Traditional or compound?

green mile

Good afternoon all, I am interested in shooting bows again and mostly for recreational/target/competition purposes. My question is why should I go traditional or compound (the pros and cons of both). Any suggestions on a bow to fit this bill? Thanks.

rg666

I assume you mean you will shoot 3-D. Both types of bow have their advantages. Compounds are accurate & faster and also have let off which for some people allows virtually an endless hold at full draw. Theres a litany of devices like anti-recoil supressors, many types of arrow rests & tons of sight configurations that you can install on a compound bow that will allow you to configure your bow in a million different ways.

A recurve or stick bow are slower and more forgiving than a compound bow. Its a pretty simple tool that wont break down on you & is realtively easy to keep up. A compound bow can be like dragging around a hardware store with you. A recurve or stick bow is as basic as archery gets.

If your just getting started in target then I would suggest talking to the local archery clubs in your area. They may have some guidance on where to go to get a good target set up.

green mile

Hey RG666, I really really like the looks of the recurve bows. The all wood bows seem to have more personallity. And all of my family members use traditional bows, so I would be out in the dark with a compound around them. The nearest pro shop is about 35 miles from my house, so I am thinking a recurve would be the best bet for me to get back into the swing again. Of course my family is partial to the Fred Bear Grizzlys since that is what they have, but does anyone have any suggestions for recurve bows? Thanks again RG666 for your input.

rg666

Ok green mile. That said how much are you looking to spend? You can buy a production bow like fred bear or Wing thats inexpensive & will hold up well. The other choice is to spend a little more & get the exact custom bow you want. I bought a bow from Marriah Bows. It was built to my spec's with all the options I wanted. They have gone up in recent years but you may want to look anyway just to see what you could get for the money. Heres the link below.

http://www.marriahcustombows.com/index.html

bgjohn

Crossbow?
JM

huntergarret

If this is your first bow, go with a recurve. It's hard to switch back once you start shooting a good compound. Also, a recurve will help you learn the fundamentals and the feel of shooting. I remember my first recurve...my father would fold up a $1 bill about twenty yards away and I got to keep it if I hit it. Don't tell Uncle Sam.

Sal

Horney toad

It is really 2 different sports. I switched from compound to recurve and now collect recurves. Heck, you can get an old recurve for $50 and have a ball with it. If you have any recurve questions, feel free to email me and I'll try my best to help you out.

2-blade

First of all I do not want to start an equipment debate, this is just one mans opinion,Like Horney toad said they are 2 different sports,and the only thing they have in common is the spelling. In eather sport the cost can be never ending,but with a compound you can hang more junk on it and you can get good alot faster, with traditional you need to eat&sleep with your bow to get realy good with it.To me it is more satisfying to shoot a recurve I shot a coumpound for two yr.,shot an antelope and a bear with it,then I realized I was wanting more gimmicks and gagets and asked myself why I got into archery-the anser was for the challeng it is suppose to be be hard.But for target and 3-D I would say a compound is the way to go, if you want to put in the time in to get good go with it traditional. I have taken 5 bull elk with a recurve,1 7/7 and the last one a 6/6 3 of them with bows I have made the last one I made the bow,string,arrow,and broad head. to me that is what it is all. about