New here and to Traditional...

[Ryninger]

Hey All,
   As indicated in the subject, I'm new to the site as well as traditional hunting. I think I am going to be getting a recurve sooner than later than originally planned this year, and have a few questions about that.
   I have been shooting compounds for a few good years now right handed, but am left eye dominant. I have adapted well to shooting compounds this way. For a recure would I be better served switching to left handed shooting? The fact my compoung is RH is inconsequential, as I will be getting a new compound this year as well.
   Who makes the best bang for buck recurve for a guy just starting out? Ultimate use would be for hunting, but with a fair amount of 3D on the side... Without breaking the bank (for now), I was looking at one by Greatree. Are they worth a darn to get a guy started and be able to hunt with?

Thanks,
R

[northener]

Welcome

I followed the same road, quite a few years ago now. I switched to left handed when going to recurves and longbows, that said, you can get along quite well staying right handed, many have and shoot good too. It does take some getting used to, but switching is fairly easy, at least for me it was.

Best advice I can give,  Buy a copy of Shooting the Stickbow by Anthony Camera  (shootingthestickbow.com.)  It covers every aspect of getting into traditional archery gear. It's a steal at 20 bucks!!

As far as a bow goes. There is alot of bargains on vintage bows on the auction sites that have alot of life left in them!!! The book covers this as well.

One more thing, go light in draw weight at first. This will get you started on the right foot and you will put the compound down quicker and really enjoy archery.

[BobT]

Welcome to the "Gang"

You might take a look at some of the older Bears that have the dual shelf, that way you could shoot both left and right to figure out which one works best for you. Some nice old bows can be had for less than $200.00.

[Hot Hap]

Hi there. Hap

[Wiley Coyote]

I switched from left to right when I went with traditional bows. I did a lot of pushups and this made the transition fairly easy. I am glad I made the change but there are lots of archers that don't seem to find it difficult to shoot from their non-dominate eye side.  

[frank bullitt]

Welcome Ryan! I'm just across the state,  off I-74 on the Illinois line. There's alot of members from around here that can help you in your search. Also I reccommend going to the Cloverdale Nationals Trad shoot in June , a whole of bows to try there,Good shootin to ya, Steve

[frank bullitt]

Oh Ryan I meant to ask, Do you ride motorcycles? And if your ever in the area and want to shoot , give me a holler!

[Smallwood]

howdy  

[Irish Archer]

Good to have you. Enjoy the ride.

[Son of Texas]

Welcome!!!  

[Lefty]

Welcome aboard!  There are varying opinions on eye dominance and shooting.  I happened to believe that you are best served by shooting the same as your eye dominance, but there are alot of guys that think the opposite and prove it by being very good shots with cross dominant shooting.  One of those things you will have to decide what works best for you.
  As far as best bang for the buck on a recurve goes, I don't think that you can find a better shooting recurve for less, than a Quinn.  You can get a lighter set of limbs and work on form and sell them later as you move up in bow weight, or keep them for 3D shooting.  Resale is great on them and new prices are very resonable, plus the Quinn's are great folks.
  Good luck and good shooting!

[texbow2]

Great advise on the Quinn, or you can look at some of the lower end ILF risers/limbs at Trad Tech. I would adivse getting a set of 35 to 40# limbs to start with and then a heavier set(45 to 55) depending on what you can handle later for hunting. The lighter limbs are great to keep around to work on form or after a layoff.

[Ryninger]

Originally posted by frank bullitt:
Oh Ryan I meant to ask, Do you ride motorcycles? And if your ever in the area and want to shoot , give me a holler!

Thanks for all the info thus far... A co-worker shoots lefty, so I may borrow his compound for a bit and see if feels better...

Frank,I used to ride, when my wife said she wanted kids I bought a for sale sign, lol. I'm over that way a fair amount. My in-laws live in Newport and I go hunting there as well.

Welcome-- I don't know about switching from RH to LH, but I do know that there are a lot of great bows out there, for all kinds of prices. Best bet is a bow with a good reputation in good used condition, probably from the classified section here. Martin (Hunter or Mamba) or Bear (Grizzly or Kodiak) would be a good starting point. Also, start with a 50# bow, tops, to get your form perfected. It's also an adequate hunting weight for all but the biggest big game. And don't forget to have fun!

[adeeden]

Originally posted by Ryninger:
 

Originally posted by frank bullitt:
Oh Ryan I meant to ask, Do you ride motorcycles? And if your ever in the area and want to shoot , give me a holler!

Thanks for all the info thus far... A co-worker shoots lefty, so I may borrow his compound for a bit and see if feels better...

Frank,I used to ride, when my wife said she wanted kids I bought a for sale sign, lol. I'm over that way a fair amount. My in-laws live in Newport and I go hunting there as well. [/b]

I am just a few minutes west of Newport and a bit north! If you get over that way sometime let me know, as I have several lefties you are more than welcome to try out. Theres a nice 3d range real close as well.

    Dennis

[illianabowhntr67]

I'm also a lefty with a couple bows you may try.I'm a couple miles from Dennis if you want to shoot sometime.

[Fletcher]

Welcome to the Gang, Ryninger!  Be sure to circle June 12-14 on your calendar.  That is the weekend of the big Trad shoot at Cloverdale, IN.  Go west on I70 and exit north on US231.  Follow the signs.