G'Day All - Bow Selection x 2!

[kenour]

Hi Guys,

Ken here, I was told I should ask in this forum about recurve bows.
I started a thread in another forum a mate said I should join, then I got a message in the thread and a PM that I should come here, so here I am!
http://bowhunting-forum.com/showthread. ... uggestions.

I'll give you the highlights as I don't expect anyone to read through all the previous posts in the other forum

After having a bit of fun at the local field and game, I'm after 2 beginners recurves for me and my partner.

Ken: 6'2", 32" Draw (using the wall to corner of mouth, and span / 2.5 method), RH.
Tam: 5'2", 24" Draw (using the wall to corner of mouth, and span / 2.5 method), RH.

Bows I've currently decided on after quite a bit of reading and suggestions from others:

Ken
Bow:Martin Saber, 50#.
Arrows: No Idea.
Rest: The cheap whisker biscuit, about $30.
String: Whatever it comes with.
Sights: Not sure, have never used them.
Reasons: Seems suited to the bigger bloke, has a riser I can bolt stuff too if the mood takes me, bang for buck.

Tam
Bow: Samick Sage, 30#.
Arrows: Something feathered has been suggested?
Rest: Stock one?
String: Come with a B50 is says from the place I'm looking.
Reasons: The Sage has a great name, going 30# because she's won't be drawing it fully so won't get near 30#.

Any suggestions would be great! I'm really after a bit of help with arrow selection, I'm pretty sold on the bows but will always listen to advice
I have a mate who has all the tools (the one that dragged me along to the field and game day), so he'll install nok points for us, but he's only played with compounds, if you have any suggestions about setting these bows up, brace height, nok position, etc. That would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys, hope you had a great xmas!

Probably a weird time to post this, I was trying to get these for xmas but they all went on back order early December (people having the same idea as me no doubt!) so I'm having to wait until Jan to order.

Cheers,

Ken.

[Stickbow Hunter]

G'day Ken,

Firstly, welcome to Ozbow. I will give you some suggestions and these thoughts are my own and others may not agree with me.

Having a quick look through the thread you linked to it appears that you live at Ballarat? My suggestion is before you do anything else contact the club there and seek out other Trad shooters. They actually have a Trad shoot coming up in January. You REALLY need someone with Trad experience to guide you and sort out your draw lengths etc BEFORE you do anything else such as ordering bows and arrows!!!

As for bows, I think you are better off keeping it as simple as you can when starting off and in that respect why not get a couple Sage bows or the Samick Phantom also looks good simplicity wise? They seem to have a good reputation and they can be set up without arrow rests (shoot off the shelf as shown in the photo of the Sage in the link you provided). Shooting of the shelf means virtually nothing to go wrong like can happen with various arrow rests.

No offence but that Martin Saber would have to be one of the ugliest recurves I have ever seen. IMO it is too complicated for a beginner and it isn't designed to be shot off the shelf. Looking at the bows I think the Sage or Phantom would shoot nicer than it also.

Also in choosing a bow you need to decide what type of shooting you wish to do. Do you want to do Target Archery as in shooting on a flat field at round targets, do you intend doing Field Archery where you walk around a course shooting at 3D animal targets etc and do you wish to Bowhunt at all? Your answers to these questions will also help in deciding what bows might be more suitable for your use.

Lastly, in relation to bows you will need to decide how you wish to shoot them - in an upright target style stance or the more relaxed canted bow style. The upright stance will usually mean your draw length will be longer.

With regards to arrows, you will have to sort out your draw length and draw weight before considering which arrows may be suitable. I think wood arrows would be best when starting out and these are easily obtainable at good prices from the Archery Suppliers featured on the front page of this site.

I would strongly suggest only using feathers on your arrows for clearance purposes.

Anyway that will give you something to think about and I'm sure others will have other suggestions for you also. All the best with getting it all sorted and please give us some progress reports and photos once you get your bows.

Jeff

[discord]

Have a look at the Samick Journey for yourself.. It's basically a Sage with a 2" longer riser to accomodate a draw up to 32". AFAIK they take the same limbs as the Sage. I've seen them on the Lancaster site.

[Nephew]

Mate have a chat to John McDonald (JCM on here) at AMSO128. He has a banner on the front page here you can email him through. John sorted me out when I first got into bows and I couldn't have asked for better advice. There's a few good Trad suppliers here in Aus, no need to send your $ overseas.

[bigbob]

Have to totally agree Nephew. Both about JMC and buying out of the country.

[slinkymalinky]

One thought I'd add is to make sure you spend some time shooting at the club before deciding on the draw weight of the bow you want. If your draw weight is actually 32" (and that depends on a lot of things as previously said)... then a 50# @ 28" bow will have an actual draw weight at your draw length of closer to 58# (and with that draw length you'll need to be careful that the bow you choose can go to that length without stacking).

58# (and even 50#) for that matter is a lot of bow for a first time beginner. Don't get fooled into thinking you need a hunting weight bow... you'll get much better at shooting much faster if you get a bow you can manage very comfortably for lots of practicing. Most of the first timers I've seen start lighter than 50lb. I've seen experienced weedy little guys happily drawing 70lb bows and I've seen huge rugby forward beginners totally embarrassed when they couldn't get a full draw on a 50lb bow.

I'm 6'2" and a big unit but even I started with a 35lb bow. I was shooting a 50 in only a matter of a month or 2 but having started out with something I could manage, I developed much better shooting technique. I don't know about the Martin but I'm pretty sure it's easy to get spare sets of limbs for a Samick Sage which has been recommended in earlier replies. It might be worth thinking about getting something like or even an ILF style bow and starting with limbs at a draw weight you know suits (and it might well be 50... just don't jump into it without shooting a similar bow first). Then buy some heavier limbs as you go on.


Cheers, Tony

[Buranurra]

Good to see you here Ken,

All great advice from those above.

Cheers

Jase

[wishsong]

Ken , if you do live near Ballarat there is a trad shoot next weekend at Ballarat ABA club.

Would be great place to see and chat with some like minded folks

[Jim]

Hi Ken, I'm a bit of a newby at this traditional stuff as well. I recently got 2 sages, one for me and one for my wife. I got her a 30# and I got a 40#, with a set of 60# limbs. I'm reasonably well built in the back so was confident I could pull 60# but wanted to spend some time practising with a very comfortable weight first. Now I've moved on to 60# and my wife is about ready to move up too, so she can use my 40# limbs.

We both have one of those cheap, simple leather strike plate and bear hair rest set ups. I'm really enjoying the simplicity of it man. Nothing can really go wrong, its so simple and consistent.

Each to their own eh?

[Fraser]

Hi Ken, I also have a 32" draw length, you might want to think long and hard about starting with a longbow, the length of the longbow is much kinder to those with a long draw length. The first bow I purchased was marked 47# @ 28, at 32 it was 59#, there are quite a few Australian bowyers who will make you longbow at 70".

Fraser

[Fanto]

Ken,

welcome aboard!!

you will get to learn all about "finger pinch" with that draw length. it sucks.

I agree with fraser, longbow or a very very long recurve.

samick limbs are $70 bucks or something so start at 45# at your draw then go bananas later. as the others said, bows increase about 2# per inch, so you need a 35-40# bow.

as for the saber, its heavy, ugly, not designed for shooting off the shelf. rests are too hard to deal with. Martin make beautiful bows, just not that one! I've got 3, love em.

cheers