Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting R/D longbow recommendations

Looking for a reflex/deflex longbow in the 45# range. What have you guys seen or shot that you’d recommend? There are a lot of makers, and I’d like to keep a budge of around $700. I’m looking at the used market on some, but there are some makers like Dark Mesa close to me that I’m going to go check out as well.

I don’t have much experience with r/d longbows but have shot a Martin Savannah and loved it. That was maybe 15 years ago. Not sure if they’ve changed or still available.

Great looking and shooting bow.

I have a "hitmaster " 55# that i love. smooth /fast.

Sarrels archery. Bob builds a great shooting bow and is hell of a nice guy.

Check out TradLab testing...
https://www.thetradlab.com/r-d-longbows

I have a "Whip" from Montana Bow Co. I bought mine used to stay in budget.

https://montanabows.blogspot.com/p/one-and-two-piece-bow-designs.html

I'd try to go to a shoot with plenty of vendors and shoot as many as you can and then decide.

Im not a longbow fan but of the several customs my bud has, I liked his Tomahawk best.

Have no idea what they run.

I still hav e2 savanahs. 50 and 55. Martin made some great bows for the money

For an off the shelf bow Martin his hard to beat.

Sarrels or Dwyer longbows

Give Robert a call and see if he has something you can go shoot. We own 3 of his bows and they shoot nice, my carbon limb model is very smooth and fast for the poundage.
He's in North Texas, Muenster to be exact.

http://predatorlongbows.com/wp/

I’ll have to check those out. That’s really close to my farm.

Toelke can’t be beat.

Check out Possum Bow Company on Facebook.

Mike builds some INCREDIBLE traditional stuff.

Can’t say enough good things about my Big Jim Thunderchild. You can find them used for 750-1000.

+1, had a Whip for a while. Very nice R/D Longbow.

There are a lot of great Customs. On the affordable side I like the Maddog Prairie Predator.

Agreed. IMO it's all about the grip. Find the one that fits you and everything becomes easier.

Check out the Leatherwall classifieds

I picked up a used Big Jim Desert Bighorn with an extra set of limbs. It’s been a great bow.

https://www.kotabows.com/prairie_fire.htm

Tim makes great bows and is a stand up guy. I have one of his bows.

See if there's any trad bow shoots in your area. If so, you should be able to go and shoot lots of used bows. Otherwise, my best advice is not to spend much until you know exactly what you want and why. It's sort of like saying, "hey I want a rifle, recommend me one."

Go to the shop in Yukon. Several to shoot and try there. I wanted a black widow longbow for the longest time until I shot it at that shop. Picked up a bear Montana and loved it. Dark mesa is good. I think great northern bush bows are the best bow for the money out there. Just my opinion

I have a custom R/D longbow for sale if anyone is interested,its like new
62" RH 50#@28 zebra wood.

Been by there 3 or 4 times in the last year. I enjoy that place.

Best shooting longbow I ever owned was a Dryad Mountain Hunter. It's a modern, metal ILF riser - but man that bow was sweet. Second Best was a Toelke Whip, traditional one pieces - super smooth, very nice bow. All the Martins and Bears that I have owned were a distant second to those 2.

Tall Tines Stickflingers are highly regarded.

Black widow pl hands down my favorite. I prefer the toby grip. Great bows great company

I have several and keep coming back to a 54” Shrew 4028” for my hunting. That grip is different but I can shoot more consistently with it than any other I’ve trued

If you are new to bows, want a long bow and are not able to try out a bunch, then an inexpensive ILF riser with LB limbs would be my best recommendation.

What everyone likes is so subjective that if you just randomly pick a maker without having tried one off his bows, you could easily buy a very expensive bow you hate that will only resale for about half what you paid.

If you buy a 3-piece ILF, you will avoid most of the extremes and have a mild-mannered easy shooting bow. What I mean by extremes would be a bow like a Hill style. Many people love them, but I would rather sharpen one end and use one like a spear than be forced to shoot one. For me they are a hand shock, teeth loosening experience that deals as much damage to my joints and nerves as to the target.

I have a Sky Trophy Hunter longbow 66" 42#@28 (I draw 29", so 45# off the fingers). Built by Jim Belcher on Earl Hoyt's original frames. Excellent shooter, and a very high-value bow ( but not made anymore).

https://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?threadid=256135&CATEGORY=3

I had an Al Kimery-built d/r 66" longbow ( "Trad-AL" Oregon). Great shooting bow, but I just didn't shoot it much. Sold it to a 24hrcampfire member several years ago. A lot of bow for the money.

