My two guys I read and watch, Fred Bear (LH) and Byron Ferguson (RH).






CDFingers

Those guys are neat. My bow is a Bear Takedown with a couple different sets of limbs. Ive cycled through several others and was never quite as happy with anything else as with that. It was my dream now from age 13 to 40, when I finally got it for my birthday that year.

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Very nice. I got me a take down, too. Nice and fast, but a bit of a clack. I'm working to get rid of it.

One reason I put both guys there is that I shoot from both sides. Recurve and compound.

My brain must look like truck stop scrambled eggs.

CDFingers

Been looking at getting back into it. Had never heard of Bear until I started looking at gear again. The Bear series seem to be on the high end of what's available from the local stores in 'traditional' bows, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the premium. Most of my experience has been on the dirt cheap end of the market, with a club that was local to me years and states ago. I had a 35# recurve and 60# crossbow, considering something in the 50# recurve range. Multiple options for ranges, but I don't hunt. Suggestions?

Bearing in mind that archery gear comes out of the gun & ammo budget, naturally.

I'm at 50 recurve shooting left, and 54 compound shooting right. Seems fine. At 27 yards the trajectory is pretty flat.

I'd been a right handed recurve shooter until the early 90's when I picked up a rh compound at a yard sale. The draw cycle is so different from the recurve that I did not really like the difference in my shooting scores when I shot both from the same side. So I got a compound for left hand shooting. As you know, it's so easy to shoot with sights and a release with the compound, and the 85% let off is so easy, that I did not find it difficult at all shooting left hand compound along with right hand recurve. Did so for ten or so years.

I started to get archer's elbow in my right elbow from using my fingers in recurve for all those years. That's when I switched to left hand recurve. Right hand compound is totally easy with the mechanical release, so no fingers/tendon pain. I'm having some challenge adapting to the finger release with my left hand. Also I grip hand guns with my right, so I have to change my idea about grip. I've gotten a couple nice strawberries as I adapt. Fun stuff, though.

If you've not shot 50 and are just shooting 35, you will struggle for a month. Rest two days between shoots for maximum strength increase. Any more often than that, you won't heal enough before you shoot, and you won't develop as quickly. Normal for me is 2 to 3 times a week, 20 to 30 arrows at a time in my back yard at 27 yards.

CDFingers

wings wrote:Been looking at getting back into it. Had never heard of Bear until I started looking at gear again. The Bear series seem to be on the high end of what's available from the local stores in 'traditional' bows, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the premium. Most of my experience has been on the dirt cheap end of the market, with a club that was local to me years and states ago. I had a 35# recurve and 60# crossbow, considering something in the 50# recurve range. Multiple options for ranges, but I don't hunt. Suggestions?

Bearing in mind that archery gear comes out of the gun & ammo budget, naturally.

Bear is usually the "expensive" of the traditional bows if you're looking at a local bow shop or Bass Pro type place, but those places never have have much in the way of trad gear. They're actually kinda middle of the road as far as price goes for trad bows, though. The exception to that is the Bear Takedown, which is their flagship bow and runs $800 new, or so.

There are good bows for less. The Samick Sage is a pretty common entry-priced recurve that performs fairly well. They're about $150 or so, new. Lancaster Archery and 3 Rivers Archery have a full range of stuff. But I would suggest you buy used. Bows are like cars; once you shoot it, it loses 30% of its value.

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Thanks, CD. I haven't shot in a while, so it's definitely going to be easing back in at first. I was the only one in the group who routinely shot the ostensibly 70# fiberglass longbow in our loaner gear, and enjoyed it a lot, but it took time to develop any endurance with it. Also, did I mention that I'm skeptical about its actual draw weight? Used to do 3x a week, 2 hours at 20 yards, but I'll be lucky to get once a week for the foreseeable.

I can borrow a 25# compound easy enough, but I'm not enamored of the pulleys. Younger me would've been all about mechanical advantage. Older me is older school, although not a purist. I'll take modern materials and composites over, say, a yew self bow. I've shot both sides, but prefer right. I've scouted out Lancaster and 3 Rivers, along with the local ren fest. Given my needs and good experience with cheap bows, I was thinking in the <$200 range. Thoughts on PSE? I see them a lot at local shops too.

Want to say the Sage rings a bell. Will give it another look.

Good gravy! There's no need to draw 70 pounds. I'm 67, and I can still shoot because I didn't do that.

Take downs are pretty cool because you get to keep the riser that your hand is used to, and you can switch the limbs out as your muscles develop.

Like I say, I've been drawing a 54 compound left handed for some time. But that's a whole different draw cycle. Huge strength is required for just a bit, then you're at 15% of the listed draw weight. You can draw and watch your deer for two three minutes waiting for the right shot. You've got your sights on it the whole time. Release the trigger. No sweat.

But recurves, you're storing energy in the system by using your own strength to store that energy. You can only hold for so long. In fact, my recurve shot is like a baseball pitch. There's set, there's the wind up, then aiming in motion, then the release. More than two seconds is too much. Point is, I found it takes a lot more strength comfortably to do recurve.

