first longbow??
 

hello everyone,what brand and poundage would be a good starting point for me?i would like to hunt with the longbow eventually,rite now im shooting a bear grizzly and would like to try my hand at the longbow,seems like they would be fun to shoot.the grizzly is a 58"50#,seems to stack up quickly.i hear the longbow is silky.thank you for the input-mike.

RE: first longbow??
 

well i would go with the same draw weight but i dont know much about longbows.

RE: first longbow??
 

Depending upon your draw length, the Grizzly may just be too short for you - i've seen 58" bows stack after 28" of draw or less. I have three recurves and they are all silky smooth but my draw is 27" and they are 60's and 62's. Short longbows can be tough to draw as well. I have a 62" and 64" longbow and the 62" feels harder to draw. If you want a very smooth draw then go with the longer recommended length bow for your draw length. There are several good longbows on the market including hybrids which shoot more like a recurve than a longbow. Best advise is to find a few and shoot them - if you can't then stick with long time bowyers such as Monarch, Dwyer, Robertson, Pronghorn, etc for longbows and Tomahawks, Black Widow, Arcadia Tree Sticks, Robertson, etc for hybrids. As for draw weight, if your comfortable with 50# then stick with it - that's plenty for deer and similar size game. Mine are 53# for deer and 62# for elk. Just me $.02 worth. Good luck and let us know what you get.

RE: first longbow??
 

To me, longbows vary more in design and feel than recurves. I shoot a longbow 99% of the time (bowfish with a recurve), and I'm picky about mine--however, the bow I love may not be that great to you.

First thing I notice, other than the general appearance (woods, finish, etc.) is the grip. If the grip isn't comfortable, I already don't care for it, regardless of how it shoot. I want a grip with no sharp edges that feels good in my hand and doesn't require any adjustment when I grip it--pick it up and it falls into place every time.

Second is a smooth draw--I have a long draw, and with so many great bows on the market there's no reason to deal with a bow that stacks.

Then there's hand shock--something longbows used to be famous for. Some folks seem to be immune to it, I'm not one of them. My elbow will not tolerate much shock--the next day it will be so sore I can't shoot. This can be helped with tuning, heavy arrows, grip, etc. but again--there's lots of great bows on the market that don't require making umpteem adjustments to deal with them.

I also like a fast bow, but it must be forgiving as well. In my experience, it's a trade-off--the absolute fastest designs are usually not that forgiving, at least in my hands. The Martin Vision for instance--fast bow, but feels, shoots, and sounds like a recurve, and the ones I've shot were not forgiving IMO.

Finally, I want a bow that will handle FF type materials, I want a good warranty, and I want to know the bowyer/company will stand behind that warranty if needed, and I want to be able to talk to someone if I have questions or need help.

I enjoy and appreciate the "romance" of Howard Hill, and expecially what he did for the sport, but the bows bearing his name and others of a similar design just don't fit me. On the other hand, I don't care for radical hybrids that look like a recurve when unstrung (like I said, I'm picky). A mild to moderate deflex/reflex with a good grip, a longbow that still looks and feels like a longbow but with better speed and less shock that the "traditional" design, is what I like.

I found mine about 10 years ago, after shooting and owning a lot of different bows. I have been fortunate to have a lot of great bows in my hand, but my #1 pick is the Chek-Mate Crusader.

Others, in no particular order, are Ric Anderson, Roy Hall, Mike Treadaway, and Bob Morrison. That's a few of the better ones I can think of off the top of my head.

My advise would be shoot as many as you can, spend some time researching the bows and the bowyer (find out about customer service, warranty, how long they have been in business, which bow and length is recommended for yourdraw length,etc.), and don't get hung up on a name or price tag.

Chad

RE: first longbow??
 

thank you chad and everyone who has replied,thats a huge help and i will test a ton of em.im looking forward to the challenge of shhoting a new style bow-mike

RE: first longbow??
 

There seem to be a lot of "newbie" threads, so rather than to start a new thread, I thought I would just add my question here since it is very similar .. . . .

With no knowledge I just went and bought me a longbow to get started. I went with60 lbs for no other reason than that it seemd right to go 10 lbs lower than mycompound.

I have shot my longbow just enough to know that it is a lot of bow for me. I am not very smooth.

So my question is, is it better to keep at it with the 60 lb and work myself up to it, or to get a lighter draw and go from there?

