G'day from an Aussie about to get into trad hunting

[Jon Stewart]

welcome.  You have great flint knapping rock over there called mookaite.

[Wilderlife]

The flint stuff might be a fair way off for me yet, mate. 

I think I've decided to not bother fixing my compound bow just yet. Will buy a Samick Sage in 45lbs and practice with it a lot, and use that time to get my BW looked at and see if it does indeed need new limbs.

I got it wrong before. It's actually a 60 inch bow that is 65lbs @ 28 inches. I've gotten better at pulling it back and holding steady over the weekend but it's too much effort for a newbie, obviously.

Super keen to get something a bit easier to shoot and work on my technique.

I won't be good enough to hunt the fallow rut here (about 5 weeks away) with a Samick Sage so it'll be the old lever-action rifle I think.

[A Lex]

G'day Dylan, and welcome to the wonderland of traditional bows and traditional bowhunting.

You might find it's a deep rabbit hole, but I've certainly found the effort to learn good form and good alignment to be very worthwile and extremely satisfying.

Lots of fantastic infomation here, and you will benefit immensely from that infomation so frequently and un-selfishly shared in this place. I know I have.

As has been said a number of times, start light. This will be so very valuable in learning that good form and good alignment.

Might I suggest using the search here, and search for "Terry's Form Clock". This is by far one of the best things I've found to help get your head around alignment. Terry makes it easy to understand, and a light bow will make it come together a lot easier

When you have worked up to that Blackwidow PCH, enjoy it. Blackwidows are brilliant bows, I've got a couple, actually they are the only bows I own, so I'm obviously not biased at all 

Enjoy your bowhunting, unfortunately we are not allowed to bowhunt down here in Tas, drives me burko sometimes. But I sure love shooting my trad bows, and I really love hunting with them over there on the mainland on the few rare occasions I've been able to do so.

Hope you enjoy your time here.

Oh, and we like trad photos too

Best
Lex

[Steelhead]

You might have the option down the road of getting the weight on those limbs reduced.Black widow might do that and if you have the serial # of the bow they may be able to tell you how much they could get off.

You may be able to find a set used as well if you want to run a classified add here or search other venues.

You may be able to trade them for a lighter set possibly also.You can swap Widows limbs out from one bow to another.Its a nice feature about Widows.Any other PCH limb will fit you bow

Maybe you could use those for the Water Buffalo over their someday.

Its good that you can get the 45# Samick.It will be a good starter bow for you no doubt.

Cheers!

[Aaron Proffitt 2]

Welcome aboard and have some fun as these bows and hunting with them is great !

[Sam McMichael]

Welcome to trad archery and to Trad Gang. There are lots of very accomplished archers here who will help you along. As stated, 60# is a very heavy bow to start out with, but it can be done. Go slow to avoid injury. Shoot only a few arrows at a time in the beginning until you can pull the bow with control. Form is paramount in developing accuracy, and a heavy bow can make form development more difficult. It will take time however, so be patient. My first longbow was 58#, so I understand the frustration that sometimes comes with a stout bow. If you can gain access to a lighter bow, I would recommend it. However, over time, you can become a good archer with your bow. I believe you will like the Black Widow. Hang in there, and enjoy the ride.

[Wilderlife]

I have been eyeing off Samick Sage bows - 45lb. About $230 AUD delivered.

What do you all reckon? Get it in 45lb and start shooting!

I understand the Sage gets great reviews and it seems to be popular, but is it just because it's available? I'm not worried about brands either way at the moment. The BW is obviously a great bow and I just need something to warm into it.

[Mark R]

Check out James Cado Jr thread on the shooters forum, He has a training program It takes about 8 weeks to complete but is well worth it, its title is on target panic but it is a great program to get started in trad.

[Wilderlife]

I figured I'd post a bit of an update on my journey.

I bought a used Ragim of some sort off eBay here in Australia for a decent price. It came with 35# and 55# limbs. After shooting it a little while it looks like the 55# limbs are twisted a bit, but it's still been good for me to practice form.

I've also just bought a used PSE of some sort in the 50# range, so I can keep the 35# limbs on the Ragim and use the PSE.

Then a bloke over here in Australia hooked me up with a friendly bloke over in the USa who sold me some used BW limbs for a really good price, and they're just over 50#, so I have some nice limbs to use on my BW when they show up.

