Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: chefrvitale on January 11, 2024, 03:32:58 PM
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Hi guys
A friend of mine is finally taking the training wheels of his bow after taking years of harassment and abuse during our friendship.
Having shot nothing but traditional from the time I picked up a bow around 6 or 7 years old I should probably be able to provide a better recommendation.
Unfortunately, I am a creature of habit and loyal without cause.
Every time I think of venturing away from my aging 70#Tomahawk I am hit by overwhelming guilt for even looking at the pretty bow next door.
Too many good memories has really prevented me from becoming knowledgeable about some of the great bowyers offering products today.
Hes become proficient with a inexpensive bow and now is in the market for a bow to hang on to.
I wouldn't ask you to put all your eggs in one basket as the "best"..... that seems objective and unfair.
But a top five pick of what you would buy today if you were in the market would be appreciated.
Thanks for the input
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Can he narrow it down some? Recurve..R&D longbow...ASL...Really the best thing for him to do would get to a big shoot or maybe drive over to Kalamazoo to the big show coming up shortly and get his hands on a bunch of different bows and see what fits him really good and he like the looks of.
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I should have clarified, specifically a r/d longbow.
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My favorites are probably different from the next guys...everybody is going to have their own personals. Mine would be Centaur..Leon Stewart...Toelke...Java Man..Northern Mist........ There really are alot of great bows out there...Really, get him to actually get hands on with some before he buys.
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R/D LB, my first choice is Wes Wallace, I have 2. He has a wide selection of woods and he can get others within reason. My other choice would be Black Widow although they are a few hundred dollars more. I have shot both side by side and both preform well. My 2nd Wallace I got a couple years ago now. It has all the features offered except checkering the grip. It was still under a grand.
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Loving my Robertson Howler with longbow limbs
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I'm not much help. All the D/R longbows I have are no longer made. KOTA makes a good bow. Centaur are well put together. Toelke has a loyal following. But getting to a big shoot or show and putting hands on is the best way.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
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I love my Robertson Primal Styk takedown (pictured). Before that I had a Great Northern Critter Gitter and that is a great bow as well. Others I have shot and really liked would be the stuff from Northern Mist and Black Widow. All are fantastic bows and my best advice is for your friend to shoot a bunch of different models to see what he personally likes best. Good luck in his search.
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Centaur, and northern mist are excellent bows
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In my humble opinion, Toelke Pika, Javaman Elkheart, Black Widow PL, Big Jim's Thunderchild, Treadway Black Swamp. Five of the best out there.
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My Kanati has been my favorite
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I’ve not shot a bunch of longbows but of the ones I have the Centar and BW stood out. For cheaper the Old Mt Masa gets good reviews, I keep looking at them.
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Toelke Whip
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Caribow ... Abe makes awesome bows, Centaur really hard shooters
Don't forget to look at the classifieds, always great deals on fine bows
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JT traditional archery. Zeus, or Apollo 2
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Lot's of great choices, I have always been partial to Robertson. I have a Primal Styk that I love and I had a Vision that was awesome.
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My 2 favorite would be - Robertson Howler, Cari-Bow Wolverine. Like others have said, best advice is to try and get your hands on different ones if possible.
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A cari-bow Peregrine would be my choice. Occasionally Abe has some in stock ready to sell. Otherwise the wait time is about a year. I’ve bought some of the top of the line bows through the years that eventually I sold. My go to bow for the last few years has been my Peregrine one piece that has killed quite a few animals and a 3 piece Dan Toelke Lynx that he no longer makes . I only take it on trips where I have to fly because it’s easier to fly with. I’ve sold most of the rest.
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Widow PL, Poison Dart, Liberty Chief , Toelke Whip, Centaur
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I’ve owned or shot most recurves over the last 35 years, my top 5 are in no particular order Black Widow, Tall Tines, Schafer, Robertson and Blacktail. I have some experience with longbows and not much with Hybrids (R/D”longbow”)
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There are several repeat recommendations on this.
I am not familiar with a single one, I knew this was the group to ask.
Thank you for taking time to give some input.
I kinda want a second bow after looking into some of these.
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Like Yellowstone Custom bow Rich make the Yellowstone Longbow R&D very smooth to shoot won't break the bank.
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Don't forget Big Stick. His bows are underrepresented, and as good as anything being made.
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I'm more heavily invested in recurves, but the only RF/DF longbows I have kept over the years have been a Black Widow PLX and a Rose Oak Companion. (sorry no longer made)
I was keeping a 3Rivers Tomahawk, but after 10 years it decided to delaminate and blow apart, mid September, two weeks before bow season, this past year.
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I’m kinda partial to a Treadway Black Forest and the Black Swamp ain’t bad either
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I've had most of them out there at one time or another. Tall tines Stickflinger or a Toelke whip are a couple of the most natural grips for someone converting in my opinion. Both are excellent bows and very shootable.
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It’s kind of funny when you look at threads like this. Mainly because my experiences with any given bow are sometimes vastly different than others. And that is the case here.
I see two bows mentioned above that I did not care for at all. And both of the posters are guys that I greatly respect. I respect their opinions and believe them when they say a certain bow worked well for them.
I can say I liked Stickflingers; and Liberty bows are nice shooters.
