Traditional shop near/in MT?

[Legend]

Buddy and I are looking at getting into traditional archery. While we have some experience we do not know enough to drop the money on a mail order bow, yet. My question, what is the closest traditional archery shop to Helena, Montana?

Thanks

 

[Tradchef]

Buffalo jump is the shop in town over in Helena. Not sure how much trad they deal with but might be worth a look. Robertson Stykbow in Forest Grove and Schaffer Silvertip in Columbia Falls. They are 3 hours from Helena but amazing bowyers. RER in Bozeman is solid but I think they might be out of business. Toelke Archery is 2.5 hours away in Ronan. He’s fantastic as well.

 

[Legend]

Sweet feedback. Familiar with Buffalo Jump but not what I am looking for. I will look into the other bowyers.

 

[oldgoat]

Don't buy anything till you can get to Toelke!

 

[ffemt94]

Yeah RER is gone, don’t bother trying to contact them at all. Sweet bows if you can find ones used but just know if anything happens they aren’t around to to fix it.


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[Tradchef]

Sweet feedback. Familiar with Buffalo Jump but not what I am looking for. I will look into the other bowyers.

Im not sure when you are planning to be up in that area but there are some shoots at extreme performance archery for trad only. You could always swing by and BS with everyone. That’s why I brought up Buffalo Jump. Not really for equipment but mainly seeing about meeting up with some folks that shoot. You can try out bows that way and get some good info. All the other ones I listed are amazing bowyers that would give you some solid info on their bows. Sucks that RER is out. They did have some sweet bows.

 

[Beendare]

Im not sure when you are planning to be up in that area but there are some shoots at extreme performance archery for trad only. You could always swing by and BS with everyone. That’s why I brought up Buffalo Jump. Not really for equipment but mainly seeing about meeting up with some folks that shoot. You can try out bows that way and get some good info. All the other ones I listed are amazing bowyers that would give you some solid info on their bows. Sucks that RER is out. They did have some sweet bows.

Thats a great suggestion. Trad guys are real good about letting you shoot their stuff.

I do think that buying a cheap light (30#) Samick sage type setup for $150 to start is a good idea.....then migrate in to whatever you find that you prefer.

Toelkes are great...but buying a $1,000 bow that is too heavy...and maybe not what you will prefer in the long run?


The cheap, light setup helps you feel and develop good form....and its easier on your body. You will progress quicker...and not develop bad habits Due to struggling at FD.

Then you can sell it for almost what you paid on AT Classifieds...or find one on AT.

 

[Tradchef]

Agreed on the cheaper stuff and or ILF stuff

 

[Legend]

Thanks for the great advice. I will be looking for a trad bow shoot as I am sure i can learn a ton there.

 

[Fire_9]

Plan on making it to the shoot that the traditional bow hunters of Montana put on every summer. I think it may be in forest grove again this year but I’m not sure. Great group of people and you’ll be able to shoot all sorts of setups.

 

[jmez]

Howard Hill in Hamilton.

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[Cove-Creek]

Several good bowyers here in the state as mentioned above.
A few others would be Wengard Archery, Hurst Bows and Bears Paw Bows.

 

[Seeknelk]

Certainly get a cheap samick discovery ilf rig and check out the push podcast , website and videos on youtube. Also Tom Clums form and shooting videos. Lots to dive into. But yes, a light weight draw set up that you can start with.
Also, the grip of a bow is the number one thing that affects folks like or dislike of a bow. And the metal riser let's you swap them for some sweet grips till you find The One. Then have the bowyer of your dream bow copy it.
Anyway, that's not what you where asking I guess, so I'll stop now. Not really any trad shops in nw Montana besides the bowyer's already mentioned. Is there any in the state even?

 

[Tradchef]

There used to be a cool place in Lewistown some years back that did a lot of trad stuff and blackpowder. Cool place but I'm pretty sure that's gone.

 

[bliner]

C&N Archery in Great Falls. Craig is a second generation bowyer and is a great guy.


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[SliverShooter]

Good advise by everybody above. I agree with buying a light weight Samick Sage or similar ILF setup to start.

The Western States Traditional Shoot is in Lolo this spring, there should be a plethora of Bowyers there.

If the Tradiation all Bowhunters of Montana holds a shoot this year the location of the shoot will be determined next week at the membership meeting. TBM is co-hosting the Western States, last year there was talk of not hosting a second shoot. Here is a link to their site.

Traditional Bowhunters of Montana

www.tradbowmt.org

 

[sneaky]

I'll have to remember that Western States shoot if it doesn't get canceled like everything else

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[SliverShooter]

It was canceled last year, so they rescheduled it for one year later.

 

[sneaky]

It was canceled last year, so they rescheduled it for one year later.

I'm not holding my breath on anything for this year either. It's not that far of a drive for me, so I'll keep an eye on it.

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