A friend of mine is going to build a longbow for me. He has built several reflex-deflex bows and has taken many nice whitetails,four bear and atleast one caribou with his bows. I shot his bow and found it very smooth 55# @28 64 inches. The bow limbs are four lams bamboo back and belly and actionwood inner lams.
When we talked about what I wanted for limbs I decided on red elm with bamboo inner lams. However, recent posts I have read seemed to be suggesting that yew would be a better choice instead of bamboo.
What combinations of lam choices would you guys suggest. I'm currently shooting a viper which seems to stack pretty quick. I did take my first bow deer with it, an 8pt. This is my first year shooting trad, but I would like to have a smoother shooting bow.
Red elm and bamboo is a great combo.Haven't had much experience with yew but it is as good core wood as many others.I had alot of bows with all red elm lams,that is a great limb core you can use edge or flat grain.Another one of my favorites is black cherry,you don't hear much about it but I think is an excellent preformer.I like the look of aged osage also.
I like bamboo, however the Bowyer is the best one to answer your question. He will know what works best in his bows.
With Elm you don't need a core it is snappy and has great cast. Go with elm, its cheaper and you won't know the difference with a bow like that, plus Yew (which I love and have several bows from) is toxic to some. Most good bowyers will tell you the average person can't tell the difference beteween two good limb woods.