Newbie trad journey

[thedutchtouch]

At some point in the very near future I plan to purchase a beginner trad bow. Current front runner is a samick sage, and current front runner plan is to drive up to Lancaster archery (roughly 2 hrs one way) to buy it/get advice/get some compound advice and tuning as well. This plan may change to ordering one online and diy depending on time (this backup is very likely what will happen).

Posting this thread mainly because I've been cluttering up a few others and am assuming I will have many more questions in the coming weeks/months. I do not currently plan on hunting this season with anything other than my compound, as I do not anticipate gaining proficiency for hunting trad in a few months, this will not be a flinging a few arrows and then wounding animals type of journey, it'll likely be a slow drawn out one where I ask questions I should have googled first.

I am also an amateur woodworker so I'd love to make my own riser or selfbow some day. All in good time, sage first, then follow in @Red Beard's footsteps, then I can pretend to be even close to @GCTerpfan 's dad.

First step is bow selection. 30 lbs is the lowest weight I could hunt with (again not planning to hunt this season unless I surprise myself), does it make sense to purchase 30 lb limbs, or go even lighter? I'm in my late 30s and decently fit, so I think 30 would be do-able, but priority is form first then hunting so if I should get lighter lbs for starting I will.

And then finally, to bounce all over the map, I don't really know what to choose in terms of trad bow type, sage seems "easiest" for a newbie based on price point and availability though I do want to experiment somewhat with different types of bows and make some some day. Perhaps I'll get this because of the price point and then ask for help if/when I get hooked and am looking to move to a different bow? Or not and shoot the sage forever? I don't know at this point.


If I'm being fully honest, I'm definitely interested in trad archery as a baseline and this was always going to happen at some point, but the main thing that's got me moving forward right now is that my company is going to be doing archery as an activity in September. I assume it'll be with recurves, and they all know I bowhunt, none of my coworkers are outdoorsy. So purely because of personal vanity I want to practice with a trad bow before I go to ensure I can outshoot all of them. Yes that was embarrassing to admit, but there it is.

Buckle up, trad crew, you've got another oddball trying to join the ranks

 

[thedutchtouch]

Forgot to add, I am left handed but right eye dominant, shoot compound righty and plan to shoot trad the same unless there's a reason to switch back to lefty? Seems to make sense to keep it the same side regardless of if the bow has wheels or not?

 

[HuumanCreed]

If you're willing to spend a little more, I say get the Black Hunter Elite which are on sale from BigJim's. He's one of the more popular one man custom bowyer in the community. The waitlist for his bow are 12+ months. But he sell a more updated version of the Black Hunter bow that everyone has. I had the Sage and its a great bow, but I think the Black Hunter is nicer due to the riser being a lot smaller and you can get it in recurve or longbow limbs.

If there is only one bow you can have, I would say get the Elite

"Black Hunter Elite" 3 Piece Takedown Recurve Bow - Big Jim's Bow Company

Part of Our NEW In Stock Bow Line! 60″ Recurve; 3 Piece Takedown Includes Riser, Limbs, Bezel Takedown Kit, Arrow Rest and A 16 Strand 57 Inch Factory String! An ... Read more

bigjimsbowcompany.com

I would also suggest getting some type of rest, shooting off the shelves is great, but a rest reduce the arrow tuning frustration 10X.

 

[thedutchtouch]

If you're willing to spend a little more, I say get the Black Hunter Elite which are on sale from BigJim's. He's one of the more popular one man custom bowyer in the community. The waitlist for his bow are 12+ months. But he sell a more updated version of the Black Hunter bow that everyone has. I had the Sage and its a great bow, but I think the Black Hunter is nicer due to the riser being a lot smaller and you can get it in recurve or longbow limbs.

If there is only one bow you can have, I would say get the Elite

"Black Hunter Elite" 3 Piece Takedown Recurve Bow - Big Jim's Bow Company

Part of Our NEW In Stock Bow Line! 60″ Recurve; 3 Piece Takedown Includes Riser, Limbs, Bezel Takedown Kit, Arrow Rest and A 16 Strand 57 Inch Factory String! An ... Read more

bigjimsbowcompany.com

I would also suggest getting some type of rest, shooting off the shelves is great, but a rest reduce the arrow tuning frustration 10X.

Thanks! I'm doing a lot of lurking over at tradtalk as well but not quite ready to register and start posting. So much to learn, now falling down a rabbit hole of three fingers under vs split and tabs vs gloves and yeah there's a lot

 

[HuumanCreed]

One thing I can suggest to you as a fellow newbie to trad. I wished I didn't try to 'run' with the pros and vets. Trying to learn too much actually made me overthink things instead of enjoying the honeymoon phase. Don't try to find the perfect bow, technique, setup etc... until you learn the enjoyment of just shooting. Not saying I'm a pro, but I finally am learning to enjoy just shooting. Instead of worrying how straight the arrow is, how loud it is, or even how one bow feels from another bow.

