take down recurve for a newb?

[jakeemt]

Hey guys i have been looking to get into archery for a little while now. I was hoping you guys could list some decent takedown recurves that i could look into and maybe some decent books on the subject. I am coming from the firearm side of hunting and all the bow lingo is pretty unfamiliar to me. I was thinking of a good take down bow with a set of 35lbs limbs for practice and 45lbs limbs for hunting. I have about 250 to spend. I have looked at Sammick bows and the like the "red stag" but, not sure if these bows are any good. I have looked on ebay for used bows but, I just don't know what i am looking at really (good deal bad deal ect). there are no trad shops in my area they only really carry compounds so i haven't really had much of a chance to handle any bows. Well guys thanks in advance.

[scout4]

jakeemt, I have two samick takedown recurves. They are very good bows for the money. I have a Polaris target recurve, and a sage as a hunting bow. There are several ways you can get into archery. If its going to be traditional then it will take some dedicated practice, so I suggest a good starter bow such as the sage. Order with 35# limbs and go from there. After many many practice sessions and finding the right shooting arrows, you can then go with heavier limbs. My sage is a 35# and although I shoot carbon arrows from it I prefer cedar. But beman ICS bowhunter carbon 500 seems a good shooting arrow. If you will be shooting off the shelf you will need feather fletch arrows. I do very much suggest you go to an archery shop and explain to them what you want to do. They will measure your draw length. Which you will need to know. And will help you get a good arrow for your bow. You will find that the arrow is more important than the bow. Good Luck! scout4<><

[teamnelson]

I did the same thing last year, went with the Samick Sage and 45# limbs. Depending on your age, etc. you might get away with going straight to 45; I'd recommend you go to a local shop and pull one to see. Your actual draw weight varies with your draw length; I'm pulling my 45 to over 60# according to the charts. I shoot Eastman uncut aluminum arrows. They were $45 a dozen, fletched, and tipped by my local shop. Using the 120gr target tips, they penetrate nearly 11" into a fiber cube target at 10 paces. I picked up some Zwickey Eskimos for $20 on ebay for hunting tips. And I also recommend a flemish string. I wrote a fella named Pete Ward about it, and here's what he wrote back. I ordered the string, put some cat whiskers on there - $20 altogether. Very fast, and very quiet - went from 7-8" penetration to up to over 10" just with the string change. I know that's not technical, but it works for me.

The string should be 3" shorter for every bow. RC and LB.
That said many bowyers do not know what AMO is , yet they label their bow as AMO.
The best thing to do is twist the current string until you have 8 1/4", shoot a couple arrows, then take it off and measure it.Can't get any more accurate.

I would use a DF97 string 10 strand with 16 strands in the loops. Serve it with .030 serving for a good fit on the nock. Dennis at Git-r-donearchery.com in Calgary has very good strings made by a local preacher. They are 8125 material, and pre stretched to 300#. Ask Dennis at Git-r-done for one of Brian Rice's strings to fit a Sage, or for the exact length you need.

[SandSquid]

My hunting AND competition bow is a DAS Dalla (which is now owned by Three Rivers) and is an absolutely amazing bow, and I've shot a few bows... granated the price-tag is a bit steep.

Take a look at the Martin Jaguar take-down.  I have 6 of them for my youth archery program and they have taken an incredible amount of abuse in the past few years and 6,000 students, and still look and shoot great.  The ones I got were pre-production and a tad bit "rough" finish on the limbs but nothing some 360 sandpaper didn't fix in 30 seconds.

As far as strings go, a quality hand-made string made from an appropriate material will outperform any "factory" string. Flemish twist is very cool but a PITA to make....  There is no performance difference between and endless loop and a Flemming twist if both are properly made from the same material.  I've made thousands of bow strings.  the only time I make a Femmish is for my personal English longbow because anything else would look stupid on it

Once you get a bow and find the right brace-height, PM me with the _actual_ string lenght (not AMO lenght) and I'll whip you one up no charge. (If you get a Jaguar, I already know the "sweet spot" on the string lenght ;-)

--
SandSquid
NFAA/USA-Archery Level III Certified Coach
NFAA State Champion (Recurve Freestyle)

[Empty Quiver]

One thought. Do you have the time and place to practice three times a week ? If the answer is no seriously consider a compound. I love my trad bow but staying proficient is time consuming to say the least.


I noticed Bear has reintroduced its takedown. I swooned over the picture. I can't count the hours I dreamed of owning one of those and hunting Alaska like the old master himself. To be fourteen again and have a Bear catalogue to read.


I would get one of those were I in the market.  

[mjh]

Your on very tight budget there for the money the samick or a little more try one of the takedowns from Lancaster Archery with the ILF limbs system.  Don't forget other costs, arrows, arm guard, tab or glove, quiver.   I'd budget about 500 and see what you can get a little more a little less but you want something you can shoot for a while and not break the bank, if things don't work out you want to be able to get some of your money back, with quality you can do that with lower quality not so much....