Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Good Bow for a beginner, Browning Tornado???

I am starting to seriously think about getting into bow hunting and I need some advice for a true beginner. I have been looking at a Browning Tornado for deer hunting in Georgia. After reading up and looking at the other posts I have come to the conclusion that the Matthews Bow is held in very high esteem, but the price tags on that particular brand are just a little to high for me. I have looked around and found some very good prices on the browning bows. Could someone please reply and give me some pros and cons of the tornado. Your advice is much appreciated.

~Bryce

Although I am not familiar with the Tornado, I can offer this:
1. Go to a pro shop and look at a lot of different styles. The way the riser is designed has a lot to do with how comfortable and well you will shoot. Most shops offer free range time and can help you get your form right.
2. Stay away from aggressive cams. Go with a soft cam at the most. This will help with form.
3. Stay away from short brace height. If the distance between the riser and the string you will end up hitting your arm at every little change in grip. Accuracy will deteriorate and it hurts after awhile.
4. I would look at used bows at the shops. This way you can see if you like it and start building good form without a big expense. Even if the bow is older and slower than the latest & greatest, for stand hunting it will be good enough.

Remember the KISS method (keep it simple, stupid). Use a release, its easier to do correctly. I personally don't like peeps but some do. Simple 3 pin sights.
Hope this helps.

Have only shot older Brownings. Fisrt thing is visit a couple of Pro shops. Take a good look at the Parker Hunter-Mag and Hoyt's MT Sport or Magnatec. All are just a bit over $300 new and offer the same cam systems as their more expensive lines. Both have life time warranties and very good performance. Also might want to check out archerytalk.com.

I owned a Tornado for a couple of years. This is Browning's fourth or fifth year offering this model so it has been fairly successful in this day of constant model changes. The Tornado would be an excellent choice for a beginner's bow. Its a well-made bow with the right specs (brace height, mass weight, and axle-to-axle length) for a beginner to become proficient very quickly. I also like the oval cam on the Tornado, which yields a nice smooth draw. Its an excellent value. There are other good choices out there but the Tornado won't be a bad one if you go that way.



The Parker already mentioned would be another good choice. I believe it is a little lighter in mass with a higher speed rating than the Tornado. It probably costs a bit more but still is not an expensive bow.



The PSE Thunderbolt is a third option to consider. Browning's bows are made at the PSE plant in Tucson so quality is about the same.



As already stated, shoot some bows before you buy--including models you can't afford. They will give you a means to compare the lower priced bows. Don't be surprised if you find that some of those lower priced models shoot better than the big dollar stuff. Regarding ratings, realize that if an archery company is paying for four-page, full-color ads the magazines will be very reluctant to say their bows are anything but wonderful.

Scott - I was just getting ready to do a new post seeking info on how to start when I found the question had already been asked, and answered. Thanks. Any new thoughts since you made your post.

Thanks,

Bighorn - I was getting ready to post seeking new archer information. But I found the question had been asked and answered. Any new thoughts since you posted this in August.

BTW I will probably not hunt but want a bow capable of doing so. Mostly I will be trying to regain the archery skills I used to have in the 60's with a Bear recurve...

Thanks,

Sorry for the delay. I've been chasing Bambi during PA's second archery season. No luck and I'm about out of time.

Only other thing I can think of is draw weight. If you can shoot a bow comfortably that is set closer to the max draw weight it will be more efficient. If you can shoot 55-57 lbs well get a bow with the max at 60lbs not 70 or 80. Don't get into the need for speed until your form is good all the time.

Were you an instinctive shooter in the 60's? You may want to persue that again. I may go whole hog into the recurve deal this year. I have a 45lb Kodiak I practice with to keep my concentration level up to par. A few session of instinctive makes going back to the pins easier. At least it works for me.

You might look at Martin bows. They can be bought pretty cheap from Ebay and they aren't that expensive new. I would go to a proshop and see what you like first. Another place you might look is Edersbow.com. They have a pretty good forum there and they could help you out as well. I know what you are going through, I was new to this about 6 years ago and didn't know anyone who was into archery. If you need more help keep posting or shoot me a pm. OKH

NBH,

I am really late on this thread. My #1 piece of advice to anyone just starting into the sport ... BUY USED!!!! Like anything else you can wrap up a lot of cash very quickly. I started with a used Golden Eagle ... I'm now into using a longbow and homemade arrows. Its a very rewarding sport and a ton of fun!

Good Luck!

George

Just bought a Kodiak Magnum off e-bay. Should be here later this week. I used to recurves when I was a kid. I'm thinking of seriously getting rid of the training wheels. Should be a hoot.

I have owned Golden Eagle, PSE, Martin, Hoyt, and Mathews in the past but I think that you get more quality for your money in Dartons. I currently shoot a Darton Maverick and love it. I have owned three other Dartons before this one and owned many other brands as I stated but I seem to alway's come back to a Darton. They are extremely smooth and easy to tune besides they shoot great. Just one old bowhunter opinion.

Scott,

I started with a cheap Bear recurve as a kid ... then for some reason I figured I was going to get serious so I tried the training wheels ... I guess I got in with the wrong crowd ... they were too serious, so I'm back to the long bow, and don't see me going back. Mucho fun!!!!

