Ok! thanks for your previous posts on my most recent quest for longbows. I know now that I MUST have a D'style classic longbow! Dang I wish I'd known that a year ago. Oh well I still did discover traditional archery before I start pushing daisy's!
Now that I know I'm trading in my recurve. Would you please help me further along on my quest by showing me what your opinions are in my search for my next bow! THat is a D-style long bow.
Thank ya
I dont have pics but Great Northern makes a pretty one.
I am going thru the same thing as you. LOL!!! From the questions I have asked and information I have gleaned, I would say Northern Mist, Sunset Hill, & Howard Hill should be at the top of the list. A "new kid on the block" is Apex Predator bows. You can see a build along he is doing in the Bowyers bench forum here, and he is a sponsor as well. I have been watching Marty's Bows for a while now and decided to go with him for my first. I have no doubt I will be happy with my decision.
to tell you the truth I have a hard time believing they make a bad straight limbed longbow. I always hear bad things about Jerry Hill. But it seems odd that bows that are all copycats of each other would shoot so much worse.
At any rate don't fret over it too much because there isn't a tremendous difference in them like the other bows. The basic premise is a straight limb. So there is no dramatic variation between bowyers because the bow forms all look the same.
thanks guy's keep em coming! Starting to narrow it down.
A Mohawk has a mild r/d but still makes a D shape when strung and it is as quiet as anything I have shot. If you have to have straight limbs check out Apex Predator. My buddy just got one from Marty and it is very nice.
That's not exactly true Swamp Pigmy as there are some differences. In your other thread I mentioned the different limb profiles for Hill bows - reflex, straight, and string follow; they are all Hill style bows but shoot differently. You also have varying degrees of each. For example, my Kramer has over an inch of reflex and is a powerfull bow, but it has a little kick to it as well. My Pete George has about an inch of string follow and is as calm in the hand as an r/d but is also a little slower. Then you have bowyers such as St. Charles, and Steve Turay at Northern Mist who add just a touch of reflex which gives better speed, but is still very pleasant to shoot while Craig at Howard Hill and David Miller offer all three profiles. For your first you cant go wrong with any of the current bowyers - Hill, Northern Mist, Sunset Hill, St Charles, Miller, Belcher, Toelke, Great Northern, and Marty (I haven't had the pleasure of shooting one of his bows yet but they look awesome) they're all great bows but definately stay with the string follow to mild reflex profiles. You really need to shoot some bows because your going to have to decide on a grip style as well. Personally I prefer the straight grip, but a lot of folks like the dished and locator grips better. Everything has to fit you or your not going to enjoy it as much as you could. I put some pics for ya on the other thread. If I had to pick the top 5 of currently produced bows that I have owned or shot it would be Hill, Sunset Hill, Northern Mist, Miller, and St. Charles, but don't ask me to put them into order first to last because I can't! Hope this helps and good luck! Ken :archer:
I was under the impression that a reflexed limb was a reflex longbow and a string follow bow was a deflex longbow?
As far as I know a straight limbed longbow is exactly that. A straight limb.
But I'm no expert on the terminology. What I meant is that two recurves at the same length may have radically different designs. True D shaped longbows don't have much variation. If you said "What is a good hybrid bow?". Well there are numerous different shapes. No form may look alike. But if you ask about a straight limb bow the forms will be nearly identical. The only real changes might be handle shape, number of lams, width, it they taper, etc. But they are all VERY similar in nature. I didn't mean to imply they are cookie cutters and one is as good as the other.
Fredrick Baron
Make your own out of wood. It's not that hard.
Yep your right. Too many people use the generic term "straight limb longbow" when refering to Hill style bows - they don't all have straight limbs.
John McDonald "Big River"
I haven't been a huge fan of straight limbed bows in the past, but they really intrigue me now. I test drove a Toelke D bow this past fall and it was pretty sweet. It had a little thump on the shot, no buzz and not sure I'd call it handshock (but that is subjective anyway, best to try them out yourself). It was super smooth and Ultra Quiet. I'd bet these attributes are pretty common in this style bow.
That said, I'd look at Toelke, Fox, Dwyer and of course Howard Hill. At least, those are the ones that caught my eye :)
Mike
I have had and still have many D longbows. There are a few that I don't like...but there are two straight limb D longbows that stand out for me...Doc
Frank San Marco and Dave Johnson longbows
Why does everybody always bad mouth Jerry Hill bows? I have been shooting one for the past three weeks and can't see anything wrong with it. Not the fastest bow in the world but a straight shooter.
