Background. I’ve shot nothing but recurves for 20 years now. Never killed a deer with any other archery tackle. I do my freezer filling with a rifle so if the stars align and I kill one with a stickbow it’s a treat but if I don’t it’s not life or death. I mostly hunt off the ground but I’m interested in trying out a tree saddle so a somewhat compact bow is nice. The rub there being I’m 6’4” with a 30.5” draw which sucks the big one with short bows. I’ve transitioned to shooting 3 under in the last few years which helps but I cannot use short bows like my wife’s KMag or the SuperMag48 I had and gave away. I also don’t want anything super long, 70” Hill bows won’t fit my hunting style.

A longbow has struck my interest of late, for no real reason but I’d like to try one. My requirements are 1pc, don’t try to convince me otherwise I don’t care for TDs. Most likely locator style grip just because it’s about all I’ve ever shot, I’d try a straight grip but I’d hate to shell out a bunch of cash and have it not work out. Ideal would be somewhere in the 47lb range, I’ve shot a 50 that’s 53 at my draw length forever and it’s really more than I want with my shoulders in the shape they are these days.

I have some old 50s Bears I’m planning to sell to finance this but I have no idea which of the many semi custom brands I should be looking at. They all claim smooth draws, no hand shock, and quiet shooting. Anybody here have one they love that they’d recommend? I’ve looked at the Black Widow longbow and I’m sure they’re great but I’d have to find a used one to be able to afford it. Otherwise I have no idea where to start.

I've got the same draw lenghthand shoot a Wes Wallace 68" long bow. Love it, Wes is a great guy and makes a great bow, I have narrowed my bows to 2 Wes Wallace take down 64" recurves, a 68" 51# Wes Wallace Royal long bow and a Pronghorn take down long bow I'll love shooting the long bows. Only advice is not to go too heavy of draw. My shoulders are about done form being a mucho man in my younger days. The Wallace is very smooth, no stacking at my long draw and has no hand shock, easy transition from a recurve, light in hand and fast.

I tried to like a longbow.
Shot a variety of older factory and some customs my buds had.

Nope. Still don't like em.

But the least annoying one I shot was a Tomahawk.
It was a diamond series of some sort, their top of the line at that time.

My bud had a Jerry Hill 45# and it was not as shocky as others but it was a dog even for a longbow speed wise.

The Bear and Martin stuff i shot would have been better used as firewood. Messed w tunes, and arrows.....they were horrid.

Worst though was a 66# Ol Ben.

Refused to shoot an 80# Hill. Drew to 28". That was bad enough LOL. Guys said take it out and shoot......i was concerned my teeth would rattle loose.

I remembered how that 66# BP was.

Recurves. Take downs of some riser mass/ weight.
Blackwidow seems to work best for me.

Have never tried one of their longbows.

They do have a " test drive " program FWIW.

I shoot a Whip from Dan Toelke (Montana Bow). I can't handle a heavy bow any more so used this one this season. I lost our main hunting spot through owner selling so expectations were modest and never shot a deer with long bow. Did manage to shoot a young 4 pt at about 12 yds. The Whip is a great bow in my opinion and like shooting it even more than my recurves. Good luck with your search.

My bow arm would get numb from the hand shock shooting an Ol Ben. I still shoot my Robertson stick bow

Second either Wes Wallace or Dan Toelke. Terry

I bought a Baltic Bow LB this spring. I think its a nice bow for the money. Really nice locator grip. Check them out.

Did you order it from Latvia Scott? I looked at the website and they look like nice bows. I didn’t take the time to google up how many dollars makes a euro but I took them to be reasonably priced.

Toelke Montana Whip for store bought, i'm 6'2" in my socks and have a 31" draw, it works fine, i talked to Dan and he said anchor that mother, you wont hurt it ; ]

Or PM JGray here at the 'fire and have him build you one of his custom bows, i would have went that route had i know he built bows.

Another +1 for Toelke. I used to own one of their 60-inch Whip models that easily handled my 29-inch draw length; it was a one piece and incredibly light. Toelke makes Whips from 60 to 66 inches. You can find them used on various archery forums; a one piece will run you in the $500 range used. (I currently own one of their Chinook recurves, a takedown model, and it is also a very nice bow.)

You might also look at the Toelke Whistler, their newer reflex/deflex longbow design. I haven't owned one, but it gets good reviews. Their website claims the 60-inch version can handle up to a 32-inch draw length. You can also find these for sale on various archery classifieds, these seem to go for just a bit more than the Whips do, but they're also less common (my understanding is that the Whip is Toelke's most popular model and it has been around awhile).

I’ll have to scour the forums for a toelke sounds like. I wish we had an archery shop here that had some stick bows a guy could handle but I doubt very many shops anywhere have much of a selection of the nicer custom and semi custom makers.

