Suggestion for Beginner Long Bow?

[ROSEMAMA]

Neither I nor Ex ever bow hunted (SG only), but DS has expressed interest in getting a long bow for his birthday (18th). He's got descent upper-body strength, about 5'10" and about 185lbs.

He's got plenty of wide open space to practice safely. I like the idea that he wants to learn this new skill

Can someone suggest a good bow to start him out?

Thanks in Advance!
RM

[Badger]

I shoot a Martin Savannah - I have been shooting traditional archery since I was 11 years old. The savannah is the best bow for the money that I have ever shot. Watch Craigslist in your area and you can probably find a bargin. If you want to hunt with it I suggest around 55 lbs.

[Two Tracks]

Rosemama, My husband is a bowyer (full time traditional longbow/recurve craftsman) he has been very helpful to many beginners and advance a like, he has great foundation in knowing bow design and shooting form. His custom bows are built very well, have performance, great reputation and affordable. You can visit our web site to see stock and can e-mail or call in evenings, he does take orders too. Thanks ~ Chris www.twotracksbow.com

[ROSEMAMA]

Thanks, Badger & Chris for your quick replies, however, $500 (+/-) is a bit too steep for my pocketbook just now. I was looking to spend in the $300-350 range. Thoughts?

[jbo9]

Try looking at some yard sales, auctions, and talking with your local archery shop. There are a lot of old stick bows out there that were top of the line, just waiting for a new string and some easing back into work. I've used an old bear recurve that was made in the 50s. Check the fiberglass on both sides; you are looking for NO stress lines going across the bow. Some lines going with the length of the bow can still work. The best part? Most of those old bows are very affordable, sometimes less than 50 bucks for a very good bow.

[Two Tracks]

It would be a good idea to get with someone very familiar with looking over these "bargin" bows, as they can be dangerous. Seen bows blow before at shoots, not trying to scare you, lots of people shoot traditional. You can call my husband and he can help you out on what your looking for, he has lots of connections and he is very safty orientated. He can answer your questions or bring up things you might not have thought about. I think it's great your 18 yr old son is interested in going Traditional! There are Traditional Shoots all over the country and it's quite a safe family affair and lots of fun! ~Chris

[ROSEMAMA]

Thanks for all the input! I will see what I can come up with.

And I agree, with WIHH, those bows your husband makes are beautiful, Chris!

RM

[bowdonkey]

Check out the many archery forums on the internet. Most have used bow forums. I shoot a longbow exclusively, always have. My advice is a long bow. For your hubby 66" minimum. He will probably have the draw length for a bow 68". It's far eaiser to learn to shoot accurately with a longer bow. Also a bow with a riser cut to center or past center makes a bow more forgiving to tune and shoot. I also recommend finding someone to help you match some carbon arrows to your bow and shooting style. Carbon because of their consistancy. Once you learn to shoot then try your hand at assembling wood arrows. Wood has lot of variations even in a matched lot. That's why I don't recommend them for learning the instinctive shooting process. Wood also takes a lot of tools to make them correctly and are more expensive if you want a real matched set. 2 good archery sites are tradtalk.com and piratesofarchery.net.

[Oldcountryboy]

Originally Posted by ROSEMAMA

Thanks, Badger & Chris for your quick replies, however, $500 (+/-) is a bit too steep for my pocketbook just now. I was looking to spend in the $300-350 range. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by jbo9

Try looking at some yard sales, auctions, and talking with your local archery shop. There are a lot of old stick bows out there that were top of the line, just waiting for a new string and some easing back into work. I've used an old bear recurve that was made in the 50s. Check the fiberglass on both sides; you are looking for NO stress lines going across the bow. Some lines going with the length of the bow can still work. The best part? Most of those old bows are very affordable, sometimes less than 50 bucks for a very good bow.

