where to start?

[yarra01]

i have been into archery now for about 6 months and i am thinking about purchasing a long bow or a curve. what would be better for someone who has only ever shot a compound? And what is a good bow to buy? :D :D :D

[Mick Smith]

It comes down to personal preferences, but a recurve would probably be a little easier to come to grips with for a novice. Shooting a recurve would be a little closer to shooting a compound, compared to a longbow, but there's not much difference. You will probably find that recurves are easier to shoot because they generally aren't as fussy with having correctly spined arrows, as are longbows. This is because most recurves have the arrow pretty well in line with the string with their big sight windows, whereas longbows usually only have small arrow shelfs and the arrow must flex and bend correctly for good flight.

A recurve is generally smoother to draw than a longbow. The weight starts of fairly light and then smoothly gets heavier out to your draw length, whereas many longbows start off heavy in the draw and stay that way until fully drawn.

Also recurves are usually much shorter than longbows and you're probably used to using a short compound bow. This might make it easier if you happen to find yourself in thick scrub, but then again, if you opt for a longbow you will soon get used to it.

Why not try as many bows as possible before buying one? Maybe you could test out some different bows at your local archery club. Better still just go out and buy yourself a longbow and a recurve, you can't own too many bows. :D

By the way, how much do you want to spend?

Mick

[yarra01]

probably a couple hundred

[Mick Smith]

For that sort of money you would probably be better looking for a second hand bow. There's a few good bows around that don't cost all that much.

In a longbow, the Internature Viper is very good value for money. I know a couple of people who own them and they perform very well. I was shooting next to a young bloke at a clout shooting event. He was using a 40# Internature Viper deluxe and I couldn't believe how far he was shooting with it. I think they sell for less than $300.

In a recurve there's the popular Samick line of bows. They have a big range, including takedowns. I particularly like their Equus recurve. Once again, most of them are under $300.

Of course there's plenty of other bows around too.

If you plan to do any hunting, it would be preferable to buy one with a draw weight of 50# or more, but it's very important not to buy a bow that's too heavy for you, this is probably the most common reason for people to become 'cheesed off' with traditional archery, as it's almost impossible to shoot a bow thats too heavy with any accuracy.

Which ever way you go, enjoy yourself. :wink:

Mick

[yarra01]

beauitful thanks thats given me food for thought. :) :)

[Glenn]

Try as many bows as possible to find out what you prefer. As Mick said you will probably be looking at a second hand bow for that sort of money.
Glenn...