I really enjoy reading reviews of various types of outdoor equipment and if the vast majority of the reviewers say negative things I usually steer clear of those products.  That being said I recently saw a Samick Sage takedown at one of the local sporting goods stores. After reading several reviews on this bow there seemed to be some great reviews and some poor reviews so I decided to go ahead and purchase the bow and see for myself what I thought about the bow, I've always been a "gotta see for myself" kind of guy anyway. And the price was such that it would be a great financial loss if it turned out to be a bust. My brother seemed to enjoy shooting my Shakespeare recurve  so I told myself it would also make a nice loaner bow to help someone else get into the trad game if they were so inclined.  I went back to the store and looked the bow over, as expected the finish is not as nice as a custom rig would be, but it was also nothing to be ashamed to carry in the woods. I asked the guy behind the counter if I could string the bow and he said "sure, you can even come back and shoot it a few times if you would like". With that invitation I was soon standing in the 20 yard range behind the bow shop. He handed me a feather fletched carbon arrow which I placed on the already nocked string. Until that point I thought it was just myself and the store employee but then I noticed I had an audience. It was an older gentleman that I had made small talk with while looking over the bow at the counter.  He was trad hunter and was also interested in the same bow.  There was a standard 5 spot target at the far end of the range so I called the center target and in all honesty hoped I'd hit somewhere on the paper with the unfamiliar bow. I visualized the arrow flight as I pulled the string tight and was felt a smooth draw with a constant resistance, as I reached my anchor point I paused for a millisecond are released the arrow. I tried not to act completely surprised when the arrow buried half way into the target right in the middle of the 10 ring. I looked up and tried to play it cool and said "dang I gotta buy the bow after a shot like that". I did shoot it a few more times but that was the first and only 10 ring of the short shooting session.  I've now had the bow for a few days and had time to get it set up and shoot a few dozen arrows in the basement range. My initial thoughts are this bow is going to make a fine back up bow and would even be a good primary bow for someone wanting to get into trad hunting with a lot cash laid down.  Me and my hunting companions are planning a pack in elk trip next year, I'll be the only with traditional gear and I plan on packing the Sage takedown as a backup should an unforeseen turn of events render my Shakespeare nonoperational. I think I will take the new 50# rig and do a little rabbit hunting over the holiday vacation. If the group is interested I will give me impressions of this bow after I done some field testing with it.

Congrats on the new bow!  And looking forward to your thoughts after having it out in the field a few days.

I would be interested in hearing your impressions after hunting it.
We don't have a lot of options here in NZ for bows but Samick is one that a few people bring in so It is a very real option for me, just a bit wary of them like you I have heard good and bad about them.

Thanks

I have/had several Samicks and have been very impressed with them. That Sage should serve you well.

I just started traditional archery and I got a Sage as my first bow.  I love it and will probably never sell it. I got the cartel case that its fits into really well.  I can throw a string, stringer, tab, arm guard, and even slip some arrows into the long pocket and have a bow ready to take anywhere!

One thing I found that helped me a lot was building up the curve on the shelf a little.  Stock it was too flat and building it up made the bow shoot much better for me.