Recurve Rookie, need advice

[Ia. bowhntr3]

I have shot a compound for 17 years but would like to buy a recurve and try my hand at that. I would like to buy a used bow. I want to spend $100 or less. Can I get a descent shooting bow for that amount of money? What are some brands or paticular bows that I should look for?
I see alot of the Bear Kodiacs for sale, is this one I should look into?
Do I need to get one that works for my draw length? My compound has a 29.5 inch draw and I usually shoot about 70lbs.
As you can tell, I have lots of questions and need lots of help. I just got my 4 yr old son started shooting a bow and as soon as I get home from work he wants to know if we can practice. I thought it would be a good time to learn to shoot a recurve.

Please give me any advice you can. It would be very much appreciated...

[Arthur P]

If you can find a Bear Kodiak for $100 or less that's in halfway decent shape, snap it up no matter what the draw weight is! You can probably make more than your money back.

There are a lot of old Pearson and Shakespeare bows you can get in that budget range. The main thing is to not get too heavy in draw weight. Shooting recurve uses muscles that you don't even know you've got, and that are hardly even challenged by shooting compound. I've known a lot of folks that tried to go from a 70 pound compound to a 60 pound recurve and very few of them could do it. You probably need to look more around the 40-50 pound range for a starter recurve, and that's good. Most of the old bows from the 60's that will meet your price are around 45 pounds.

Recurves are not like compounds in that there is no set draw length. Most factory bows are rated in poundage at 28", AMO standard, drawing less weight at shorter draws and more weight at longer draws. Most folks draw shorter on recurves than they do on compounds (no letoff so you don't stretch into the draw as much), so you'll probably wind up around 28" draw.

Things to watch out for: Twisted limbs. Can often be fixed by someone that knows what he's doing, but not something I feel a beginner needs to be fooling with; Cracks in the glass that run across the limbs. It takes some careful looking sometimes because you often see crossways cracks in the finish over glass that's still in good shape; Splinters rising on the edges of the limbs. Thin splinters, say 1/16" or so, can usually be fixed by sanding them off, but it's a red flag telling you to take a closer overall look at the bow.

There is a growing faction in stickbows that are shooting lighter arrows, but I hold to the notion that you should shoot arrows in the 9-12 grains per pound range, or even slightly heavier. Especially on the older bows that your budget will have you looking at.

And don't take that 'older bows' thing as a snub. There are a lot of beautiful, sweet shooting old bows that really deserve to be used proudly, instead of collecting dust in somebody's closet. I've got an old Pearson that I really love shooting.


Edited by - Arthur P on 01/01/2003 10:21:39

[Wahya]

Used is the way to go in my opinion. Yep, you can get a decent bow for the range you are asking about. If you try Estate sales, garage sales, pawn shops and so on, they are available from time to time. Perhaps someone here has a good recurve that they will sell for that price range. There are a few sellers on ebay that are trustworthy, but there are some that don't know a recurve from a rifle, so that could create a problem. Basically, you'll need to look for cracks anywhere on the bow. Sure signs of delamination are cracks running lengthwise in the limbs, or the edges coming apart. Not a good thing and the bow should be avoided. Broken limb tips are another nono and obviously the bow is a wall hanger. Twisted limb is another matter, as they can sometimes be straightened out without damaging the bow. If the bow is strung when you look at it, hold one end of the bow to your eye and sight down the string to make sure that it follows the center of the bow. Then turn the bow around and repeat. That's how you'll know if a limb is twisted. If the bow is strung, make sure that it is strung properly, meaning not strung backwards. If it is, check the bow over carefully as people will come through and pull the string, not knowing that the bow isn't meant to flex that way and can break.

As far as brands go, Bear, Martin, Shakespeare, Hoyt, Pearson and many, many others from yesteryear are still around and in good condition, are great starter bows.

The Kodiak in good condition is a good bow to start with. However, some of them, because they are higly collected, can and do command higher prices unless something is wrong with them, and sometimes even then if they are a hard to find collectors bow.

I'm not up on the new compounds, but it used to be that if you went from a compound to a recurve, you could lose an inch or more draw length. As far as weight, with your first bow your primary need is learn the mechanics of shooting the bow. Your form, steady bow arm, anchor and release are what you'll be working on and accuracy isn't even a consideration until you've gotten the basics down. The reason I say that is that you'll need to do everything in the shot exactly the same each and everytime to get the arrow to hit the same place each and every time. In other words, consistent form equals consistent accuracy. So go lite weight with the bow. Say 40-50# max. That way you won't be worrying about the weight of the bow being a little tough to bring to anchor consistently each time you draw and you can focus on the important things.

We enjoy the questions. It's great to see so many new faces wanting to give shooting a simple stick and string a try. It's also good to see that you have gotten your son involved so early.



Make em sharp and shoot em straight, or leave em home.

[Ia. bowhntr3]

I want to thank Arthur P and Wahya for your help. It's great that there are fellow archers out there to go to for help!!!
I listed a few bows that I found in a new topic, what do you think of these?