Newbie with trad bug. Questions?

[Virginian]

I've always found trad interesting but never pursed it. I came across a recurve bow that was my grandfathers (see photos) and it seems like the perfect opportunity. The bow looks like it's in good shape but of course it'll need a new string. I'm sure it's over 50 years old. I was hoping to find someone local that could teach me the ropes but I haven't found anyone yet. My first goal is to get a new string. From the writing on the bow I'm assuming I would need a 61" string? Also would any of you have any resources you'd recommend me read to cut into the learning curve? Perhaps a couple books? Unfortunately, I don't have a bow shop around that deals in trad stuff so I'll have to order. Who's everyone's go to for ordering trad stuff? The learning curve seems a little overwhelming. Arrows? Shooting methods? I always through the trad would be simpler than compound. Any help or guidance is much appreciated.

 

[willfrye027]

That’s a sweet looking bow!! Maybe a little high poundage for starting out but also enough to hunt with if that’s your goal. Personally I would start with YouTube for learning the ropes. Archerytalk also has good info sometimes. Some of my favorite YouTube channels are clay Hayes (bunch of good videos on form, set up, etc). Also check out stalkerstickbows.com there are some good basic tuning/set up videos there.

What is your draw length? That will be a big factor in what arrows you get. Probably a good idea to start out with arrows that are in the ballpark but maybe not perfect. Once you get your personal form/style down then you can start fine tuning arrow setups.

Do you have any of the basics like shooting glove, stringer, arm guard, bow square/knock points/knock pliers? Definitely easier to start out with the pro staff setup but very doable to set it up on your own.

Also, where in Virginia are you at?

 

[LaGriz]

Make an appeal on Bowsite.com for some local help. When you nail down the actual length of the required string, I would recommend Stringmaker on that site. He has built hundreds of strings and will get you on track. For a book to get you started, I can recommend "Instinctive Shooting" By G. Fred Asbell. He will go over the most common styles. Weather you choose to shoot "gap", instinctive, or some other formula, his book will give you some needed guidance. pay close attention to his emphasis on hitting your "anchor point". personally, I struggle with that very task. LaGriz

 

[Akwoodchuck]

You can watch videos on technique, but I would also definitely keep looking for a coach or instructor to help with proper form right from the get go, then repeat repeat repeat....instinctive shooting is kinda like freethrows....practice until you're sick of it, then practice some more....

 

[LaGriz]

+1 on learning the correct form. It will help you so much not having to "unlearn" any bad habits. Get help selecting arrows that have the correct spine. I wasted 2 years trying to get results with arrows that were too stiff for my draw length and weight. I will warn you up front. Traditional Archery can be an become obsessive and addictive. LaGriz

 

[DWinVA]

What part of VA are you in?

Check out the YouTube’s mentioned above plu The Push Archery

Three Rivers Archery is the best for Trad supplies and can help you via internet or phone on picking the correct string for your bow. The string is usually about 4” shorter than the AMO length of a recurve. 61” on the bow equals a 57” string.

Good luck & God Bless.

 

[Virginian]

That’s a sweet looking bow!! Maybe a little high poundage for starting out but also enough to hunt with if that’s your goal. Personally I would start with YouTube for learning the ropes. Archerytalk also has good info sometimes. Some of my favorite YouTube channels are clay Hayes (bunch of good videos on form, set up, etc). Also check out stalkerstickbows.com there are some good basic tuning/set up videos there.

What is your draw length? That will be a big factor in what arrows you get. Probably a good idea to start out with arrows that are in the ballpark but maybe not perfect. Once you get your personal form/style down then you can start fine tuning arrow setups.

Do you have any of the basics like shooting glove, stringer, arm guard, bow square/knock points/knock pliers? Definitely easier to start out with the pro staff setup but very doable to set it up on your own.

Also, where in Virginia are you at?

Thanks for your input! Hunting trad is definitely an aspiration. I'll check out the resources you outlined.

Honestly, I am not 100% sure of my draw length. My archery experience is limited. When I was younger I believe it was 28" but I need to double check to make sure.

I do not have anything but the bow. I will look through some of my grandfather's things but I think the bow is all.

I'm in Botetourt County just out of Roanoke.

 

[Virginian]

Make an appeal on Bowsite.com for some local help. When you nail down the actual length of the required string, I would recommend Stringmaker on that site. He has built hundreds of strings and will get you on track. For a book to get you started, I can recommend "Instinctive Shooting" By G. Fred Asbell. He will go over the most common styles. Weather you choose to shoot "gap", instinctive, or some other formula, his book will give you some needed guidance. pay close attention to his emphasis on hitting your "anchor point". personally, I struggle with that very task. LaGriz

Thanks for the advice. I check out that book and Bowsite. Rokslide takes soo much of my time now adding Bowsite will push me over the edge haha

 

[Virginian]

You can watch videos on technique, but I would also definitely keep looking for a coach or instructor to help with proper form right from the get go, then repeat repeat repeat....instinctive shooting is kinda like freethrows....practice until you're sick of it, then practice some more....

