Curious about your world...
 

I was in Bass Pro yesterday and found myself talking with an older gent who works there about trad equipment...come to find out he has been hunting and shooting competively since 1972... we talked about the history of recurves and long bows, and others.....since I have no knowledge of trad stuff, I need a glossary of terms!! such as....what is a selfbow?? what is a Take down recurve?? what is a lamenated bow?? etc...

RE: Curious about your world...
 

A selfbow is a bow made from a single piece of wood.They can be backed with other materials such as rawhide,sinew,another wood(these are composite selfbows).A takedown recurve is a recurve that can be taken apart.I have 3 t/d's and they're all 3 pc.Some are 2pc t/d's.There's also t/d longbows-both 2 and 3 pc.A lamiinated bow is made with several alyers of wood glued together and finished with glass.The bows you see in the stores are laminated bows

RE: Curious about your world...
 

thanks Jim, what would you recomend me shooting this winter and spring and summer? I learned to shoot a bow using a longbow and recurve but that was 2 decades ago...

RE: Curious about your world...
 

Which bow is the best for me? Same issue as you will find with compounds. What I like is not necessarily what you would prefer. I shot lots of trad bows. I shot r-d longbows, reflexed longbows, flat longbows, Elb longbows, recurves, static recurves, takedown recurves, etc. etc…. This year, I’m hunting with a reflex deflexed long bow. Best way to find out, is to find somewhere that has trad bows, and try them out. Not much different than picking a compound.;)

RE: Curious about your world...
 

so none of them have an advantage over another when it comes to shootability or for say a beginner?? I would like to have something fairly cheap but will do the job on a deer... something that I can shoot comfortably for several months before I go into the woods with it... the guy at Bass pro said that he found one for the cost of na gallon of gas, which is pretty steep!! j/k but he said people often give them away or you can find one very cheap...but I want something that will do the job as well...Im not going to pay 600$ for one but I will give 250$ for one..

RE: Curious about your world...
 

There's many good brands of bows out there Landon. If I was you I'd go out and buy a 40lb to 45lb cheap priced recurve or longbow and shoot It a bunch and see If you even like doing It anymore. If It works out well and you want to get serious get yourself a better bow come summer.

RE: Curious about your world...
 

You can find a nice bow for 250 bucks easily. As for the differnce in the bows and advantages are;

Longbows tend to have a smoother draw with less stack. Easier to hold at equal weights compared to recurves. Longbows generally are slower than recurves, with exceptions of the reflexed longbows. Longbows tend to be more forgiving than recurves. Recurves are faster and shorter. But with the extra speed comes more handshock and more stack at draw lenghts. I build most of my longbows with reflextouter limbs (to get the advantage of a recurve) and deflexed inner limb (toreduce hand shock). Recurves tend to have a riser rather than a handle, so they feel more like a compound in the hand. With that said, you can find longbows with similar riser style handles. I build some longbows with a risers instead of a static grip. Since you are new, id stear clear of bend in the handle bows, like english longbows. And Id stick with bows that have a cut out shelf, that way you are not shooting off the knuckle. Knuckle shooting takes some practice and would add another element to learning that you dont really need to mess with until you get down the general form. One other thing to consider, the longer the limbs, the more foregiveness and smoother draw the bow will have.

Hope some of this helps.

RE: Curious about your world...
 

Yep, excellent suggestion. Dont go heavy at first. You will drive yourself crazy trying to get down the form. I would suggest the same thing as Schultzy, 40 -45lbs is a good weight to start. And if you go with a 45lb, you could even hunt with it. With the appropriate arrow.

RE: Curious about your world...
 

this is great stuff guys... thanks, Im going to look in to this in Jan when I have some down time and I will find a cheap recurve or longbow and get some arrows to fling and see what I hit.. If it is something I can do, and something I believe will add to my love of this passion I will get a much nicer bow...not 700# nice... but nice enough... do you guys recommend wooden, alum, carbon, bamboo arrows???

RE: Curious about your world...
 

I'm an Aluminum guy, there easier to set up and tune, at least for me they are. I don't care much for carbons but that's just me.