Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Longbow or Recurve? opinions please

Brand spankin' new bow, from 3 Rivers Archery.

Surely they’ll replace that.

Yes. 3Rivers is the best. Let them help.

Bear has a one year warranty for original owner. Register it online, if 3Rivers did not do that already for you.

No stop wasting time and money with Bear. Get your money back and buy a locally made Dan Toelke Whip. Glad you are ok.

Dang - sorry to hear that and I'm sure 3 Rivers/Bear will make it right. The highest stressed portion in the limb is where it joins the riser and is the most common location for a failure. It's usually the lower limb that fails like that since it's usually stressed more than the upper limb. I've been studying your full draw pic and it does look like the upper limb is bending hard right off the end of the riser, whereas the lower limb appears to have a more gradual bend. That hard bend causes a stress concentration at that point and it appears the belly side lamination let go along the riser. It might be a combination of Bear not balancing the limbs correctly and a bad glue joint and the two together were too much.

I see what you are saying about the harder looking bend out of the top end of the riser.

I was just holding at full draw for two or three seconds when it just exploded.

I'll call 3Rivers on Monday and see what they will do for me.

This doesn't inspire any confidence in another Bear longbow. Kind of a buzzkill.

I hear you on the confidence thing - I've yet to have one come apart but have heard plenty of stories from others and that would have to rattle your cage a bit. I've also been told that any bow is 90% broken at full draw - they do get stressed severely every time they're drawn.

I'm drawing a bit further than average too. That probably adds more stress. I was kind of focusing on engaging the upper back, and that might have had my draw up past 30".

Would a lighter draw, say 40 lb, be easier on the integrity of the bow?

Another thing that crossed my mind was that this happened in the house, temp about 70F. I have to imagine in cold weather things would tend to break even easier.

Draw length, especially long draw lengths, demand certain considerations when choosing a bow. Probably 80-85% of our customers draw 28" or less. But for those of us (I draw 31") who draw longer we MUST consider bow length and bow design as a critical matter before choosing which bow to buy. A bow built for 80-85% of the folks may very well not be suitable for the other 15%.

If you want to have some help feel free to call Mike at the shop on Monday.

John

buttstock, I get what you are saying, but I wasn't trying to be manly. I figured 50 was a good middleweight bow.

Anyhoo, the bow already arrived and has already suffered catastrophic failure. It's in the previous posts.

Thanks for the well intended comments anyway.

Thanks John. That's good critical information.....grin.

I'll get ahold of 3Rivers on Monday and see what they have to say. I need to back up, regroup, and think before making the next move. I' not ready to just go in for a $1000 ballpark bow just now. The $399 Bear was about all I was willing to spend to get a starter bow. But thanks for the help.

I used to build both. I much preferred a takedown recurve myself.

Since your bow broke so soon after, you should be able to get it replaced, or get a refund. If possible, get a refund, and get the 64" Spyder XL in 30-35#, and practice with it. It is an eady and low cost action to move up to a 40# limb when it is time. You will not read a bad review on this bow. You can draw this bow to over 31" without stacking. It is a great shooting bow. Shoots as well or better than a bow 3-4x it's price-and other shooters report the same thing.

Honestly, do an internet search on "overbowed" + "archery". It's just not men making this recommendation.

Hope you can get a refund on your bow.

https://www.southwestarcheryusa.com...spyder-xl-64-takedown-recurve-bow-parent


John C (owner) at Twig Archery is great to deal with, if you want a personal touch. He will hand select a specific draw weight limb for you at no charge. A 35# limb is 42-43#@30". Very deer huntable. Many threads out there about #40 draw weight and deer hunting

John can also make up xx75 aluminum shaft arrows for you. Maybe Easton Tributes or Jazz. Probably 1916 shafts with 125- 150 grain points will work for you.

http://www.twigarchery.com/64-spyder-xl-1/

The takeaway is that you want to be able to shoot enough with s lighter draw weight to develop good form and habits, that are adaptable to heavier draw weights. Starting with 55# at your draw length is too much, and bad habits will develop. Your draw length will likely increase as you shoot with a lighter nos-wjich is good, and what you want to see as you develop back tension. Get the book "Shooting the Stickbow" by Anthony Camera ($20). Outstanding source of information for you.

Check YouTube for "the wedge" series for archery form ( 6? Videos). Fantastic.

Also, videos by Arne Moe and Jimmy Blackmon. Blackmon was National recurve 3d champ a few years back. Recently retired Colonel US Army and commanding officer of 101st airborne division. Amazing man, and great teacher.

Good luck.

You need to establish a solid anchor point. I anchor with my index finger against the corner of my mouth and my thumb under my jaw. In one picture you posted you are drawing well past that point. Wherever you want to anchor that is comfortable and doesn't get you out of alignment is fine. You can anchor against your ear if that's what you want. I knew one world class shooter who stuck his thumb in his ear.

My point is that wherever you anchor is your draw length and whatever bow you get needs to be designed for that draw length. You should never take a bow designed for a 28-29" draw which would be to your anchor on your mouth,and just draw that bow back past your ear practicing on your strength. It could very well let go at 32-33".