 

[gcr0003]

At some point in the very near future I plan to purchase a beginner trad bow. Current front runner is a samick sage, and current front runner plan is to drive up to Lancaster archery (roughly 2 hrs one way) to buy it/get advice/get some compound advice and tuning as well. This plan may change to ordering one online and diy depending on time (this backup is very likely what will happen).

Posting this thread mainly because I've been cluttering up a few others and am assuming I will have many more questions in the coming weeks/months. I do not currently plan on hunting this season with anything other than my compound, as I do not anticipate gaining proficiency for hunting trad in a few months, this will not be a flinging a few arrows and then wounding animals type of journey, it'll likely be a slow drawn out one where I ask questions I should have googled first.

I am also an amateur woodworker so I'd love to make my own riser or selfbow some day. All in good time, sage first, then follow in @Red Beard's footsteps, then I can pretend to be even close to @GCTerpfan 's dad.

First step is bow selection. 30 lbs is the lowest weight I could hunt with (again not planning to hunt this season unless I surprise myself), does it make sense to purchase 30 lb limbs, or go even lighter? I'm in my late 30s and decently fit, so I think 30 would be do-able, but priority is form first then hunting so if I should get lighter lbs for starting I will.

And then finally, to bounce all over the map, I don't really know what to choose in terms of trad bow type, sage seems "easiest" for a newbie based on price point and availability though I do want to experiment somewhat with different types of bows and make some some day. Perhaps I'll get this because of the price point and then ask for help if/when I get hooked and am looking to move to a different bow? Or not and shoot the sage forever? I don't know at this point.


If I'm being fully honest, I'm definitely interested in trad archery as a baseline and this was always going to happen at some point, but the main thing that's got me moving forward right now is that my company is going to be doing archery as an activity in September. I assume it'll be with recurves, and they all know I bowhunt, none of my coworkers are outdoorsy. So purely because of personal vanity I want to practice with a trad bow before I go to ensure I can outshoot all of them. Yes that was embarrassing to admit, but there it is.

Buckle up, trad crew, you've got another oddball trying to join the ranks

I never understood this with traditional bows. Yes, if you get a 55#r to start out you are going to have some problems trying to learn form because you’re fighting 55#s, but 30 lbs is nothing, 35 lbs isn’t much more, and if you’re going to be hunting with 40 or 45 lbs anyway, why not going ahead a go with that. I don’t see that as much of a problem with 40 to 45 lbs. 45 lbs is what I started with and coming from a 70 lb compound the weight is felt differently; however, it wasn’t an issue for me. I would recommend getting 40 or 45 lb limbs and get arrows that fly well “OK” out of them. Don’t worry about weight for hunting or anything like that. Get to shooting and working on form. Once you are shooting consistently out to say 20 yards, then consider making hunting arrows and continue to really zero in your shooting. Samick sage that I just shot for the first time really surprised me and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. That said, I like vintage bows and they can be had for less and are pretty cool too.

I’ve only been shooting traditional for about two years and only brought my recurve bow hunting a couple times so far, no shots yet. I am confident in my shooting and I just went through this whole process which is why I recommended what I recommended. The 25 year trad vets may have say otherwise.

 

[TheBlindCat]

I started from scratch at archery with a SWA Spyder XL which is basically a 64” Sage. Started at 40 lbs, which honestly was a bit much for the 75-100 arrows I shot a session. I bought 25 lb limbs I used for a few weeks before going my back to 40lb and then buying 50 lb limbs. I’m a 6’1” 240lb much more muscular than average adult. I’m currently shooting 50-65 lb bows, though I’d have no problem deer hunting with my Spyder XL with 40 or 50 lb limbs.

If you’re reasonably fit 30 lb would be just fine. And limbs are cheap for those bows, you can buy 45 or 50 lb limbs to hunt with. Or buy another bow if you want.

 

[thedutchtouch]

I never understood this with traditional bows. Yes, if you get a 55#r to start out you are going to have some problems trying to learn form because you’re fighting 55#s, but 30 lbs is nothing, 35 lbs isn’t much more, and if you’re going to be hunting with 40 or 45 lbs anyway, why not going ahead a go with that. I don’t see that as much of a problem with 40 to 45 lbs. 45 lbs is what I started with and coming from a 70 lb compound the weight is felt differently; however, it wasn’t an issue for me. I would recommend getting 40 or 45 lb limbs and get arrows that fly well “OK” out of them. Don’t worry about weight for hunting or anything like that. Get to shooting and working on form. Once you are shooting consistently out to say 20 yards, then consider making hunting arrows and continue to really zero in your shooting. Samick sage that I just shot for the first time really surprised me and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. That said, I like vintage bows and they can be had for less and are pretty cool too.

