interested in trad

[Luziana Feller]

i'm interested in traditional archery. my son who is only 3 right now loves shooting his toy bows whenever i practice at home and will undoubtedly having a hunting obsession too. i think it would be fun for him and i to start the trad journey together in a few years. i may start a little sooner though.

what $$$ am i looking at to get rigged out to shoot around the house? not looking to hunt with it yet. no rush so used gear is definitely an option i'm open to.

also, is it a good or bad idea to start my son off trad?

 

[go4thegusto]

IMO everyone should start out with an instinctive bow. It is a hand-eye coordination life skill that should be learned just like throwing a ball or frisbee. I have been a trad shooter for over 30 years and yes you can now drop $1000+ on a bow. Honestly there are some really good Korean and Chinese bows on ebay and elsewhere that would work just fine to get started for very little investment.
Or look for some vintage Bear bows that are straight and true.
My 2 boys started out around 3 with little longbows that they still hang proudly on the wall.
Another option for him is the Mathews genesis which is still a no let off instinctive bow.

 

[Wrench]

I'd agree buy used or a samick sage or similar. I'd go around 40 pounds tops.

 

[Wrench]

my daughter just turned 3 and I have a #7 longbow she shoots.

She thinks itis the best thing ever.

 

[Luziana Feller]

well if i was looking for inspiration, there it is. what kind of bow is that @Wrench ?

 

[Wrench]

well if i was looking for inspiration, there it is. what kind of bow is that @Wrench ?

It's one a coworker built. Micro custom...lol.

 

[Luziana Feller]

It's one a coworker built. Micro custom...lol.

nice. it would be cool to get him something that's decent quality that his kids could shoot one day too. i will look around

 

[Wrench]

I will look in my pile. I might have another small bow. You should look at stalker stickbows, South builds a killer kids bow. It's worth 3x what he charges.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

My kids are two and four. I bought a Bear 1st shot (traditional) that they both enjoy shooting... for about 5 minutes a session. I think traditional is the way to go for young kids, for the simplicity. They just want to have fun and fling a few arrows. At this age you would lose them in the complexity that compounds bring (release, sight pins, draw length, etc). Precision is not what's important this point. Just simplicity and fun.

As for your own bow- get a cheap bow at around 40# for your draw length. I have a Fleetwood Edge that I really like. Samick Sage makes a similar bow. Both are quality starter bows for ~$140 new. You can usually find them used for even cheaper on craigslist, ebay or hunting forum classifieds. Get a stringer, tab or glove, arrows and you'll be on your way.

 

[willfrye027]

I love my samick sage! I started with 35lb limbs, shot those for about 6 months until I was consistent with my form and getting good groups. Moved up to 50lb limbs to hunt with. Took another 3 months of consistent practice to get good hunting groups. Don’t underestimate how long it takes to build good form and strength for traditional shooting. My setup is just about as cheap as you can get without going the used route. Here is what I would recommend:

Samick Sage 35lb, upgrade to fast flight string, bear weather rest, gold tip warrior feather fletched (can get individual arrows on Lancaster), get a set of “testing” Point weights from 100-300gr, and shoot a glove to start (I like the Neet ones, about $15). This will allow you to very cheaply get tuning and also quickly adjust the spine of your setup as your form improves. You may end up with a draw length longer than you started with after you get some strength built up and improve your release technique. When you go up to 45 or 50lb limbs, all you need is some heavier spine arrows and adjust point weight until you get good arrow flight. Then find a broadhead to match.

My current setup is sage with 50lb limbs, 340 gold tip warrior, 250gr points/Tusker concordes ($25 for 3). It shoots very well, killed two bucks last year with it and hopefully more to come this year. It would cost a LOT more to get marginally better performance.

 

[Gerard Marcaurele]

I’m in the same boat, and after having tried to research it myself I decided to just call Tommy Clum at RMS Gear in Wheat Ridge, Co. I recommend calling them, giving them your specs, and having them put something together for you. They’re masters at what they do, and I’m actually carving some time out of an upcoming trip to Colorado just to see them to get set up. Great folks and they’ll steer you right.

As far as cost, they ballparked it around $300 turn key.

877-843-5559

 

[sneaky]

I will look in my pile. I might have another small bow. You should look at stalker stickbows, South builds a killer kids bow. It's worth 3x what he charges.

I second this. He has that grow with the bow program or whatever it is where they can swap limbs out as they get older and stronger.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[sneaky]

I’m in the same boat, and after having tried to research it myself I decided to just call Tommy Clum at RMS Gear in Wheat Ridge, Co. I recommend calling them, giving them your specs, and having them put something together for you. They’re masters at what they do, and I’m actually carving some time out of an upcoming trip to Colorado just to see them to get set up. Great folks and they’ll steer you right.

As far as cost, they ballparked it around $300 turn key.

877-843-5559

You'll have a good time at their place. Been there several times.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Luziana Feller]

I’m in the same boat, and after having tried to research it myself I decided to just call Tommy Clum at RMS Gear in Wheat Ridge, Co. I recommend calling them, giving them your specs, and having them put something together for you. They’re masters at what they do, and I’m actually carving some time out of an upcoming trip to Colorado just to see them to get set up. Great folks and they’ll steer you right.

As far as cost, they ballparked it around $300 turn key.

877-843-5559

Not bad at all for something professionally setup

 

[Luziana Feller]

I second this. He has that grow with the bow program or whatever it is where they can swap limbs out as they get older and stronger.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I'll look into this. Thank you!

 

[Gerard Marcaurele]

Not bad at all for something professionally setup

Not at all. They have been very patient with me bugging them with questions, and they took the time to give me a list of everything to buy with no pressure to purchase any of it from them. I will pay extra to have a shop like that be my go-to, even if I do live 1200 miles away.

 

[LostArra]

I don't think Samick makes the Sage any longer.

Just starting in traditional archery?
Google: Galaxy Ember or Sage
Lancaster or Twig Archery
No need to spend a fortune to get your feet wet and shoot animals.

Kid's bow: you won't find a better bow than one from Maddog

拉萨股渍娱乐有限公司

www.maddogarchery.com

another kids bow I've used is Black Rhino. Great bow. Buy back program as the kid grows.

Bows.net domain name may be for sale

Bows.net - Contact us for any business inquiries

www.bows.net

 

[willfrye027]

Getting a bow set up is not a bad idea, it’s also nice to learn how to do it yourself so you can adjust yourself later on when your form gets better. I’m gonna have to look into that when I someday upgrade

 

[Trey Arentz]

I would definitely take a look at the mandarin duck black hunter. Cheap bow with awesome material and tunes very well. I just picked up two of them. Awesome customer service as well.

 

[Kyle mcpartland]

My kids both shoot the stalker weasels, they are truly worth the little he charges for them, rms gear and stickbow classifieds have piles of bows to look at