Choosing a trad bow - help please

[bowhunterportugal]

Hi there,

I'm so glad I found an expert forum. I could really use some help.

I started bowhunting 3 years ago with a compound bow. Then I started to get interested in traditional bows and bought a Samick Stingray. I know, it's crap.
A friend of mine recently bought a Black Widow recurve one piece. Even though I'm a lef handed shooter and he is right handed, I tried it and they can't be compared. Well, it was expected!
So I started looking on the internet for quality tad bows. I like Take down recurves.
Some of the bows I found are beautiful. The big big problem is that there aren't that many bowhunters in Portugal, we are about 180 in total, and only two or three hunt with trad bows, so there I can't try them because there are none...

What can you tell me about what bow to pic? What are the real differences?
Here are some bows I've been looking:
Black Widow
Border
Black Tail
Bearpaw
Bob Lee
Great Plains
Assenheimer
Acadian Woods

I particularly like the look's on the Blacktails but the BW have a big reputation behind and the Assenheimer's are cheaper and I've red a post here where they seem to be quite good.

Can you help me?
I would appreciate your opinions, especially about the above three.

Thanks

ps: sorry about my English, it's a little rusty

[BOHO]

all of those you listed are great bows. The most important thing is to find one that fits you that you enjoy shooting. For your first bow, Id get one long and light enough you can shoot easily and accurately. Get your form down real good for starters. Good luck and welcome to Tradgang !!

[Killdeer]

Your English is far better than the Portuguese that I will avoid attempting. I have only one take-down recurve, and that is a Morrison Cheyenne.

You have to figure out how much mass weight you liike in a bow, and go from there. Nothing beats in-hand experience with a bow, and that becomes very expensive.

If I were you, I would spend some time in Milan. Cacciatore has quite a collection.

Killdeer

Sorry to sound flippant. There is no learning like hands-on learning, and that will cost a lot. Next best is to buy a bow and shoot only it, much like an arranged marriage. It might not have the luster of a "star-crossed" lover, but beware the man with one bow. He may have learned that he loved her.

[PeteA]

I'm going to add one more to your list, Predator Hunter or Classic. Great bows, great people at Hunters Niche. A Predator Hunter is probably one of the best buys for a traditional takedown bow. TYD about $585 new! 46@28 you can't go wrong.

[Jake Diebolt]

For my first bow I purchased when getting back into archery a Martin Hunter 50@28, but I had done some shooting before when I was younger so I wasn't unprepared for the weight.

Don't completely disregard production bows, especially the Martins (Which are really Damon Howatts). They perform well, look pretty good and are a little cheaper than most custom bows).

[Kingsnake]

Originally posted by Killdeer:
There is no learning like hands-on learning, and that will cost a lot. Next best is to buy a bow and shoot only it, much like an arranged marriage. It might not have the luster of a "star-crossed" lover, but beware the man with one bow. He may have learned that he loved her. [/QB]

Apparently, "Killdeer" is Choctaw or Chippewa for "Genius"

[Night Wing]

The bows on your list are all great bows.

One thing about a Blacktail, be prepared for a 15 month wait if you place an order.

Also, take a look at a similar design. A Wes Wallace "Mentor" TD recurve.

[JamesKerr]

I would have to go with the Widow. They shoot the best for me. Also, they are a well built bow that will last you a lifetime or longer.

[TxAg]

www.montanabows.com

[ibehiking]

I am thinning my herd of LH bows and have several that I am considering selling. I have a RER takedown recurve that is 58#@28". I also have a Browning Backpacker II that is 55#@28", and a Hornes Ridgerunner takedown that is 49#@28". If I was starting fresh I would give strong consideration to the Hornes. I do have a Bob Lee that I am keeping, as well as a Blacktail.  I have had, and sold, a Great Plains and an Asseheimer. They were all very good bows. My choices were driven mostly by draw weight and aesthetic preferences. I think you may find your choices to driven by the same things. I also had limited access to LH bows. I ended up buying quite a few just to be able test them. That is how I ended up with a "herd". :-)

[Bel007]

Every bow listed would be a fine choice.  On your list I am partial to the blacks... tails and widows... I have a few of each and while very different, they do exude quality (as so others on you list).

