016

if floyd was dumb enough to climb thar old rigidy ladder stand i guess he had it coming to him...:wink

31.) Swamp Fox - 10/16/2016

Treestand FAIL....FAIL...As in not being able to get the bow back. Not a fall.


I need to check in with Floyd. Thanks for reminding me, and giving me nightmares. :bad:

32.) bluecat - 10/17/2016

Went through this several years ago and it really scared me. Rest is your friend as well as some low weight exercises to help strengthen your shoulders. I will take a picture of a training aid I made tonight and post it.

33.) crookedeye - 10/17/2016

i had to change my whole back draw cycle..somtimes its my elbow somtimes its the shoulder..

34.) bluecat - 10/17/2016

[QUOTE=crookedeye;44862]i had to change my whole back draw cycle..somtimes its my elbow somtimes its the shoulder..[/QUOTE]

I'd be interested to know how this is done...

35.) crookedeye - 10/17/2016

theres like a 100 muscles in youre back i just use a different one..i could be thinking of bones in a foot... i think i got the two mixed up..

36.) bluecat - 10/17/2016

Okay CE...:wink

What's with the bugeaters? 6-0?

37.) Swamp Fox - 10/17/2016

There was an article in one of the bowhunting magazines recently by one of the editors or writers who had done something to his draw side. I think he ruptured something in his shoulder or bicep or something pretty bad that required complete inactivity, including a sling, for an extended period to heal.

He learned to draw with his teeth and devised some method for pushing his bow forward with his bow hand, and eventually got good enough to make a successful hunt (for spot-and-stalk bear, if I remember). After gradually increasing draw weight during this ordeal, I think he made the hunt in the mid 60's.

It wasn't the most riveting "triumph of the human spirit" story I've ever read, but I thought I'd mention it.

38.) crookedeye - 10/17/2016

[QUOTE=bluecat;44867]Okay CE...:wink

What's with the bugeaters? 6-0?[/QUOTE]

there figuring out a way to win.they have to be the worst no. 8 team in the country...they just need to keep winning..

39.) Triton Rich - 10/17/2016

[B]Learn to draw with my teeth, I must say, was a response I didn't expect! :tap:[/B]

40.) crookedeye - 10/17/2016

[QUOTE=Triton Rich;44870][B]Learn to draw with my teeth, I must say, was a response I didn't expect! :tap:[/B][/QUOTE]

swampy used to run track what do you expect...lol..

41.) crookedeye - 10/17/2016

i would loose a few more teeth if i tried that..

42.) Swamp Fox - 10/17/2016

Glad I could help!----LOL


:wave:

43.) bluecat - 10/17/2016

Look at it this way Triton Rich, no one recommended amputation. So you got that going for you...

44.) bluecat - 10/17/2016

[QUOTE=crookedeye;44869]there figuring out a way to win.they have to be the worst no. 8 team in the country...they just need to [B]stop[/B] [B]whining[/B]..[/QUOTE]

fify

45.) luv2bowhunt - 10/18/2016

Rich, somewhere back through the responses someone said you should lay off practices and try to rest as much as possible. That is exactly what I would do. I've noticed that as I get older the muscles may still be good but the tendons seem to get weaker and weaker.

I'm guessing you have a tendon issue somewhere that gives you the sense of weakness and doesn't allow you to use all your muscle. I would not want to miss the rut, so I would turn the bow down as much as possible and rest it as much as possible. You can work on fixing/resting/healing it after the season is over.

This getting older isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm the guy who does miles of walking during and after the season, and I'm finally getting a Rambo bike to use in the State Forest. My legs and especially knee, just can't take the stress anymore. The bike is going to add a few extra years to my back country hunts I think.

But, I'm guessing a wheelchair is the next progression from the bike. :td:

46.) bluecat - 10/18/2016

Rest but also stretching. You need to keep the muscle firing and stretch your shoulders. Go light and if painful stop.

Exercise bands are a great way to get the muscle firing again and build strength slowly and safely. I made this little contraption using a tool handle and an exercise band. Grab it like you would a bow and pinch the band and bring it back. That is the same movement you use when drawing a bow. I put some additional weight on the bottom to simulate a Hoyt.

Also remember that your shoulder is a conglomeration of muscles (CrookedEye probably knows how many muscles this is). So a particular exercise is not as beneficial as many. Rowing motions, arm raises, pushups, all help to strengthen the whole shoulder girdle [insert girdle joke here].

Laying on your back on a foam roller both down the spine and across the back is a great and easy way to open up your shoulders and allow the many nerves that feed from your neck down to your fingertips to get the space they need. If this is all you did while watching TV you would be helping yourself immensely.

PM me if you need more advice. It's free today.

47.) Swamp Fox - 10/18/2016

LOL...:tu:

48.) bluecat - 10/18/2016

If you look like this, you've gone too far.

49.) luv2bowhunt - 10/18/2016

:tu:

If it is a tendon issue, exercise won't help. My tendonitis and bursitis only get worse with stretching and exercise.

If exercise does help than it must be a strength loss issue.

50.) Swamp Fox - 10/18/2016

I agree with Luv2 agreeing with me. I said rest for as long as you can and cut out the practice. Been there and done that. It's a challenge, especially this time of year, but I'd rather be on the sidelines for two weeks at the end of October than worthless for the first two weeks of November...[Insert predictable joke here].

Funny about the mention of tendonitis. I think that was what was going on with my Achilles a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden I was hobbling around for four or five days. Couldn't stay off it, but I cancelled plans to hunt. Then all of a sudden it just went away. I can't point to how it got aggravated. It happened in a week of nice weather bracketed by two weeks of rain prior and a week of threatening weather after, so I don't know what's up wit' dat.

51.) bluecat - 10/18/2016

[QUOTE=bluecat;44892]


If you look like this, you've gone too far.[/QUOTE]


At this point plastic surgery is your only option.

52.) Triton Rich - 10/18/2016

[B]Thanks for the advice guys. I think I may try some light exercises to stave off atrophy if nothing else. I just won't take any 40 yard shots.[/B]

53.) DParker - 10/18/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;44898]I agree with Luv2 agreeing with me.[/QUOTE]

And Howard Johnson is right about Olson Johnson being right.

When I was 25 or 26 I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I found out about it after I woke up one morning and, after getting out of bed, I collapsed to the floor after both of my ankles screamed in pain and refused to support me. Luckily I've never had another flare up that bad...just occasional twinges of pain in seemingly random joints here and there. But lately I've been having those kinds of twinges pretty regularly in the 2nd knuckle of a couple fingers on each hand, so I'm waiting for that to start impacting...among other things...my ability to draw a bow.

What's that old saying? Getting old sucks, but it still beats the alternative....?

54.) Swamp Fox - 10/18/2016

[I]Now who can argue with that? I think we're all indebted to Gabby Johnson for clearly stating what needed to be said. I'm particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age.

What are we made of? Our fathers came across the prairies, fought Indians, fought drought, fought locusts, fought Dix... remember when Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over this town? Well, we didn't give up then, and by gum, we're not going to give up now!
[/I]



:grin:

55.) luv2bowhunt - 11/02/2016

Rich, how is the bow drawing issue working out for you???