olympic recurve to traditional recurve

[targets3D]

Hi - I am a newbie to traditional. I have been shooting olympic recurve for 6 months in the hope to upgrade to a compound bow - until someone brought a Black Widow recurve to the club and I was hooked. I am thinking of buying a traditional bow and wanted some advice on length and weight.

I currently shoot a 66" takedown recurve (32# at 28in) and I am a 25in draw. I was measured to a 66" bow based on my draw length. I understand this would be different with a traditional recurve which generally a little shorter. I also I would like to use the bow primarily for target and 3D shooting, so accuracy and forgiveness are my priority.

Any suggestions out there?

Also, what is the best sighting method to transition to from olympic sight, there are so may gadgets I depend on such as the sight and especially clicker to know how far I am drawing. Are there alternative ways to this that can be applied to target shooting?

Thanks
K  

[Earthdog]

I'm no expert on these things,but I was doing what your doing,and with your aims in mind.
I'd buy a 40lb bow,60 inches long.
#1 your not trying to kill anything.
#2 after shooting FITA your going to find 3D distances so close it will feel like your tripping over the targets,,so you sure don't need heaps of power to reach them.
A 60 or 62 incher should be both smooth an forgiving at your draw length.
But again, your not shopping for a hunting bow so why not 66.
I personaly have a 68" recurve I've shot a lot of 3D with.
The transition from sights and clickers to full barebow.
Unless it's against the rules in your local 3D,you can still use a clicker,lots of guys use those limb mounted types.
Aiming,,,well the best 3D shooter in your country (maybe the world) shoots instinctive.
Vist his web site and read what "he" has to say about that before taking any advice from anybody else on that particular subject.
His play on it is a bit different from most folks that shoot instinctive and he has a very easy to understand way of explaining the how's and far more importantly,,the why's of it.
Your going to have to look around a bit on his site before you find what I'm talking about,but it's there,it's not hard to find, and once you read it for yourself,You'll see what I mean.

All the best.
ED.

[Diamond Paul]

You say you just want to shoot target and 3D, so with that in mind:
1. Longer is still more forgiving/smoother/less finger pinch, so something 62-64 inches would probably be best.  If you ever want to hunt with it, with your draw, you could shoot a much shorter bow without any problems, 58-60 inches, maybe even less, but I'm leary of really short bows.
2.  Something in the low 40 pound range.  You didn't give your age, but you sound young, as that's a pretty short draw for an adult.  Most bows will be measured at 28" for poundage, so keep this in mind.  You might get a 45lb @ 28" bow, which will be much less at your draw, but then grow into it.
3.  I would recommend against buying a full blown custom bow first time out, unless you find a good buy on a used one that fits you.  Look at the Quinn bows: many lengths and models to choose from, great price, and they get good reviews from those who shoot them.  Good luck.

[targets3D]

Originally posted by Earthdog:
I'm no expert on these things,but I was doing what your doing,and with your aims in mind.
I'd buy a 40lb bow,60 inches long.
#1 your not trying to kill anything.
#2 after shooting FITA your going to find 3D distances so close it will feel like your tripping over the targets,,so you sure don't need heaps of power to reach them.
A 60 or 62 incher should be both smooth an forgiving at your draw length.
But again, your not shopping for a hunting bow so why not 66.
I personaly have a 68" recurve I've shot a lot of 3D with.
The transition from sights and clickers to full barebow.
Unless it's against the rules in your local 3D,you can still use a clicker,lots of guys use those limb mounted types.
Aiming,,,well the best 3D shooter in your country (maybe the world) shoots instinctive.
Vist his web site and read what "he" has to say about that before taking any advice from anybody else on that particular subject.
His play on it is a bit different from most folks that shoot instinctive and he has a very easy to understand way of explaining the how's and far more importantly,,the why's of it.
Your going to have to look around a bit on his site before you find what I'm talking about,but it's there,it's not hard to find, and once you read it for yourself,You'll see what I mean.

All the best.
ED.

Thanks Earthdog... quick question who is the instinctive shooter you are referring to? Do you the URL to his website..

Thanks
Kal

[NJWoodsman]

You are actually in an excellent position to easily try out "traditional". There are several hunting risers that take ILF limbs. Give Tradtech (division of Lancaster Archery) a call, tell them you have 32# limbs (and what length)and they can match you up with a riser like the Pinnacle. A string and some stiffer arrows, you'll be all set.