I have been burning through bows that last few years to find ones I like and ones that fit me as well.  Shooting them is the only was to find out.  

I have spents hours shooting through the racks at the Black Widow shop, at trad events and buddy's bows... shooting hundreds of widows in the process.  I can tell you there were widows I really liked and some that I didn't.  So even within one manufacturer some may "fit" you and your shooting style better than others.

My advice is start slow, used and cheap.  Shoot as many bows as you can touch.  When you find one you like, determine what it is you like about it.  When you try other bows, looks for those characteristics.  It may take a couple years and a dozen or more bows to find "the one", then spend the $$$ and order a custom with those exact specs (or just be happy with that one).

I also like the Blacktails.  Just got one from Norm I waited a few flips of the calendar for.  Love it. Worth every penny and every day waiting.  But I have shot enough Blacktails now to know exactly what I did and did not want in my custom order.

X2 on trying a Wallace.  Excellent bows, high quality, very similar to a Blacktail but maybe more affordable and you will see more for sale used.  In all honesty, my second Wallace is the bow I shoot better than any other bow I have/had.  It almost always goes with me as a backup bow.  Why not my primary bow?  Ya, I don't know either.  But they are great bows.

Maybe try to find some old Bear bows from the 60's or 70's.  To me they are the basis for what I compare newer bows to. Amazing how many "modern" trad bows I shoot that still don't shoot as well as a $150 old Bear Grizzly.

Anyway.. enjoy the ride.  Learning and experimenting is most of the fun.

[trad_in_cali]

Hello there, I'm from Italy but live in California. I'm left-handed as well. I shoot Great Plains and Black Widow recurves. The Widows are my favorite. I have a PMA-V and a PSA-X (bocote). My draw length is 28", and I really like the short PSA-X I have, 56". I also shoot a PSA-V ironwood 53@28 in great shape, 60" lefty I may be willing to sell.
Good luck!
Marco

[Larry m]

Lots of wisdom in the above. All choices will be far better then what you are currently shooting. Purchasing custom bows can be very addictive. Prior to ordering the most expensive in the line I would look for value and wait time. This seems to go hand in hand and a personal decision. One of the biggest mistakes in ordering the first time custom bow is spending high and ordering to much weight. This usually adds to poor form and a request to weight reduction and eventual selling of the bow.  Be smart and buy right.

[Shane C]

I would X3 looking at Wes Wallace and his bows. I love my mentor td recurve and I'm in the process of ordering a longbow from him. I think there is or was a lefty bow by Wes that was for sale in the classifieds here

[bowhunterportugal]

Thanks you all for the advice and answers.

The only bow on my list that I managed to try already was the Border, and it seamed really good, smooth and fast, but not that quiet, especially when compared with the BW.

And in truth, I would prefer an American bow.

I'm not a complete stranger to traditional shooting, although I recognize a long way to come in trad shooting. I'm shooting this Samick for the last two years. It's a 55#@28 and 58", but with each shot it looks like a tuning fork with all that vibration, far from smooth when drawing and not accurate at all or quiet. I'm just needing of a better tool.

The big issue is, in fact, the impossibility to try different bows! It's a different reality for you guy's, but that's the truth.


When I started with the compound, I bought a used one from Martin. It was a good teacher but soon I had to get something more reliable so I got a Bowtech.

I agree with you all about the trying first. Maybe I can go to the States and try some, a lot. That would be a dream...

Ps: can't find the classifieds. Maybe is not accessible to me yet.

[eminart]

I can't help you with the bows but here are the classifieds:  Classifieds

[ibehiking]

I have a Samick Stingray that is 50# @28" that is very nice in performance, almost as good as some of my more expensive bows. I was very pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it was to shoot.

 What brace height are you using on yours? I find that 7 1/2" works very well for mine.