Welcome, it' s good to see you here. Good advice above. I too recommend that you start with something in the 45-50# range at your draw length. I' d recommend a bow that' s at least 62" long though. Especially if you' ll be buying an older bow. The less finger pinch, the better off you' ll be and the better your release will be. You will want to establish what your draw will be with a recurve so that you can look for an appropriate bow. For instance, if you draw 30" with a recurve, you' d want to get a bow that pulls about 45# @28" to end up with a bow that pulls right around 50# at your draw. It works out to be roughly 2 1/2-3# additional draw weight for every inch you pull over 28" or whatever the bow is marked at.

Get a good set of arrows that match your bow. You won' t be able to use the Easton arrow charts as they tend to be about 10# or more too stiff in spine for recurves and longbows. Also, most pro shops know absolutely nothing about trad equipment, so be very careful about the information that they feed you. They are, after all, there to make money and a lot of archers coming from compounds to traditional fall prey to the shops ignorance.

Hook up with some of the trad shooters in your area. Call the local or state trad organization and see if they can turn you onto some guys in your area. If you know of a group of guys that shoot trad gear, get together with them and pick their brains. Keep coming here and hit other trad boards and pick our brains. Buy a book or two as was mentioned above and read them cover to cover several times.

Be patient with your shooting. The quick results that are obtained with a compound aren' t likely to materialize with a stick. You' ll find that it' ll take a lot more practice and dedication to become even somewhat proficient with trad gear. Most of all, have fun with it. There' s nothing more satisfying to me than knowing that I can confidently carry a simple stick and string into the woods and put the arrow right where it needs to go for a clean and efficient kill.