[Earthdog]

K,I didn't want to say the name because it seems to attract so much flack from the bullys and control freaks that think they own the internet archery sites.
But he's is of course Ricky Welch.
He resently opened a web site for people that have attended his classes or are simply interested in his methods.
I don't know how to post links but just do a search on "the accuracy factory"

Good luck.

[eric-thor]

i think you'll be just fine . have fun, change one thing at a time and remember good form is good form , alter whatu need to and keep the rest ... please dont let people tell you what is/isnot trad.  

[zetabow]

all you need to do is remove sight and put a shorter Stabalizer on.

I'm shooting IFAA Bowhunter Recurve with a 25" Winstar Riser and Winex carbon\\foam Limbs for a 66" Bow, if it's wood Riser you desire I picked up the Pinnacle riser from Lancaster which works just fine and is reasonable price for ILF fitting.

I intend to shoot the Pinnacle with the 48# winex limbs at the European Fita 3D champs in Trad division this year.        


------------------------------------
IFAA Field World\\European Longbow champ, Fita 3D world Longbow champ

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Earthdog:
K,I didn't want to say the name because it seems to attract so much flack from the bullys and control freaks that think they own the internet archery sites.
 

Those bullies were recently banned from here.  

[zetabow]

Aiming,,,well the best 3D shooter in your country (maybe the world) shoots instinctive.

ED. [/QB]

Not easy to confirm that   world statement when he's never competed outside of the USA, would be great to see him on the IFAA 3D or Fita 3D circuit, I'm sure he would be up there in the running any arena.

[canshooter]

Well I know that most of the guys here seem to champion instinctive shooting, but If you are trying to transition from using a sight you may find that you are more comfortable gap shooting using the tip of the arrow as your sight marker. I think it may be less of a leap than trying instinctive.

[R H Clark]

Check your local clubs to see what you need to qualify for the trad class.I shoot a stripped down olympic barebow for all the trad shoots I go to.

You will be better off shooting your present bow and trying a lot of your new friends bows for a year or so untill you develop your own style enough to know exactly what you want in a bow.

[zetabow]

Originally posted by canshooter:
Well I know that most of the guys here seem to champion instinctive shooting, but If you are trying to transition from using a sight you may find that you are more comfortable gap shooting using the tip of the arrow as your sight marker. I think it may be less of a leap than trying instinctive.

I agree 100%, I use all the aiming methods as I shoot a wide range of tourney types, from Indoor rounds, Fita 3D to long range IFAA Field rounds.

All the aiming methods work but some people are more suited to one aiming more than another like Instinct or Gap, I see a lot of people at tourneys using Instinct because they feel thats how a Trad bow should be shot and its obvious it's not working for them.

Whatever you do, you should give each aiming method a fair trail and decide whats best suited to you.    

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by zetabow:
 I see a lot of people at tourneys using Instinct because they feel thats how a Trad bow should be shot and its obvious it's not working for them.

I see a lot of my hunting buds in camp using Instinctive because they feel that's how they need to shoot, and its obviously WORKING for them as they kill a lot of critters.

[zetabow]

Terry dont get me wrong I'm not trashing Instinctive shooting (it works) BUT for some it doesn't and another aiming method may help them get better accuracy.

I always suggest trying them all and seeing what works best for that Archer, personally I use them all depending on the type of shot.

[Ragnarok Forge]

I use instinctive shooting out to 35 yards and switch to point of aim after that.  Inside 35 yards I very comfortable with instinctive.  

Terry thanks for bumping the bullies.  Trad Archery is all about the comraderie and sharing ideas so others can choose their own path.  We are all on the same quest, but we all take a route that works best for us.

To get back to the question. It was suggested to me years ago, to get away from the sights that is.  I had a four pin sight on a metal handled black widow. I was told to first pull the top pin, 20 yards, and just use the rest for reference, then each one as I gained accuracy at longer distances, until all that was left was the arrow point at point on.  For that bow, with a corner of the mouth anchor, point on for me was about 70 yards. At which point I jumped into longbows mostly.

[Rusty in Fla.]

I got a bow to shoot with my neighbor 40 years ago when I was a kid. I bought a Ben Pearson 45# recurve with sights because that's the set up he had. Then I left archery for the next 30 years. Coming back to it I started shooting instinctive and I'd never go back.

  And thanks Terry for getting rid of the bullies.

[Terry Green]

Again....like I said on another thread...no worries zeta.....just pointing out that it works both ways.

Thanks guys......just got through banning 3 more forum kamakazies.