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New beginner trad setup

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  longbowguy 
#1 ·
Hi I've decided to start trad archery this year. Im 5'10" shoot 28.5" draw compound 60#. Thinking about getting a Samick Sage with 25lb limbs to start then jumping up to probably 45 for hunting season.

My questions are 1. What do you think of this plan? 2. How will the 25# do for 3d. 3. What arrow setup should I do for the 25#
 
#3 ·
welcome to the forum, and congrats on not thinking you can shoot heavy on trad to begin with. It's great you are starting light, get the form down, I'd probably suggest going to 35 before 45 for a month or so.
Buy & sell and it doesn't cost a lot.....part of the expense is gone if you can buy used equip until you get up in the pounds you want, WITH GOOD FORM......then if you want to switch up bows, you can go ILF and mix & match things up a little bit, only if you like.
 
#4 ·
I would agree, you should easily be able to handle something in the 30 to 35 pound range as your starter bow. Try that for 2 or 3 months of consistent shooting.. Move up to 45 at least two months before your hunting season begins. Should give you time to develop the skills/ability you need for hunting.
 
#5 ·
keep in mind - game sometimes goofs around coming down the path, slowly, in no hurry to get to your shooting lane, and you need to be able to OWN the bow, hold it steady at anchor, sometimes for a while......so while your compound was 60#, after it cams over, you were only holding a light ? x pounds.......where the recurve or longbow, you're holding more weight, most times.
bet you already knew that, but knowing it & feeling it can sometimes be enlightening.
guessing 25# at 29" will need a .800 spine-ish arrow, don't start cutting shorter too soon, try different point weights to tune with.
bet you knew that, too.
Let us know how it goes, and ask questions, some of the more knowledgeable-than-I can answer about anything you ask.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the help. Probably would like to go carbon for arrows but I think Ive heard alum is more forgiving for some reason.

Limbs are like $60 for the Sage so it really wouldn't hurt to get a couple. What would be the advantage of a 30 or 35 over the 25 as far as practicing form. My thinking was might as well go light as possible. On the other hand I was also thinking about using those limbs for 3D..
 
#7 ·
IMO the lighter you go the harder it is to get a clean release and the harder it may be to feel your back muscles (i.e., harder to gauge your back tension). They also seem more critical of bow arm issues, like dropping your arm after the release, since the arrow is on the string much longer due to the lower speed of the bow. IMO I think 25# is good for "garage shooting", blank baling, checking your form in front of a mirror, etc. If you want to shoot outdoors and 3Ds I'd definitely lean more towards 30-35#.

But, like you said, those limbs are cheap so try getting multiple sets isn't too bad :)
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the advice for arrow tuning to the 25# setup and the guys saying to setup up to the 35 before shooting a 45#. I think I'll do that.

As far as coaching goes I'm in Bucks co. Pa northeast of Philly. I know one guy I've used who is John Bach who I think I will go to. Making time to go out for the coaching is harder then practing at my house tho and its hard to justify the financial expense if im not going to commit the time to consistent coaching. Do you think I should see a coach before buying a bow?
 
#10 ·
Watch "The Push" on YouTube and consider setting up a fixed crawl. Using the tip of the arrow for aiming with a fixed crawl is makes it a lot easier to be accurate at hunting range of 10-25 yards.

Leave one of your arrows unfletched to help with arrow tuning, adjust point weight as needed to tune.
 
#11 ·
25 to 45 lbs is a big jump. rather then setting your hunting weight now wait to see what weight feels best come summer time. Lancaster archery is pretty close to you and you could get a few hours of instruction there in the beginning to ingrain good form... you have 6 months till the start of the early season so you don't want to waste time ( nothing wastes time like having to relearn some bad habit you learned on your own)
 
#12 ·
For 25# I was thinking closer to 1.0 defection and then going with a 70gr glue in point to keep the total arrow weight under 10gpp. This would give you much better trajectory. But Steve's suggestion is good too. It would be a heavier arrow, but then you might be able to use it as you went up in DW. If you use a stick on rest, your bow will tolerate a greater range of spines. I ran the numbers for you on the 3River calculator to give you a starting point for Easton Carbon One shafts.
 

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#14 ·
Welcome to our merry band.

With background of using a 60# compound I don't think you need to go as low as 25#. 30# is light enough and with your draw length will do fine for 3D. I would use 1816 aluminum arrows left full length. I find aluminum arrows to be a better match with traditional bows and they are easy to tune, trim and repair with simple hand tools. But 700 or 800 carbon should also tune well. With either I would get a selection of point weights to begin tuning. - lbg
 
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