Some advice for a newcomer?

[Medina1]

Hello all. My name is Caleb and I'm new to the forum and traditional archery in general. There seems to be some pretty knowledgable folks on here and I was wondering if I could have some help. I'm looking to buy my first custom recurve bow and I'm not sure where to start. I really like the schafer silvertips and hummingbird recurves but I wanted to know what other options were out there. I appreciate any help I can get, thanks.

[Night Wing]

Blacktail, Wes Wallace, Brackenberry, etc, etc, etc. Too many to list.

[adeeden]

Date a bunch of them before you marry one! Seriously there are tons of quality bows out there. Shoot as many as you can get your hands on. You will find the one that fits you the best. Whats the perfect bow for you may not be for the next guy and so forth. Have fun and enjoy the ride!

[moththerlode]

When it is all said and done , what you end up liking best may not be what you expect. I would start used and then start trading around until you settle on "your" bow. My favorite allways there for me bow I got on a trade.

[iohkus]

adeeden X2  

[jonsimoneau]

You came to the right place. The most knowledgable traditional bowhunters use this site. Lots and lots of excellent bows out there. Try as many as you can. In my opinion the grip is one of the most important things in a bow. Whatever you do. Don't start with too much poundage. You will kick yourself later if you learn bad habits while shooting too much weight. Forty pounds is plenty to start with. Then move up in weight if you want. The average bow weight that most guys hunt with is probably in the fifty pound range. Good luck and have fun with it!

[Bjorn]

Both those bowyers are tops. Several offer a demo program and will send a bow to you-ask. And then there are the pass arounds. I have had 2 excellent bows come to my home in the past 6 weeks.

[Converml]

I'm a longbow guy but welcome  

[team fudd]

Hi Caleb, welcome to the campfire.  You might want to look at the upcoming events scheduled in your area,  I dont know how far you are willing to drive but denton is coming up in pa in july and you can try more bows in a couple days than you normally would in a alifetime. And there are trad shoots all over at different times where you can do the same.  Or maybe there is a trad shop or trad club in your area.  Custom bows are great but try before you buy unless you have deep pockets because bows are a lot like women, they are all different and what works for you may not work for someone else.  There are a number of manufacturers that offer test drives, not sure of your two choices so far but I know black widow does for sure.  I am partial to Hill Country, very shootable with excellent craftsmanship throughout. He is in ohio, not too far and worth a drive.  Good luck in your quest, its gonna be a wild ride.

[Whip]

Good advice from team fudd on trying to get to a major shoot to try out a number of different bows.  Where in IN are you?  The Compton rendezvous is this coming weekend and there will be lots to choose from there.  It is just north of your border near Berrien Springs Michigan.

Denton Hill is another great choice if you can make it.  Check out the Trad Events forums for other shoots that might be near you.

[LONGSTYKES]

Welcome aboard Caleb, A lot of great advice already given. Enjoy it all, good times.

Originally posted by adeeden:
Date a bunch of them before you marry one! Seriously there are tons of quality bows out there. Shoot as many as you can get your hands on. You will find the one that fits you the best. Whats the perfect bow for you may not be for the next guy and so forth. Have fun and enjoy the ride!

This is BY FAR the best piece of advice you can get from this thread!

I prefer Sarrels bows but you may like something totsally different.

Oh yeah, welcome to the Gang!
Bisch

[Medina1]

Thanks for all the input guys, it is greatly appreciated. I live in southern Indiana about two hours south of Indianapolis. I go to a traditional shoot in scottsburg but there arent too many bows to try there. I would love to go to compton but I recently had surgery and I'm going to be down for awhile. Does anyone have any experience with tall tines bows? I really like the looks of them. Thanks for all the help.

Caleb