Considering traditional archery

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I am considering taking up traditional archery. I'm not a serious bowhunter, but do take advantage of some warmer weather and the long season to spend some time in the stand watching squirrels. I do enjoy practice time in the back yard. What I do not enjoy is the arms race that is modern archery. I still shoot a 1990's Jennings single cam, and I still shoot fingers and aluminum arrows and cut on contact heads. The old Jennings is in need of replacement...losing glass on the limbs and the cams are worn. New bows look like space oddities compared to what I'm used to and there is a sticker shock aspect. I could go retro-modern and pick up a used bow in better condition than mine, but I figure it may be time to take the plunge.

Wondering what bows, draw weights, arrows, suppliers etc I should be looking at? Hunting wise my ranges are short and the cover tight and brushy, ranging from dense conifers to tag alder to cattails to cedar swamp. I like to hunt close. I'm a big boy, I draw 69 on the compound and shoot a 30" draw. I enjoy slinging arrows for practice in the backyard and my sportsman's club's 3D range from short to ridiculous ranges, and am not afraid to learn instinct shooting. I used to do it for years bowfishing with an ancient Bear compound. What are some others here who have taken up or perhaps never left traditional archery twanging away with? I'm pretty crafty, so would even consider a DIY or kit bow to dabble in the black arts of traditional archery with. Cross posted in non-gun forum also.
 
Drawing 69 on a compound, even a 50% let-off like your Jennings is, is not the same as 69# on a longbow or recurve. (I shot a Jennings T-Star in tounaments back in 1980-83, and hunted with a Bear, then a Herter's compact compound) You will want to stay in the 50# range if you plan on holding it at full draw for more than a millisecond. That's enough for deer, and more than enough for small game. I shot the Bear and Herter's bows without sights (barebow) and did not use sights on hunting bows until I started teahing Archery for 4-H.
I relearned to shoot barebow after buying a 60# longbow from a friend, initally for Rennaisance Fest costuming, but started shooting it. It wasn't something I would sit and draw back and hold-I'd pull back, line up, and fire.
If you are going to hunt Deer, the Zwickey broadhead is the penultimate broadhead for Traditional Archery, and they are made in my hometown of North St. Paul, MN.
 
Bear bows will get you most of the way there. Get a length suitable to your draw length.

For example, I am a 29” draw and like recurves 60” and longbows 64”.

I like the Kodiak Hunter and Montana longbow from bear.

I have a full custom Hill style made by David Miller that is 66” and 52# at my draw. Very nice.
 
I got overwhelmed with the gadgets and doo-dads of modern archery. I am a minimalist when it comes to hunting.
The final straw was added when I shucked my coat and made a fast hike across a standing corn field to intercept a group of gobblers. I ambushed them as planned but when I drew on a big gobbler, mere feet away, I couldn't reach the trigger on my release. It had been buckled around my coat sleeve, and now was loose on my wrist, just out of reach of my trigger finger. It was a lesson in frustration at spitting distance.

I gave my newish Bowtech to my youngest son, and started hunting exclusively with my Bear Grizzly 52# draw. I have carbon fiber arrows that look like cedar shafts, and feather vanes.

I hosted a traditional archery league in my heated shed for a few winters. We had a blast shooting with 8 or 10 other guys.

I never missed my compound one bit. Good riddance to all that crap!

We shot our league at 20yds, everyone got pretty salty. Instinct only.

My hunting range is 25yds, maybe 30 on an open shot from a stand.
20161113_095346.jpg
 
My old buddy had just bought a new Hoyt recurve. It has a sort of a handhole riser. It is a very nice, smooth shooting bow. He won most of our league shoots with it. If I were going to buy another bow, it would be that Hoyt.

I hurt my shoulder a few years ago, and bought a crossbow. I like it almost as much as my recurve. Its more like gun-hunting than bowhunting.
After shoulder surgery in January of '21, im back pulling my recurve already!:thumbup:
IMG_20210519_141804.jpg
Ps.
I think my bow is a Bear Black Bear,not a Grizzly.
 
I have a beautiful custom made traditional longbow. Elk antler for the rest. Was 85# pull, and I’m 5’7”, 170#.

Used it for hunting for a few years. I was going full traditional so I got cedar arrows with helical fletch. The arrows were so heavy and over fletched and I couldn’t get any decent arrow speed. I shot at two deer, and both ducked the arrow.

Later I got it shaved down to about 65#. Haven’t used it in maybe twenty years.

If I were going to use it, I’d change to carbon arrows, and you’d get good velocity

Used to make my own strings. Pretty easy to do.
 
I had a Martin HTD fetish when i first got into traditional archery, and learned on those....as well as a Samick Sage, which is definitely an best bang for your buck bow.
I also made the mistake of starting with a 60lb bow, and i think that hampered my learning curve.

Ive had a dozen or so different bows but settled on an ILF based system, even if it isnt strictly traditional.

Were i starting NOW knowing what i do, i would probably buy an ILF riser I liked right off the bat. The added adjustability, and easy (and fairly cheap) limb swaps make working out what you want in a bow much easier and cheaper in the long run.

In terms of particulars id start with a 62-64" bow with a 50lb+/- draw....this is given that you draw a compound to 30" which is about what i draw as well.
Those weight bows are also easy to spine arrows for, and if you go with an aluminum ilf riser and shoot off a rest, tuning the bow becomes much less work.....as you can tune the bow, not the arrows (tho ideal you would work with those as well)
 
Don’t get too hung up on weight either. As these fellows have said. Being over bowed is the biggest detriment to shooting bare bow that I can think of. I killed the biggest whitetail buck I’ve ever taken with a 42# Toelke Pika. I’ve killed a ton of venison with bows in the 45 # range and the longest shot I ever made was 20 yards. You will truly enjoy your venture into true archery and hunting up close and personal. Good luck to you.
 
