What longbows should I look at?

[GLB]

^^^ Foggy Mountain, I do like that color but will show stain and dirt over time. Nothing wrong with that either.

 

[Wrench]

Easy to go too short. Hard to go too long. At 29.5" you definitely want the longer one.

Dan will tell you you'll be happy with 58 too.

 

[Wrench]

This x100! Toelke offers Beaver Tail and another leather, not sure what to call the other one, but it's more supple, I have the second on both the Toelkes I bought new! I once shot a bow with beaver tail, think it was Big Jim's and the leather was very rigid and kind of slick or slippery feeling, that turned me off to Beaver Tail on a grip, but since then I shot a Super D with beaver tail and it was fine, they wrapped the grip at no extra charge, BUT not sure a grip wrap is possible with a 2 piece???

I have two toelke two piece bows with beaver tail...one black, one brown. I prefer the brown. They are durable as a Goodyear. I can try to post a pic of the grips if you are curious about how they look.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

Easy to go too short. Hard to go too long. At 29.5" you definitely want the longer one.

Without being able to get your hands on it and shoot it, I agree. I like short bows, and I have a long draw, but a lot of them don’t work out well with that long draw.

 

[Newtosavage]

I've yet to shoot a 60" bow aside from a severely deflexed recurve like a Kodiak Magnum, that can handle a true 29.5" draw. Plenty say they can, but then start stacking at 28" or so. Longbows, by design, will stack earlier than a recurve of the same length. It's a simple matter of physics. You can uncurl a recurve limb. You can't stretch a longbow limb when it's already pointing backward at a 45+ degree angle.

Sure, you can shoot a bow 1.5" beyond where it starts stacking, but who really wants to.

Also, a lot of guys will say they have "X" draw length with traditional bows when in fact that's their arrow length and in their mind they are drawing it to the back of the riser, but in reality they have 1" or more of arrow hanging out front.

I'm 6'4" with a 77" reach and have a 32.5" draw with a compound or target recurve, and I barely draw 30.5 with my traditional hunting bows. For someone to have a true 29.5" draw with a hunting weight traditional bow, I would expect them to be at least 6'1" with arms like an ape. Maybe that's the case though.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

You’re definitely not wrong. The only short bows I’ve shot that cooperate with my 30” draw are my current 56” McBroom, the Kodiak Magnum, and a 56” Shrew. I’d be a little hesitant about anything in that amo range without trying it first.

 

[oldgoat]

I've yet to shoot a 60" bow aside from a severely deflexed recurve like a Kodiak Magnum, that can handle a true 29.5" draw. Plenty say they can, but then start stacking at 28" or so. Longbows, by design, will stack earlier than a recurve of the same length. It's a simple matter of physics. You can uncurl a recurve limb. You can't stretch a longbow limb when it's already pointing backward at a 45+ degree angle.

Sure, you can shoot a bow 1.5" beyond where it starts stacking, but who really wants to.

Also, a lot of guys will say they have "X" draw length with traditional bows when in fact that's their arrow length and in their mind they are drawing it to the back of the riser, but in reality they have 1" or more of arrow hanging out front.

I'm 6'4" with a 77" reach and have a 32.5" draw with a compound or target recurve, and I barely draw 30.5 with my traditional hunting bows. For someone to have a true 29.5" draw with a hunting weight traditional bow, I would expect them to be at least 6'1" with arms like an ape. Maybe that's the case though.

I'm only 5'11" but do have ape arms, I own 2 Whistlers, one light one built for me, one bought used that's heavier, the light one doesn't stack at 31", I feel like the heavier one is just starting to stack right at my draw of 31", both gain 7# in the 3" past marked weight as does my Lynx Longbow from Toelke. And for reference if I don't have at least a 32"arrow, I feel broadheads on my fingers, so I'm definitely getting it all the way back and into alignment.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

^^^ Foggy Mountain, I do like that color but will show stain and dirt over time. Nothing wrong with that either.

I’m thinking the same but switching it out ain’t too bad if I need to.

 

[Newtosavage]

You’re definitely not wrong. The only short bows I’ve shot that cooperate with my 30” draw are my current 56” McBroom, the Kodiak Magnum, and a 56” Shrew. I’d be a little hesitant about anything in that amo range without trying it first.

Ron designed that Shrew with a LOT of deflex in it so he could shoot short bows with his draw length. It stands to reason.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

Ron designed that Shrew with a LOT of deflex in it so he could shoot short bows with his draw length. It stands to reason.

And he did a fine job I must say. I would have bought that Shrew on the spot if the draw weight wasn’t so blasted heavy.

I’d like to try one of Gregg Coffee’s bows one day too, since he built the Shrews for years. I just haven’t been able to.

 

[Kentucky]

JT traditional archery has a 56/58” model called a Storm that he says can be drawn to 32”… I have a 60” Apollo he makes and it’s a very nice bow, top quality, 2 piece available but no leather

 

[Warmsy]

I've yet to shoot a 60" bow aside from a severely deflexed recurve like a Kodiak Magnum, that can handle a true 29.5" draw. Plenty say they can, but then start stacking at 28" or so. Longbows, by design, will stack earlier than a recurve of the same length. It's a simple matter of physics. You can uncurl a recurve limb. You can't stretch a longbow limb when it's already pointing backward at a 45+ degree angle.

Sure, you can shoot a bow 1.5" beyond where it starts stacking, but who really wants to.

Also, a lot of guys will say they have "X" draw length with traditional bows when in fact that's their arrow length and in their mind they are drawing it to the back of the riser, but in reality they have 1" or more of arrow hanging out front.

I'm 6'4" with a 77" reach and have a 32.5" draw with a compound or target recurve, and I barely draw 30.5 with my traditional hunting bows. For someone to have a true 29.5" draw with a hunting weight traditional bow, I would expect them to be at least 6'1" with arms like an ape. Maybe that's the case though.

I'm 6'2"... I didn't think I had ape arms. Now I'm ashamed

 

[Newtosavage]

JT traditional archery has a 56/58” model called a Storm that he says can be drawn to 32”… I have a 60” Apollo he makes and it’s a very nice bow, top quality, 2 piece available but no leather

A lot of bows "can be" safely drawn to xyz draw length. That's not really the point though.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

A lot of bows "can be" safely drawn to xyz draw length. That's not really the point though.

Yeah. The question is are they easy to draw the entire way?

 

[Newtosavage]

I once had a Martin Savannah that none other than Larry Hatfield "guaranteed" me it would handle my 30" draw. Sure, I could shoot it at 30" but it stacked so bad past 28 (same with every other Martin bow) that I didn't want to.

 

[Beendare]

Del

 

[GLB]

This is the reasons why I prefer shooting the longbow. That increased tension to sort of a wall feeling.

 

[Kentucky]

A lot of bows "can be" safely drawn to xyz draw length. That's not really the point though.

I understand that.. This bowyer is saying he makes a short hybrid longbow for guys that have a draw up to 32”..of course I couldn’t tell if it was stacking cause I draw 28”

 

[Newtosavage]

I understand that.. This bowyer is saying he makes a short hybrid longbow for guys that have a draw up to 32”..of course I couldn’t tell if it was stacking cause I draw 28”

Short hybrid longbow for draws up to 32" don't exist. I'm sorry but you can't cheat physics.

 

[Newtosavage]

This is the reasons why I prefer shooting the longbow. That increased tension to sort of a wall feeling.

I get that.