I'm a school teacher so having a few extra bows doesn't matter to me as I can take them to school and teach kids how to shoot, which will be a lot of fun.

Once I get all the bows here I'll get some arrow tuning sorted and hopefully be able to start hunting soon when I get good and confident enough. No rushing it, though!

I was keen to hunt with recurves this rut recently in Australia after I blew up my compound bow but I just couldn't get it happening so I hunted with rifles instead.

[goobersan]

   welcome friend

[Captain*Kirk]

My advice to you is to not rush things. Don’t go into this thinking you’re going to need particular grain heads or a certain length arrow....that’s a recipe for wasting a lot of money. 60lbs is a heck of a lot of bow to learn on. By all means accept the gift but realize you likely will have issues developing good form by learning on that bow. Trust me, as someone who has made a lot of mistakes, take your time. It takes a while just to get your form down, and before you have consistent form, trying to tune arrows and set up a bow for hunting will lead to lots of frustration. I’m not trying to scare you here or anything, I’m just trying to help you avoid the common issues that make people give up on traditional archery.....I made the mistake of buying a My first trad bow in a weight I wanted to hunt with the thought that i was saving time and money by getting the hunting setup first....I was way wrong and it cost me a lot of time and wasted money.

I highly recommend getting a light weight bow to learn on, I was shooting 70# compounds easily, but honestly I struggled to learn on a 45# trad bow. It was until I basically started over with a 35# bow that I made any real strides in consistent form and accuracy. I apologize for writing a novel here. This is a great forum and traditional archery is an extremely satisfying pastime. Good luck!

This!^^^
Accept the gift by all means, but 60# would not be a recommended starting point. 30-35# is much more realistic for developing good form and bow muscles. I see you have altered your original intent and I think you will be glad you did.

[Wilderlife]

Absolutely.

I got the PSE 50# in the mail yesterday so I took the 50# limbs off my Ragim and put the 35# limbs on it. The new limbs for my BW won't be here for a few weeks so I have enough to practice with for the moment, but sorting out my arrows once that happens will be a big step.

[Wilderlife]

Got my new BW limbs in the mail yesterday from a bloke in North Dakota. Super excited to get out and give this thing a run now.

[smokin joe]

Welcome to Trad Gang. The most important thing is to have fun on the journey of learning. Remember that this is a close-range type of hunting. If you can consistently hit near your point of aim at 15 yards (about 13 or 14 meters) you are going to be able to do a lot of hunting and put some game meat on the table. Also, don't be afraid to hunt with a lower-weight bow. A modern and fast 40-45 pound bow will get the job done, and can be more accurate and fun to shoot.

[beemann]

Hey those limbs look familiar.   Lots of good info from the guys here.  Good luck buddy. 

[1Arrow1Kill]

Welcome to Trad Gang and to traditional archery Dylan.  With so many bows and limbs in such a short period of time, I might also say, "Welcome to the Addiction!".  You have already heard good wisdom from some of the sages here on Trad Gang.  Heed them well and you'll do well.  You might also enjoy getting on YouTube to watch some of the great videos on developing consistent form with your traditional bows.  Perfect Practice Make Perfect. 

[Wilderlife]

Hi everyone.

I've been reading a lot, talking to lots of people, and shooting a bit. It's all good fun. I've been told to focus more on my form and let the groups come naturally which is something I need to think more about. Being a rifle shooter means I'm always thinking about the groups and I need to be more patient I think.

I was out rifle hunting with my partner over the weekend but in the downtime at camp I shot my recurve plenty. Here is a picture I took.

[Al Kidner]

Gday mate... lots and lots of interesting information here Dylan. I’ve been here from the very beginning and you won’t find a better place for information on shooting a stickbow.

Cheers,

AK.

[Sam McMichael]

That group looks pretty good. Can you shoot that king of group consistently? If so, you need to get your broadheads good and sharp and hunt.

[Wilderlife]

Gday mate... lots and lots of interesting information here Dylan. I’ve been here from the very beginning and you won’t find a better place for information on shooting a stickbow.

Cheers,

AK.

Cheers, mate. It's been a fun journey so far.

That group looks pretty good. Can you shoot that king of group consistently? If so, you need to get your broadheads good and sharp and hunt.

Not even close, mate. This one was a bit of a fluke.