trouthunter

I have been archery shooting and hunting with a compound for some 15 years.

I want to look into going traditional, mostly for shooting then in to hunting when I feel my skills are sufficiant.

Looking for a good (not to expensive) longbow to cut my teeth on.

Any suggestions?

trouthunter

I read some older posts similar to my subject after I posted this one. I thought I might post some stats about myself to help you veteran traditinal shooters with your advice.

I have a 29" draw length, fairly stout and wiry fella, 5"11" tall. I pull my 70lbs (65% letoff) compound back with ease, although I know I won't be pulling that with a longbow

I hunt Whitetail, Mulies and Elk primarily, and need to ensure good penetration on the tough skins of elk.

I don't need to get right into a "hunting" bow right away, but want to work my way there by improving my skills with a "shooting" bow.

Hope that helps a little

Arthur P

A lot of folks around here are starting their longbow shooting with the Samick Viper. They generally run around $180. Decent bows for the price.



If you don't minds spending upwards of $100 more, you can get some real deals on excellent used bows.

stealthycat

Here's what you need to do.

Go to the tradgang.com and stickbow.com and search on longbows made by different bowyers. Read up on the good , the bad and the ugly on each one. Get a list of ones you think might fit you. I'd start with 50# or so and 60-64", one piece or TD either one.

Then, go to the women.outdoors classifieds and EBAY, search for those bows you've got on your A list and get an idea of how much they sell for.

Then buy one. You might pay $250 to $600 ... but its always been a rule of mine to get quality equipment when I start a new hobby.

After you buy the bow, you'll have a few options. Keep the bow because it "fits" and you shoot it well. Turn around and sell it for wat you have in it, maybe for a small loss or gain but hey, you've got to try the bow, right ? Better yet trade the bow to some else whos got the itch to shoot something different.

I've done 20 different bows like this in the past year or two ... maybe more

Now, I can save you all the looking if you want by telling you THE best longbow on the market ...pssst, its OL Adcocks ACS

Longbow Bowhunter

I have good thinks about the Samick Viper bow, also Martin Vision, Mountaineer, , very good results fromthe Savanna longbow, another excellent is Lofton, I bought one of his for 250.00 and it is every bit as good as my 450.00 longbow. Lofton number is 662-887-2244

LBR

You can get good advice, but in the end you are the only one that will know what will really work for you. Some folks can pick up about any bow and shoot it well, others are picky. Bow length will depend on the style you get--do a little research on the one you choose to make sure it will be comfortable at your draw. I don't care for the super short "longbows" myself, but evidently lots of people do.

As for researching them on stickbow, you won't get a true reading there. Sponsers are the ones who get the good press. Comments about non-sponsers may or may not be allowed--at any rate, you won't read nearly as much about them.

Tradgang is a lot more lenient, but you still see a lot about whatever is "hot" at the moment, not always what the everyday archer is shooting. You can ask questions there and get feedback without having it censored because the product you asked about is not from a sponser, since there are no sponsers at tradgang.

It's hard to know what you will like in a bow at first, and although trying them out at a shoot will give you an idea, shooting a few dozen arrows will not always give you a true reading--but at least it will give you an idea.


Figure out what you are looking for in a bow. Generally we want speed, forgiveness, lack of handshock, smooth draw, quiet. You may be more particular in that you might want a bow that still looks like a longbow, one that is heavy or light, one that meets tournament specs, etc. That should help narrow down the search.

If you can get to a big shoot, try out some different bows. You may not know right away if a particular bow is the one for you, but you will be able to get an idea about how smooth, fast, shock-free, and quiet a particular bow is, whether the grip fits you or not, etc.

Good luck!

Chad

CAJUNBOWHNTR

I would sugest that if there is a traditional group near you look them up and check out some bows.As a former compound shooter myself iIcan tell you that the straight grip on a longbow can be hard to get used too.You can get a lonbow with a bit of a recurve style grip or a locator which will help smooth out the transition.You may be better off with a recurve since they are a little heavier.A light longbow is hard to shoot when your form is not the greatest,hard to keep the bow arm from wavering a bit.Whatever you choose,good luck.


CB

Ossage

Checkmate Crussader is a very good bow. I don't like the grip, so I would have to buy a custom version, but there are a number of places with dozens of these bows in stock at any time, and they stack up well to anything out there.

trouthunter

Thanks to everyone for their advice