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely keep looking. It seems like fly fishing; you can learn it yourself but it makes it a lot less painful with someone who knows what they are doing. I'd like to hunt with it this fall so I plan on spending all spring/summer practicing and getting things tunned up.

 

[Virginian]

What part of VA are you in?

Check out the YouTube’s mentioned above plu The Push Archery

Three Rivers Archery is the best for Trad supplies and can help you via internet or phone on picking the correct string for your bow. The string is usually about 4” shorter than the AMO length of a recurve. 61” on the bow equals a 57” string.

Good luck & God Bless.

I am in Botetourt County just out of Roanoke.

I have been reading about string lengths and how they are generally a few inches shorter than the bow's indicated length. Thanks for the info and God Bless

 

[molliesmaster]

Is it just me, or is that bow strung incorrectly?

 

[Virginian]

Is it just me, or is that bow strung incorrectly?

Yes, it's unstrung

 

[Btaylor]

Along with the Push stuff, I'd say check out stuff on you tube from Jimmy Blackmon, Clay Hayes and Tom Clum.

 

[ArrowForester]

Cool bow. You will enjoy shooting a recurve with Grandpa's bow in your hand.

A good place to find some in-person tips and learning experiences would be at Sherwood Archers in Roanoke. The club has a handful of dedicated trad shooters/hunters. They get together fairly often to shoot and they usually do an early morning run at Sherwood's regular 3-d shoots. Several guys there are very knowledgeable and can get you started with arrow selection, etc...

The Sherwood Traditional Archery Rendezvous (S.T.A.R. shoot) is June 1st/2nd this year. Lots of experienced people there and lots of new shooters just trying things out. It's a good atmosphere with a 3-D course, fun course, field course, tough man course, indoor range, trad equipment yard sale and swap. STAR Shoot

 

[Zak1215]

You’ve got some great advice in the previous posts. It’s amazing what you can learn from you tube. As above, I would recommend watching everything you can from Clay Hayes and The Push. Their videos have helped me a bunch and Clay is an all around good dude that enjoys teaching something he is passionate about.

 

[LostArra]

My first suggestion would be to remove the old string and throw it away.

Get the proper length string (57") and a recurve stringer. Then find someone to show you how to properly string a recurve with the stringer. That would be my first test of a 50 year old bow.

I wouldn't worry about arrows and shooting/aiming until you are confident that bow can be drawn without an explosion and I would wear safety glasses while drawing it the first few times starting with about 12" draw then 18" then 24" before getting to 28".

There is a good chance the bow is fine but any bow can delaminate at some point and old dry glue lines can give way in a startling manner.

 

[GregB]

Clay Hayes and the Push are definitely great resources. Kifarutube also has some good videos on how to set up your bow with nocking points, a clicker etc. and shooting and bare shaft tuning a bow. To start out I would get a half dozen cheaper arrows in the correct spine around 10 grains per pound of draw and focus on consistent correct form. Once you get that down then you can look at getting better arrows, setting them up at the weight you want and bare shaft tuning. As far as aiming methods The Push does a good job of covering those. I would pick one that you think will fit you the best and get proficient at it, then you can try the other methods. I started out shooting a fixed crawl, but later found I shot better instinctive. I started shooting a recurve about three months ago with no coach, if you can find a good coach it will definitely make your life easier. If not it is still doable, watch all the videos you can and try to emulate what they are doing. It helps if you can really analyze what you are doing each shot to pick apart where you are not being consistent and what does/does not work. Don't let frustration get the best of you, it's a process to get halfway decent at shooting, and try to get to the range as often as possible.

 

[sneaky]

Kustom King, TradTech/Lancaster archery, The Nocking Point, I would recommend any of those before 3Rivers. 3Rivers burned me a couple of times, never again.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Virginian]

Cool bow. You will enjoy shooting a recurve with Grandpa's bow in your hand.

A good place to find some in-person tips and learning experiences would be at Sherwood Archers in Roanoke. The club has a handful of dedicated trad shooters/hunters. They get together fairly often to shoot and they usually do an early morning run at Sherwood's regular 3-d shoots. Several guys there are very knowledgeable and can get you started with arrow selection, etc...

The Sherwood Traditional Archery Rendezvous (S.T.A.R. shoot) is June 1st/2nd this year. Lots of experienced people there and lots of new shooters just trying things out. It's a good atmosphere with a 3-D course, fun course, field course, tough man course, indoor range, trad equipment yard sale and swap. STAR Shoot

Thanks for the info! I can't believe I was born and raised not 20 miles from there and never knew about Sherwood. I'll definitely check them out. I always thought such a place was missing from this area. I guess I need to get out more haha

 

[FLAK]

Excellent informative video.