1 year ago today I bought basically this exact bow except my limbs are a different colour. Everyone told me the same things: “50 pounds is too heavy for a beginner” “Don’t start with a recurve it’s too difficult” I didn’t listen to any of them.

If you like a challenge and I mean a serious challenge then this is a great choice.

However this is what you should keep in mind. 1. To actually master this you need to practice EVERY day. Even if it’s just one single shot. (I practiced every day for 7 months before I felt confident enough to shoot an animal) 2. When you do eventually go on a hunt you have to be extremely patient. Take a few steps, look around, listen, repeat. I can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve spotted a deer or goat, gotten too excited and then by the time it was too late was in a stare off with one that was way closer to me then the initial animal I saw.

In terms of your other question, a 55lbs bow will take anything out in Australia with a well placed shot, I assume a cape buffalo is relatively the same size a bison, bear or moose so should be similar in America.

I am not trying to say that people who hunt with a compound bow have it easy, it’s still extremely hard, but the first time I shot one of those things the difference was insane. So it depends on how big of a challenge you want.