Recurve Bow for Hunting Deer?

[mattyd23]

Have any of you hunted deer using a recurve bow? If so what was your experience? Thinking of grabbing a recurve bow off this list. Best Recurve Bow for Hunting Deer..

 

[TreeStandAthlete]

Yes, it's like hunting with a compound but takes more practice to be accurate and you don't have anywhere near the range of a compound.

Besides the Samick Sage that list is just affiliate link garbage.

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[TaterTot]

I bought a samick sage for my wife. Hated it. Honestly you'll get a way better bow for your money buying used.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Matt if you’re looking to get involved for cheap there’s multiple ways to go. One is start used, yea you’ll spend more than the junk imo on that list but you could keep trading up as you go, bring it already depreciated you’d be essentially spending no extra to little extra money or maybe even getting dome back.
Another option, a little pricier might be a Bear Grizzly. It’s only $400, really nice bow imo. Got one for my girl just recently.
Any of the older Bears at times you can pick up somewhat cheap you just gotta be aware of how they were kept.
Another option is to go shoot a bunch, either at a sport shot if there’s one offering recurves near you or go to a rendezvous. Usually all kinda makers are there, many offering used stuff as well and they commonly let you try them.

 

[Agross]

There are mountains of good used recurves out there for sale, for much less than they cost new. I have an older bear Kodiak that I got for next to nothing. Still the most comfortable grip I’ve used , including some higher end recurves.

 

[Beendare]

Best bows, no…but decent cheap bows to start.

Heres some good advice on starting…previous thread
So you want to shoot trad

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

Out of the super cheap starter bows, I like the Black Hunter best. I agree with the above in regards to hating the Sage.

 

[TradLife406]

I think of you already have good hunting skills then transitioning to a trad bow won't be an issue.
Once you figure out how to shoot there's actually a ton of advantages to a trad bow. One not ever having to use a range finder to zap an animal before you shoot it. If you shoot instinctive. That's been huge for me.

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[TaterTot]

Out of the super cheap starter bows, I like the Black Hunter best. I agree with the above in regards to hating the Sage.

I hated that bow so much I didn't even try to give it away. Tossed it in the dumpster. What a pile of garbage.

 

[Rob5589]

I hated that bow so much I didn't even try to give it away. Tossed it in the dumpster. What a pile of garbage.

I may be wrong but, I think there is something to buying too cheap. You end up with a product that is poorly made, poorly functions, has poor durability, etc. I get not ordering a custom from the get go but, definitely something in-between.

 

[TaterTot]

I may be wrong but, I think there is something to buying too cheap. You end up with a product that is poorly made, poorly functions, has poor durability, etc. I get not ordering a custom from the get go but, definitely something in-between.

Absolutely. I only ordered it because my wife wanted to try archery and I was pretty sure it would be a quickly passing fad for her. I was correct. I tried using it to practice form and it was unusable. Just a complete dumpster fire of a bow.

 

[Slingsgot99]

First year hunting with a recurve. I practiced all summer. First attempt at a deer out of a stand I smacked my bottom limb off my backpack and shot way over it's back. I would practice shooting from a stand if that's how you hunt. With the long limbs you have to be more aware of your surroundings than with a compound.

Second attempt I shot a deer but unfortunately hit it in the shoulder and didn't get it. I think the deer will make it. Going to practice more this offseason as I hated wounding a deer. It was way more exciting than hunting with a compound but takes more practice to shoot consistently.

 

[Wilderlife]

The advantage of buying something like a Sage or similar in the beginning is that you can easily buy lighter/heavier limbs if you decide to keep going and want to progress.

If you don't mind investing a little bit more you can buy cheap ILF rigs now and offloading them on the used market might be a little easier as well. The Samick Discovery gets decent reviews but it's a little more expensive than the bottom of the pile cheapies like the Black hunter.