Poison Dart may be a hidden gem for you. I don’t hear much about them but I was able to try Tom Clum’s personal P.D. (at RMSG) and I really liked that bow. But that is just my opinion.
If you got the chance to shoot some of these bows before buying one it would be well worth your while.
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I think that is the beauty of the sport, in that there are so many great bows but not necessarily does each of them work for everyone. I know I tried almost every bow a sponsor here makes. Many shooters in my club love his bows and I've owned a few of them. I don't know but none of them worked for me. I needed a little more mass to the bow and I settled on Robertson as his bows seemed to have it. That's my preference, but it does sure make it fun to try other bows, never know when one will surprise you.
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I have to agree with Pete. At least at this stage of the game, I need more mass weight in my bow.
I think that is a big part of why I am shooting recurves. Black widow PSA 63” -51#. I am also shooting a Tall Tines that is a little lighter, but also less draw weight -47#.
I don’t feel any hand shock from either of them.
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I've shot a few. And lead towards Javaman or JD Berry.
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Sadly, my likes are for bows that are no longer in production, due to retirement or passing of the bowyers. That's Ok because I really don't need another.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
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The ones you shoot the best regardless of maker or price
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tI'm probably unreliable because I have way too many bows , take at least 4 on every hunting trip and decide in the hour before heading out which bow I am going to carry depending on where and how I plan to hunt that day, to say nothing of what I'm hunting for, how much walking I'm going to do, etc. Realistically, I do consider some practical aspects, like how easy is the bow to transport? To string? To take apart and put together (if its a takedown)? The other, maybe most important, is what bow do I have the most confidence with that my first shot is going where I want it to go? If you only have one bow, and you haven't tried shooting a lot of other bows, that's an unanswerable question. But its a combination of how a bow fits in your hand, how the mass feels in your hand, how the target looks to you when you're at full draw, and those are idiosyncratic for each shooter. There have been a lot of highly-regarded bows I knew in 2 weeks were headed out the door, others I can't imagine parting with. Then there's the problem inherent in recommending, e.g., a 63" 1961 Kodiak Special or a 1962 Howatt Hunter.
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I’m mostly a recurve guy, but I had a Centaur longbow for a while, it was too heavy for me so I sold it. If I were in the market for a top tier longbow I’d be looking at a Centaur
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San Marco Eagle, Harrison Black Wolf, Toelke Whip, MOAB, Yellowstone.
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Don't overlook Sarrels Archery or Primal Tech either!!
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Any R/D longbow that is truly dead in the hand, no hand shock. That indicates a stable limb design and all that. I haven't been able to try many and there may be many other fine shooting bows out there.
My pics are Herb Meland Pronghorns, Black Widow PL's and PLX's, Morrison Dakotas, and Morrison takedown ILF's are my favorites. I have also shot a couple A&H's that I think are based on Adcocks design I think, that are very well stabilized with very long limbs and shooters for sure ... Just some thoughts anyway. I have a fair few recurves as well but I prefer the longbows for hunting duties like say the 60lb PL ......
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TimberGhost with Phenolic or G10 Riser and SS Curve Limbs
Bob Lee Ultimate w/Cobra Curves
Black Widow w/Carbon Limbs
Centaur Carbon Elite with Dark Matter
Primal Tech w/Heavy Mass Riser
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I shoot my PLX’s Widows the best. Although, I do have Schafers as well. Beautifully made . Real shooters as well
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Pronghorn by Herb Meland , Robertson by Dick Robertson , Bigfoot by Kirk Lavender
Bows are a very personal choice and what may fit me might not fit you. Can't go wrong with most of the bowyers mentioned.
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I don't know whether these are in the top 5 of not, but i have many happy customers all over the world.
Please give my website a look, and feel free to contact me if you have questions.... I have a pretty short waiting list on custom bows right now. Kirk
http://bigfootbows.com/b/bows/
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There may be equals, but none better than northern mist
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For me MOAB, if find it. Northern Mist longbows and Howard Hill Longbows.
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Robertson Primal Styk
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I'm a huge Big River fan, but John has passed. He never made a large number of bows, but if you can find one, which rarely happens, strike quickly. I have a recurve that is better than average, patterned after the Kodiak. Two D/R longbows, one patterned after the 21st Century that shoots a heavy arrow faster than almost all recurves I've tried. Lastly, a mild D/R longbow with thin limbs that I just found. Still getting to know her, but at 53.5# she is pretty snappy. Shooting 635 grain CX Heritage 250's with authority. Need to get some woodies through her. Still experimenting.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
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For me the Toelke Whip checks all the boxes; smooth, quiet, quick and a great grip. The correct grip can make or break a bow for me. Dan has 3 options for a grip. Great fellow to work with.
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I have 4 R/D longbows I have picked up over the years that I really like . All were bought used from trad sites ,and all were 300-400$ range . Like WudStix said ,some of them are hard to find because bowyers have retired .
A Black Creek Siren , a Hoots longbow ,a Heartland Pulse ,and a Timberghost Genesis .
Now that Im thinking about them , a couple are missing from the rack since my two sons have moved out .
Hmmmmm……….
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MOAB by Jim Reynolds is another keeper. Also, another bow that is tough to come across.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire: