Alright, Christmas is on the way and since my wife has expressed an interest in archery I thought a nice beginner bow for Christmas would be the way to go. I'm sure someone around here must have some ideas... Note that this will be a bow for a woman and since there's no telling if she will want to stick with it something on the cheaper side would be optimal. Do you all have any sources? I did a search and someone mentioned rudderbows but I'm hoping for something without a significant wait...

What kind of bow are you wanting? Something modern? Something more historically-based?

Ooops! It seems I didn't search long enough. I just found a thread with basically the same question some time back... of course if you gentlemen have any suggestions for a nice recurve bow on the cheaper side I'm still all ears. That particular thread didn't have what I was looking for although some of the Magyar horsebows looked interesting...

Man oh man do I wish I had a place to fire bows and crossbows, and a trebuchet for that matter. Howevery, maybe in the future when we move somewhere South, we want a modest house on 15 acres or so 3 miles from where god lost his shoes. My wife loves gardening and we have both had it with the cold North, so perhaps someday I will be able to share in the bow enthusiasm. Don't know how my shoulder would hold up to firing a bow, but it sure would be fun!

Happy Collecting,


Bob

Hey Russ,


I'd recommend looking into a local archery shop. Alot of the time they carry used bows as trade-ins.....I got my #45 recurve for $70 w/5 arrows and It was used.

Just a comment regarding recurves:

As this bow is for a beginner, I would advise against going for a recurve to start with. There are a few reasons for this, but basically it boils down to forgiveness. Recurves are quite popular and do generate more velocity, but because of this they place greater demand on the archer in terms of cleanness of release - they tend to be "snappy". Flatbows (Flat section) or Longbows (with a "D" cross-section) on the other hand, generate their impetus to the arrow through the length of the stave rather than the velocity thereof (differing time of energy storage/release). The arrow is "pushed" along rather that "shot", though that is a very simplistic statement and doesn't take into account arrow weights, etc., and various things that differ between the bow styles.

In any case... what this means to the neophyte archer is: Greater forgiveness = More fun. More Fun = Continued practice.

If you start out with a bow so reflexive that getting any kind of group is near impossible the whole rig is bound to be tossed aside in frustration. This also goes for draw weight by the way - important with any style. Don't get something that is tiring to use, or again, frustration awaits.

Flat and longbows give a bit more leeway and are, in my opinion, far better suited to someone who is going to shoot instinctively. Fred Bear, in his Archer's Bible lambastes the recurve and makes some of these points in favour of his preferred weapon, the longbow. Having started with recurves myself and later flat and longbows I agree with him, although I do still shoot recurves as well. Opinions vary of course, and the long/flat/recurve war is a long on ongoing debate.

Also, as I'm sure you've already found, from a historical perspective the recurve is almost exclusively an "Eastern" style, if that makes any difference, and a decent composite Magyar or Mongol bow is quite pricey. As far as historical "correctness" you could look at all the varying materials, styles, and construction methods available in the past and at present or you could take the stance that a "bow is a bow", but ultimately, a bow unused is a useless bow.

HI,
Its been about ten years since I was on the Collage Archery team, but at the time there were a few woman that had 20 pound pull back recurve bows. Of course the lighter the pullback the more arching in the air to cover the same distance, but they got the job done.
I agree with the idea of the long bow, but consider that if your wife stays with it, that when she changed over, if she changed over, to a recurve, she would have to redevelope her shooting form.

Just something to think about.
Steve

Eric, that was an excellent and thoughtful reply. Thank you.

I started out on the recurve and did fine until I lost those 5 arrows...bought some repacements at Walmart....Ruined all the fun, turns out I bought the wrong draw length arrow and thats why they zinged off. :lol: Thats alll fixed now, A local shop will usual let you try too shoot the bows as well. I think as far as big retailers go Gander Mt. is the only one I know of that has archery lanes for use.

I'll echo the ease of use of a flat bow and that Basspro has archery lanes as well.

Bass Pro do have lanes.....Must just be the local one doesn't :wtf:

Try this guy. I have one of the linen-backed longbows and it works quite well for an initial investment. Has held up over the past 2 years of use quite well. Turn around time was around 3-4 weeks, if I remember correctly.

http://www.woodbows.com

Now I want one of his atlatl and the yumi-style bow...

Keith

Thank you for the excellent replies gentlemen, I really appreciate them. Sounds like I've got a bit more looking and homework to do. Good thoughts on the recurve vs flatbow Eric I had not considered those sorts of things at all.

for a historical bow, goto www.ancientarchery.com and get an ash D shape bow.

Nice! Thanks Chuck!

Hey Russ,

Please let us know what you end up buying for your wife. I'm also in the market for a bow and I would be very interested in knowing what you bought and how you like it.

Thanks!

here's where i got my bow
http://www.horsebows.com/
here's another on the less expensive side of things

http://rudderbows.com/

http://www.selfbow.com/hickyew/timbercruiser.html


The above web site has some pretty good looking traditional bows. I have not seen one personally, but have had a second hand report (archer friend who has handled one) that they are a best value in the roughly $200 U.S. price bracket. You can choose between fully traditional one piece long bow with D handle, longbow limbs with modern grip, or even takedown grip. You will spend more money getting tooled up to make if yourself if yours is going to be of similar quality.

I like woodworking and have the three volumes of the Bowyers Bible (a dozen different authors, all recognized experts within the topics they contributed too), along with some Osage Orange curing in my garage. A variety of the construction techniques discussed in the Bowyer's Bible and different design approaches needed to make them perform well "appear to be" represented on this vendor's web site with good understanding. Pretty impressive compared to most other vendors' web sites, and a lower end price range at the same time!