I want to start shooting a traditional set up. Where to start?

[Hovenator]

Get a Bear Grizzly in 40-45#, you won’t be disappointed! 45 lbs is a great weight to both target shoot and hunt with. 3 Rivers Archery says it’s their most sold recurve......

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

From experience, I Like the Black Hunter hybrid longbow over the Samick sage style bows. It’s cheaper too. Get one in 35-45 lbs. Learn to shoot it and learn the arrow tuning process. It will be nice to have when you want to practice your shooting form(or change it) in the future too.

The Black Hunter is a stupid good bow at the price. It’s really nice. This is kind of an older thread; how did things turn out?

 

[Kentucky]

I was just thinking about getting my boy a long bow.. this does fit the bill.. he is shooting 25# recurve ilf now.. he is 13 and hasn’t hit growth spurt yet and the bow is a little heavy for him.. as in mass weight.,

 

[bjfoxhoven]

Man those black hunters are real nice. I know a guy at the shop who fiddles with bows all the time. I shot his tiny (58” I think) black hunter long bow with my 31” draw and it was super smooth drawing and hand shock free. He just tillered it to his liking (split finger), but i shot it three under, but it didn’t matter. Worked for both of us quite well.

I’m curious too, how is it going?

 

[Gerard Marcaurele]

Your best bet is to call up RMS Gear in Wheat Ridge Co. you can have them walk through your whole setup and they can put your order together and ship to you. They have forgotten more about trad archery than most people will ever learn.

If I may recommend something, set aside money to buy an arrow saw. That has been my favorite tool since starting because it allows me to buy a full length arrow that’s close enough and make it perfect.

 

[Geewhiz]

How much do you want it and how much are you willing to spend to get there? I was in your same shoes one year ago when I made the leap. I added everything up two nights ago and at this point i am into it 2200 bucks! Holy crap..

I wanted to first off find someone that knew what the heck they were talking about when it comes to trad archery so as to not start this journey forming bad habits. I bought a plane ticket and flew to Denver and met with Tom at RMS gear. He is one of the best out there, if not the best. He got me lined out as far as the basics go after one expensive day. I knew i wanted to hunt with a one piece stick bow, because of the simplicity, but didnt know where to start. Fred Bear was a stud so I figured i couldnt go wrong. I bought a 55lb bear super kodiak and once i got it i realized i didnt have enough strength to properly draw and shoot the bow. I was pretty bummed. Keep in mind i have shot a 72lb mathews for the last 10 years. I then sold that bow and bought a ILF takedown riser with 36 pound limbs. Shot that for a few months to get the feel of things and work on my form. As i began building strength i bought 50 pound limbs for it. Those were going to be my elk killing limbs. After shooting that setup every day for a month or so, I went back to the idea of liking the simplicity of a one piece bow. I got ahold of the fellow that i sold my super kodiak to and he agreed to sell it right back to me!

At this point I am 1.5 weeks from elk season, shooting a 658 grain (total weight) black eagle vintage arrow tipped with a 300 grain VPA head, out of my 64 inch bear super freeking kodiak at 172 FPS. Its a different feeling holding a stick and string with no rest, no sight, no fancy this and fancy that, just the bow and you, and knowing you can get that arrow to go where you want it to.