Ditto on this. I once had about 10 recurve and long bows that I picked up at yardsales, fleamarkets, or estate auctions and I bet at that time I never gave more then $35 for them. That's been 20 years or more so the prices might be up some but I bet they are still a lot cheaper then compounds. I did shoot and hunt with compounds for a while, but I came back to the old styles, including a self-made bow made out of a Mulberry tree that I made myself. I haven't killed a deer with it yet, but maybe this year!

I myself like to use a lower poundage bow as I'm a lot more acurate with them and I only use wood arrows. I usually build my own arrows and that saves me a lot of money. But I would recommend that your son start out with a 40 - 45 pound recurve or longbow till he gets use to shooting it, then he can increase in size if he wants. You can buy arrow supplies at 3riversarchery.com Email them and they can send you a catalog. They have bows, arrows, points, feather fletches, etc.

[EGDwalker]

I started out with a hickory self-bow, this is a very basic long bow, looks like a stick of wood, that I bought on Ebay and finished out myself. I used carbon arrows for hunting which doesn't work well. They tend to drop because the vanes (plastic) are not made to be shot from a wooden bow. I have moved up to a Samick Sage after several traditional archers recommended it. It was not expensive, it is in your price range. I bought it from Lancaster Archery and they did the setup, which you will need done. These bows come with a wide range of limbs, you can get some light weight ones 35# for practice, get good at that, then have 50# or whatever your state requires for hunting. This bow is a recurve, which is much more powerful than a straight long bow and more accurate. For arrows I spent some money on some good quality cedar, matched to the bow. I wrote to AllWoodArrows.com and told him the bow I have and he matched the arrows, 3 practice and 3 broadhead. This has been a good investment, really beautiful arrows, they fly straight and true. I made my own arrows out of river cane and I have about 40 hours in them. I would want about $500 for them, LOL. Don't let anyone kid you, making a quality arrow is a very difficult job. So buying them is better, especially if you are concerned about safety issues (arrows breaking while cocking the bow, etc). If you are just messing around in the backyard, that is one thing. But for hunting you need the best you can afford to humanely kill an animal, a good clean quick kill. Where I live, the problem is that the deer are nocturnal and dense brush and marsh, very hard to track them, and with bowhunting you usually have to track them a little ways as they die from blood loss. If you live near a corn field, lucky you. Much easier hunting when the corn is down.
In terms of instinctive aiming, Your body and hand, if holding the bow properly should line up with the target. Your hand should be pushing on the handle but not gripping it. the bow should almost fall out of your hand when you release. Pull evenly and smoothly as possible, always focusing on the target. Don't think about anything but the target. It is a lot like throwing a ball. You have to practice, practice until it becomes second nature. Someone recommended gap shooting, this really messed me up as I learned instinctive first. So I had to unlearn gap shooting. Now I just say to myself, just the target, only the target, look at nothing else, and the arrows hits where I am looking. Instinctive is very hard to teach. There are some videos out there if someone knows a good one. Some are kind of, HUH? If you don't already know how to do it.
I have more information about arrows, primitive techniques, etc. on my blog. http://www.eaglegoesdancing.com

[bowdonkey]

EGD mentioned shooting style. Learning to shoot instinctive is one of the most satisfying things you can do. Most archers shoot compounds and when a good instinctive shooter makes an appearance, you are looked upon in amazement. Like you are using some type of witchcraft. Two books I recommend for learning this, and there is alot to know, are Fred Asbels "Instinctive Archery"1 and 2 and Byron Fergusons "Become the Arrow". What ever you do don't overload youself with information, that can mess with your mind. Another thing the actual pulling on the string and anchoring should be comfortable. Everyone is a little different and whats easy for one is not for someone else. Let your body be the judge and determine the style. I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but start with a lighter poundage bow to learn proper form and technique. Nothing will mess up the mental process more than a too heavy bow. And instinctive is all mental. Just ask anyone around here and they'll tell you I'm definitely mental.

[Snowfan]

Definitely, visit a reputable archery pro shop. Preferably one that knows a lot about traditional archery. I was at a garage sale once, saw a bow I was considering. I kept looking. Walking back to the bow I saw a man letting his son (way too much bow for the kid) dry fire the bow. Several times.