Hey Folks,

I recently inherited a Bear Minuteman Recurve Takedown that has been sitting in a closet for the last 25 years. It shoots well, and I have it strung for 45#.
My question is this:
Is it better to unstring it between uses (every other day or so), leave it strung, or does it matter?
I also wanted to say that I will be hunting with this recurve and I think I may just sell my compound because this seems like so much more fun.

I have always heard it doesn't hurt to leave them strung and have never noticed any problems when I left them strung for extended periods.   During hunting season, or when I am shooting alot, I  generally just leave mine strung.   Older bows I guess I am more likely to unstring when not in use as much.  

You are right however, recurves/longbows are a lot of fun.

I never leave my bows strung for long periods of time. After target shooting or a hunting trip I unstring it.

I leave the ones I shoot regularly strung,unstring the rest. I would be more worried about it being stored in a closet all those years. Since the Minuteman is of wood/ glass construction, check for twist on the limbs if it was stored standing upright.

Thise are fine bows, and lots of fun to shoot. Congrats on your find.

My wife dosn't shoot, but she is a dang good arrow caddy.

Scattershot,
It was stored unstrung and broken down in it's original box. It looks like it could almost be new. I know it was bought new for my brother, and I don't think he used it more than one season's worth of league shooting.
I'm really looking forward to hunting with it. At a 30 inch draw, that should put it just over 50#, I think. Got some Limb Skins coming so I can pretend I know what I'm doing. I even bought some blunt-tipped Flu-Flus because I think I'm going to try and take a few pheasants with it this fall.
Hey, a boy's gotta have a dream, right?

That's a real find. You will be happy with that bow. Good luck!

the guy at bass pro told me that if you shoot at least twice a week then you can leave it strung.

I have a Pearson Hunter that has been strung since 1966. The only time it has been un-strung was to replace the string. It hung in a guys basement by the string on two pegs for 38 years and than he gave it to me. It has not lost a pound in weight either. I keep all my glass bows strung unless going on a trip. Shawn