I’ve only been shooting traditional for about two years and only brought my recurve bow hunting a couple times so far, no shots yet. I am confident in my shooting and I just went through this whole process which is why I recommended what I recommended. The 25 year trad vets may have say otherwise.

The vast majority of advice given is to start super light to ensure you learn good form. It seemed to be directed both at complete beginners and wheelbow users, because us compound guys are used to the let off of 80+ percent and form goes to crap if you jump into higher weights on a trad bow right away (so the internet says). Since the intent is to not hunt this year I want to make whatever decision hopefully helps me learn/keep good, consistent form. I would like to hunt eventually, but this bow is being purchased as a beginner/target bow only at the moment.

I also don't have a budget but want to be somewhat budget conscious, likely obvious by the bows I am talking about. I don't want to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars in case I don't keep at it, but I suspect I will and planning to buy replacement limbs or a second bow when it comes to that time is fine (next year or later)

 

[gcr0003]

The vast majority of advice given is to start super light to ensure you learn good form. It seemed to be directed both at complete beginners and wheelbow users, because us compound guys are used to the let off of 80+ percent and form goes to crap if you jump into higher weights on a trad bow right away (so the internet says). Since the intent is to not hunt this year I want to make whatever decision hopefully helps me learn/keep good, consistent form. I would like to hunt eventually, but this bow is being purchased as a beginner/target bow only at the moment.

I also don't have a budget but want to be somewhat budget conscious, likely obvious by the bows I am talking about. I don't want to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars in case I don't keep at it, but I suspect I will and planning to buy replacement limbs or a second bow when it comes to that time is fine (next year or later)

Yea I know why they give that advice, I was only saying it isn’t necessary. Sammick sage limbs are cheap as you know, so you could buy one with the limbs you want and buy ones you want to upgrade to upgrade later.

The other thing to me is that 30-35lb bows are so painfully slow that they arent/weren’t fun for me to shoot. That is just my opinion. There is nothing wrong with what you have planned, you’ll get to the same point. Good luck, and let us know how you progress.

 

[thedutchtouch]

Yea I know why they give that advice, I was only saying it isn’t necessary. Sammick sage limbs are cheap as you know, so you could buy one with the limbs you want and buy ones you want to upgrade to upgrade later.

The other thing to me is that 30-35lb bows are so painfully slow that they arent/weren’t fun for me to shoot. That is just my opinion. There is nothing wrong with what you have planned, you’ll get to the same point. Good luck, and let us know how you progress.

Ah that makes sense. I wasn't trying to explain to you btw, though upon re-read, it seems that way sorry, more meant as me regurgitate my understanding for you to fact check. It seems like realistically sucking it up and making the drive to Lancaster is really the best thing to do, get my hands on some things and pull a bow back instead of thinking and imagining, no matter how much I want to continue pressing the easy button and learning online without talking to humans in person

 

[gcr0003]

Ah that makes sense. I wasn't trying to explain to you btw, though upon re-read, it seems that way sorry, more meant as me regurgitate my understanding for you to fact check. It seems like realistically sucking it up and making the drive to Lancaster is really the best thing to do, get my hands on some things and pull a bow back instead of thinking and imagining, no matter how much I want to continue pressing the easy button and learning online without talking to humans in person

Well it’s exciting way to fill our time until we can get the real hands on experience! Being able to shoot several bows and get tips from the folks at Lancaster should be an invaluable experience and it may change your mind or may reaffirm your plans. But yea, logically what you described is what I read and re-read as being the starting process of learning traditional bow shooting. It’s a safe way to do it but not the only way.

 

[katiesmom]

Forgot to add, I am left handed but right eye dominant, shoot compound righty and plan to shoot trad the same unless there's a reason to switch back to lefty? Seems to make sense to keep it the same side regardless of if the bow has wheels or not?

I am the same, but my right shoulder started going on me so I switched to lefthanded for compound and trad. Trad I keep both eyes open so no big deal. I shoot instinctively. I got a Sage in May 2021 and will hunt traditional this season for the first time. It's a great journey and there are some terrific people here who will help you. Good luck and welcome!

 

[gcr0003]

Forgot to add, I am left handed but right eye dominant, shoot compound righty and plan to shoot trad the same unless there's a reason to switch back to lefty? Seems to make sense to keep it the same side regardless of if the bow has wheels or not?

Lol, I completely missed this. I am the same way but I forced myself to shoot left handed when I started archery with my compound. When I picked up traditional archery, right handed still felt natural so I shot that for a while and then finally decided to stick with left handed because that’s what I shot my compound and that’s what eye was dominant. I noticed that my dominant eye messed with me more shooting traditional then it did with a compound, I’m not sure what that’s about. That said, I can shoot well both a right or left handed recurve but shoot better left handed and therefore shoot it exclusively.