Remember, I'd been shooting from the other side for decades. I just accepted that I could draw my 55 pound Pearson Cougar easily. Now from the other side, I'm like doing weight training and resting so I can get to the same place. Oh, such a funny change! Not only do I have to get my strength up, I have to change my targeting software to the other hemisphere. I can feel it happening. Whole different posture from compound and so on. So fun.

Yes, my wife and I have been home alone together for weeksandweeksandweeks. Why do you ask?

CDFingers

Yeah, PSE makes some pretty decent stuff. And unless you know FOR A FACT that you'll stay with it with a modest degree of intensity, I'd say there's no reason to start with a more expensive bow unless you just fall in love with one. And for Pete's sake, stay away from 70#. My main target limbs are 35# and my hunting limbs are 43#. I don't get to hunt too much, anymore, but that's more than enough or any deer-sized game inside 20 yards (except wild boar - I'd probably want more K.E. for them).

As I said, skeptical. If it ever was 70#, I suspect it was closer to 60# by the time i got to it. And those were college days. But I like the draw on my crossbow. Simple repurposed spring steel. Custom, not sure what to do about replacing the string. I haven't been able to find something in 30" yet.

Don't hunt, don't need the extended time to draw and aim. If I did, crossbow. Increasingly fond of simple and reliable. Which is how i found myself with a predilection for wheelguns. I can see the upsides of takedown, but I don't like compromising the design. Went through that thought process with rifles. If ease of transport is an issue where going out to shoot isn't my primary aim, there isn't a situation where a handgun isn't more practical. Which leaves accessories. I'm not much of one for accessories.

Hmm. Reviews on the Sage are driving home one other aspect I hadn't considered. Ease of repair. The one-pieces seem to have durability issues. Replacing limbs on a takedown would definitely be easier. Looks like Galaxy owns the name now. Things to consider.

The takedown design isn't really a compromise in terms of strength, unless you get a lemon. The working section of a limb is in the same location, whether the riser is a separate section or not. Any bolt-on limb that has been executed well should laat a lifetime unless it is damaged. I'll grant that the latch system on the Bear TD is a bit unusual - it's proprietary and there's really no other TD like it. But if takedowns were really a functional compromise, they wouldn't be nearly so popular. In fact, simplicity is one of the reasons I like the Bear TD so much. I can take it apart, case it, and take it from one range to the next without any extra tools (i consider a stringer essential, and you'd need one regardless of bow design) - no hex wrench to lose. That can also be overcome why just having knobs instead of hex heads on the bolts, but the simplicity peice is still there.

For sure they shoot differently (in terms of feel) than a one-piece bow. But the versatility of a takedown is hard to beat. Especially if you get serious enough that you get into ILF bows. Then you don't even have to use the same manufacturer for the riser and limbs.

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When I was 6 or 7, dad took me to play miniature golf. Beside the booth where you paid to play golf, there was a small building, basically a one care garage. The door was open. When we walked by the back wall was covered with bales of hay, and balloons tied onto the bales. For a nickle you could shoot 5 arrows at the balloons. I'm sure I sucked at it, but I loved it. We never played miniature golf there again. I always wanted to shoot the bow.
For Xmas I got a small plastic bow, with the suction cup arrows. Every year I got a little bit bigger bow, till around age 12 I got a real Fred Bear Bow, the model was the Cub. 35# pull, and I shot that thing a million times. I even did an archery demonstration on TV at age 13. I eventually moved to the city and didn't shoot anymore. I traded it to a woman for making my wedding dress for me. Sure wish I hadn't done that.

Hiker, buy a new bow and equipment. In a year you'll forget the money but you'll still have the bow. Er, I'm not going to ask what you'd rather not have done. Traded the bow I assume.

In all seriousness, you can get great practice in your living room with a good bag. You squat down, and there's that added muscle development. Ten feet from the bag is fine. You get good form practice and muscle development. That will drive you to a range or field to try at 30 yards or what not.

CDFingers

Almost all of my crossbow shooting was in my basement. My local ranges aren't much longer. And once the bug's got ya, it'll get you again once you have the gear. But a bow for a wedding dress was a good trade. Other than the personal attachment, that is.

If you've got the cash for a gun, you have the cash for archery gear. You know you want to. Heck, I will if you will.

Hunnert n eighty bucks.

https://www.sportsmans.com/hunting-gear ... iews_title

CDFingers

A few years back, I bought a cheap 25# recurve bow. After my dad passed I got his Bear Grizzly bow (45#). I can't pull it back. My right shoulder has had rotator cuff surgery o and my left is just about ready to have the same surgery. So I have one bow that's too weak and another that is too strong. A few years ago a tree trimmer was working in my neighborhood. I told him he could dump the ground up limbs in my back yard. The pile was 6 or 7 feet high. It made a wonderful target.

So a take down like the one in the link is perfect. After your surgery, you snag a 30 pounder. Maybe it takes a year, maybe two. But then you spend $80 for some 40 pound limbs. A year later you can shoot your dad's. Legacy bows are the best.

CDFingers

Here's the riser on mine that I customized to fit my thumb knuckle of gnarl.


I just took a half-round file and adjusted it until it fit.


I was just shooting this fifty pounder like the link above. It's a really light bow. I'm going to shoot this for a couple years to see if I want to change weight up or down, then buy a "very nice" bow to last me, you know.

CDFingers