How is the Bear Montana for hunting and shooting?
To your first question r/d longbow hands down. As to the why is simple. Recurves and longbows with no reflex deflex (rd) have advantages and disadvantages. For basic example recurves can generate a lot of speed (as can longbows) however can be prone to limb twist due to the thinness of their limbs. Straight limb longbows might have lower speeds because the limb profile is less efficient and can have more hands shock. However, longbows normally have thicker limbs making them less prone to limb twist and more forgiving of bad form. Byron Ferguson talks about this in one of his videos where he shows himself drawing off the line of the bow and explaining how the limbs pull the string back in line. Of course this is a basic basic overview and by no means comprehensive. With all that said the rd longbow as others have said is the best of both worlds and of the 7 bows I own 5 are rd longbows (my 8th bow is being finished as I post this, yes another rd). It is important to note that bows vary on how much rd they have. For example the bear Montana you mention is pretty slight, which in my mind gets rid of some of the negatives of a straight limbed longbow but maybe not enough to increase your speed to that of a recurve of equal draw weight.
Now your to your second question. The bear Montana is a lovely bow when set up well and will work fine for a hunter. A thing to consider will you be hunting out a tree stand? 64 inches is a long bow for a tree stand and you might find that length difficult. Despite my short stature of 5'6" my primary hunter is a 66 inch rd longbow and I have zero problems out of a tree stand. You will need to look up minimum draw weight limits if you havent already for your state. I have never owned a Montana but have shot them on a number of occasions and I am a fan of bears in general. There customer service is pretty good too. Now a new Montana runs about 399 but occasionally you can find one cheaper. But if you are thinking an rd longbow and have 400 bucks, I think you should give mike with Maddog archery a call. Most of the bows in his lineup are below that price range and it's a custom bow. I have a 56 inch prairie predator that is screaming fast and super smooth that I adore. He really makes a great bow and the great thing about a custom is just that. You can pick the woods and the glass color and all that jazz. Additionally, my kids have a couple of his kids bows which are also great. If you want to stick with production bows the Bodnik Slick Stick is the best 360 you will spend with a lifetime warranty.
Last note, I saw someone mention something about 3 under and using an elevated rest. This note is just to say that I dont know if you are 3 under or split. I am three under for life and order my bows tillered for 3 under (not aware of factory bows tiller for 3 under). I mention this because if you ever plan on going split finger in the future, I'd order a bow tillered for split which I have found can be tuned for 3 under easily. However, if you order a bow with a 3 under (even tiller) you will find that the bow will not shoot well split, so keep this in mind. Then again there are more than two options. Some people I think dan toelke for example shoots two under.
There are basic do's and dont's in the archery world but I find that archery is about what works. Different body types and arm lengths will find different forms more comfortable. I personally find it painful to shoot split and shoot quite well off the shelf with 3 under. If you do want to go with an elevated rest as previous suggested and are three under I would give a turkey feather rest a good look.
Hope this helps.
Topic: Long bow or recurve? (Read 5977 times)
