TRAD archery shops.

[Shakes.602]

They are Few and Far Between from me too. The best place to shop, right here....OnLine. Saves Gas too!     BONUS!  

[Babbling Bob]

I second "The Nocking Point" near Sand Springs, OK, (Tulsa). Stopped there once when in Tulsa to see relatives but they were at the Pre Spring Arrow Fling.  After they got my telephone message, they called on the road heading back home from the Shoot.  Pretty impressive and really nice people.

[archer66]

There's a really good archery shop just fifteen miles from my house but they cater to compound shooters.  The owner is a nice guy and very knowledgeable as he's been in archery for prolly 60 years and of course knows all about traditional gear.  It just doesn't pay him to stock the supplies.  He's glad to order stuff for me but I can do that myself.  It'd be nice to be able to walk into a shop and have on hand everything you need when you don't know for sure what you need...for instance during arrow tuning or whenever the mood strikes to tinker.

[Brently]

Raptor Archery is about 6 miles from my place, he has everything you need.

[Hit-or-Miss]

I buy from Big Jim and 3-Rivers. And I live very close to a smooth talking Archery dealer in southern Maine (trad and wheel), however he is a well known, convicted poacher / felon and outright scoundrel. Yeah... I'll stick with Big Jim and 3-Rivers.

[9 Shocks]

Archer,

I use to go to town hall once a week being that I'm only half an hour away. But it wasn't worth the drive after a while and you can't REALLY tinker. Most of the guys working there don't understand why you want to bareshaft/cut back/bareshaft/cut back, paper tune change nock heights, side plate materials etc...some of the people working there would get annoyed when I would make multiple cutting requests on a single shaft to figure out my tuning or whatever and it wasn't worth the fuss. They are paid to help but don't believe what I am doing matters (at least to a select few there) So I said screw it and I now do everything myself. I basically have a full service archery shop in my basement. In The long run I'll save money and I won't have to rely on people that don't get it and certainly don't Care to help with the tinkering and so on.

[archer66]

Good stuff. 9 shocks...I've been pricing supplies recently. Might end up like you.

[JD Page 1965]

My Friends at Kustom King are in the process of moving about 15 minutes away from my house. 3rivers is a good 2 hours drive.

[Bjorn]

Raptor Archery is completely into trad and only 750 miles away from me; and as close as my computer.

[Michael Salter]

My local "wheelie bow" shop (10 miles away) has nothing for trad shooters except string wax. There is what I call a combo shop (75% wheelie, 25% trad) about 50 miles away that does right by me with the basics and some good advice. The owner is very trad friendly but he has to pay his bills too which explains his shop mix. Have found one shop about 35 miles away that is 90% trad and 10% wheelie (replacement stings and arrows) but the owner is semi-retired. He's a great source of information and has been extremely helpful to me as a new archer. As Chez12 pointed out, location and proximity to trad folks is key. I just took my state mandated bowhunter education class in summer 2014 and there was no one else in the class that shot trad. The primary instructor said I was the first trad archer he had seen in over 5 years.

[Roadkill]

House of Arrows in Sparks, NV.  Rick carries trad bows, cedar shafts and lots of leather.  Primarily a wheelie shop, but he shoots a Schultz and carries the stuff for those of us so inclined

[CoachBGriff]

Northwest Missouri isn't too much better.  It's tough for a shop to carry lots of gear when there aren't a lot of people to buy it.

But that's one of the things that intrigues me about this sport.  I like its uniqueness.  If everybody and their dog shot trad bows, I'm not sure if I would have ever shown an interest in it.

I'm sure glad I did though.

[Lin Rhea]

Archer's Advantage in Little Rock has a good selection of traditional bows and equipment. The owner, Jerrel, has been in trad shooting forever and is the anchor man in that shop. He has the wheel bows there too and a staff that works on that sort of equipment but he is a trad man. When I go there I ask for him so I can get real help.

There was an article in a local magazine about traditional archery that was pretty good. It featured a few local trad and self bow makers. I took it as a good sign that folks are still interested. These small magazines are always looking for "stories". If you know people in the field of journalism, introduce them to traditional bowyers and shooters.

[wooddamon1]

Sadly our closest place here in western MI closed the doors not too long ago. Got some great deals on arrow making stuff. Now it's a long drive up north (not all bad) to a big sporting goods store that stocks the good stuff, including some Northern Mist and Bear bows.

[giff]

There is Little Ridge Archery in Gasport NY. Roy usually has a few bears, hoyt buffalos and sometimes some customs from his own collection. Sells trad arrows, heavy inserts and points, good broadheads, and gloves and tabs.

[JDow3]

I am pretty lucky. There's a shop called The Outdoorsman that's 5 minutes from my house. They have a bunch of trad gear. I didn't even realize how much trad gear they had until I went in yesterday to see about some feathers and nocks. Everything I need except bare wooden shafts they have it with a good selection of colors and diameters.

There's even a used black widow sitting up there....so tempting!

Anyhow, good luck on your search OP.

[IronJohn]

I can be at J&M Traditions in 10 minutes, Fedora's in an hour.......IJ

[mgf]

Nothing anywhere around here. I haven't even been in a shop that has much in the way of "trad" stuff since the early 90's.

I order everything.

[Holm-Made]

I buy from and recommend the Footed Shaft in Rochester, MN.  Their business has been long built on honesty and integrity.  Service is quick and accurate time and again.  Chad

[Bladepeek]

Wooddamon1, you're not the only one who misses that shop   :(  

Just a personal observation; I don't think a small shop can stay in business as a trad shop. Sales are too limited - bow, arrows, glove or tab, maybe a quiver? Then what? With the weelies and X-types, you can sell constant "upgrades" and then a new bow every couple of years. So I think it is a given there will be a mix of gear with the preponderance on the wheelie side.

That alone just won't do it, though. A small shop cannot compete with the constant, low profit margin sales of the "big guys". A small shop will have to really beat the bushes with aggressive advertising to attract buyers. They will have to offer classes to get new shooters involved. Get them hooked on trad before they get all wrapped up in compounds. There need to be leagues.

At which point I guess it stops being a small shop, but let's face it. The days of small shops are limited. The upcoming generation has access to ideas and information from the time they are old enough to work a keyboard or smart phone. They want it all. They want it now. And it's available somewhere - just an on-line order away.

A trad shop is going to have to really market their (our) offering to get noticed above all the noise.