Bear Montana Long Bow Set Up

[Sacco]

Hi everyone, My name is Brad and my ultimate goal this year is to gain as much knowledge and skill in the Long Bow so I can ultimately harvest a deer. I live to Bow Hunt and now want to go the traditional route and hang up my compound for this years deer season.
   I just bought a Bear Montana 64" #55 Long Bow. My buddy Gaff who's on this page suggested purchasing a custom Bow string by Allan Shafer. It's set up with the "Puff Ball" type silencers on it. My draw length is going to be between 30-31 inches.
   I want to buy arrows, field tips, and broad heads. I need all the suggestions on what the best set up would be.
   Thanks for everyone's time and look forward to your suggestions.

[ron w]

Well you need to decide if your going to use wood, Aluminum, or carbon arrows and how heavy you want them to be.........Then enjoy the journey.  

[Sacco]

Thanks for the input.  I think I'm gonna go with the carbon arrows.

[sheepdogreno]

Welcome to the journey! you wont go back to wheels! There is so much information on this site its unreal. you have lots of options for arrows, field point weights, broadheads, spine, glove or tab, 3 under or split, anchor points, list goes on and on. id recommend getting some arrows based on a spine chart that get you close and then shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. once your form builds you can really play with the perfect spined arrow. it will take some trial and error to determine your style of shooting (glove or tab, anchor point, 3 under or split, and so on)

[Duncan]

My suggestion would be to go to a vendor like 3 Rivers or Big Jims (there may some others)and talk to them about your bow, your draw length, what weight tip you want and they will help you with picking a good arrow for your bow. It's like going to the local Pro Shop except these guys specialize in Trad set ups. If you want to try to figure it out on your own there are some good arrow charts you can use to determine what you need.

[jamesh76]

If you are just starting out IMO that is a lot of draw weight at 31"

[ron w]

Originally posted by jamesh76:
If you are just starting out IMO that is a lot of draw weight at 31"

I was thinking that also.......

[Sacco]

I appreciate everyone's input on the draw weight concerns.  Just so you know I'm 6'3" 250lbs.  I'm not the strongest guy in the world but there's no problem pulling and holding the bow back. Plus it can't be returned.

[tonytwotimes]

Lol, I think you and myself are in very similar positions, though I've never used a compound I did get out of hunting all together for some time.

Same bow, same size, etc.

The best thing I have done for the Montana as far as ease of shooting has been to take that awful leather wrap off the handle. I feel I get a much better grip now against bare wood than I did before.

I'm a big guy as well (your size exactly) but luckily I had a few lower # bows that were collecting dust that I was able to take out and work on my form with. While I shot #55 a few years ago, my form had gotten bad enough that every mistake was amplified by a too heavy bow. Being able to really work on my form with the lighter bows has helped me find that bulls eye much more easily.

I won't wager a guess at the best arrows to use for it since I'm sure someone else much more knowledge than me can chime in but I've had good luck hitting the target with wood shafts at a 65-70 spine and 160 grain heads.that's with about 29 1/2" draw from your bow.

[Sacco]

Thanks tonytwotimes. I'll be sure to let u know what ends up working best for me. The archery specialist at cabelas I worked with suggested the 65-70 spine also. Keep me posted on your progress.  Thanks again

[Jay-D]

Hey Sacco like you ive just recently got into Trad Shooting and soon Trad Hunting! I just thought i would give you a tip from one guy with a long draw length to another, When shooting carbons always go for the stiffer arrows i would say you should be good with 400 if shooting around 200gr upfont and on anything higher 340-300 spine with that weight of bow. When you get to draw lengths of 29-31 your going to need the full shaft pretty much for broadhead clearance. When drawn to 30.75 like myself there is alot of time for the limbs/string to act on the arrow and cause it to flex more requiring a much stiffer spine.

Hope im not confusing you if you have anymore questions just Message me or do a Forum Search ,The Forum Is filled With Info and pictures.