7Lakes makes an excellent longbow, of various lengths, and degree of reflex/deflex. The "Long Night" or "NAH" ( "North American Hardwood", a no-frills solid bow ). might meet your needs.
http://7lakesarchery.com/longbow.html

The Bodnik Dakota is a nice long bow (66"). Incredible 30 year warranty.
https://kustomkingarchery.com/products/dakota-longbow?variant=40104587755695. If you can find one.

Many used bows on RMSgear.
https://rmsgear.com/collections/bows

Search on https://leatherwall.bowsite.com/TF/lw/THREADSX2.CFM. There are many threads on longbow recommendations, with brands, makers, lengths discussed.

Many choices. Personal preferences play a big role. What length are you considering?

OMP Ozark Hunter longbow is a decent (actually pretty darn nice performing and well-built) longbow that will not only get you going a long, long way, but have some left over at the end of your longbow shooting needs, for under $250.
https://www.amazon.com/October-Mountain-Products-Hunter-Longbow/dp/B005JBZ76M

The southwestarcheryusa.com Scorpion is another good shooting longbow for not a lot of money.
https://www.southwestarcheryusa.com...cts/scorpion-longbow?variant=21105482629

These sticks are two examples of longbows that perform well above their price point.

What is your measured draw length (not a guesstimate)? If 29+", you may want a 40# draw weight, as you increase 2.5-3#/inch past 28"). That would be closer to 45# at your draw length.

If you are looking for a shorter longbow, there is the Bodnik Slick Stick, or their higher grade Quick Stick (58-60"). , or the "Shrew". These are hybrid longbows with high level of d/r, not "D-shaped" when strung. A lower-priced short longbow is the Black Hunter (Amazon ~< $100). Well-regarded on Stickbow Leatherwall website.

Just remember: when trying somebody's rig (or any used bow)............it may not be set up the best.

That can really make a good bow feel/shoot bad.

IMHO, customs tend to be better than factory rigs, but the "just as gooders" will claim otherwise.
Problem is, one has to shoot a few, for a while, to see what their preferences are.

So a custom right off the bat, might not be the best choice.

Ive read and heard a lot about trad, and IMHO most of the folks on the other forums are FOS.
So take whatever info you get with a few grains of salt LOL

I bought a Big Jim Desert Bighorn. It’s been working well so far.

You may want a look at these.

https://robertsonstykbow.com/

Looks like he makes a nice bow.
What arrows are you shooting?
Woodies would look nice flying out of that bow I bet.

I’ve built some cedar woods as well as some gold tip traditional carbon arrows. The bow has copperhead skins on it. It’s really unique and it’s a sweet shooter.

You said Predator Longbows was close to your farm, can you see a pretty good sized log house from your farm on the Texas side of the Red?


How's that bow shooting?

Check out Big Jim and Toelke. Both are very nice. Stewart, Robertson and Caribow are a few others to look at too.

No, sir. They’re in Muenster. I can see Nocona from my farm, but Muenster is too far east.

The bow is shooting well. I’m hoping to perforate some pigs with it this spring/summer.

CHeck out classifieds on Tradtalk.com and even the trad section of Archerytalk.com
Spend some time reviewing the bows for sale. Ask the seller questions. I find bows to be a matter of feel and many longbows don't have a grip that I can shoot well. Too many years of recurves.

There are definitely many styles of longbows, all the way from very long string follow straight bows, to very curved short bows with recurve type risers. All that makes them long bows is if the string doesn't touch the limbs when strung. Tournaments may have other qualifications, but the point is that there are many different styles. Therefore, the very best way to pick a longbow is to get where you can shoot and try out a bunch. A good traditional tournament will have several makers as vendors who will let you take a bow to the targets and try it out. There will also be several vendors selling used bows you can try and just about everyone will let you shoot their bow at the warmup targets.



Personally, I always wanted to love Howard Hill style bows, but I never met one that was pleasant to use. I prefer highly R/D longbows with more substantial risers.

I'd definitely be on the look out for a used Toelke Pika or Whistler longbow....

Try to shoot some before you buy, don’t just go by what works for some guys. I love Howard Hill bows and they shoot great for me, but some folks buy them and resell the next day.

I’ve owned a lot of expensive bows and the Bear Montana shot as well as any of them.

Yea, there's no magic and not much difference in how any bows of similar design and materials shoot.

This. I've purchased two bows off Leatherwall in the last week. Oops. Did I say that in public? I hope the beautiful finance agent doesn't see this.

You also might search Mahantango Custom bows on Facebook.