I almost think it would be a great time to switch but I can also see the simplicity in staying with the side you’re already comfortable with. I ended up buying two vintage bows one left and one right handed and was shooting both for a couple months. I wouldn’t recommend that because it doesn’t make the decision any easier lol. I think you could probably stick with the right handed unless you find that the dominant eye gives you problems later down the road.

 

[thedutchtouch]

I also have no intention of switching to left handed on compound, or stopping compound hunting either currently so that was also factoring in to the "just keep everything the same" for now. Thankfully *knock on wood* I have no shoulder/back/physical issues at the moment so have some flexibility in choosing/changing setups. I wear glasses(nearsighted but not terribly so, and astigmatism) but eyes are ok for now as well, this instinctive shooting thing is really what seems like the coolest part of it. I'm using an easy v ony compound so perhaps that was the beginning of the slippery slope, although that talk of benefitting from something compound may be blasphemy in this forum lol

One other consideration is my wife and girls are all righty and I believe right eye dominant so if there's ever a chance of getting them interested, righty wins. My left handed heart will follow in line after my right dominant eye. Thanks for putting up with all the enthusiasm all, there's bound to be more newbie ahead.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

You could just get a longbow without a shelf and then it is ambidextrous. Shoot off either side.

 

[Petrichor]

I shoot ambi with trad. I’m left eye dom but started right hand. I shoot more lefty now and it was weird at switching but worth it. But now I can shoot both at will. Many advantages to being left handed especially with buying bows near the end of the year. Compound and trad are so very different it probably would not be a bad idea to just go left handed. Archery shop to shoot several bows is a great idea. I think longbows are potentially more beginner friendly. 40 pounds is a great starting weight for an adult male of reasonable build and I think I started at 45. I’ll admit I like the look of that black hunter Deluxe and I like the idea of bows where you can shoot longbow or recurve. I personally am a fan of one piece bows and though you are locked into a weight I like them better for a multitude of reasons. While you can just upgrade limbs of a Sage or black hunter, I’d say that if you get to a point where you are addicted and know you like it, just upgrade to a better bow. I know everyone likes the Sage and it seems that I’m the only dissenting opinion on here. I always recommend a used bear or a slick stick. A slick stick is about 350 and has a lifetime warranty. 40 lb slick stick looks great, shoots great, and your kids will cherish it. Double the price but more than twice as nice. It would also be easy to get your money out of it if you hated trad and the warranty passes to anyone that has the bow not just the initial purchaser. At the end of the year I bet you could pick up a new one for low 300 when they try to make room for next years model if you go lefty. Welcome to the addiction.

 

[josh9284]

Nothing wrong with this site for your recommendations however, your questions would be answered better on the archery talk forum under traditional. There are pros that chat there and coaches too. Less gear oriented and more form and shooting.....

 

[Petrichor]

I have never been on archery talk but that’s good to know. I can say I am on Tradgang and Tradhunter and I choose to mostly just post here. We are smaller here but many good shooters here and everywhere. Ask and soak. Lots of hunters here and many quite successful in terms of harvests. Look around everywhere. My biggest recommendation is watch a lot and don’t change a lot at once or quickly.

 

[kbetts]

BS on the light weight stuff.....unless you have a nice, long draw or not strong in the upper body. I started with 60# and low reps. More pressure on my fingers helped develop my release.

 

[kbetts]

I shoot ambi with trad. I’m left eye dom but started right hand. I shoot more lefty now and it was weird at switching but worth it. But now I can shoot both at will. Many advantages to being left handed especially with buying bows near the end of the year. Compound and trad are so very different it probably would not be a bad idea to just go left handed. Archery shop to shoot several bows is a great idea. I think longbows are potentially more beginner friendly. 40 pounds is a great starting weight for an adult male of reasonable build and I think I started at 45. I’ll admit I like the look of that black hunter Deluxe and I like the idea of bows where you can shoot longbow or recurve. I personally am a fan of one piece bows and though you are locked into a weight I like them better for a multitude of reasons. While you can just upgrade limbs of a Sage or black hunter, I’d say that if you get to a point where you are addicted and know you like it, just upgrade to a better bow. I know everyone likes the Sage and it seems that I’m the only dissenting opinion on here. I always recommend a used bear or a slick stick. A slick stick is about 350 and has a lifetime warranty. 40 lb slick stick looks great, shoots great, and your kids will cherish it. Double the price but more than twice as nice. It would also be easy to get your money out of it if you hated trad and the warranty passes to anyone that has the bow not just the initial purchaser. At the end of the year I bet you could pick up a new one for low 300 when they try to make room for next years model if you go lefty. Welcome to the addiction.

I wanna go lefty....