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I've been shooting a bow for near 40 years, bow hunting for 36. Started with a compound....Still shooting a compound.

However, I recently acquired a recurve....It's a Bear Kodiak Magnum made in '72... Only 3 years younger than me.

I had been looking for a K-Mag for a while as that is the bow my Dad shot when I was just a young pup. Though he was shooting a compound at my earliest recollection, I do have a few pictures of him with that bow.

My dilemma here is: The specs on the bow are 45# at 28". I'm 6' 4" and have a long draw.....31 1/2" on my current compound. I'll probably be pulling this one somewhere around 30" or a little more.

At that draw length, I figure the weight to be somewhere around 50 to 52#.

I'm going into this blind... Never having shot a recurve. Just got a string (16 strand B-50) and strung it up. Now I need arrows. And I haven't got a clue as to what I should be shooting out of this thing.

I'm thinking maybe not this coming year....but next year I'll be out there hunting with the stick and string like my Dad did 50 years ago.

So, any recommendations will be greatly appreciated. I think I'd like to go with wooden arrows but I'm not averse to aluminum or carbon.

You may be frustrated by wood being new to trad. I don't think you want that additional degree of detail to address. Aluminum or carbon would be a see first choice. You may be surprised by you trad arrow length compared to your compound arrow length. Have you drawn it with an arrow to what you feel is full draw?

I'm not a wood arrow guy. I would start with a .500 deflection carbon full length with a 125 tip.

Carbons stiffen quick with as little as 1/2 inch cut from them so always start long and test. You need to learn about bareshaft tuning if you want it perfect. You might not be able to bareshaft tune to start until your release gets good enough.

Give Lancaster Archery a call and tell them what you have and they will get you close. Tell then what tip weight you prefer to shoot. They will sell you just 1 or 3 arrows to start with to see what you need. If you are right at the edge you might try a couple different spines by just buying 2 arrows and some different weight tips. No need to buy a dozen and have them be wrong,just get two or 3 and maybe different spines to start.

The worst thing you could do with carbons would be to pick a spine and cut just over your draw length before testing. They need to be the length that spines correctly,which is done by cutting small amounts off during testing. You do however have to get good enough to test this way first since you will be testing without feathers and any inconsistency in form,draw length and release will result in false readings. Best to shoot something full length that shoots pretty good and close to start with and then fine tune when you start grouping arrows. Lancasters will get you real close.

Properly spined arrows will help your accuracy. Weak spined arrows will shoot left of center and stiff arrows will shoot right of center for a right hand shooter. You can also have one so stiff that you get a false reading as weak but that's info for later. I'm sure Lancaster will get you as close as anybody.

Most of the Traditional archers I shoot with are shooting carbon fiber arrows now. It may not be the purest traditional way but its probably a bit more intelligent/accurate and definitely easier. Now if you really want to do what your dad did I am sure he used wooden shafts 50 years ago long before carbon was popularized or existed. You go back to the old Fred Bear articles and your dad probably read those and they loved putting together wood shafts but it takes a bit of finesse.

I am not a wood guy either and most of those older archers would not have been with today's options.

Lancaster can help with all your archery needs per above.

Good luck and shoot straight

Bob

Full length ICS Bowhunter 500's with 3) 4" Feathers and 125gr field points. Now if you really want to learn to shoot trad, set that bow aside and find one that draws about 30-35# at your 30" draw length. Learn to hold, aim and shoot with the lightweight then work your way up to a hunting weight rig.

I'll agree with the light weight to learn aspect. I will only caution to deal with Lancaster Archery only if you get a really light weight set up. Lancaster sells arrows with deflection as high as 1500 to spine correctly for very light bows and short draws. If you call a place like 3Rivers Archery,they only sell as light as .600 deflection and will lie to you and tell you they will work just fine for even a 25 lb bow drawn 25 inches.

Thanks everyone...Sharp Things, the only arrows I currently have are Beman ICS 340's cut to 29 1/4. My current compound is a Jennings X-Master with a 3"overdraw that I bought back in 1999. LOL. I tried one of them and pulled it right off the shelf....No good.

Centershot and R H Clark....Both of you guys citing the ICS 500's with 125 grain tips has got me thinking....That is right in line with the charts I have found online. And I have a half dozen 125 grain Bear Broadheads with the bleeder blades from back in the late 80's. Sounds like a plan.

As far as the draw weight goes, My Jennings is a single cam set at 68# with 80% let off. I can pull it slow and smooth and hold it forever. My backup bow however is a Bear Alaskan dual cam bow that I bought back in 1987. It pulls 74# and only has 35% let off. I'm holding nearly 50# at full draw and it is not uncomfortable. It is currently at my son's house 150 miles away so I can't try those arrows (Full length XX75 2117 with 125 grain tips)

So I am going to give this a whirl and see how it works out. If things don't seem to click....I will pick up a lower poundage bow. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Also, Lancaster Archery is on my radar but I will start this quest with my local shop. Thanks again.

You can try what you have but be cautions as too much weight to start with will lead to bad habits. You will try to get rid of the weight faster than you shots after a dozen practice shots. When I started trad,I had my compound at 85lbs,and I'm talking 25 years ago when they weren't 75% let off. I started with a 40lb bow and them bought a 45lb. It actually took me a while to work up to that 45 lb bow. A strong guy will build up pretty fast though because in another year I could shoot a 60lb trad bow just as easily as that first 40 lb bow.

If you catch yourself dropping your arm and not following though or any other signs of fatigue,shoot fewer arrowers per session or get a lighter bow before you develop bad habits.

Will do. Thank you sir.

Check on 3 Rivers Archery website.
Think they have an arrow calculator.

I like Gold Tips and their weight system.

Beautiful paper tune.
My Widows are cut past center so run a slightly stiffer spine.

Liked my old XX75's just fine. But if you shoot 3D, esp starting out in trad.........carbons are wonderful for durability.
Skip a back or belly on a target and aluminum is usually jacked.

Unless you have an old Easton assembly line type of straightener, forget it.
Hell most shops don't have them anymore.

Wood arrows are cool. Made some gorgeous ones of tight spec way back when 3R was in the basement of a house not far from my mom's.
Broke 3 stump shooting with buds..........out of my old 62# MA2. Said never again, sold the remaining arrow making supplies to my buds.
Went aluminum.
When GT carbons w weights came out.........said screw aluminum.

LOL..............bought a Damon Howatt Super Diablo like new back in '88.
It had Graphlex arrows.

Didn't run it with them, only shot Easton aluminum from that bow.

3 Rivers also sells a "test kit" for carbons.

FWIW old Bears can be cool rigs.
Sometimes they're noisy with good tune and form.
Might be limb resonance.
Those Sims stick on mushrooms, or wraps like those sold by PSE ...........can really help.

Hookeye, thank you for the input. 3Rivers is also on the radar...in fact, I purchased the string, a shooting glove and some nocking points from them.

I must have gone through a hundred or more arrow charts in the last couple weeks...To go with carbon, several of them specify 500's but the majority seem to have me right on the borderline between 400's and 340's or 350's from certain makers. The call seems to be 2018, 2117 or 2216 in aluminum with more than one calling for 2219's .

Ya know, something just sorta clicked.....I will purchase full length Beman ICS 340's. According to what I have read and all of the wonderful insight I have received here, They will probably be too stiff to start with but I can add weight up front to get the spine correct. If that don't work, I'll pick up some 400's and start again.

The 340's I can simply cut to 29 1/4" and I got me some brand new arrows for the Jennings. I only have 5 left so that will work out just fine.

Thank you all for your insight...It is much appreciated.