VTPOLAR

I am thinking of purchasing a Bear Super Kodiak. Good choice? If so, what kind of arrows do I need for hunting whitetails in New England. Any comments to help me get started would be most appreciated.

Kanga

Welcome to the forum.

For a newbie to trad I would suggest no more than 40-45lb draw weight at their draw lenght, stay away from short bows (no shorter than 64" for a long bow 60" for a recurve), long bow or recurve is a personal choice.

Get form down first before worrying about anything else.

If you shoot a compound now then your draw lenght will be about an inch shorter with trad gear. So if you say have a 28" DL ona compound it will be about 27" on trad.

illianabowhntr67

As for your arrows carbons or aluminum work well for me.I shoot goldtip 35/55's out of my 45#recurve and 1916 aluminums shoot well.

buckwild41

I switched over several years ago after 20 years of compounds, so I'm still learning with every shot. I too asked the same questions as yourself and in my case I thought I was smarter than those answering (wrong!) Save yourself some frustration and cash consider the following.

First, yes the Bow you are looking at will be just fine. However, if you can get several different ones in hand firstdo it. You may find another make or model that just feels better to you. Really doesn't matter in the long run, most folks change their mind within the first year of traditional shooting and end up switching through several bows before settling..

1. Don't over bow. Like stated above start with 40#-45#. If you're a young man, and in really good shape maybe 50#-55#. If you go heavy in the begining you will develop bad habits for sure.

2. Buy a used bow from classified first. Everyone changes what they like as they move along the traditional path. In most cases you can always get your money back for a decent bow.

3. Start off with carbons or aluminum. If you want to later switch to cedars fine, but the carbons/aluminums will eliminate some of the issues in the begining and help you see what you are actually doing. After you get it downthen start monkeying with cedar shafts.Remember get your shaft weight up with the carbons.Just in case you don't know, feather no vanes... I realize thats probably a "no Brainer" for ya but I was on the range several days ago and a new trad guy showed up with vanes. He couldn't figure out why his arrow flight was less than prefered..

4. Try fingers, tabs,three under, two under etc.... Somethings work some some, don't work worth a hoot for others.

5. Hangout on Trad sites, you can learn a ton quick. Leatherwall, Tradgang etc...

6. Becareful... it can become very contagious, your compound will become rather dusty quick.

Good Luck and let us know what you do...