[Trond]

Hi, Sacco!
According to the Stu Miller Dynamic Spine Calculator, you should do fine with carbons in 350 spine with a total 175-200 grain in the front.
Check out that calculator your self. Kind of fun to play with...

[newhouse114]

My Montana is 60@28 and I draw around 30". I'm only 6' tall but have an arm span of over 76". I shoot a 32" goldtip 7595 with a total of 325 grains up front. This setup worked flawlessly on both elk and mule deer this last season. When target shooting I use a 225 gr field tip and it shoots a little flatter than the broadhead setup but the same on the horizontal plane.

[Gaff]

see i told you these guys are good brad.. thanks guys    

this may sound like an odd question, but how long is a full length arrow?? ive never needed them, and always have em cut.

as long as we can get his arrows to tune, i was hoping to get set up with 200 grains up front. ( 50 grain brass insert and 150 grain magnus stinger)
so with that in mind, how about carbon arrow sugestions?  how about the easton axis arrows? anyone with long draw shooting those??

gaff

[damascusdave]

You are already a traditional bowhunter thinking like a compound hunter ie. just get the right arrows and do some shooting and I will be ready to hunt...forget about shooting broadheads until next hunting season (2016)...you started way too late to be a good enough traditional archer to ethically hunt this fall...just a bit of advice about taking advice from people on here...take a look at the post count...mine is even kind of low for someone I would want to pay attention to...the only questions you ought to be asking at this point are about form and conditioning...no use trying to tune anything until you have solid and repeatable form and that comes with time...I have been shooting seriously for about 6 years now and there are days when I am not shooting well enough to tune a new bow...and save yourself a bunch of heartache and find a good mentor or two with a lot of experience...there is no doubt in my mind you are way overbowed with that Montana, and I seriously doubt that at this point your draw length is 30 to 31 inches with a straight grip longbow that heavy...I draw anywhere from 31 inches down to 28 inches depending on a whole bunch of factors

DDave

[damascusdave]

This past weekend I was shooting 3D with a compound shooter who is coached by one of the best archers in Canada...his coach started out by making him shoot 2000 shots blind baling before he would let him shoot at a target again...that is with a release, not with fingers...bad habits established by doing it on your own are hard to break

DDave

[Krex1010]

I'm new to trad archery as well, spent years shooting compounds. I can pretty much say that what I learned from compounds is pretty much useless now that I made the switch.  I'm not particularly tall but I consider myself strong. I spent years shooting a 70# compound.  I bought a 45# bear montana. Shooting compounds is easy, almost crossbow easy. Once you get your compound setup it's shoots great, we lean on the gadgets for acuracy so we never really have a bad day shooting. Trad bows, I've found, way different. Much more mental discipline. I've gone several shooting sessions where I stack the arrows in 4" groups at 15-20yards, then I'll have a day where I'm all over the place. I quickly learned that hunting with my longbow is a major commitment. I'm hoping by next year I'm ready. I don't mean to sound like a downer.....quite the opposite, I've never been more excited about archery in my life! I Love my rifles, my shotguns and my compound....but I've found that there is nothing more satisfying in the world of shooting then looking looking down a bare bow, letting an arrow fly and watching it hit where I'm looking!

[Krex1010]

Also I love my Montana! Once you get your brace height right you'll probably see you don't need those silencers....this bow is quiet! The factory string stretched a good bit, I started at 7.5" brace height and I noticed the bow getting louder and shockier....my string stretched and my brace height was 6", twisted it back up and shooting sweet again

[Gaff]

I think i have Sacco convinced that a 55# now to start is a tad bit too much.. I recommended a 45-50# Montana.  We will be returning the bow.  
So what do you guys think we should go with???

[Krex1010]

45# is pretty comfortable to shoot a lot, which is my goal. I haven't hunted with my bow yet but I've been told by plenty of people with far more experience than I that it is more than adequate for hunting just about any species in North America. Practice and proficiency should be the first priority, Id go 45#