what kind of bow would you buy?

[arkiewoodsman]

im 6'5 so its hard for me to find a bow that doesnt stack on me. i have a bob lee thats 53 @ 28 but man it is hard to shoot for longer than 20 min without starting to make mistakes. call me a wus but its just too stout to target shoot with for long, though its great for hunting.
i shot a roy hall longbow @ archers advantage in little rock and it felt awesome. smoothest bow ive ever shot. but i have heard a lot about black widows too. i just want some advice on what to buy.  
 

[Whip]

Do you know what your true draw length is?  Check it by drawing an arrow back with a cloths pin on it to see when it touches the back of the bow.  I'm 6'3" and draw 29".  I would guess you're drawing at least that, but can't tell without measuring.
I like a longer bow - 62-64" seems about right.  Some bows by design are smoother drawing than others, but if you compare two bows by the same bowyer side by side the longer one will feel smoother.

[arkiewoodsman]

my bow is 64". my draw length is 30". i like a longer bow too but i cant hunt out of a blind with it. is it there a bow out there that is short enough to hunt with in tight places or are all of us tall folks doomed to lean to's.

[brettlandon]

I built a bow for a 6'4" man with a 30 1/2" draw.  As I am 5'7" and draw 27" it was a real challange for me.  I met him in MN at a shoot and he longed for a self-bow he could shoot.  I made the bow out of shag-bark hickory and it wound up 6'5 1/4" long and pulled 55#'s at 30 1/2 inches.  To date it has been the best performing bow I have made and plan to make another just to leave on the table for big-guys to shoot.    
Send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll send you some pics.  Good luck in your hunt.

[LoneWolf73]

Try an "Ancient Spirits".  You like recurves or longbows? Right or Left?

[Orion]

You want to be thinking about bow design and length, not brand, at this point.  In my view, a 30-inch draw needs at least a 62-inch recurve, 64 inches is even better, or a 64-inch minimum longbow, 66 or 68 is even better --shorter with a hybrid, longer with a straight longbow.

My hunting partner is 6'3" and has a 30 1/2 -inch draw.  He shoots a 64-inch Acadian Woods one piece recurve.  He uses a recurve model Double Bull blind which works well for him.  It's 6 inches taller than the regular model.  He also hunts out of trees with that bow.  Killed a nice buck at 6 yards this year.  Keep in mind that because of your larger frame, your long arms keep the bow further away from the tree stand, tree, etc.  It's probably not much different than a person my size with a 28-inch draw shooting a 64-inch longbow, which I've been doing for years.  You do need to set up for the shot you think you're most likely to get.  In the many years I've been hunting with this length bow, I can remember only a few instances when its length may have cost me a shot.  

Now I know someone with a 30-inch draw will chime in and tell us he's shooting a 60-inch bow.  Possible yes, but not terribly comfortable.  In short, my suggestion is to not be too quick to jump to a short bow.  Good luck.

[Jedimaster]

Arkie, most likely you could get by with a shorter recurve than you could with a longbow. (Somebody will disagree - please don't scream at me).
Now with that said, think about a short riser and get the most length from your limbs. That's where the stack is at. Again, not a hard-and-fast rule, but can keep the overall length down.
Make sure of your actual draw length because my guess is it's gonna be up there and an inch can make a big difference.
Lastly you could benefit from getting on the phone with some good bowyers. Most will tell you what their particular design can accomodate and what will work for you.
I'm a troll, so take it for what it's worth but you may not want less than 62" (guessing draw length for someone tall as you). Even then you may have some trade offs.
BTW- 53@28" is probably in the 60's for you. Keep it in mind when looking and you may find that you won't get so fatigued with less weight.

[Gordy]

64" Black Widow PMA  

[Bowhntr]

Sound like the Roy Hall bow was what you were looking for.

[arkiewoodsman]

hey bowhntr, being from ark. have you ever shot a roy hall?

[themarmot]

Try a quinn stallion 64"  amo 40# at your draw length it will be about 53# they are inexpensive $275 and best bang for the buck extremely smooth and fast.

