Traditional hunting bow set up costs?

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I have been shooting and hunting with compounds for the past 15+ years and am kind of getting burned out on maintaining the equipment. Every year I am replacing strings or correcting cam lean or replacing rests and sights and yadda yadda yadda.

Am I wrong to think I could eliminate the equipment frustrations by going the traditional route? Obviously the threshold for proficiency is much higher on traditional than compound but I just enjoy shooting more than tinkering with my bow.

If there is any truth in my assumption, how much would I need to spend to get a longbow setup capable of taking whitetail?

 

[nevadabugle]

There is definitely less of the compound type maintenance. I have some bows that have been on the shelf for years, and I have no doubt that if I grabbed them and an arrow that is tuned for it, it would outshoot my ability.

The sky is the limit on costs. There are options that could get you into a bow capable of hunting with in the sub 400 dollar range easily, and options that could take you to over 2000.

Check out lancaster archery or 3 rivers archery for a wide selection of bows. Any half way decent quality bow above 40 pounds will kill you a whitetail easily. Just make sure your arrows are properly tuned to the bow with a sharp two blade head and you are set.

My wife has killed several elk, including a 380 monster bull, with a 45 pound recurve and only a 26" draw. Don't think you need a 70 pound bow to get it done on whitetails.

 

[Beendare]

$300…

Lots of good cheap options. The best strategy is to buy a cheap light bow to start…then while you are working up in weight and dialing in your form…..you try the different styles to see what you want to hunt with.

The problem with Trad is, ‘ you don’t know what you don’t know.‘

for example, I thought I wanted to shoot a long bow when I first started. After I shot for a while, I realized that I liked recurves, much better, that, and the fact longbows caused long-term damage to my elbow. ( long story)

Get a cheapie to start and then sell it with almost no loss in the classifieds when you are done with it.

 

[nevadabugle]

$300…

Lots of good cheap options. The best strategy is to buy a cheap light bow to start…then while you are working up in weight and dialing in your form…..you try the different styles to see what you want to hunt with.

The problem with Trad is, ‘ you don’t know what you don’t know.‘

for example, I thought I wanted to shoot a long bow when I first started. After I shot for a while, I realized that I liked recurves, much better, that, and the fact longbows caused long-term damage to my elbow. ( long story)

Get a cheapie to start and then sell it with almost no loss in the classifieds when you are done with it.

This.....

This same sentiment is why I reccomend risers that accept ILF (international limb fitting) limbs for new archers. You can buy different limb styles (recurve, longbow) different weights, etc.

There are also ILF limbs from $90 to $1200. You can buy some light weight cheapies to start, and then upgrade if you find that it's something you want to stick with.

Also, there are some great limbs in the $200 range that you could shoot and hunt with for the next decade and they would serve you well. Black Max limbs from lancaster come to mind.

 

[Rob5589]

I have been shooting and hunting with compounds for the past 15+ years and am kind of getting burned out on maintaining the equipment. Every year I am replacing strings or correcting cam lean or replacing rests and sights and yadda yadda yadda.

Am I wrong to think I could eliminate the equipment frustrations by going the traditional route? Obviously the threshold for proficiency is much higher on traditional than compound but I just enjoy shooting more than tinkering with my bow.

If there is any truth in my assumption, how much would I need to spend to get a longbow setup capable of taking whitetail?

200-250 can get you into a bow and arrows. I started with a Southwest Archery recurve, bought a second, then a budget ILF bow. I will tell you though, traditional archers are some of the most tinkering folks there are. There may be less parts but, there is probably more messing around with your set up vs a compound.

 

[Btaylor]

200-250 can get you into a bow and arrows. I started with a Southwest Archery recurve, bought a second, then a budget ILF bow. I will tell you though, traditional archers are some of the most tinkering folks there are. There may be less parts but, there is probably more messing around with your set up vs a compound.

That's not wrong but they are a bajillion times more fun to shoot than a compound.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I live about 10 miles from the Lancaster Archery showroom and get my compound needs met there. I've always glanced at their trad section but never had much extra time to go investigate. I actually used to go to church with the guy who started it.

I appreciate the feedback. I'll take all your advice into consideration and see what happens.

 

[Rob5589]

That's not wrong but they are a bajillion times more fun to shoot than a compound.

 

[nevadabugle]

I live about 10 miles from the Lancaster Archery showroom and get my compound needs met there. I've always glanced at their trad section but never had much extra time to go investigate. I actually used to go to church with the guy who started it.

I appreciate the feedback. I'll take all your advice into consideration and see what happens.

Living 10 miles from lancaster sounds like it could be hard on the pocket book! Good luck with your entrance into trad archery. I hope you fall in love.

 

[Rob5589]

Don't overlook something used. Many guys start with a lower budget setup then sell when they upgrade. A traditional bow has a lot more to do with "feeling" than a compound so it may take some time and a few different designs to find the one for you. Good luck!

 

[nphunter]

Don’t be afraid to check the local classifieds, unlike compounds even 30yr old recurves can be great. One piece of advice is to not think of weight like a compound, a 40lb bow would be a great starter bow to learn on and even hunt with.

Here’s one I just found here in OR with a quick search. $375 totally setup and ready to shoot with a 40lb bow.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

You can grab a Black Hunter hybrid longbow for $100, a dozen arrows, a tab and and a quiver, and kill animals with it right away. There’s a lot of cheap bows that perform at extremely high levels these days.

The biggest investment is time. Learning to tune and shoot it.

 

[mrolen]

I’m hunting elk with a $150 samick sage 50lb and gold tip traditional arrows cheap set up but it shoots very well after getting it tuned and practice. All can be had at sportsman’s for 300ish. Did just switch to a springy rest and it’s shooting even better. Only one mule deer doe with traditional so far but this year an elk is on the menu.

