ILF experience

[nurayb]

I have been interested in getting an ILF setup and am just curious as to any pro's or con's some of you may have.  What do you think of them?  Also any insight on certain models.  Thanks

[Gary Logsdon]

I own an ILF recurve built by Bob Morrison which has become my "Go to bow". It allows me to adjust tiller, plus gives me several pounds of draw weight adjustment to play with - a handy option to have when you find the need to drop down a few pounds when you get stiff (AKA:OLD)and the cold winter winds blow:^. It's smooth, quick, and a fine looking piece of craftmanship.  I'll try to post a photo later if you want.

[JimE.IV]

I've been playing with a few different bows for the last year.  All metal risers....

And I am going to 100% honest with you; the bow I'm shooting right now is without a doubt the best shooting bow I've ever had. I can change grips whenever I want, I can adjust the draw weight, I can adjust the tiller, there are about a million limbs for me to choose from and dozens of outlets to get them.

But.........

I still feel a little dirty shooting the metal riser.  I know it is silly. Especially with the accuracy I'm getting and all the other benefits.
There is just something in the back of my mind that is saying this isn't right.  Last night I took out an old wood bow.  My groups were literally twice the size with this bow - but I really enjoyed shooting it more.

Maybe the Morrison is a good solution for me.

[JimE.IV]

Oh and something else...I have a friend who I hunted and fished with a lot as a kid. He lives out of state now but we talk every now and then, I told him this recently.

He said...Now you know why I fish with a bamboo fly rod.

I think that was like a giant lightbulb going off in my head when he said that.

[HATCHCHASER]

Good point on the bamboo flyrod!    Sweet.

There is just too much too mess with for me.  I am a tinkerer.  I adjust and twist on a plane ole longbow until I get everything just right.  The ILF system drives me crazy cause there is too much adjustment.  I think it would have to be the best setup for pure accuracy though.  There is just something about an ILF that reminds me of why I stopped shooting a compound.  Not that there is anything wrong with em they are just not for me.  I may try a metal riser one with a sight and all just for fun one of these days.  Until then I'm haveing too much fun with these wood bows.  

[R H Clark]

Shoot whatever makes you happy but it's kind of silly to think of a metal riser as less trad.Most of us are shooting bows with high tech FRP's over precision laminations with the most advanced string material in the world and using carbon arrows.They just look more trad.  

[nurayb]

JimE what is the metal riser you are shooting?

[JimE.IV]

Originally posted by HATCHCHASER:
Good point on the bamboo flyrod!        Sweet.

I'm actually a Hatch Chaser myself    

Last year I got to hit the Epic Salmon FLy Hatch in the Black Canyon on the Gunnison and cicadas on the Green River.

Last year was one of my best fishing years for catching hatches.


If your ever up in the North East...You gotta check the Hatches on the Upper Deleware River system.  Some of the blizzard hatches are truely incredible.  The Green Drakes are insane!

[JimE.IV]

Originally posted by nurayb:
JimE what is the metal riser you are shooting?

I have a Black Bear Warf that I hunted with all last season and shot a few deer with.

I have a Tradtech Titan that I am currently shooting -  I have a 3Rviers Dalaa and also had a Hoyt Gamemaster (Not ILF)

[JimE.IV]

Where are you in Idaho?  I'll be there in a few days to fish the Henry's Fork      I'm thinking of bring my Titan.

[nurayb]

I am on the other side.  Have fun it is supposed to cool off.  The fishing ought to get good soon.  What do you think of the titan and how does it compare to a DAS or Belcher?

[ISP 5353]

I still shoot and hunt with my longbows, but I do have one metal risered recurve with some Samick BF Extreme limbs and it is a sweeeet shooter.

[JimE.IV]

I don't know anything about the Belcher.

I like the Titan a lot.  Both the Titan and the Dalaa are similar but there are a few things I like about the Titan more...I think the Titan is cleaner looking because it doesn't have attached limb pockets like the Dalaa does and I don't like the thumb bolts sticking out of the back of the Dalaa limb pockets.

I like that the Titan is a true ILF.  But I hear that the newer Dalaa 21'' riser has the option of the pin or ILF limb attachment.

[Steel]

I am shooting a new 54" Morrison ILF carbon/foam core longbow limbs right now. I really like the size and feel of my ILF plus I have found the ILF adjustments really allow me to tune the bow to fit me which means better accuracy. You can get a all wood ILF if you choose not to go metal there are a few different wood models out there includeing all wood limbs I also have a 54" Cheyenne carbon/foam core recurve and between my new ILF and the Cheyenne I have pretty much stopped shooting all my other bows lately.

 

[amar911]

All the Morrison bows are wonderful, but of the 7 or 8 of them I own, my favorite is the ILF Mini-14 riser with the foam core, carbon backed longbow limbs. I agree with the comments of the others above who extol the virtues of the Morrison ILF. My riser is made from phenolic which is very tough and has many of the good features of wood. It is definitely not as pretty as wood, but I still like it. I mainly have wood risers on my other Morrisons, with the exception of one phenolic Shawnee riser. If you primarily want beauty, go with the wood. If you want a material that functions as well or better than wood that can stand up to considerable abuse, the phenolic is a very good alternative. I have always been a little averse to metal risers, but they do function well.

Allan

[James Wrenn]

I love the ilf bows for there tunability.Just makes getting perfect arrow flight so easy.I prefer metal risers over wood for the smaller grips and extra stiffness.I have or have owned a couple DAS,2 Dalaas,Morrison,Titan,Samick and several other watf type bow I have built or bought.Never been a bad one in the bunch.    This year I am useing a gamemaster with a set of ilf limbs.

Except for a one piece bow I doubt if I would own any other type of td recurve that was not compatable with ILF limbs.The pricing,performance and availabilty are just too good on them. jmo

[JimE.IV]

Steel,

Those are awesome looking.

[nurayb]

yes those morrison's are very nice

[Lenny Stankowitz]

I've either owned or shot at least a dozen different ilf or ilf compatable risers and this is the way it shakes out for me.

If you are looking for shear beauty, the Morrison will be hard to beat but if cost is an issue, they are very pricey.  There are a couple new risers from sapphire and tradtech that are pretty darn good looking.  I don't know what the price is on the sapphire but the tradtechs are about half the price of the morrisons.  

As far as performance and convenience, the titan is at the top of the heap.  The dalaa is a close second but the hassles with converting the limbs and the higher cost take away from it.  They were both designed to be hunting bows from the start and they work extremely well.  The titan has much cleaner and more traditional lines in my opinion.  Like somebody else said before, the dalaa is more mechanical looking.

Bows like the gamemaster, gamemaster II, and the dorado are nice bows but the same issues of price and convenience apply as with the dalaa.  That and not all ilf limbs will fit correctly on them.

There are also some really nice "target" risers that can easily be used for hunting...if you don't mind the longer length and the sometimes wild colors.  The hoyt excel is getting a lot of attention from the hunting crowd and the price is very reasonable.  I've shot them and they are quite nice for the price...only drawback in my opinion would be the length (if you are using it for hunting).  Some guys don't mind that at all. It doesnt have all the features of some of the more expensive models but for a hunting rig, you don't really need them.

Thats the way I see it.  Others opinions may, and probably will vary, but hey...you asked.

  :confused:

[Steel]

I would like to try a set of the Trad Tech ILF short carbon fiber limbs myself.I have never seen/shot any of them in person but they look nice on the web and have seen some feedback on the forum about them. My Morrison Cheyenne limbs are great though and a set of carbon/foam core snake skinned recurve limbs for my ILF wouldn't be bad also too many choices with the ILF system can cause me a headache.