Traditional newb advice

[PaleRider]

Howdy all, I have been a compound bow shooter for several years now and most recently have been bitten by the traditional archery bug. I know next to nothing about recurves or longbows or where to even start. I'd be looking to start with a used bow and determine what suits me before upgrading to a new setup. I shoot a 70lb High Country currently.

Any brands to look at for a solid reliable bow? Do you guys shoot carbon or wood arrows in traditional bowhunting?

Thank you.

[boneaddict]

Both of our sponsors make great bows.  Sapphirehawk is what I own.  I liked it so much I ordered another.  I don't own one from Pacific Yew, but I'd like too.  Do a search on those two naems on here and see what you see.  Plus click on a link.

[boneaddict]

I shoot carbon arrows out of mine.  The Goldtip traditionals.  They are grained like a wood arrow but have all the benefits of carbon.  I would like to make my own and go that route clear down to the flintknapped arrowhead, but haven't quite got there yet.

Here is one of the most current links....
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,25155.0.html


here is another one.....
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,18839.0.html

I'm sure you can find more and also some stuff on Pacificyew.   The only reason I don't plug Jays bows is I have never shot one and I don't own it.  The St. Charles name probably speaks for itself.  They are certainly awesome looking.

[Snapshot]

I suggest you get to a traditional shoot ASAP and try out some used bows that are invariably being traded or sold. There is a shoot today and tomorrow at KBH Archers in Belfair; it has been awhile since I've gone there so I can't say whether the prospect of finding some used stuff is good or not. The next one after that I am aware of is at Flint Tip Archers in Enumclaw on Fathers Day weekend. I am certain there will be used bows there. You'll be doing yourself a great service to do this rather than just ordering a bow on-line, because you'll be able to shoot it and get a feel for whether it 'fits' you or not.

I shoot nothing but wood arrows that I build.

I never have shot a compound so I don't have direct experience in what weight of bow you should try. My guess is about 55#, give or take 5#.

Good luck and have fun,
D

[RyanD]

Good Advice from everyone,

If you are looking for a starter bow check out www.tradgang.com and go to the classifieds.  Tons of great deals over there.  Once you find what you like, your shootin good and are ready to upgrade check out the sponsors here.  I currently shoot a blacktail from Norm Johnson.  Some good bows to check out would be Martin, Checkmate, Bear...

As far as arrows go, I shoot all three, carbon (CE Heritage), aluminum and Doug Fir and Sitka Spruce woodies that I build.  I really like carbon arrows but finding the correct arrow for your bow can be tricky.  They don't come in many spines so you have to play with the length to soften the spine or stiffen it.  Aluminum come in a wide variety of spine and are easy to get shootin.  For a starter I would recommend this route.  Wood is just fun.  They are very forgiving but can get expensive when you are starting out.  Especially is you are shootin cedar.  Cedar tends to be more breakable than some of the other woods.

I would start out with a 50# recurve and go from there.  Good Luck and have fun.

[Machias]

Hey Palerider, we can learn together.  I have shot a compound for 32 years and have just recently switched.  It has really re-lit the archery fire for me.

[dirty.dan4]

I shoot a Martin X-200 recurve, its a great bow for the price.

[Hornseeker]

Welcome to Trad!

I build the Sapphire bows Doug talked about..

Good advice above. You sure dont have to "try out" a bunch..but it also wont hurt! Trad Gang or Ebay is a good place to find a used bow.

My bows seem to make folks happy, so take a look when you are ready and dont be shy about asking lots of questions of me or anyone else here!

Good Luck,

Ernie

[Ray]

Sapphire Archery and Pacific yew both make great bows.

I own two Pacific Yew longbows. I do know that he also is making recurves and has been playing around with different woods on several of his bow models lately. One of these Pacific Yew longbows I have is a take down with no tools required to do so and the other one a single piece longbow. I also have a fast shooting Sapphire Hawk. I have found a reason for each one. Just like owning another gun. I have been always buying directly from a bow maker instead of a factory. After trying to buy a used recurve I found it suspect and I wanted one that "just worked fine" instead of leftover problems. However I am sure there are plenty of good used bows.  Experiences tell me that I prefer to use the Pacific Yew longbow in a sitting position, and that it is more comfortable when traveling through and using among the jungle of western Washington. It seems easier to get a fast shot out of it. Which is more for fun than anything else. If I am shooting turkeys on the ground or walking around western Washington brush looking for blacktails I take this bow. On the other hand I must say that the Sapphire Hawk is very accurate for me using carbon arrows out to 35 yards and it performs quite well. It shoots flat and I would like to take this bow more often when I think that I will be taking a longer shot. I also like the cocobolo wood. It's neat. I also have cocobolo knife. Maybe I will get a gun stock from it next.


I shoot carbon and cedar. Carbon seems to be more predictable with regards to it's bending properties/consistancies and seemingly is more accurate off the shelf. However if you want to buy all kinds of gadgets or spend lots of money to have fine tuned cedar I bet they could be as accurate as some carbon arrows. One of the problems about the carbon arrows is that when I broke a nock I found that it is a real pain in the neck to replace. I have to carve out my old nock and the glue from the shaft. Something which is fairly trivial on the wood arrows. Carbon is about 3 times as expensive but is less likely to break and interchanging between field points and broadheads is as easy as pie. I will often use my wood arrows when shooting at 3d shoots where I might lose an arrow on a target. Reason is that it will be less costly than carbon in case I do lose one. Most of the time these days I am shooting carbon though.

Get a bow you like shooting. That is the most important piece of advice I have.

[PaleRider]

Wow thank you all for the excellent advice, it is greatly appreciated. Snapshot thanks for the PM. The tradgang forum is also FULL of information. I wont be getting any sleep for awhile just staying up with all this reading! 

[NWWABOWHNTR]

Welcome to Trad!  I have made the switch in the last few months from my bowtechs to first a used WHisperstik recurve and now a Chapparell Kaibob longbow.  I was shooting a 70# Captain for hunting and a 60# Commander for indoors,  went down to 50#'s @ 28" and it is fine.  Not sure I'd want much more than that.   I am shooting both carbon and aluminum and actually like the aluminum.... just seems to shoot better out of the longbow,  but have yet to find the correct spined carbon for that bow.  I am shooting 2016's at 29" (my draw is 28) and 125 grain tips with a 50 grain brass insert.  My next purchase is going to be a custom bow from one of the 2 bowyers on here... awesome looking and just have to figure out how to break it to the wife I am buying my 5th bow since Sept... :-)  Tradgang is a great place,  have fun!

[Hornseeker]

Trad Gang is a good site! I mostly frequent pirates of archery . net   but... if enough of us are into trad, we can have plenty of good discussion here too!!

Thanks for the kind words all and good luck to all this year!!!

Ernie

[Ray]

I just wanted to report a low tech way of getting those broken nocks out of the carbon arrows which just worked.

First I used a swiss army knife which has the reamer with sewing eye to scrape away the innards just enough so that I could fit in my round file. Then I used a round file (the ones I used to create the string nocks on the bows I have been working on) which I pushed in just enough to grab the leftovers of the nock. I twisted it slightly to get grip and then pulled outwards.

I am sure someone figured this out 100 years ago but I have always been behind when it comes to evolution.

[boneaddict]

I always use brawn instead of brains and often end up with something sharp in my finger and blood dripping on the carpet.   Thanks for the tip.