New to Trad Hunting

[Chief-Many-Misses]

I am new to the trad hunting world.  I would like to get some advice from others on what type of bow and gear is recommended for a newcomer.

[fido dog]

Hi Chief! =0)

Start with any bow without wheels....hehe. A lighter weight bow to help with building the muscles you've never used before and trained is good. You can spend a lot of dough or still do everything JUST as effectively on a budget. Check out 3Rivers Archery and Kustom King. They offer some nice bows for the money and you can get some arrows to boot. Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want here. People are more than willing to help.

I'm about a year in and have learned a bunch for a newbie. I look forward to all that awaits me.

Welcome! =0)

[Possum2]

Welcome aboard lad! Listen to fido dog start out low that way if do not like it your not out a whole lot. Check with  www.maddogarchery.com  Mike can set you up with a nice recurve and your not out a whole lot. Start out with maybe a 40-45# curve and then upgrade further done the road!!

Possum2

[widow sax]

First of all welcome to the addiction and to the tradgang family. Start out with a bow that is not to heavy in poundage you don't need to spend alot of money on you first bow. Samic makes a good bow for 160.00 to 200.00 dollars tradtec sells them or pick a used one up. If you can find someone in your area that has experience see if he will give you some pointers. Learn how to tune your bow it will pay good dividends down the road. Get up close real close and start to shoot get your form down try all forms and find out what works for you masters of the barebow #2 and #3 are a wealth of infomation. Once you get your form down and shooting good up close then move back a little at a time and before you know it will be shooting good at all ranges. Try to not be static in what range you shoot after you get better move around alot it will teach your mind how to hit at all ranges without thinking about how far is it. Most of all and the most important thing is have fun go to trad shoots in your area and you will find some of the best people there is. Widow

[fido dog]

What Widow said...find other traditional shooters in your area. This will really help in the learning curve.

[LongbowGuy83]

Watch the classifieds on here.

[Rob DiStefano]

welcome to trad gang and traditional bowhunting!

i'd recommend reading this article ...

trad archery newbies

... then come back and post your questions.  lots of good help found here!

[Lefty]

Welcome to Tradgang Mike.  Where at in Iowa you from?  I am in the SE corner of the state.  If you are anywhere around Des Moines, there is a really nice trad archery shop called Barefoot Traditions.  They have alot of used bows and an indoor range to try them out.  
 Just starting out, an older recurve in the 40-45 pound range, shouldn't set you back much and get you started down the road of good form.

[Arwin]

Welcome!!!!!!!
I love to see newcomers, the mystique of traditional archery never goes away, you'll love it!!
Have you shot a compound up till now? We can help you by knowing what your draw length is and how much weight your pulling.
Like other have said start off low, it's much easier to go up in weight than down. You can always trade or sell a lower weight bow after you get used to it. I recommend the classifieds in here, you can get a decent bow for very little cost.

[lpcjon2]

Maddog X2  

[jonsimoneau]

Spend $500 and take shooting lessons with Rick Welch.   www.dakotabows.com   Trust me, it will be the best archery money you have ever spent and will save you years of frustration.

[wv lungbuster]

Welcome

[RUSTY1]

WELCOME!!      Iowa,huh? Wish I was back there. Born in CR, raised in Dubuque.

[Chief-Many-Misses]

I currently hunt with a compound bow.  I use a 25 year old bow with an ancient ass site and I only carry one arrow with me into the field.  Needless to say there were plenty of times this year I wish I would have taken an extra arrow with me after I missed the first shot.  Its not the easiest way to hunt but its my way.  So I figure I will kick it up a notch and go to the Trad way of life.  Thank you to everyone who responded with their suggestions it surely helps out a lot.
- Lefty - I live in Ames, but do you know of any Trad groups in DesMoines?
- And a big OOORAHHHH! to lpcjon2 for the Reagan quote, I leave for the Marine Corps OCS in May

[Chief-Many-Misses]

Oh by the way! my compound is a 65# draw and a 31.5 draw length.  So whats the best weight to start with? I was thinking 50# bow.

[dragonheart]

Yes

[J. Adams]

Welcome to Trad Gang!!!

[longstiks]

Chief -- You will probably loose "1-_"1.5 on your draw depending on your form and on the average and bow design you will be 2-3 lbs per inch above "28 so you would probably be in the 54-56 lb range with a #50 bow on an average. Your best bet is to try to shoot some different poundages if you can and see what feels good to you.
Denny

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Chief-Many-Misses:
Oh by the way! my compound is a 65# draw and a 31.5 draw length.  So whats the best weight to start with? I was thinking 50# bow.

first and foremost, there is no general 'best' about anything to do with trad archery/bowhunting.  there's only what will work at least well for you.

thinking about what *holding weight* (not the labeled draw weight @ 28" on the bow) is correctly figured out by trying different bows.  you want to be able to hold the drawn bow to anchor for at least a few seconds without shaking.  

you will never know what that weight should be by second guessing and you could easily guess wrong.  you do not want to be overbowed as your consistency and accuracy will suffer, so will the game you attempt to kill.  

stick bows get linearly heavier as they're drawn, unlike compounds which can drop as much as 80% or more for their holding weight.  even the older compounds will still yield a good 30% let off and with 65# limbs that'd mean holding at just 42#.

your longer draw length could easily turn a 50# @ 28" bow into 56-58#, which is not the way to go for ya.

[lpcjon2]

Longbows and recurves do not have the let off like your compound does.