If it helps your advice any I am 220 lbs and in better than average shape. I can draw my 68 lb compound smoothly at almost any shooting position.

RE: first longbow??
 

Jones,

Im around 5'9 145lbs i can pull a 70lbs compound as well, sitting and standing....i dont shoot mine at 70 tho mines at 57 give or take thats all i need and i feel im more accurate at low weight.

i have a Pearson recurve at 43lbs 27inches and a Pse Impala at about 53lbs at 27...

when i started the the PSE was too much, not for me to draw but to hold steady...so i would snap shoot it (not good)....then i got the Pearson and i was a lot more steady but still a little shakey some times( the one peice pearson has a lot less massthan the PSE takedown, and a bunch less than my martin compound)...it took me about about 2 weeks to be dead steady when shooting, i could notice a little improvment every day i would pick it up.

now impretty steady with the 53 lbs PSE but still prefer to shoot the Pearson(it has a little twist to the limb so i ordered a check-mate falcon From Chad(LBR) at47 lbs at27and i think it will be the perfect shooter for me...i'm having a hard time waiting for it tho so im on the verge of buying something to settle the beast untill it gets here.

Back to your question....I can pull 60lbs recurve but i cant hold it to steady so i dont shoot that wieght. Find a weight that you can draw and hold at anchor for 5-10 seconds steadily and that is the weight you want to start at....doesnt matter if its 35lbs or 80lbs watever weight you can anchor and hold steady is the weight for you....

what im trying to say is with Trad bows it doesnt matter how strong you are... its more of a feel, if you cant get the feel for a bow because your constantly fighting with its draw weight, you'll never improve to where you want to be. thats myexperience with itanyway.

RE: first longbow??
 

another thing is when shooting higher weight trad bows is that ive found that they are harder to control after youve released the arrow....the release is something ive really been working at.

RE: first longbow??
 

In my opinion it would be much better to get a lighter weight bow. You may very well be able to build up to the heavier bow, but in the process it's very easy to develop bad habits, you won't be able to shoot as many arrows, you won't develop your accuracy as quickly, and you won't enjoy it nearly as much. Probably 40-45# max. is what I'd go with, or lighter.

Physical size, or even condition, doesn't always matter--usually it doesn't matter much, if at all. I've seen little guys pull heavy bows easily, and big guys struggle with lighter bows. The reason seems to be that the muscles we use for archery aren't normally used much by most folks, so they have be be built up. Even a compound pulling 70# won't exercise them much, because you only hit that peak weight for a split second and well before you hit anchor and get stretched out.

For the sake of being easy on my math skills, say you shot a 100# compound with 80% let-off--you are only holding 20# at full draw. I helped a friend at his shop back whenhigh let-off compounds were introduced--we scaled it, and I think on a 70# bow the holding weight was less than 15#. If memory serves me right, it was a McPherson with either 80 or 88% let-off--it was the most let-off of any bow at the time.

You'll be doing yourself a big favor, and improve much faster, by going a lot lighter. Besides, 40# will do the job on most game animals in North America.

Chad

RE: first longbow??
 

he can always practice drawing the bow and holding steady without shooting....that way he builds muscles and improves steadyness without developing those bad habits....i recomend newcomers do this with their bows for a number of days so they can get the feel of how the bow draws, their anchor, their grip, left arm position, bow cant, stance, head position, and right arm position...and try to visualize themselvesstanding there holdingperfect form.regardless of the bows weight.

i didnt do this starting out and wish i would have. it would have saved me some troubles down the road. but i do it now before i practice everytime for about 5-10 minutes.

RE: first longbow??
 

lbr and company, sounds good,so start with 40 lbs and the chekmates are worth a look.any other brand longbows that anyone would recommend?smooth draw and forgiveness being at a premium and thanks for all the input,big help with so much out there-MIKE

RE: first longbow??
 

Thanks for thoe answers guys, and thanks for letting me share your question Mike. My other friends who are shooting agree. Looks like I will be shelving my 60 pounder.

My pulling muscles are aching. One thing I know about aching muscles is that means there is room to get them in shape. I can afford two bows for a while, so I will keep the 60 pounder just in case 45 or 50 starts to feel too light.

My son has a 38 lb recurve and found it to feel like a toyin no time at all. He wants to go up in weight.

The other thing I figured out is that this must be a lot like weight lifting. That is, when you get into a challenging weight, just a few pounds makes a big difference.

Thanks again