It's hard to explain why, but making wood calls these past few months somehow rekindled the urge to shoot a traditional bow. Several years back, I shot a longbow for a year or so. I got decent with it, but never hunted with it, and went back to the compound. I gave in last week and let myself fall down that rabbit hole again. I want to kill a deer with a recurve, and that journey began yesterday when this arrived at the door.
I ordered a Sage Elite recurve after some research and seeing that Lancaster had it on sale for about 25% off. It's a cheap starter bow, I know, but that's what I need. To start. Last night, I strung it and got the brace height in the suggested range for the bow, installed some fur silencers, and lightly crimped my nock set in place. I found a few of my old longbow arrows in my closet and couldn't resist flinging a few at lunch today (it's a quick drive home). My arrow shaft "test kit" won't come until later in the week, but I at least wanted to shoot a few arrows and see if my nock point was high/low or OK. I also just wanted to shoot the damn thing. No bullshit, here's Arrow #1.
I thought this was supposed to be hard? No need to show you the 14 or so after that... But, all kidding aside, I shot between 10 and 20 yards and managed to stick the target on every shot. Some good, some not so good. Judging by the arrow flight, the shafts I shot today were too stiff. It didn't help that my field tips were light, also, from my compound use (100 grains). The bow felt good, though. It's definitely fun to shoot and I'm looking forward to shooting more once I get arrows matched better to the bow. This was my last three-shot group at 20 yards. Plenty of room to grow but it wasn't a complete disaster.
Aesthetically, I like the bow. I'm sure I'll upgrade down the road if this fire continues to burn, but I'm happy so far with the choice. I went with a traditional bear hair shelf and leather side plate, beaver ball silencers, and a glove over a tab. I can't decide yet if I will want a bow mounted quiver or not. I'm honestly leaning towards a hip quiver just because I have never shot archery equipment with quivers attached.
We'll see how this journey unfolds. I have roughly 10 months to get proficient enough with a trad bow to hunt deer. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but that's all part of the adventure.
I ordered a Sage Elite recurve after some research and seeing that Lancaster had it on sale for about 25% off. It's a cheap starter bow, I know, but that's what I need. To start. Last night, I strung it and got the brace height in the suggested range for the bow, installed some fur silencers, and lightly crimped my nock set in place. I found a few of my old longbow arrows in my closet and couldn't resist flinging a few at lunch today (it's a quick drive home). My arrow shaft "test kit" won't come until later in the week, but I at least wanted to shoot a few arrows and see if my nock point was high/low or OK. I also just wanted to shoot the damn thing. No bullshit, here's Arrow #1.
I thought this was supposed to be hard? No need to show you the 14 or so after that... But, all kidding aside, I shot between 10 and 20 yards and managed to stick the target on every shot. Some good, some not so good. Judging by the arrow flight, the shafts I shot today were too stiff. It didn't help that my field tips were light, also, from my compound use (100 grains). The bow felt good, though. It's definitely fun to shoot and I'm looking forward to shooting more once I get arrows matched better to the bow. This was my last three-shot group at 20 yards. Plenty of room to grow but it wasn't a complete disaster.
Aesthetically, I like the bow. I'm sure I'll upgrade down the road if this fire continues to burn, but I'm happy so far with the choice. I went with a traditional bear hair shelf and leather side plate, beaver ball silencers, and a glove over a tab. I can't decide yet if I will want a bow mounted quiver or not. I'm honestly leaning towards a hip quiver just because I have never shot archery equipment with quivers attached.
We'll see how this journey unfolds. I have roughly 10 months to get proficient enough with a trad bow to hunt deer. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but that's all part of the adventure.