[Richie Nell]

Black Widow.....the only stacking it does is with deer.  Could not have a smoother draw.

[Bowhntr]

Haven't shot a Roy Hall but have shot a Navajo and they are great bows. From what I've seen Roy's craftsmanship is second to none, guy's have posted pics of their Black Feather longbows that would make you drool.

[Froggy]

put your mitts on a toelke whip 64", probably will have to learn how to take a shower with it, be that hard to put down. if theres a smoother,quieter bow around i'd love to see it. got one and two new ones on order. call Dan at his shop, great to talk with. website is
 montanabows.com   tell him Lanier sent you.
         
        good luck

[James Wrenn]

Stick with a longer bow.With your draw length there is no reason to shoot a lot of weight either.If you are worried about it being too long stay out of popup blinds or buy bigger ones.You will be much better off in the long run of things.Short bows with long draw lengths can be fun to fool around with.I look at them as more of a novilty iteam however because you will always get more enjoyment from shooting and in most every case shoot better with a bow more suited to your size and draw.jmo

The Quinn recurves are the smoothest bows I personally have ever used.

[RamiusEng]

Toelke would make a fine bow for you.  That is what I have and use.  When I get enough money together I am ordering a D-bow from him.
If you want even more insurance against stacking call 21st Century, Milton has long bow designs up to 70" long.  He does all the fancy carbon stuff too. I have personally never owned one, but all the guys at the club that do...love them.  The 21st Century Edge and Lonestar models seem to be very popular.

[BobW]

Check out Shrew.  I am 6'7' and draw 32".  My current bow inventory is a 68" Chek-Mate Crusader LB, and a 62" Chek-mate H2 Recurve.  I feel your pain.  After some time spent talking with Ron/Gregg, they are making a 56" Classic Hunter that can handle my 32" draw.  It will be unveiled this weekend at the Kalamazoo show as a "long draw' bow.  From much of my research, if you are at 30" for draw, you have a lot of options.  Longer than that, and the field gets limited.

good luck,

BobW

[Orion]

Voodoo fire.  Glad it works for you.  Might you be shooting a forward handle/grip bow like a Widow or Shrew?  Can definitely draw those further before they start to stack.  But I would think finger pinch has to become an issue after a while.  Of course, some are less bothered by it than others.  See Bob's post above.  Looks like Shrew is building another bow you might like.

[Dave Lay]

Arkie, since you were at Archers advantage, you had a very large selection of bows to look at, Roy Hall makes a fine bow. A local boywer, Dave Albright makes a longbow that is VERY popular around here. makes lengths up to 66 in, he has one or 2 at archers advantage, 1 is a lefty I believe.. ask Jerrell about his bows next time you are in there. But as noted above if a recurve is what ya want, I cant imagine a smoother drawing bow than a widow.  ya ought come to the TBA shoot march 1st at mayflower and shoot some folks bows, be alot of diffrent ones there.. see ya Dave

[Voodoofire1]

Orion, It's a Cascade nighthawk 56" and 66#'s at my 30" draw, wish it was a little heavier, but it'll do for now, and I use a split 2 finger shooting style too, so finger pinch is not an issue with most bows although the Golden hawk magnum I had, at 52"  kinda put a hurt on them,  and James, I know heavy bows aren't needed for hunting game around here, but I'm 6'4" and 300+, and I feel real comfortable shooting 75-90#'s, and with my neck the way it is, it really helps a lot, heck if I quit shooting for just a couple weeks my neck starts sounding like rice crispies again , and then the migraines return, so for me it's not an ego thing, being macho or anything like it, it's a health/ quality of life thing, I'd rather live without the painkillers,muscle relaxers, and morphine patches as long as possible, I took all that for 5 years, didn't help a bit, sure the pain was gone, but then so was I, now I've been PK free for almost 3 years, so it works for me....Steve

PS. guys didn't mean to hijack the thread or anything, just felt the need to answer a couple questions.