I've been thinking about picking up a traditional bow for some time now -- both for hunting purposes as well as for historical interest. I'm looking for a traditional wood bow -- perhaps a longbow, perhaps a flatbow. The catch is I'm trying to keep it under $200.
Does anyone out there have personal experience with bows that fit this bill? I've seen Rudderbows and Bitter Root Bows suggested before.

Thanks
Brian M

u can get red oak flat bows for that price, but dont look for an english long bow d section for under 350. esp if you want a period wood like yew or ash. check out www.ancientarmory.com (not sure of the spelling on anceint or armour here hehehe

I don't really know bows and I don't have any specific suggestions but I see this magazine on the racks a lot and pick it up from time to time.

http://www.primitivearcher.com

It may help a bit or at least lead to additional resources.

rudderbows.com

I just got my 100 dollar hickory longbow, and its a great bow as far as look, haven't shot it much yet. Good service too.

Hello all,

Cabela's usaually has pretty good selection of hunting bows, both long and recurve.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/h...stid=21318

Primitive Archer is indeed an EXCELLENT source for trad bows and making them. Unfortunately, their online forum is now tied to their mag subscription so I've not been there in a while. Another place to look into is: http://www.3riversarchery.com/

Keep in mind that if $$ is an issue you may want to consider building one yourself. It's not that hard really (I made this one http://www.oakandacorn.com/celticclans/images/archery2.jpg) and I'm a blacksmith not a wood worker. My friend who is a wood worker and has been making bows for only a year, is able to turn out functional and beautiful bows in 6-8 HOURS! That's going from dimensional hard wood (or stave) to shootable and includes making the string.

http://www.horsebows.com/

I've been very happy with my hun. It's a great shooting bow. Very smooth draw.

As Dan said, making your own bows is not rocket science, and a lot of fun. I could recommend some reading if you're interested.

I make mine using as traditional methods as possible. I do use a bandsaw to rough shape the blank. I don't feel too bad about that for 2 reasons: I shaped my first bow with a hatchet and drawknife, and it was pretty brutal :) Secondly, the real art of making a bow comes in the tillering and final shaping, and that's where I like to feel connected to the bow by using hand tools.

The work is done with a drawknife (a gift to me, forged by Daniel), handplanes, marking tools I made myself, rasps and scrapers.

The strings are made from either hemp or sisal. I do a reverse twisted Flemsish style string, with a fixed loop on one end, and a timber hitch (also known as the bowyer's hitch) on the other. I have not graduated to spinning my own string, yet, but I'm working on it :)

Here's a photo of me shooting in "The Pharoah," a 55lb draw bow at 28" that I made for a friend. The bow is ash, with an oak riser. You can see the beautiful shape this type of bow makes when drawn. It's known as a pyramid design, and is a flatbow.



If you're interested in making your own, or having me make you one, feel free to PM me.

-Joe

http://www.ancientarchery.com/ sorry, i was running late for work. maybe should have not posted

Thanks for the replys. I saw the ancientarchery site, and while his work looks nice, it's still more than I can spend right now. Right now it looks like Rudderbows is the best bet to buy one, but DIY appeals to me too, especially the cost.
I might have to see if I can find "Primitive Archer" on the newsstand.

Brian M

If you go the DIY route, I highly recommend The Traditional Bowyers Bible series. The first book has great info for working from staves, the second (IIRC) has info about making bows from lumber, and discusses the pyramid design that Joe posted the picture of. You'll want the third book also, just because the first two are so good :)

I've made several bows with just a drawknife, a rasp, and a file, out of maple, oak, and cherry. Its easier and quicker to make a bow than to make the arrows.

If you were leaning toward rudderbow, what about a floor tillered stave? There is plenty of DIY and design options left with one of those.