I drug some bows out this afternoon and did a little shooting. Found a long forgotten 1950s Bear Cub R/D bow I bought years ago and didn’t ever shoot much. It’s the old grey glass dual shelf model, can’t remember the exact year. It’s a 62” bow and draws pretty smooth to my length. It’s #54 @28” so way heavier than I want or need but I shot it really well, 15 arrows in a 4” or so circle at 16 yards. It’s quieter than my Howatt recurve I’ve been hunting with for the last 19 years though I’m sure it’s a little slower. Main issue aside from more poundage than I want was hand shock, god lord the hand shock. After probably 40-50 arrows I felt like I’d caught a line drive baseball barehanded in my left hand. I think after gun season is over I might hunt it some during the late archery season, with Christmas coming up I probably won’t be buying a new bow for a little while anyway and it’d be neat to punch a tag with an antique.

Is your draw a true 30 inch?

Your draw length will probably drop going from a recurve grip to a longbow, even a locator style. Your will go from a straight wrist to a broken wrist when shooting the longbow..

Correct - my draw length with either straight or locator grip longbows is about 1" shorter than with a recurve.

Have you looked at Blacktail Bows? I would give them a gander.

This is a difficult thing to answer because everyone likes something different about a bow.To find a semi custom with a locator grip is not a easy thing to do,If you can the best thing is to try and go to a traditional shoot and handle bows to see what might work for you.As for bowyers JD Berry is one of the best in the country in my opinion.Good luck in your search

I have a one-piece hybrid longbow I'd sell. AMO 66" , 40-41#@ 28" (so would be about 47# @ 30", going by 2.5 -3#/ inch past 28"). Made by Al Kimery ("TRAD-AL" or "Tradition-AL" bows) in Oregon. Right-handed draw (hold bow in left hand). Fast flight capable.

Bamboo limbs, brown glass, elk horn tips, Bolivian rosewood riser with handle-forward locator grip with overlays. I bought it about 6+ years ago from Al Kimery. He built it for someone else, and when the original owner got it, he wished he had specified a higher draw weight. Al took it back in exchange, refinished it, and built the guy another bow (Al is a great guy and bowyer), so it was "as new" when I got it, and it has very low mileage on it.

I shot it at a couple of 3-d shoots here in Maine. Nice shooter. Aluminum-shafted xx75 Easton 1916 or 2016 full length arrows fly well with 150-175 grain tips. I have a ~29.5+" draw, no stacking. Smooth draw. I shoot 3-under, and a 20 yard shot has point of impact right at the top of the strike plate (3-under tab), with nocks set about 9/16+" above arrow center perpendicular (3 fletch, 4" long).

He bow is in very nice shape (darn near excellent).

$250+ shipping if interested (includes bowstring). PM your email or smart phone number (to text pics) if interested for pictures. I'm selling off some of my bow stuff due to rotator cuff surgery,


P.S. If you do an internet search, you'll come across a couple of posts I made about this bow on "Stickbow Leatherwall.". I go by "Fletch" over there.

ie.
https://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?threadid=265910&CATEGORY=9

Striker bows make great recurve and long bows, super smooth and quiet. Also South Cox makes some really good bows, maybe check him out

When I lived in Co. I went to Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear.
They have a bunch of longbows and recurves and you are encouraged to test drive them on their short indoor range. I think they have web list of available bows.
I bought a Rampart, reflex-deflex built by John Gottschalk who has since passed...
It was worth more when I sold it 6 years later than it was new.
Each bow has such a different feel when shot, you really need to shoot several side by side until you find the right combination for you.

I was able to pick the laminates I wanted for the core and the wood /grip,style angle, length and draw weight etc since John was local.
I liked it so much, I had a second built for a son.

https://robertsonstykbow.com/collections/longbows/products/coywolf-one-piece-cw-u41-5850-28

That’s a nice looking bow. Unfortunately more money and more poundage than I want. Not to fear though, I made a deal with Buttstock for his longbow he posted about above. I’m just hoping it makes it here before archery season ends on Jan 15.

That's a deal you had to jump on!

You should have it this Tuesday. Mailed it out today (Saturday) via 2-day priority mail.

Thanks. Hope it meets your needs. As stated, if you don't like it, I'll give 100% refund, less return shipping.

Got the bow from Member Buttstock on Wednesday the 22nd. Extremely good guy to do business with and I really like this bow. It’s a very smooth and quiet bow with very little hand shock, very easy to shoot. Within a half hour of picking it up I had it strung and was shooting in the yard.

Didn’t take long and I had it pretty well figured out. This was from 17 yards.

Strapped my Thunderhorn on it and went to the deer woods the next morning. No luck but went back in the evening and managed to blood it. No shot on a deer but this pecan thief barked at me one too many times and caught a judo for his trouble. 8 yard shot.

That is great!