Looking for first traditional bow

Ratrzcer1991

Senior Member
Any help is appreciated, would like a recurve, relatively heavy draw weight, shorter bow. I know 0 about traditional bows.
 

John Cooper

?Now I Got One A Them Banner Things
What draw weight are you talking about, to some 50# is heavy. To me anything over 65 is heavy. What weight compound are you shooting now?

I would suggest going to several 3 D shoots and trying a bunch of bows. That way you don't buy something you don't like and then get discouraged and quit.
 

Southern Thunder

Senior Member
Once I made the switch to traditional I haven't even picked up my compound again. There is nothing like traditional bow hunting. Patience and determination is the biggest part of being successful at accomplishing your goals. The people that you meet along the way has been the most rewarding part for me. Big Jim has a lot of choices in bows.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
You will build a lot better form and enjoy shooting a lot more with a lighter weight bow. FORM is the most important part. You can always move up in weight after you build your form correctly. 50-55 lbs will go thru anything in North America. Most guys would be a lot better shots if they dropped some bow weight.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
Also your draw length is very relative to how short a bow you should shoot. Finger pinch will trash your form.
 

oldfella1962

Senior Member
Heavy draw weight in a shorter bow. I started with a Bear Grizzly. I've grown very fond of it.

Grizzly is a good bow. I have a Ben Pearson that is 58" and almost identical to a Grizzly. It's only 43# pull but has some serious SNAP to it! A great recurve to start out with would be a Bear Tigercat - it's 62" and draws smooth and is very stable and quiet - or at least mine was. In a lower draw weight it would be perfect for a beginner. There are plenty of them on that big online site that rhymes with "blue jay" at decent prices.
I gave mine away to someone here on GOF because it was a bit too light to hunt with.
 
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oldfella1962

Senior Member
You will build a lot better form and enjoy shooting a lot more with a lighter weight bow. FORM is the most important part. You can always move up in weight after you build your form correctly. 50-55 lbs will go thru anything in North America. Most guys would be a lot better shots if they dropped some bow weight.

also with too heavy a bow a lot of guys "short draw" and don't get the full draw weight anyway - and their form is compromised as a result. No shame in my game - I shoot a lower than average draw weight but I have 100 percent confidence in my abilities.
Deer are thin-skinned medium game hunted at very close range - not rhinos.
 

Ratrzcer1991

Senior Member
What draw weight are you talking about, to some 50# is heavy. To me anything over 65 is heavy. What weight compound are you shooting now?

I would suggest going to several 3 D shoots and trying a bunch of bows. That way you don't buy something you don't like and then get discouraged and quit.
I shoot 80 now.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
Man go shoot all the bows you can before you invest in one. When I was in my mid 20's, I shot 80 lb plus compounds. Today at 52 years old, I sleep about 10 minutes on each shoulder and have to roll over to the other...all night....every night. There is a big difference between a compound and a stick bow when it comes to draw weight. The better you take care of yourself the longer you get to hunt and shoot. I have 3 or 4 bows I cannot shoot anymore because I was hard headed. A lot of people start with a Sage or similar bow because they are cheaper. Nothing wrong with that, they will kill every deer in the woods with the right Indian behind it. The Sage is a bottom end bow, but a custom bow is the difference between driving a Volkswagen or a Cadillac. Custom are very expensive new . There are plenty of good used custom or mass production bows out there once you find out what you need and want. " The leather wall" is a good place to look for a good used one. Good luck in your search.
 

Troy Butler

Senior Member
Ratrzcer1991, Take Hillbilly's words to heart 80 lb on a compound is not the same on a tradbow. On trad you have no let off, more important to get the form down good. I second 50-55 lb you can kill anything. I shot through a big doe friday with 53lb.
 

Ratrzcer1991

Senior Member
Thanks for all the advise. I should have mentioned I under stand there is no let off, I have shot a traditional bow. I’m almost sure that 50-55lbs is what I need to start with. I was more going towards what recurve bow is a good starting point.
 

Todd Cook

Senior Member
Depends on how much you want to invest at first. LOTS of older Bear and Martin Recurves out there pretty cheap. And they are excellent hunting bows. How the grip fits you is going to make as much difference as anything. For example I'm currently hunting with a Bear "Black Bear" recurve. It's one of their plain jane versions and it's currently wearing a coat of green paint. My wife shoots one of Bears " 59 kodiak reproductions" and loves it. It's an awesome bow but the grip is too small for my hands.
 

John Cooper

?Now I Got One A Them Banner Things
I would start with a bow between 50 and 55 lbs. I grew up shooting stick bows so I never had to transition between the 2. Dan Quillion used to say, and he told me, shoot the heaviest bow you can draw. At 56 , and I ain't a big feller, I can still draw 80lbs, but I don't shoot that much weight. I am comfortable with 60lbs.

I would go to several shoots and try different bows to see what you really like! I have probably owned more than 200-300 bows in the last 20 years and i can tell you there is no magic bow that will do it all.

If you have been shooting a compound for a while then the transition won't be as bad because you already know about form.

Look for shoots in your area, scarce this time of year, and go try some bows. Go to a big shoot like the Howard Hill shoot in McCalla AL. There will be a ton of venders with all kinds of bows to try out.

The samik sage is a good entry level bow so is the cheap black hunter longbow or recurve.

Out of this long winded post of mine the best advice I can give you is, on the Internet advice is cheap and free, go to the leather wall and ask a simple question and you will get 100 different answers by 200 different posters. Life and hunting was way simpler before the interwebs came along!!!!! This is your journey and you will have to make it on your own, your style of shooting will be your own and you will have to find what suits you not everyone else.
 
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