 

[TX_Diver]

You'll probably find traditional bows to be more expensive because you'll end up with a pile of them if you're not careful...

 

[cuttingedge]

I have bought 2 Bear Super Kodiaks for $125 & $230 just watching CL. 50 and 55 pounds respectively. I bought a 2 piece quiver for about $50. Carbon Force PSE Radial X Weave arrows for $3 each new (discontinued). Flemish twist strings with beaver ball silencers for about $60 total. Haven't decided on broadheads yet. The Super Kodiaks are great shooting bows.

 

[oldgoat]

I'd buy super cheap and put the money you save into some lessons, you live in the East so there's lots of stuff available, and I can't stress this enough, get very low poundage and get the lessons before you even try to shoot an arrow!!! They're is online stuff like "Solid Archery Mechanic's" by Tom Clum, I think you purchase it from The Push archery site, it's a one time fee. Get a really cheap setup and then try to get to one of the Traditional shoots out that way where you can try bows before you buy when you are ready to move up to a nicer bow, you really don't need that heavy of draw bow either for whitetail at twenty yards and in!

 

[WyoArk]

I thought I would pass this along. I have been a trad only hunter for about 15 years. I recently purchased a Toppoint slither 21 riser. It was 189$ when I purchased it. Honestly, I like it better than either of my Satori risers. I originally shot my 150$ DAS long bow limbs and pretty pleased. I decided I liked it well enough, that I would slap a set of medium 45# Uukha gobi limbs on it. My overdraw made this combo #50 pounds.I also had a Norris springy rest laying around. I am beyond pleased with this combination. This is my favorite bow that I have ever shot. It maybe sacrilege to buy a Chinese riser, but they built a great product that’s not just another clone. I would give a hard look at one of these Toppoint risers and a decent set of limbs. The trad tech black glass 2.0 limbs also shot extremely well with the slither 21.

 

[bbassi]

Good Morning. My names Brent and I'm a tradaholic. All these folks telling you how cheep it is to get into trad are just pushers and trad is the crack. You may get your first one cheep but you will fall into the obis of wanting to try something different shortly. Next thing you know you'll have a wall full of unused bows and buckets full of partial sets of wood arrows and tackle boxes of points, feathers and glue. I've been in this game for 25+ years and have met 100s of people with the same problems at shoots and rendezvous. NOT 1 has just one bow. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[HuumanCreed]

Good Morning. My names Brent and I'm a tradaholic. All these folks telling you how cheep it is to get into trad are just pushers and trad is the crack. You may get your first one cheep but you will fall into the obis of wanting to try something different shortly. Next thing you know you'll have a wall full of unused bows and buckets full of partial sets of wood arrows and tackle boxes of points, feathers and glue. I've been in this game for 25+ years and have met 100s of people with the same problems at shoots and rendezvous. NOT 1 has just one bow. Welcome to the dark side.

Man is telling the truth here. One bow will turn into dozens if you are not careful. But honestly you can get a full hunting setup for under 200. Get a black hunter starter bow kit on Amazon for $100. Another $50 for cheap arrows is all you really need. I would suggesting getting 40lbs bow because you can hunt legally in all 50 states and kill anything in North America with good shot placement. Honestly that's really all you need plus practice and learning about tuning. Some will advise against cheap arrows, but honestly you can tune even the cheapest arrow to be accurate at 15-20 yards, which for most is the maximum distance anyone would take a shot at in hunting using traditional bow.

BUT it is going to start another addiction. Check out the Blacktail custom bows, some are over $10k, but you are paying for unique one of a kind work of art.

One important aspect you need to understand is that it will be hard to let that dream buck walk away when he's 30 yards away, knowing that you would of taken a 50 yards shot at him. You have to be able to accept this and live with it.

 

[Newtosavage]

I have been shooting and hunting with compounds for the past 15+ years and am kind of getting burned out on maintaining the equipment. Every year I am replacing strings or correcting cam lean or replacing rests and sights and yadda yadda yadda.

Am I wrong to think I could eliminate the equipment frustrations by going the traditional route? Obviously the threshold for proficiency is much higher on traditional than compound but I just enjoy shooting more than tinkering with my bow.

If there is any truth in my assumption, how much would I need to spend to get a longbow setup capable of taking whitetail?

You are absolutely NOT wrong thinking you can reduce or eliminate equipment frustrations by going trad. It's a big reason many of us hunt with trad gear. I "dumped" my compound in 1988 because of frustrations with the gadgetry (this was when overdraws and releases were taking over) and I was drawn to the traditions and simplicity of traditional hunting bows. I've never regretted it, going back to the compound briefly since only while recovering from an injury.

With trad gear, you can spend as much or as little as you want and still get the job done. That's 100% up to you. I have taken deer with bows that cost over $1k and many more with bows I could get now for less than $150. They both worked exactly the same.

Understand what you have and how to tune it and shoot it, and you're good to go. One of the beauties of trad gear is that you're not compelled to chase the latest and greatest. Bows that were made in the 1950's still work and are generally within 5% of the latest trad bows in performance.

One of my favorite hunting bows is a metal riser Hoyt TD/2 painted gray camo with a cheap set of TT Black Max fiberglass/wood limbs on it. I could put that rig together today for probably less than $100, but I've killed a bunch of stuff with it and it shoots great.

While what they are saying above may be true, not everyone goes whole hog on trad gear. There was a time I had 4-5 trad bows and probably 10 dozen arrows of one kind or another, but the past 10 years I've simplified my life and now just have 2 bows and 2 doz. arrows. Suits me just fine.