 

[1Canvas]

I started out with a Samick Sage and set up right it can shoot as well as any if you use the proper arrow and shooting technique. Traditional archery takes a lot of work and a lot of time. What’s nice about a Samick Sage is it’s cheap, low poundage limbs are cheap and available.
Check out the reviews online to see what people are saying.
After leaning how to shoot you will have a better idea of what kind of bow you want or even if you want to pursue traditional archery.
I bought two Samick Sages, one with 30# limbs to train on and one with 45# to train and hunt with.
After a year I figured out what I wanted and sold both bows for just a little less than I had into them on Craig’s List.

 

[1Canvas]

The advantage of buying something like a Sage or similar in the beginning is that you can easily buy lighter/heavier limbs if you decide to keep going and want to progress.

If you don't mind investing a little bit more you can buy cheap ILF rigs now and offloading them on the used market might be a little easier as well. The Samick Discovery gets decent reviews but it's a little more expensive than the bottom of the pile cheapies like the Black hunter.

I actually went with the Discovery myself, I have two now, it’s the best bang for the buck ILF rig in my opinion.

 

[Boxerboxer]

Not sure what people hated so much about the sage, but everyone is different. I have a Southwest Sypder XL which is a licensed version of the Sage riser and slightly longer limbs and it's a perfectly capable hunting bow that I enjoy shooting. If you do go that route, I recommend getting the Southwest version because they've got solid customer service behind their bows and because there are some fake Sages on Amazon that have terrible quality control.

 

[Newtosavage]

Have any of you hunted deer using a recurve bow? If so what was your experience? Thinking of grabbing a recurve bow off this list. Best Recurve Bow for Hunting Deer..

Only since 1988.

If traditional bows didn't work, none of us would be here to talk about whether they worked.

 

[Newtosavage]

I think of you already have good hunting skills then transitioning to a trad bow won't be an issue.
Once you figure out how to shoot there's actually a ton of advantages to a trad bow. One not ever having to use a range finder to zap an animal before you shoot it. If you shoot instinctive. That's been huge for me.

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There are some advantages to using a traditional bow, but IMO not using a rangefinder is not one of them. I hunted with compounds for years and never used a rangefinder. At the distances most of us shoot game with traditional bows, rangefinders are completely unnecessary. Same would be true with any bow.

The advantage of the traditional bow for me is that I can focus 100% on the spot I'm trying to hit without a sight getting in my way, which makes me quicker to shoot when a split-second shot opportunity presents itself. I am also limited to much closer shots which by definition limits the amount of things that can go wrong. Of course, you could hunt with a compound without sights and nearly have the same thing, but drawing over a cam doesn't fit well with making quick shots on game. The smooth draw of a traditional bow is more conducive to that.

I dealt with an arm injury in 2007 that kept me from using a traditional bow. I hunted that year with a compound and wrist strap release and hated it. Couldn't wait to go back to my longbow and recurve. I'm a better hunter with traditional bows.

 

[Rob5589]

Not sure what people hated so much about the sage, but everyone is different. I have a Southwest Sypder XL which is a licensed version of the Sage riser and slightly longer limbs and it's a perfectly capable hunting bow that I enjoy shooting. If you do go that route, I recommend getting the Southwest version because they've got solid customer service behind their bows and because there are some fake Sages on Amazon that have terrible quality control.

I have two, solid bows, quiet, pretty smooth, decent looking. You can use the 64" limbs on any of their risers, other than the small kids bows, just fyi.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I shot a compound bow for 2 years back in the early '80s. When I bought a recurve, I already knew I was 100% done with wheels. I wanted a really good recurve and I didn't mess around. I bought a Black Widow and got busy killing deer. I like great gear and weapons, so it only made sense to go first class. I saw an inexpensive starter bow as unnecessary for myself. I'm not telling anyone else to do it, so maybe the lesson is to know yourself and what will satisfy your desires.

A couple years later I owned a custom Bob Thompson Zipper with 2 sets of limbs. Followed that with a custom Robertson Prairie Falcon and then many more customs built for me over the decades.

And for what it's worth, I've killed as many deer as I wanted and never once felt handicapped or limited by a stick bow.