Convince me to go all-in… or just try it out?

[Dave0317]

I got a recurve for the family to play with a couple months ago. Bought the Galaxy Scorch from Lancaster. It’s a small and light bow, probably not the best for an adult to learn on, but I’ve gotten just good enough to think that with a quality bow, I could get to where I could kill an animal at 20+ yards. And it’s really been a blast to learn actual archery form.

My question is, do I incrementally increase the quality of riser and limbs I buy? That seems to be common advice in the recurve world. Or, considering I know I really enjoy this sport, go ahead and get something high quality that I won’t “grow out of” as I get better.

I’m tempted to just go ahead and invest in a really good riser like the CD WF-19. I’ve been hunting with a compound for a couple years and I know I’ll stay into archery. Part of what makes me think of going straight for the high quality stuff is the price. A top quality riser and decent limbs could be brought for right around $1000. In the compound world that doesn’t even buy you last years flagship with no rest, sights, or quiver, etc.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Galaxy Scorch is on the short side, but if you shoot it well, there's no reason you couldn't put on some heavier limbs and take it hunting. I notched my first traditional archery kill with a Galaxy Sage that cost less than the arrows in the quiver strapped to it. On the other hand, if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket and a strong interest in continuing with traditional archery, go for it.

 

[nevadabugle]

I'd reccomend a Tradtech Titan or Hoyt Satori metal riser, and some Tradtech Black Max limbs. Those limbs are cheap and being that it's an ILF set up you can upgrade the limbs later. ILFs are all interchangeable.

There are plenty of deer killed every year with black max limbs.

 

[oldgoat]

I would suggest a quality riser and a cheap set of light limbs like the Galaxy Bronze, they can be had for under a hundred from rmsgear. You need to really dial in your form, hunting weight limbs are going to surprise you if you haven't tried pulling some back and do something other than plucking the string.

 

[Dave0317]

Yeah, I do like the look of the Satori as well. For some reason the Trad Tech Titans just don’t appeal to me.

Anyone ever compared the Satori and WF19 next to each other? I imagine both are pretty much top notch quality and deciding between the two would be purely personal preference?

Like I said, I may not need top quality, but if I happen to have the money, and I know I may end up going that route in a few years anyway…

It doesn’t help that RMS gear is now advertising some of last years compounds at great prices. Decisions are hard. Lol.

 

[oldgoat]

Other thing, is buy used, especially the riser, I see Satori and WF risers for sale all the time, put the money you save into some lessons, it does make a huge difference!

 

[Beendare]

The CD risers are very heavy…and not necessarily better.

I have 5 ILF risers and my favorite might surprise you;

the Junxing F261 19” riser

I like wood risers and have a couple expensive ones. If I was starting over I would not go that route again and instead NOT spend a lot of $$$; the inexpensive wood risers like Fleetwood…or the aluminum Junxing

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I'm the wrong person to ask.

 

[Rob5589]

I went from a SWA recurve to a budget friendly ILF; Farmington Atlas riser and used Black Max 2.0 limbs. Even as a budget set up it's a significantly better shooter. You don't need to drop 1k to improve on your current bow.

 

[Dave0317]

Thanks for all the great advice. Very good to hear that more money doesn’t always translate to a better shooting bow. That’s one of the things that draws me to play with a recurve much more. Very opposite of the marketing you see on the compound side.

 

[Boxerboxer]

As far as testing the waters or going all-in, that's really just something you have to decide for yourself. I sold my compound right after season 2019 before I even had a trad bow to shoot, because I knew I wanted to go all-in and fully accepted the limitations that came with that. If you're not sure what you want, buy an inexpensive used bow and learn to shoot it. A cheap bow and some money spent on coaching (in person if you can, or something like the Solid Archery Mechanics course) will go a lot further than an expensive bow toward helping you decide what you want to do long term.

 

[TX_Diver]

As far as testing the waters or going all-in, that's really just something you have to decide for yourself. I sold my compound right after season 2019 before I even had a trad bow to shoot, because I knew I wanted to go all-in and fully accepted the limitations that came with that. If you're not sure what you want, buy an inexpensive used bow and learn to shoot it. A cheap bow and some money spent on coaching (in person if you can, or something like the Solid Archery Mechanics course) will go a lot further than an expensive bow toward helping you decide what you want to do long term.

Second the Solid Archery Mechanics course (and buying from RMS Gear). Call up RMS gear and ask about their entry level ILF setups. Pretty sure you can trade in your limbs with them as you go up in poundage for a small fee.

 

[Beendare]

Thanks for all the great advice. Very good to hear that more money doesn’t always translate to a better shooting bow. That’s one of the things that draws me to play with a recurve much more. Very opposite of the marketing you see on the compound side.

Yeah,
Trad is more skills focused. The bow plays less of a part.

You can get a very large part of your money back on the AT classifieds from a cheap light setup. No big hit like on a custom.

The ILF platform gives you a lot of options. Metal, wood, expensive cheap risers….then 1,000 different limb options.

Comparing ILF to something like the very good Black Widow recurves, even a cheap limb will outperform a widow: faster and as smooth: WNS C5 limb ($170 at Alt Services) those or the C3 wood core are my pick as best bang for the buck.

Then you can adjust weight, length, speed smooth and different draw characteristics with the different ILF limbs. $60-$1000