traditional bowhunting getting started

[schlupis]

Looking for some advise from sombody who uses traditional archery equipment. I would like to buy either a recurve or a longbow.. I am finding there is a lot more to it than I thought, as far as bow sizes tip to tip.. I am 6 foot 5 with a long draw does that matter with a longbow or recurve. If yes what should I be looking for for length. What kind of arrows fletchings broadheads do you use. I know nothing about traditional archery other than I want to give it a try so any help is great.
 
I am looking for a blue collar budget bow does anybody know other brands to look at other than Martin Mathews Hoyt and PSE.  They are expensive as much as a new compound. I dont want to break the bank I already spend too much on hunting as it is according to my wife......
 
Also has anybody ever made there own Longbow I would be interested in trying this, if so how did you do it...
 
Sorry for the long post but any advise is appreciated. Thanks

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: schlupis

Looking for some advise from sombody who uses traditional archery equipment. I would like to buy either a recurve or a longbow.. I am finding there is a lot more to it than I thought, as far as bow sizes tip to tip.. I am 6 foot 5 with a long draw does that matter with a longbow or recurve. If yes what should I be looking for for length. What kind of arrows fletchings broadheads do you use. I know nothing about traditional archery other than I want to give it a try so any help is great.

I am looking for a blue collar budget bow does anybody know other brands to look at other than Martin Mathews Hoyt and PSE.  They are expensive as much as a new compound. I dont want to break the bank I already spend too much on hunting as it is according to my wife......

Also has anybody ever made there own Longbow I would be interested in trying this, if so how did you do it...

Sorry for the long post but any advise is appreciated. Thanks

Schlup: I don't think the post was long at all! Now my response.....well, now that's a different matter!
 
I'm a recurve shooter. I'll state right here and now that I do not know all that much about longbows...damn little in fact, so all my answers will be recurve based.
 
1. If I were you I'd make sure that I get a recurve that's at least 60" in length. There's two reasons for that. First, is that you are a tall man, and the longer bow will definately fit you better. Secondly, I'm assuming that you will be shooting with your fingers. When using the fingers, bow length becomes an issue due to the angle of the string at the nock point when you're at full draw; the more severe the angle, the more "finger pinch" you'll encounter, and the harder it will be to get a smooth release.
 
2. Most recuves are shot "off the shelf", especially if you are shooting instinctively. Most stickbow (the collective term for both recurves and longbows) shooters employ a hair or rug piece on the shelf, and a leather strike plate. Because of this, most all of us use feather fletchings, usually a minimum of 4 1/2 inches long, with a helical attachment to the shaft. As far as broadheads go, what most of us prefer is a cut-on-contact type head. Many guys like two blade heads, I prefer three blades, especially for deer. I use Razorcaps, which are a re-sharpenable head with a low blade angle (again for penetration).
 
As with ANY kind of broadhead, just make sure that it's razor sharp.
 
3. Bear, Martin, and many of the other bow manufacturers make low end bows. Any of them will be good. Ideally, you should try and shoot them first before you buy. Like anything else, how the bow "feels" to you is very important.
 
   Here's a link 3 Rivers Archery, which will have just about anything you could want as far as traditional archery goes.
 
   http://www.3riversarchery.com/
 
4. Here's some advice that will save you years of trial and error, and also the aggravation of not having to "undo" poor shooting mechanics, not to mention MONEY!
 
   DON'T OVERBOW YOURSELF! If you heed nothing else from all this, heed that! Archery is no place for false machismo. The basic rule of thumb, is if you are shooting a compound now, you'd want a stickbow with a draw weight that's AT LEAST 10 ounds LESS THAN your compound. Don't worry if that puts you at 50 pounds, or even 45. Stickbows of that weight, with a razor sharp broadhead will shoot THROUGH any deer in north America, at reasonable ranges.  You simply CANNOT learn good shooting mechanics if you are overbowed. It will frustrate you, and you will quit.
 
I would also strongly advise you to purchase G. Fred Asbell's INSTINCTIVE SHOOTING, Vols. I and II. He covers pretty well everything, and both recurves and longbows, as well as even shooting a compound instinctively. I have both of these books, and they literally saved me years of trial and error when I came back to stickbow shooting after 23 years with the wheel bows. I'd never really learned right in the first place, so it was like starting over again for me. They can be purchased at 3 Rivers also.
 
Finally, I think you said one time that you live in Wisconsin. If so, and you are not to far from "FIB" land, I'd be more than willing to meet with you and have you shoot some of my recurves and get you started. PM me if you like.
 
Best of Luck!

[whubbard]

good post, and great reply from woodwalker.  I'm like you in being new to traditional bow hunting.  I've been hunting deer with a compound now for about 6 years.  I bought a recurve thinking it would be fun last year.  The link that woodwalker posted to the archery shop is exactly who i bought my bow from.  a cheap model called the Impala.  Haven't deer hunted with it yet but have gotten good enough to hit my glendell buck consistently in the vitals at 20 yards.  I did go to some flood ditches outside my town that run off the mississippi river this past spring when the river was up and killed a mess of buffalo carp and alligator gar.  A lot of fun, and great practice for drawing and releasing.  Good luck.  I plan to hunt from a ground blind with traditional archery equipment this next fall in hopes of killing my first deer with traditional equipment.  I'll keep you updated with pics hopefully.  on  a side note I will also be trying to take my first turkey with archery equipment this spring.  I'm fired up already.

[schlupis]

Woods Walker thanks for the post I will be printing the post off to have with me when I visit the archery shop to look for a bow. Also thanks for the website checked it out good stuff on there..
 
I live about 2 hours from the "FIB" border but have family that lives near zion and round lake beach if I visit any of them soon I will PM you maybe we can meet up and shoot those recurves.
 
Thanks again for the informative post and the offer to meet and shoot, very much appreciated.....

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: schlupis

Woods Walker thanks for the post I will be printing the post off to have with me when I visit the archery shop to look for a bow. Also thanks for the website checked it out good stuff on there..

I live about 2 hours from the "FIB" border but have family that lives near zion and round lake beach if I visit any of them soon I will PM you maybe we can meet up and shoot those recurves.

Thanks again for the informative post and the offer to meet and shoot, very much appreciated.....

 
Gotcha' Schlup!

[fasteddie]

It might be helpful if you GOOGLED Traditional Archery to look up some sites and get some help / ideas .

[Woods Walker]

One more IMPORTANT point on stickbow selection......
 
If you are going to be shooting instinctively and off the shelf, then make sure that your bow shelf is RADIUSED. That means that the shelf will have a slight round upward hump in it.
 
What this does, is put the arrow on a very small area of contact with the shelf, which will result in a much smoother and accurate arrow flight. If the bow doesn't have this, you can still put a piece of wooden matchstick or some very small sized plastic tubing under the stick on rug that will cover the shelf to get close to the same effect.

[Highlander Archery]

Another MANDATORY bit of advise is: NEVER EVER LISTEN TO WOODSY[:D]








In all seriousness though, Woodsy knows his stuff and would be who I go to for advise.