Steve Milbocker said:
I’ve hunted with traditional bows most of my life. A few years back I started making my own selfbows mostly of Osage. You get a lot of satisfaction taking an animal with your own creation. I took this little doe with the first bow I ever built. View attachment 1003964View attachment 1003965
Click to expand...

Nice bow and nice shot on that doe!

There's a reason Osage is called Bois D' Arc (Tree of the Bow) in French. I've no idea why it's called Bodark in Texan. ;)

I do know from personal experience they are tough SOB's to cut down!
 
Well, an update for those who may be following. My bow arrived today. It's very much a utilitarian starter bow. Chinese made 3 rivers brand 60" 50# recurve. Ordered it with their starter kit and 6 carbon arrows with field points to get my feet wet. I wish I'd ordered a 45# weight, but I'm sure I'll grow into the 50 with practice. I've had to adjust my anchor point and technique vs a compound, but am doing a lot better than I thought I would. Shooting mostly 10-15 yards so far, I am keeping all arrows on the 16" block and grouping most quite tightly with an occasional flier. Most importantly, I know what I'm doing wrong with the errant arrows. Definitely a learning curve here, but I'm not as far behind as I thought I might be. Shooting the recurve instinctively just seems natural vs the mechanical nature of shooting a compound. Stepped back to 20 yards for a couple flights, and managed to keep all but one low shot on target. I don't think I'll ever go full blown down the hunting or competition rabbit hole with this, but I'm looking forward to learning this black art and getting up to hunting proficiency. I think I'll be there shortly. I may never draw a compound again. Thanks to all for the advice and encouragement.
 
It seems to me that you have made good decisions so far. 50# still is a lot, but probably is not totally out of line for someone experienced with a 70# compound.

If you intend to continue with instinctive, it may be a good idea to put a small (one or two inch) spot in the middle of your bale and then get into the habit of really focusing on it. "Pick a spot" in instinctive speak, which is more-or-less the same thing as "aim small miss small" for the gunpowder crowd. Some of the best advice I've heard is to practice from close range - say five yards or so - until the spot is in mortal danger with nearly every shot, then move back a bit and keep it up. When most of your arrows at least scare the spot from 20 yards, then you are doing well. And when you can manage the same performance in the woods, hunting dirt clods and pinecones at unknown distance, then you are set for the hunt.

Keep us posted!
 
Oh, and just to answer your earlier questions, I started with a 30# Samick longbow and later moved to a 50# Hill "Westley Special". I had an awful time trying to shoot instinctively (probably for the same reason I'm such a terrible shotgunner) and actually gave up on the bow for a few years. My son got into Olympic recurve and I learned, through his coaches, of different aiming styles. The various "point on" methods were miraculous for me, and I have been crazy about archery ever since. I mostly shoot modern barebow recurve, which is essentially Olympic recurve but without sights, clickers, or stabilizers. For hunting I still use the Hill longbow, but with gap aiming rather than instinctive. And I most recently have gotten into English longbows and warbows, which are silly and pointless things, but an absolute delight nonetheless. Welcome to the rabbit hole, in other words. :p
 
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.38 Special said:
when you can manage the same performance in the woods, hunting dirt clods and pinecones at unknown distance, then you are set for the hunt.
Click to expand...
Stumping, as they call it (shooting dead stumps) is one of the most entertaining ways to take a walk. Theres only a few places i can do thst here for all the lava, hard trees, and people, but its fun.

Also try some longer range shooting if you have space and a safe place...and wont loose a ton of arrows. I can practice out to 50yds at the house, but lobing arrows at the archery park i can push back to about 100yds. Watching shafts arc in at range is alot of fun.
 
I have made (and broken) a few self bows from "home depot red oak", mostly just because I wanted to try. I also have 50# recurve, 45# longbow and an old compound bow I still shoot.

Making one is a fun and satisfying experience, with a piece of red oak from HD I built it for about $20 took me a week or two working on it in my off time with hand tools.

There is a forum called Primitive Archer and they have a bunch of threads on making them. I read, watched videos and went for it. Made one for my niece also when "Katniss" was a big thing.

My first selfbow from red oak.
medium.jpg
 
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I have always wondered about stump shooting. Most of the arrows I've shot into stumps required several minutes of work with a sharp knife to retrieve. (I tried with blunts as well, many of which simply broke.)

I think maybe our stumps are tougher then yours, or maybe I'm just not good at picking rotten ones. Regardless, I am a committed pinecone hunter...
 
A friend was an enthusiastic conventional bow archer as long as his shoulders lasted.
He described a stopping shot on a real European boar in Europe that had already chased his partner up a tree.

Many of my friends do more interesting stuff than me.
One friend whom I had not yet enlisted in the Gun Culture said, after visiting me in hospital after The Incident of 2010 "I didn't know you had so many friends; and they are so interesting."
 
LoonWulf said:
Theres only a few places i can do thst here for all the lava, hard trees, and people, but its fun.

Also try some longer range shooting if you have space and a safe place....
Click to expand...

Cali army?

Respect sent, from America’s appendage.

- FL Man
 
Random 8 said:
. I wish I'd ordered a 45# weight, but I'm sure I'll grow into the 50 with practice. I've had to adjust my anchor point and technique vs a compound, but am doing a lot better than I thought I would.
Click to expand...
Shooting a bow uses muscles in your back that aren’t normally all that strong. I’m 5’7”, about 170# and I worked my way into an 85# bow. Just takes a little time. If you shoot 100 arrows a day, you’ll be good in a few weeks.
 
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