Bear Montana Long Bow Set Up

[ALW]

I have the same bow set up as you. It's 55# and I draw close to 30". I use a 14 strand B-50 string and mine shoots good with 2018's and 175 grains up front. I cut my arrows to 30", so I'm drawing just a shade under that. 2016's shoot out of it but seem a bit weak. You can use Fastflight strings on this bow and that may improve speed a bit.

I also took the cheap leather grip off and put a Sure Grip on mine. The handle is a little blocky on mine but not bad. It's a nice bow and I've taken a couple of deer with it.

Aaron

[mec lineman]

Brad, please don't be discouraged by some of these post. The draw weight is a little stout for your draw length. 20 years ago nobody would have questioned that weight. Buddy I promise you if you practice and work on your form and start with an arrow close to the proper spine, you will know for yourself on whether or not your ready to hunt this fall 9 months away. Your first season you will be limited in your range and drawing on animals will be a new challenge. Please don't give my post number any thought what so ever, Ive been at this a whole lot longer than Ive had internet! I am NOT trying to stir any pot.

[Gaff]

Brad and I had this conversation just last night.. He will be shooting and working on form. I'm sure with some advice from here and a lot of practice he will be just fine.
I was more concerned with him having a bow that he can shoot multiple shots with before form starts becoming an issue.
Sacco where you at???

[tracker12]

Originally posted by 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

Wow you already know this guy will not be able to hunt fall of 2015 and you have never met him or saw him shoot.  I had a guy come over to my house a month  ago that wants to shoot a longbow.  We spent a couple hours on the target then hit the woods for a little stumping.  He has been practicing every evening since our first shoot with a bow he got from me and I would send him into the woods tomorrow.  He is a very experienced hunter at 58 years old and he transitioned from his compound with amazing speed.

Good luck and have fun it is addicting.

[Nathan Killen]

Originally posted by mec lineman:
Brad, please don't be discouraged by some of these post. The draw weight is a little stout for your draw length. 20 years ago nobody would have questioned that weight. Buddy I promise you if you practice and work on your form and start with an arrow close to the proper spine, you will know for yourself on whether or not your ready to hunt this fall 9 months away. Your first season you will be limited in your range and drawing on animals will be a new challenge. Please don't give my post number any thought what so ever, Ive been at this a whole lot longer than Ive had internet! I am NOT trying to stir any pot.

I agree with Craig. Everyone has different levels of ability and some excel quicker than others. I also don't think # of post has anything to do with it either ! I'll bet gene or barry have very few post compared to most...and who DON'T listen closely to what they say ? Just saying ! ;^)

[Friend]

Welcome and take time to take in the wonderful offerings of this journey.

[Friend]

Welcome and take time to take in the wonderful offerings of this journey.

[Jason_L]

Originally posted by Gaff:

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

I don't know about carbon or aluminum, but I'm working on a dozen of cedar shafts I bought from 3R today. I cut them at 29" and had about 3" left over, so I'd say 32".

[damascusdave]

Only repeating the things I learned in the International Bowhunters Education Program, a highly respected program of long standing, which I am sure all the posters here have experienced...maybe you just got a different version than I did?

DDave

[the rifleman]

Hi Brad,  I started shooting longbow several years ago in the spring.  I worked very hard at it and by fall I felt that I was ready to hunt.  I did take 3 deer with it that year.  I started with a 50 pound bow and have continued to use it as my sole bow.  I recently ordered a 42 pound bow as I really like to shoot and sometimes I can feel the 50 pound bow in my shoulder.  I think the 42 pounder will be great for working on form and from what I have read here and experienced it should be good to go in the deer woods with very sharp two blades and well tuned arrows.  You have a great deal of good advice to sort through in the posts above.  You will work out what is ultimately right for you---right bow, right poundage, right arrow, your form, when you are ready to hunt...  If you haven't purchased a bow yet you may want to check out Maddog bows.  Good luck on your journey.

[Sacco]

Just wanna thank everyone for your helpful advise. I just wanna let everyone know I ended up being able to get rid of my Montana long bow.  After shooting my buddies  recurve I felt it would be much easier to learn on.  Ill repost some specifics on a new topic called " Samick Sage"
  Thanks again for everyone's advise, look forward to hearing more positive feedback in the future.
                                                        Sacco