Same thing goes for letting ape arm guys draw a bow trying it out.

sorry to hear about bow breaking it can happen ,hopefully they replace it. we have had better luck with recurves and long bows made custom from Black Widow ,yes they cost plenty but we have been very satisfied with service and Black Widow bows. my son at 14 years of age had a problem with a Black Widow bow so i wrote to the owner of Black Widow ,he called my son personally during the week at 7 p.m. and replaced the old bow with a better Black Widow bow. the owner or Black Widow Bows a month later called again to make sure my 14 year old son was happy with his new custom Black Widow bow too in the evening again, now that is some real nice service !

I hear you all on the anchor point. My wife took that pic 5 minutes after I opened the box.

But regarding finding the anchor, I was working with the bow after that pic, and my intent was to let my bone structure alignment determine my anchor point. Not arbitrarily stick my finger in my mouth and declare that my anchor point, even as I am muscle-fugking the bow to keep it there.

I hear you man. Most of us have done the same. I just wanted you to know that bows are sort of like rifles in that they may shoot best close to maximum pressure and do it well for years but exceed the design parameters and bad things can happen. Regardless,you should not have been able to break that bow if it was designed and tillered correctly at even 33 or 34 inches IMHO.

On anchor what you are looking for is correct alignment. What that means is that you are stressing muscle against muscle as little as possible and have good form which is a lot of things that gets you perfectly aligned to hit the target.

Let me see if I can shed some light a different way. When I am properly aligned with good form,including my anchor point,I can see my arrow in my peripheral vision. I don't put that tip on the target unless I am far enough away to use it as a reference,which is about 50 yards,but I know it will be in a straight line directly under my target closer than 50 yards,or over if farther.

If my anchor is in the wrong place,then I won't be aligned properly with the target. If my form is bad then I won't be properly aligned in a straight line vertical to my target. Your arrow spine is also important in this as too weak a spine will fly to the right even if properly aligned for a RH shooter and a stiff arrow will fly to the left. Some just correct by aiming differently but this is a bad move and will hurt your accuracy and form.


It's not a gap shooting thing either. I have shot like this for enough years that it's as ingrained as shooting skeet with a shotgun,which also requires perfect form, even if you aren't consciously placing that beed at a specific point in the air. Think of your anchor like your cheek on the shotgun stock. If your cheek is 3 inches off the stock,you likely won't hit the target. In the same way,your anchor has to be so that you get correct alignment. Just like the gun,if you are ligned up and don't jerk the trigger,or flubb the release,you will hit the target.

I started w a glove as a kid, but got into compounds in college and used a tab w finger spacer (Kantpinch KP300- calf hair).
Love that tab.

If I shoot split finger w recurve, that's my choice. My anchor there is w middle finger at corner of mouth.
My stance is kinda open, which shortens draw a tad. But I never have left to right problems.

That type of shooting works for me quite well, but requires a lot of practice as the arrow is not used as a sight.

After banging up some fingers, I had little time to practice and tried 3 under. Had a different bow and arrows had some extra weight added to get them spined right.
Experimenting I found that with a higher anchor (under cheekbone) I could use the arrow as a sight.
Also found that three under, w middle finger at corner of mouth, allows same sight picture, for different yardage.

Choice of tab for 3 under is Blackwidow 3 under calf hair tab.

BTW, I think they call that changing anchor stuff "face walking".

Depending on your setup/style..........you might find something that works easier than another.
Part of the fun, experimenting

But all of this assumes you have a properly tuned system to start with.

The arrow as a sight works very well, but I find it slower.............not fluid. Esp after shooting reflexive for so long.
Hopefully my health holds up and I can shoot my favorite way and get back to unconscious gap shooting (instinctive some call it LOL).
My hands and back get beat up pretty bad at work.
Hell I cracked my arm not all that long ago. Still have a bump/tender spot on it.

Sucks your new toy blew up.
Glad you got only a conversation starter out of it.
Not had any warranty work through 3 Rivers, but have stopped by their shop/showroom before.
Nice people.
Should treat you just fine.

Bought some stuff from the prev 3R owner, when they were in the basement of a house not far from my mom's place.
That about 30 yrs ago LOL.


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I think w newer limb designs/materials a 45-50# bow might be pretty sweet for treestand hunting/distances.
Have been eyeballing 50# +/- 2 Blackwidow PCH, 56".
Might do the "test drive" offer.

Could be an expensive wall hanger..........due to arthritis issues.

I really loved my 2001 Blackwidow SA2...........55# 58". Sold it due to injury.
Current bow is 54#, also FF strung.........and 58".
Its an older metal riser Widow and I love the grip. More than the SA2 (which was BW's standard grip).

My 3rd BW HS model, finally got one between 50-55# that was fast flite rated.

Grip feel is HUGE factor for me.

Buddy has an older Chastain (he had it built). It's pretty sweet too.

For a factory recurve, the Hoyt Dorado was a decent riser, but the high grip (more like a medium to me) isn't high enough.
Had the Hoyt riser w Tradtech limbs. 53#. Was light, smooth and quiet.
The grip could have been made better w a custom grip............no biggie really.
My problem was the riser being 19".
Rather had a 17".
Like the Dorado looks better than those of the Satori.

And that is part of it.................looks.

Gotta enjoy what you're shooting. Looks and feel are subjective, and important.
Nice to try a bunch of stuff out.

See where your preferences point you.