Recurve?

[Aaron50_07]

Hey everyone, im looking to start shooting recurve. I was wondering if anyone would throw me some insight on rather i should buy an old one, or make my own. Im in grad school right now, so my funds are a bit limited. Anyways, any help would be appreciated!

[goblueM]

Are you looking to make a transition from compound to traditional? Just for pleasure or target shooting, or hunting? Have you ever made a bow before?

I'd probably advise to buy an inexpensive recurve to play around with before you commit a lot of time or money to one.

[Aaron50_07]

Im looking to transition to a recurve for hunting. I know this sounds a bit dumb and corny, but I want to reconnect with the hunt. I feel like the focus is always on the size of the animal, or how nice of a gun/bow someone has. Im going to change my attitude and dedicate a few years to appreciating the hunt. No guns, compounds or stands. Just me, a primitive bow, and the animal. I probably will come up empty handed, but this is what I want to do.

[Cheetah]

New recurves can be hard to find in a store. Some small archery shops might have a few you can try shooting. End result is it is hard to try different bows to find one that fits you. Grips can vary wildly and are can make or break your ability to shoot well.

Martin Archery makes a bunch of nice recurves. I bought a Dream Catcher 10 or 12 years ago for around $300, prices have gone up considerably since then though, $720 msrp... I still shoot it every once in a while but it is hard to find time these days. Martin has quite a few MN dealers, you can get all the info off the Martin HSOforum, maybe call a few and ask how many bows they have in the shop that you can try out.

Custom bows these days probably run $1500-$2000 on the low end.

You could also scrounge around online for an old Bear recurve, but I'd bet quite a few have twisted limbs and other issues.

[mnmuzzleloader]

yep, I dropped the training wheels a couple of years ago and went to the dark side as well!! best thing ever, I built a stick bow out of hickory backed with linen, Best thing every, I then went on to build 4 more longbows, I have another reflex/deflex in the works. But still love shooting my longbow, make my own strings and everything, once you build one you will not go back that is forsure. I used a guy out WA to cut me my stave, and he also does a great video on building one, I have about 65 bucks in to the long bow including making the string. shooting 140fps and lovin it....

[Scoot]

Im looking to transition to a recurve for hunting. I know this sounds a bit dumb and corny, but I want to reconnect with the hunt. I feel like the focus is always on the size of the animal, or how nice of a gun/bow someone has. Im going to change my attitude and dedicate a few years to appreciating the hunt. No guns, compounds or stands. Just me, a primitive bow, and the animal. I probably will come up empty handed, but this is what I want to do.

I don't think it sounds corny or dumb- not one bit! Good for you and I hope you find a nice bow and are able to make the transition so that you have a blast doing it. I totally understand and appreciate the motivation for the change and I've considered the same swap myself. Instead of swapping equipment, I made a shift between my ears and I've enjoyed hunting more again ever since I did. However, I still think about dusting off my dad's old Bear recurve and getting proficient with it.

Good luck and enjoy your time in the woods! Bring a camera along and share some of your expereinces with us!

[Archerysniper]

You can order any martin recurve from gander that's where I ordered my Hatfeild 3 piece.

[Aaron50_07]

Well its settled, I'm going to build my own bow from scratch. This route definitely keeps me moving in the right direction! now the fun begins

[Scoot]

Awesome! That does sound like a lot of fun! Two things: 1) I mentioned above, but please take pics of the whole process and share them with us. I don't know any bowers and I'd love to get a "Bow Building 101" kinda tutorial here! 2) Once you go traditional, please don't badmouth anyone who chooses to shoot a wheeled bow. ...of course not that something like that might ever happen... I've known about a dozen guys who have given up on compounds and most of them absolutely now hate wheeled bows and seem to dislike those who shoot them. Also, the internet is filled with traditional archers who love to badmouth compound shooters. Rodney King said it best, "Can't we all get along?" LOL

Good luck on your adventure! It should be a blast.