Got the recurve Friday. After some searching, found out I only had 1 arrow that was feather fletched. Not to worry, shooting about 40 arrows one at a time kept me warm in the 10 degree wind. What a blast! Picking up 14 2016s from my father-in-law later today. I'll cut them down while watching the game.

With wheel I always tried to keep the groups arrow slapping tight. With a real bow, a paper plate group at 10 and 20 yards is something to get excited about, for now anyway.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

As time goes one the groups will get tighter, if you get a chance try some wood arrows out of the recurve. Its a different experience, the arrows almost seem to float off the bow in comparison to aluminum arrows. Check out 3 rivers archery been a while since I've been there but they used to have decent wood arrow and a bunch of traditional stuff at pretty good prices!



Have fun!



WOW! Just checked their prices ... about $58/doz. I think the last dozen I bought from them was about $40/doz.



Oh yeah ... I just saw their flu-flu arrows ... want some real fun and a real rush ... get some flu-flu arrows and a nerf football, have your son or a buddy throw the football in the air like a pheasant taking off ... Mucho fun!!! ... My uncle and I want to try pheasant hunting with traditional tackle some day. Even if we don't get one (which is unlikely for him .. he's about 75% successful with the nerf), it will be a great day in the field!

as i was told a little over 2 years ago when i walked in to an archery store and ask the same question this was the response " how many bows do you want to buy in your life?" my response was "one" he pointed straight to a mathews , it was more than what i'd wanted to spend, but looking back after this last deer season i'd pay double for it! first and formost go to a reputible dealer and get measured, dont shoot a bow that dosent fit. dont go hunting untill your 110% sure of your abilitys and your equipment, as I found out your life may count on it as mine did during the first week of archery here in CA. stalking a fork & horn i found myself beeing stalked by a black bear i was on a full draw awaitng this deer to step out 35 yards in front of me when from behind a thashing growle belowed out as i turned still at a full draw ther stood almost 300lbs of bear no more than 20 feet from me in a half a second, his front paw took one step at me, i released 1 carbon gametracker with a 100 grain muzzy broadhead just behind his left shoulder the shot went all the way thru i was not hunting bear, but i guess one of us was gonna be dinner, my advice,what ever you buy get the best even if you have to build the bow up a month at a time, dont skimp, in california you cant carry a back up weapon other than a knife. try finding it when the bear charges you .

I just went through the selection process myself -- and will "second, third, and fourth" the suggestion to find a good pro shop and work with them.

I went to (and recommend) The Gun Shack in Mt. Airy, MD -- they were really friendly and helpful on an initial "looking around" visit, so I decided to give them my business. I basically had both of their archery guys working with me for most of 3 hours.

I was just looking for a good middle-of-the-road 50-60# bow that would be easy to shoot. They asked good questions (and answered my stupid ones) and picked 3 bows for me to try -- a Martin, a PSE and a Hoyt. They tuned all 3 to my draw length and took me to their upstairs range to try them.

I found the Hoyt Ultrasport was easy to shoot and had a good subjective "feel" to it. But it's such a personal process that I'd never tell anyone that's the one to get. I walked out with the Ultrasport all set up with sights, quiver, rest, etc., a TRU-Ball release and a dozen Golt Tip carbon arrows with field points.

Took the setup to my gun club today and shot the 10, 15, 20 and 30 yard targets. After a dozen or so shots I was comfortable enough with my groups to make a small sight adjustment.

Overall it's an interesting experience -- I went into this about as clueless as a lot of people are buying their first gun. In that respect it will be a good (and humbling) thing for me to think about when gun newbies ask me for advice.

I was also surprised how many of the fundamentals of shooting carry over (especially since I'm using sights and a release). Natural point of aim, trigger control, sight picture, follow-through, and calling the shot all work pretty much the same. Follow-through may be my weak point -- I noticed that I tend to drop the bow to try and spot the arrow on target.

But -- I do have to say it's kind of weird to shoot targets on a range without earplugs or earmuffs.

John

I'm visiting this thread rather late but found it this a.m. Just wanted to add a thought or two.

Although I'm a rifle looney, I hunted first with an old Shakespear Necadah recurve in the 60's, went to wheels and metal for awhile and took quite a few deer but the beautifully crafted recurves in Traditonal Bowhunter began to woo me and I came full circle.

Now I have two of these take downs each with two sets of limbs for turkey to elk. I will never bash the "wheeled set" but for me it got too gadgety and I began to lose sight of what my goals actually were and aesthetics are very important to me; there nothing to top the warm beauty of the exotic woods in a good recurve. And when one gets arrow, broadhead, fletching just right, along with a well tuned recurve...well, the result is almost sublime.

And, the mountains in September, a bull slobbering and tearing up saplings at 20 yds, a beautiful bow in hand you have confidence in....whew!

There is no doubt traditional gear requires more work (play?) and your standards of expected accuracy are different but the degree of satisfaction at least in my own exerience is different also-a whole world higher than before.

Turkey time is soon.

GDV