Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Longbow, or recurve?

I am finally doing it! I am going to go ahead and buy a traditional bow! I have been bow hunting for 4 or 5 years now, but all along, I have been wanting to get into traditional, and now the opportunity arose to buy a very nice bow and arrows for a very low price! It's just that as of now I know very little about traditional, what are the advantages/disadvantages of longbow vs recurve? Thanks for any help!

If you aren't already, go hang around at tradgang.com. And there's another really good trad site but I cannot recall it's name. Recurve vs longbow...I don't know that one has any advantages over the other except for each individual shooter and how their preferences or abilities run. Howard Hill said he wasn't good enough to shoot a recurve, lots of folks think they're easier to shoot. I shot my Hummingbird longbow with the locator grip very good. My Green Mountain longbow that has absolutely perfect, classic longbow lines, with the suitcase handle style of grip gives me fits. High wrist vs low wrist maybe? I dunno. I have been shooting high wrist since the mid-60's. My vintage recurves, Hoyt, Bear and Ben Pearson I seem to shoot equally good with the edge going to the Hoyt Pro Hunter from 1978.

It's a journey, not a destination. Enjoy it and welcome to the fold. What kind of bow did you get so wonderful a buy on? Pictures?

I alway enjoyed the longbow more than the recurve. But not much has more appeal than a recurve at full draw.

I grew up shooting recurves and still have a few but I started shooting the newer longbows and don't think I will go back. Some people can switch between bows with quite different grips, I can't without a a fair amount of practise. Either one is good tho.

For me it is all about the grip. I have two Pronghorns and I really like their grips. I have another longbow from a well respected bowyer that I just struggle to shoot. Nothing wrong at all with the bow- just not for me.
The recurves generally will be a little heavier, but it is not an issue for me.

You will start hitting sooner and more accurately with the recurve as they are more forgiving of form errors. I shoot both and have for years. If I were going to buy a longbow, I'd consider the Martin Savannah. Having owned a bunch of recurves I prefer the Black Widow MA series. On a budget I'd buy a new Bear Super Kodiak. Don't buy anything over 45#.

What is the deal you have found? Shoot it first if at all possible.

As to your question,a longbow is usually a little quieter and a recurve a little faster.With today's designs all bets are off though.

Always try a bow first.I thought for years I wanted a Howard Hill bow.I have tried several times to like them and always failed.

Get something lighter than you think you can handle and fairly inexpensive.You will need some experience with different bows to REALLY know what you want to shoot.

It's sort of like the rifle newby who wants a 300 win mag and a scope that will allow him to shoot 1000 yards, when he needs to learn to shoot squirrels with a 22 first.It will take some time and experience to know what fits your needs and likes best.

PS
The trad 3D season is about to start.You might want to find some big shoots in your area where there are vendors with bows you can try out.Around here we have shoots with over 1000 shooters registered and there will be a dozen different bowyers there as well as several vendors with used bows that you can try out.You want a trad only event ,not an IBO mixed shoot.

I like 64" recurves. Have shot those since the 50's with elevated rests.

recurve if you like venison.

I've owned and used a single long bow in my life. It was too complicated to stalk with or use in blinds for me.

I much preferred a recurve. So much so I chose a Oneida recurve compound bow. However eventually I went completely to the dark side and have owned compounds since.

Not enough info I'm afraid. The lines are so blurred wnymore between the two. Find something you like and run with it.

First of all thanks for all the replies! Second, the bow is being made by my first cousin, he has started building bows in northern Idaho, if you google 'Kootenai River Archery' you will find his website, and he has lots of pictures: I guess I'm too dumb to figure out how to post a picture on here! He said he would build me a custom bow(show grade quality), with a carbon core to give it a little more 'snap', and my choice of laminate, a dozen #2 grade arrows, a bow case, and 2 strings, for $375. Maybe I'm getting ripped off, i don't know much about these kinds of bows after all?

I looked at the site.Looks to be a good reflex deflex design.It's a modern design combining the best features of both longbow and recurve.It's the longbow design I prefer and would recommend.

As long as his craftsmanship is good,he is giving you a bow at about 50% of what most bowyers would charge and an $80 plus set of arrows.

I would recommend going no more than 45 lbs with 40 lbs being even better.You need to learn proper form and more weight will only cause you to learn bad habits.

I am plenty strong enough to draw and hold an 80 lb bow at full draw for more than 10 seconds.The first trad bow I bought was a 65 lb recurve.My compound was 85 lbs.I didn't learn to shoot a trad bow well untill I bought a yard sale 40 lb recurve.

Look the bow over and check his work.Check the glue lines,they should be tight and basically invisible.Look down the curve of the limbs and check for flat spots.Flat spots indicate that the form he uses is out of spec.Lay it down on a flat table and check to see if the limb tips are in line and not warped one way or the other.You can also sight down the tips to check alignment.

Check the tiller.String the bow and measure from the point where the handle taper fades into the limbs to the string.A positive tiller means the top measurement will be a little more.I prefer a 1/8" positive tiller.I do not want a more than 1/4" positive tiller.An even tiller also works for me because I shoot 3 under.Look at both limbs when strung to make sure the bend is even and graceful and not hinged more in one spot.

What RH said.... In your neighborhood, it won't be hard to find trad guys. Make one of hte two shoots that Up North Archers puts on, and the shoot in Moiese. There's probably more longbow shooters in your area, I blame that on TJ Conrads and the Neubauers.

Another guy you might track down is One Eyed Pete in Priest River. He's a Recurve buff, and teaches TONS of newbies the ropes. He owns the Hoyt pro-shop there, I believe the name of his business is The Arrow Works.

something part recurve and part longbow. take a look at the Acadian Woods treestick and you'll see what i mean.

Buy a cheap, light draw weight recurve to begin with. Make sure your going to like and stick with it before you spend big money on a bow. To shoot a recurve or longbow accurately you need a bow that you can easily draw, hold, aim and shoot with good form. That is much easier with a bow that is 5# too light than one that is 5# too heavy. A cheap 30# bow and 1/2 dz 1816's along with the book "Shooting the Stickbow" will have you well on your way.

Good advice

Agreed, much the same as it wouldn't be recommended to start a youngster or first time shooter off with a .300 Magnum, many guys develop bad habits trying to shoot too much draw weight. Some other excellent books on trad bow shooting are the instinctive shooting series by G. Fred Asbel. 45# is plenty to kill any deer that walks.

The Masters of the Bare Bow series DVD's are good.They will show several different styles from successful archers.G.Freds stuff never worked for me or made much sense.I haven't read the books,just his articles on shooting.Maby I wasn't doing it right.

The cheap bow idea is good but with a good bow,arrows,string,shipping,you are going to have around $250 in it anyway.The days of the $50 yard sale bow are about over.Your cousin's deal doesn't sound too bad.

The MMB series is good, but if you like to read, the the book "Shooting the Stickbow" is much more comprehensive about basic form and tuning. It is a very good how too book and for $20, you just can't go wrong.

Longbow for me