Two New Recurve Bows

[Blackhorse]

Never owned a bow before. Anyone out there into archery?

 

[Blackhorse]

Addendum:

Couple of pics here...

The one piece recurve Sage 30 lb / 60”
Arrows: Gold Tip Warrior Fletched Arrow (Feathers) 31” / 600 spine. Custom made for this bow by Lancaster Archery Supply.




And the take-down Sage 25 lb / 62”
(arms can be replaced with draw weights in 5 to 10 lb increments up to 55 lb)
Arrows: Southwest Archery Premium Recurve Carbon Arrows Feather Fletched 31.5" / 600 spine - Designed specifically for this Samick Sage.

 

[Carlos]

Been a long time.

Both of those bows look like Bear products to me. Grizzly and Super Kodiak models. Good design. Good bows no matter who's name is on them. Take care of them and they will be excellent tools.

Never stand them in a corner. Sure way to twist a limb. Never leave them in the truck of a car, or in a car on a hot day. Even a bow rack in direct sun can be too much if left too long. Use Dacron stings. Never Kevlar. Kevlar can crush, then break easily.

When shooting fingers, always pull the string with it in the first groove of your fingers. Playing around trying to get a better release by using the tips of your fingers will ultimately be defeating. Inconsistent. A shooting glove is good for hunting, as it's always on. At least it should be. I preferred a Kant-Pinch Hair Tab. Or the Black Widow tab. Always on my finger when hunting.

When pulling the bow. Pull with your shoulders, not your arms. Shoulders are big, arms small. Imagine pulling your shoulder blades together as you are aiming. Then when the release comes, just relax your shooting fingers/hand. It will surprise you that it's gone that fast.

Be sure when drawing you roll the elbow of your bow arm out. That's to protect that tender chuck of meat on your forearm that will turn black & blue if you keep smacking it with the bowstring. You see, it's usually poor form that causes that problem. If you collapse, your shoulder joint will start to slip into the string path. Some shooters try to lock their elbow. A shooter needs to develop the strength to maintain proper form. Sure, you can wear an arm guard. But that does not solve the problem. Just keeps you from pain.

Shot all forms of target archery. Bowhunter rounds. 3D courses. Shot recurve and compounds. Mostly fingers, but I also shot releases. I was a state champion in the Illinois Archery Association, Bowhunter, Field, and Target. Indoor and outdoor. Numerous times. Shot Amateur, Open and Professional classes. The National Field Archery Association Whitetail Diamond Buck Award winner of 1981 with a 174 1/8" 16 point whitetail.

I really need to set up some bales and do some shooting again. Great exercise. My knowledge is dated. Anything you want to know, just ask.

 

[Blackhorse]

Hey Carlos, thanks for the tips.  Much appreciated.  So
I can add you to the five “experts” I’ve been following on uTube.  Your comments mirror theirs almost word for word.  All except for one thing.  The brand of the bows...Samick...one of the major manufacturers in South Korea.  The model of both is the “Sage”.  It has been the most recommended and most purchased beginners bow for quite a number of years...universally praised for design, smoothness, durability, etc., etc., etc.  The big differences  between the Bear & Samick bows are the country of manufacture and $400. The South Korean bows go for $125 and $175.  The Bears...$500 and $575.  Are the Bears higher quality?  I fit and finish...everybody says yes.  In terms of shootability, accuracy, durability, etc. ...everybody say the Sage is as good if not better!  Wow! I paid $104 to Amazon for the take-down.  The one-piece was $179 from Lancaster.  And this one is...perfect in terms of fit and finish.  Gorgeous item.

One article out of 100: http://www.bestrecurvebowguide.com/samick-sage-review-recurve-bow-inspection/

If you want the landslide of reviews...search uTube. Wow!

How can they do it?  So without any huge company to support, advertising, staffing, etc. in comes a “Design Team” and specs out a bow...then licenses manufacture to an outside entity (Samick - big Korean outfit) and off they go.  Now get this.  The same design team, a few years down the road, changes the woods used a bit and a couple of the other details...now it’s a new bow!  They license that one to Lancaster Archery in Pennsylvania.  New brand = Galaxy.  They do it again after a couple years and license that one to, let’s say...Southwest Archery Supply.  New branding = SAS.  Etc., etc., etc.  That’s what I think anyway.

Note:  South Korea is perhaps the only country that is equal or even greater than the US in terms of numbers of archery participants, etc.  very, very high end Olympic bow designers, etc.

Whatever.  Interesting though.

 

[Carlos]

There was a time when recurves were just about gone. Really inexpensive. The custom makers had their following. Then, interest in "traditional" archery took hold. Somewhere along the line, recurves you could not give away suddenly were selling for several times what they sold for new. The markets can be crazy.

