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Samick Sage

Jay_Disarray

Jay_Disarray

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
1,950
Location
MN
What is all of you trad shooters thoughts on the Sage? In my research of a reasonable priced non compound bow to see if its something I'm interested in, i keep hearing about this bow.
 
I have a left and right handed sage. Good little bow, for the money you can't beat it. Shoots better than my old bear and Shakespeare.
 
Don’t be afraid to start with a lower poundage than you think you need. I’m pulling 60 on my compound and struggling with form on my 45 lb Sage, and that decreases the fun factor. I should have probably started at 35-40 and worked up.
 
This is what i keep hearing, and for that price point its not a huge financial risk for a bow i might not like. I know what im asking for on xmas
 
Tr33_n1nj@ said:
Don’t be afraid to start with a lower poundage than you think you need. I’m pulling 60 on my compound and struggling with form on my 45 lb Sage, and that decreases the fun factor. I should have probably started at 35-40 and worked up.
Click to expand...
Different limbs is how you change the draw weight?
 
So i think this is a loaded question, but if i shoot my compound at a 58# and i can draw that all day, im reasonably strong, what kinda weight should i look at on a trad?
 
What i mean is how would one go about figuring out my best draw weight without having access to a trad
 
Jay_Disarray said:
What is all of you trad shooters thoughts on the Sage? In my research of a reasonable priced non compound bow to see if its something I'm interested in, i keep hearing about this bow.
Click to expand...
I don't own one, but I've read dozens of opinions on the Sage from experienced trad guys. They all speak highly of it.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
I've never had a full size Samick bit I bought my son the 58" Samick Little fox. It's a well made and good shooting little bow. If the Sage is anything like it, it's well worth the money.

Regarding weight, I've been shooting Recurves for a long time and I still go back to my 45# bow to work on my form occasionally. I wouldn't start with anything more than 40#, especially as cheap as limbs are for the Sage. 40# is enough for whitetail with a good arrow set up and a sharp 2 blade broadhead but, you can easily upgrade to a little heavier limbs for just a few dollars after your comfortable with the lighter limbs. Then you would still have the lighter limbs to occasionally work on your form, which is a constant batlle with most people.

Edit: I forgot that I actually spent a week shooting my son's 20# little fox this winter when I was changing a part of my form. So you can't really go too light when learning form.
 
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I did this same thing, purchased the sage as a starter option to see if I could put the time in that was necessary to hunt with trad. It’s a great bow and smooth to draw.

After practicing daily with it I’ve decided to order a one-piece recurve of a little better quality but I have no plans to get rid of my sage.

I draw ~65 on compound and am using 40 limbs.
 
Jay_Disarray said:
So i think this is a loaded question, but if i shoot my compound at a 58# and i can draw that all day, im reasonably strong, what kinda weight should i look at on a trad?
Click to expand...
So if you're drawing a 58# compound, you're probably holding about 14# at full draw. A 45# recurve at full draw will be 45#. For years I shot a 58# Longbow but as I've aged I've had to drop poundage. First to a 51# Robertson recurve which I can still shoot but I was having an issue with my bow arm and started shooting low poundage bows to work through the arm issue. As I was stepping back up in weight, I was looking for a 45# bow and saw a Samick Sage 45# bow locally on Craigslist and picked it up. It was a nice bow and shot really nice but seemed to be lacking a bit in performance. I replaced the Dacron string with a Fast Flite string and the bow really came to life. I like it so much now, it's the bow I choose to hunt with now.
Back to your question, a nice weight to begin with is 35# in my view. The limbs for a Sage should sell easily and are not that expensive to begin with. You can always sell the lower poundage limbs when you replace them with a higher poundage limb. In my opinion 45#-50# is the range that most adult men can effectively shoot. Yeah, they can pull higher poundage but most will shoot a bow in that range best.
 
I have 6 trad bows (recurves) ranging from 36# to 55#, and 2 compounds at 65# and 70#. I’m far more a accurate with the compounds at every range, but especially over 25 yards; and they are much easier to draw and shoot. But the trad bows are more fun and enjoyable for me. I'm in good enough shape to easily handle the 70# compound. But the bow I find myself picking up and shooting the most is the lightest recurve at 36#. It's also the longest one at 66", and is a pleasure to shoot. The 55# is one of the best and most expensive recurves I own. Very high quality. But I can't shoot it. Can't even get it to full draw (29" for me, meaning it's probably in the 58# range there). It just hits a brick wall for me at about 27", and is way too much weight to hold even there. I can shoot my 50# recurve ok for a few shots, but it's a bit of a struggle. I do much better with the lighter ones (40#, 43#, 45#, and 46#). They all feel about the same to me and I can handle them well. I do get tired much quicker practicing with the recurves (even the 36#) than the compounds which I can shoot all day. For your first trad bow I would recommend 40# or less. You can always buy heavier limbs for the Sage later if you want, but you might not want to.
 
The minimum draw weight for hunting in MN is 30#, so i think if i pick one up ill go with the 35# limbs then.

Should be comfortable enough to enjoy shooting but still heavy enough to hunt with
 
I too have left and right handed sages. My 9 year old pulls 35# limbs, but probably actually much less, because his draw length is so short. I have 35, 40, 45, and 50# limbs. I can pull a 70+# compound no problemo, but 20 minutes into practicing with the 50# limbs on the sage, my form breaks down and I can feel the fatigue.

35# is going to likely feel way too light, but you probably have also not developed the little back muscles to pull correctly. I was, wisely mentored to start light and build up. Think about it like bench press - you would not just jump in on a 400# bench, you would start at 200, then 300, etc. Maybe not exactly the same, but you get it.

Limbs are cheap. It's a great bow.
Also check out the madarin duck Black hunter. Really light, great grip, really quiet when tuned up.
 
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