Bow advice for a lanky noob

[MoeFaux]

Hello all! I've got a friend who wants to take up trad archery and come hunting with me. I'm well versed in compounds, but out of my depth when it comes to the simpler machines.

Where can we direct him to look for a beginner bow that'll fit a 6 foot 7 inch guy? We've already looked at local bowyers for a custom build, and he balked at the $750 price tags. He's comfortable at $350, and I *might* be able to push him up to $500 for a full setup.

Thanks in advance for all your Rokslide wisdom!

 

[Beendare]

Easy.
Have him look at the Trad section on AT on newbies advice. The degree of difficulty goes up big with trad. The key to Trad is developing good form and its best to do that on a light weight bow. Thus;

Go online to Alt Services in the UK- best deals. Buy into the ILF system with a long 25" riser and long Ilf limbs, 70" bow- good to learn on. You can easily get a riser for $100 and all in under $300. The cheaper name brand limbs [as cheap as $100] are very good and comparable to custom bows at much higher prices. With ILF he can switch risers/limbs, sell off components easily and they all work together- he doesn't have to swap complete setups.

Then if he wants to hunt he can try shorter risers, though at his DL, a 21" riser is probably as short as he would want to go. I'm 6'3" with a 30.5" DL and I shoot a 64" recurve [19" riser, long ILF limbs], his DL is probably 33"+ which works better with a little bit longer bow.

 

[juju]

Good advice above and the bit about light to learn needs capitalized, italicized and in bold with exclamation points. 25# limbs are great diagnostic tools. Also the arrows for light draws can be cheaper and less painful to lose when missing a lot at the start.

There's nothing wrong with shopping vintage recurves.

 

[nevadabugle]

Good advice above and the bit about light to learn needs capitalized, italicized and in bold with exclamation points. 25# limbs are great diagnostic tools. Also the arrows for light draws can be cheaper and less painful to lose when missing a lot at the start.

There's nothing wrong with shopping vintage recurves.

I would caution against a vintage bow with a 6 foot 7 inch draw.

I second a 25inch riser and Longs. Light and Cheap to start and then upgrade poundage and limb quality when ready.

 

[MoeFaux]

Brilliant! Thanks, everybody. I never would have discovered that website myself, and it has options much cheaper than I imagined.

 

[Beendare]

No problem. Its crazy how good those cheap name brand limbs can be...and of course as he gets into it he can throw a bunch of money down a rat hole like the rest of us buying more expensive limbs- grin

I recently had to move out and back into my house and it was crazy how much ILF archery stuff I have amassed. I'm currently talking to another Rokslider and considering selling this one, 62", 17"ILF lefty Morrison riser;


I think most of us would recommend your friend takes a lesson or gets a mentor that will show him good technique in person. That can save a lot of trial and error.

 

[nevadabugle]

No problem. Its crazy how good those cheap name brand limbs can be...and of course as he gets into it he can throw a bunch of money down a rat hole like the rest of us buying more expensive limbs- grin

I recently had to move out and back into my house and it was crazy how much ILF archery stuff I have amassed. I'm currently talking to another Rokslider and considering selling this one, 62", 17"ILF lefty Morrison riser;
View attachment 858320

I think most of us would recommend your friend takes a lesson or gets a mentor that will show him good technique in person. That can save a lot of trial and error.

Thank God that's a left handed bow or I may have taken a pass at buying it.

 

[Beendare]

Thank God that's a left handed bow or I may have taken a pass at buying it.

You know how it is...I have an assortment of risers and way too many sets of limbs. I just got done moving and am realizing, if I haven't used it in a few years, it's a waste to keep it. The 19" w longs just fits me better. Limb wise, I end up mostly shooting Selenghas or Nika...and these have just sat.

My goal is to be more of a one bow guy.

 

[manitou1]

Hello all! I've got a friend who wants to take up trad archery and come hunting with me. I'm well versed in compounds, but out of my depth when it comes to the simpler machines.

Where can we direct him to look for a beginner bow that'll fit a 6 foot 7 inch guy? We've already looked at local bowyers for a custom build, and he balked at the $750 price tags. He's comfortable at $350, and I *might* be able to push him up to $500 for a full setup.

Thanks in advance for all your Rokslide wisdom!

Tell him to call Three Rivers Archery. They can set him up.

He will not find a cheap bow that will accomodate his draw length. I know... I used to shoot a 32" draw recurve for years.
Now that I am older I still shoot 31.5".

There is a copy of the Hoyt Satori ILF riser made by TBOW. They are very good risers.
He can order one of them and then order the Three Rivers 3k Carbon/Bamboo limbs... or just the regular carbon bamboo limbs from them.

This will give him a very good bow that should accomodate his draw (guessing 31"-32").

Make sure he only orders 35 lb limbs. With his draw it will be like shooting a fast 50-57 lb bow. He will be drawing somewhere around 45 pounds +\-
A blessing for us with gorilla arms.

He will be able to hunt anything up to elk with that combo with the right arrow and broadhead.

Most people way over bow themselves when starting out traditional... and many are over bowed after several years of shooting still.

I am shooting (at my draw length) 42 and 43 lb recurves that are shooting as fast as many 55+ lb recurves at 28".

He is lucky that there are many choices of 32"-34" carbon arrows now. Ten or fifteen years ago I struggled to find arrows long enough for my draw.

He will need to tune the arrows to the bow. Again, he needs another EXPERIENCED trad archer to help with this. Again, Three Rivers can assist with arrows, spines, point weights, etc. He can be chasing his tail for a couple of years without good guidance.

Good luck.

Ps: Don't get too close to that trad bow or you will be buying one yourself!
The ARE addicting.