A lot of quality wood products are made in South Korea. I would not be afraid of trying one. Remember, Fred Bear products were sold in just about every store with an outdoor section. They used to be very common. To find them copied does not surprise me a bit.

 

[Blackhorse]

Wow and ouch!  Indeed Fred Bear did originate the takedown recurve concept...don’t know if I would call the Sage a copy though.  A concept copy, yes.  But the design is very different.  Be that as it may, a current new Bear Takedown Recurve goes for somewhere in the neighborhood of $900!  Mama Mia...that’s a spicy meat ball!  I’d have to sell BOTH my kids for that.

Doesn’t look like the ends are reinforced to be able to use the newer “Fast Forward” Flemish Twist designs. If that’s the case you’d be stuck using the older Dacron type. Oops...just checked. You can order a Soectra Flemish Twist string with it. So that’s good.

The Bear...

 

[MisterE]

I was way into archery all the way until I came to Mexico. I started on a fiberglass recurve my dad got me. I earned American Archer both right handed and left handed in summer camp in the 7th grade. When I got older I got into compounds and shot both fingers and release with those. Since you have recurves, fingers is the only way to go.

There are tons of different gloves, and tabs you can try. An arm guard is not a bad idea either because you can get a pretty nasty bruise on your forearm from the string with a bad release. Another thing you might want to invest in is a bow stringer (I can't recall what they're called commercially anymore). It will help you string the bow without twisting the limbs which can happen if you string it with your leg.

One thing to remember with a recurve is that you'll have to nock the arrow a little higher than perpendicular to the string. If you don't, the arrow will porpoise it's way to the target. Experiment with how much higher you need to put it and place a nock point there. Wrapping a little dental floss is a cheap and easy way to do it. It's easier on the glove and fingers, and will keep arrow placement consistent.

Your risers are center fire which eliminates some archers paradox, but shooting fingers will still cause the arrow to bend and correct. Wood and aluminum arrows will have enough spine to not shatter on release. You can really hurt yourself if your arrow is not stiff enough. At heavier weight draws, length and spine become extremely critical. Fletching or vanes, offset or helical, paper tests. It can get as complicated as you want, lol.

I used to go the lanes at PSE as often as I could when I was living there. The interactive screens were a lot of fun and a new tech at that time. One thing I wanted to try 3D shooting but never got the chance. The ironic thing is the last compound bow I had (a PSE) was stolen out of my trunk in Tijuana before I moved down here. I think my decision to move here was subconsciously searching for that bow.  :lol:

The great instinctive shooters are amazing to watch. Shooting an aspirin out of the air looks easy when they do it. As with anything, practice is the key.  Practicing archery was something I've found applicable in so many other areas of life. I really miss it.

 

[Blackhorse]

They still call ‘em stringers. If you don’t use it exclusively it voids the one year warrantee on the bow.

Arrows: the most technical and critical puzzle piece. All my arrows are carbon. Very, very specific as to stiffness (spine), fletching and overall length and the specific weights of the insert and screw in point.

Yes, there’s a HUGE amount of information and a giant skill set. That’s one thing that makes it interesting.

 

[MisterE]

Nice thing about carbon arrows is they're either straight or broken. No numbering your arrows necessary. :lol:

 

[Carlos]

The only recurve take-down I ever owned was a target model Black Widow. It used to be, that you could tell at a glance what everyone was shooting. Not that way anymore, obviously. PSE was real big here. But they were based here. That was before they moved out west.

Carbon arrows were just coming onto the scene as I got into tournament bass fishing and out of archery. I never shot those. Having a long draw, I shot XX75 2117, 2216, 2219, and 2317 sizes. With 2216 being the favorite. I just looked at Easton's arrow charts. Wow, have those changed. So many models to choose from. We had three grades of arrows in my day. X7, XX75, and Gamegetters. Not counting custom made wood.

You will end up with a toolbox of stuff. A bow square. Yeah, dental floss is so handy. Glue, serving thread, monofilament serving, just stuff. Fast Flight string came along with the Traditional archery. That really took hold quickly. I watched a fellow making Flemish strings one day as the rain set in. I had shot early and was camped at the range. A bunch of us were under some little shed thing. Was neat to watch.

The gear, gadgets, have changed a lot. The human side. The form, does not change.

 

[MisterE]

The Eastons I remember were pretty much state of the art at that time. For home target practice I just made my own targets with 5 spots. You can go through arrows pretty quickly shooting 5 at the same bullseye. The XX75s were just so expensive at the time that I couldn't afford to keep replacing and fletching them. :lol:  Every once in a while when I'm up visiting my family I'll find an old field tip somewhere.

Apparently there are classes for beginners here at the Alberca Olimpica with one of the Mexico Olympic team members. I'd love to get my son to that. So hard to get them interested in something like that with all the distraction they have coming at them.