recurve newbie q's..

[kaimana]

I had recurves up through highschool, but they stayed with my stepdad. So its been 10 years since I shot a bow, and am looking to get back into it. Living in colorado I figure I should take advantage of the good hunting. I realize it may be a while before I am proficient enough to hunt with a recurve.

Anyway, I am looking for a cheap bow that will be easy to relearn on and will be decent enough and powerful enough to hunt with for a couple years(5'11 long arms, pretty strong). So far I am looking at the Samick Spirit II and the martin x-200. I like the samick since it is takedown and I eventually hope be doing some serious backcountry hunting. Also, I live at 8500 ft elevation so we have very low humidity winters, which caused a acoustic guitar of mine to crack, since the limbs on the samick are fiberglass and replaceble I figure they might hold up better in low humidity.

What's the pros/cons of off shooting off the shelf? The samick is drilled for a rest, sight and stabilizer but I doubt I will use all these if any.

thanks

[LBR]

I don' t know much about the Samicks--been a while since I've shot one and I believe the quality has improved some, so I'll keep my mouth shut on that.

Martin probably makes the best "over the counter" bow on the market, but you can get a custom bow for about the same price as they charge, even for the X-200.

A take-down would be ideal for a pack hunt, or traveling in general. You can also get new limbs for most, in case you need to move up in poundage.

Starting out, I'd go cheap. You need to start with a light draw weight, probably lighter than the legal hunting weight, to get your form and accuracy established. You also need to figure out what you like and don't like in a bow, so you will know what to look for when you are ready for a hunting weight bow. You will save yourself time and money in the long run, enjoy it more, and be a better shot.

Chad