I have just been drawn for a controlled whitetail hunt in Oklahoma that allows only longbows or recurve bows (no compound bows). Is there a lot of differences in recurve bows? Do all 50# bows shoot arrows at the same speed or are some faster than others? What do I need to look for in recurve bows? I will say that I'm on somewhat of a tight budget and am not going to be able to get a top of the line bow.

Traditional bows are just like guns...everybody has their own preference.
Not all #50 bows shoot the same arrow the same speed.
I'll also add that if you're new to traditional...don't get overbowed. Just because you shoot #70 compound doesn't mean that you can shoot a #50 recurve.
For entry level try a PSE Impala or a Samick Hawkeye or something along those lines. The Samick was something I picked up as a fishing bow and it shoots great!
I have bows that cost ALOT more than that but thats just my preference.
Its gonna take alot of shooting to get good. Just know your limitations and shoot everyday.
Just my 2 cents worth!

ammohouse is on the button. There was a thread a while back on this subject. No sense repeating it all. It's gonna take at least 2 months of diligence to get good enough to hunt.

have fun

the chef

you can find a lot of good information (and often a good deal on a gently-used pre-owned longbow or recurve) on one of the traditional archery forums-

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

http://www.stickbow.com/

http://www.tradtalk.com/forums/index.php