I've wondered the same thing myself. I didn't mean for my post to slander the guy further, I just honestly don't know why so many people have a problem with his bow.
I like Mike Mecredy's Longbows! Look him up at Maddog Traditional Archery http://www.tradstore.com/mta/
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Very nice, very traditional, English style Bamboo Backed Osage longbow!
Dan
I have a nice JD Berry d-shaped Hill looking bow. Shoots like a dream.
Don't forget to look at a Mahaska, great longbows!Greatnorthern also.
I just picked up a Jerry Hill myself, don't understand all the negativity on these bows, I have no problems shootin it, it is what it is, you're not going to get all the benefits from another design in a design like this, "Straight" limbed bows, people need to understand this, the R/D in other bows is there for another reason so lets compare apples to apples & for what I paid, there's no way you could go wrong, you either want a straight limbed bow or not, they are not for everyone but I dont get all the elbow hurtin, teeth fallin out "shock" you here ,,,, Good Luck .......
MOHAWK and Horne's Traditionalist. Dollar for dollar I don't care what d style longbow you will not beat the quality and shootability of a MOHAWK!
I have to agree with Swamp Pygmy, first you need to decide which "Design" of L/B you want, All in all I only feel there are 4 for all practical purposes,,, Straight, String Follow, Mild R/D, Hybrid,, which ever Design you choose, there's not much difference in who builds it, as long as he or she knows what they're doing .... Good Luck,, there's a "TON" of "GOOD" ones out there ....
I agree with adam, apples to apples is a great way to put it.
People always say they have handshock, or are slow, etc. But that is compared to what? Completely different designed bows. It seems many people assume the longbow will shoot like their old recurve did. It's no more sensible than thinking your sports car will handle similar to your 4wd truck. They are built going after different goals.
I always wonder why you don't see posts about recurves saying "This thing is a ton of bricks, it's also loud, and twigs catch under my recurved tips!" But you routinely see people amazed that the longbow didn't have the virtues of a recurve.
Adam and Pygmy, I'm with ya. Anymore when someone starts asking "Longbow" questions its a big bag-o-worms. Just what kind of LB you talkin' about......
I shoot all of them, from 56" Shrew, 66" Robertson mild R/D, to 68" Northern Mist straight and string follow bows. I love all of them equally for different reasons. But I would go with the string follow over staight limb, they are smooth as butter.
Yep, Longbow is a broad topic anymore!
Eric
Thanks for all the great info on longbows gentlemen.
I'm liking the looks of a mild r/d at this point. I will be looking to trade in my 54lb @29" (Check Mate Hunter 2)for a longbow closer to the 45lb range @29.5" draw.
Next stop trad gang's classifieds!
Tippit,
Are you speaking of Dave Johnson from Linton, Indiana, thats sells the Thunderbird finish? I understand that there is another Dave Johnson that builds longbows also.
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These pics are my Bigrivers, shows the profile differences pretty good
Hi Bigriver! I tried to google Bigriver bows but was not able to locate the site... Could you shoot me the link?
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I like the Horne Traditionalist,Black Swan classic and Mohawk.Frederick Longbows was another I really liked and cut my teeth on.No longer made.The Berry longbow is very similar though.GN critter getter is very nice.Thiers alot of good ones in this category.I have tried to own all of the mild R and Ds over the years.Liberty contender is nice as well excellant craftsmanship
The maker of my Bigrivers (John McDonald) can hardly use his cell phone let alone a computer :biglaugh: He does make an awesome bow though.
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Northern Mist baraga; a sweet bow
I shot the same Toelke D bow mentioned in the earlier reply. I then had Dan make me a 64" Texas Ebony/Fiddleback Myrtle bow that besides being gorgeous shoots like Mooseman 76 says: super smooth and ultra quiet. Dan had told me that I might feel a little hand shock but I am shooting 655 gr. Douglas Firs out of my 57 lbs. @ 29 1/2" draw bow and if there is any I can't find it. I believe Dan still has that "test drive" bow. You can contact him at (406) 676-5150 his web is www.montanabows.com. (http://www.montanabows.com.) I might add that I had to wait less than a month to receive my bow!