For some time I have been thinking about shooting my custom long bow.
It has a 72lb. pull and is not your average bow. It was given to me by the builder with instruction on how to mount the Flemish string. It hangs in my gun room next to my flint lock that never gets used.
I hear tails of much heaver bows used in the old days. The upper body needed to shoot those must have been something.
It stays strung all the time in the hope it will help ease the strain.

Does anyone shoot bows with this much pull?

http://www.archers-review.com/...rose-picture-special

Here are some bigger numbers than your sissy 72 lbs !

When I was a kid I remember reading a book about (by?) Howard Hill. He used to regularly shoot longbows over 100 lbs. and as I recollect shot and killed an African elephant with one!
Peter.

I shoot a 70 lb recurve. By no means my primary bow but like you I have it and have a special connection to it because my father gave it to me for my 16th birthday 39 years ago.

Have you shot it? The first thing to find out is how well you handel it at this point. My guess is that you have shot it or you feel fairly sure you can draw the bow otherwise you probably wouldn't even be asking.

Do you have other trad bows. I find that the best way to practice shooting a heavy draw weight bow is practicing with a lighter weight bow that you can develop good technique and sight picture. Once you get a good technique down you can then work up to the heavy weight bow.

When you shoot a light weight bow you have the option of holding the string at full draw while you concentrate on you're shot. I belive a lot of the bowmen who shot the real heavyweights would develop a technique of concentrating on the shot before the string was drawn. This is what I have been working on so that my shot is a smooth draw back to my anchor point with an almost immediate release.
I don't know if the real archery gurus would agree with this but it sure seem's to work well for me. I know that holding 70 pounds for a more than a couple seconds isn't going to happen with me.

I think that another helpful hint is just to adjust you're attitude about the bow. I don't know what you're expectations are for you're performance with the bow? Start by telling yourself in the beginning that it isn't a gun or compound bow. You might find in the beginning that you will only be able keep the arrows into the kill zone of a whitetail at maybe 10 yards. It would be easy to get discouraged at that but it will be a great 10 yard bow. It won't take long and that great 10 yard bow will morph itself into a 20 yard bow.

I had a cow moose tag this fall. I carried a rifle because I didn't wand to miss out on all that great meat in my freezer but I also brought along my 70 lb recurve hoping I would have the opertunity to stalk a big jucy cow that had no idea I was around. as it turned out I took a young one by surprise and didn't have time even to grab my rifle so I shot it with my revolver.

I usually use traditional bows between 70 and 80 pounds. Currently I have a 75 pound longbow in action against our buffalo, and it is doing well. I'm just an average bloke of 5'11" and 86kg. I don't go to the gym. I just lug a double rifle and / or a bow around. However, it is about what your muscles get used-to. I started with a 58 pound compound, a worn-out, second-hand, decrepit old duck that taught me the basics well. The next bow I bought was a 60 pound recurve, and although a bit of a surprise at the time (eleven years ago), I soon got used-to it. It wasn't long before a 67 pound longbow made its way here, and that seven pound jump was nothing. Another eight pound jump was nothing, and then a five pound jump to 80 pounds was easy, too. However, I really struggle with compound bows of 70 pounds or more, and can barely (sometimes never) haul them back. Different muscle memory. With a tradbow, I hit full draw weight right back at anchor, and that's what I'm used-to. With a compound, I have to overcome full draw weight only a few inches into the draw, before it is easy to hold. For what it's worth, I believe I am more accurate with these heavy bows. They seem, to me, to be less likely to allow you to draw and shoot them with improper form or alignment. Your mileage may vary. It's archery.

Loi, I would not store it strung.
If you want to shoot it, find a used bow of 45-50 pounds and work with that for a few weeks before trying to shoot your 75-pounder.
The English war bows deployed at Agincourt and Crecy could be incredibly heavy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2KLuAH4GY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33LNnyqiQcs

I shoot an 80 pound take down recurve and a 90 pound traditional long bow. Based on your draw length you might not have a actual 70 pound hold.

I would not recommend storing your bow strung. You might have a qualified shop take a look at it and see if they can get you a little relief with a different string length, sometimes there is a pound or two of play in brace height.

Fred Bear shot 70#Recurves
Dan Quillian shot 90#Longbows
For me 70# would be more than enough for any Big Game,my favorite weight is 55# it will shoot arrows thru deer like they are made of butter
Bowhunting is best done up close inside 25yrds.
You will only need/get 1 shot,Just do it!

Heaviest I ever shot was 140
I was young
Now even 70 or 80 you better start from 45-50 and up shooting 5 days a week for months before you graduate to 70-80
Just like any excercise easy and take your time
Get comfy and you'll be ok

A close friend of mine used either a 112 or 118 pound pull long bow to shot a white rhino about 32 years ago among other animals. At the time my bow was a 70 pound recurve and I couldn't draw his long bow back more than about 8-10 inches. Don't know how he did it but he did.

If I remember right Fred Bear was a snap shooter. He released almost the instant he hit full draw. You can work into a 70 lb. bow and have received good advice on how to do it without curdling your urine.

I shot a 67 lb. Hoyt Pro Hunter for years....then didn't shoot anything for years. When I decided to get back into archery I strung up my old bow, started to draw it, let it down, called my oldest son and and asked him if he still wanted Dad's old Hoyt. He jumped on it and I gladly gave it to him!

A friend of mine is a custom bow maker. He gave me a 72# longbow, years ago. I was then and now a dedicated compound shooter.
I never could shoot that bow accurately. It was way to much poundage for me.
Good luck.