looking to get a longbow or recurve,,Please Help!!

[PSEsilverhawk55]

i was wanting to get either a longbow or even a recurve,,mainly just to shoot and maybe for small game and possible birds if i get good enough,,then if i get real good i might try huntin whitetail with it. My questions are,,what would be a good cheap bow to get started with that is somewhere around 50 or 55#,also whattipscould yall give me for shooting one, or maybe someplace to read about the different aspecs of shooting a longbow or a recurve(such as release, and aiming).
Any Help would be very appreciated

[Arthur P]

I think it's generally a good idea for someone just beginning to experiment with traditional bows to start out with a recurve. Keep the longbow option open though, because if you get the bug, you'll eventually have one anyway.

Define 'cheap'. Are you looking to pick up an old used bow around a hundred bucks or could you spend upwards of $250 - 300? If you want something inexpensive and don't mind doing some gambling, then you can get a vintage Pearson or Shakespeare with a lot of shooting left in 'em for $100 or less. Sometimes a lot less. If you want a new bow with a warranty, then I'd recommend the ChekMate Falcon.

www.recurves.com

Or you can look at some of the Samick/Aim/Internature bows.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of "Become the Arrow" by Byron Ferguson. I like his method of aiming. I like some of the recurve-specific information in Asbell's "Instinctive Shooting", but ignore much of what he says about aiming.

[Jakes Cronje]

I'm an unabashed Chek-Mate fan- A CM bow will set you back a few dollars more than a Samick or Internature bow- and you'll get a MUCH better stick. And if you ever want to sell it, you'll get most of your money back.

[muskiehunter]

I am also a chek-mate fan. I had a chek-mate pawns king made for me and am completely satisfied with it. I have two other recurves (a Wing archery falcon and a Great Plains longcurve) and prefer the chek-mate. Another source is www.archerybymail.com. You can select the wood(s) for the riser and limbs and draw weight.

My chek-mate is 54 lbs at my draw length. No stacking at my approx. 30 inch draw. The pawns king is the same as a falcon except longer in length to be a little more forgiving for longer draws. Will never sell it.

I would buy a lower weight bow for starting, say 30-45 lbs at your draw. I bought my other bows off ebay for quite reasonable prices.

Lots of fun.