Trying to decide which longbow to buy.  I like the looks of and feeling of the mild R/D bows and have been looking at Fox, Mahaska, Northern Mist, Great Plains and a few others.  Can anybody tell me about the ones mentioned above or possibly others in regards to felt handshock, workmanship etc?  Also I guess, any reports on speed.  I'm not looking for a speed burner or I would be buying a hybrid, but I know there are differences between the bows so let me know that as well.

Liberty Contender

Toelke Whip is a nice, soft shooting, quiet bow.  Plenty fast for me.  Some of the best workmanship I've seen, and very short lead time (mine was around 3 weeks).  Do a search under PowWow.  I posted some pictures of the one i just got.

Mark

I've tried the Contender and for some reason couldn't shoot it very well.  Mark, I just test drove a Toelkw Whip and the grip wasn't right for me.  Picky, I know.   :D

I would have to inlcude the Treadway Longbows:

I own a 56 and a 58"...

Absolutely whisper quiet, smooth, even for shorter bows...

Workmaship, and quality second to none... The only problem, a 1 year wait...

I have a Fox "Arctic Fox" 60" 55#@28.  It's got bamboo limbs with a Poduk limb core and Poduk and Cocobolo riser. It's one great shooting bow.  It's light and fast for a mild R/D longbow and has no hand shock what so ever. I got it for ground blind and treestand use and it does  a good job at that.
I have a friend that just got a 64" takedown with the bamboo limbs, with a bamboo core and bamboo and cocobolo riser thats also a great shooting bow.  The longer bows have a little more limb with so they have a little different feel but still great shooters all the same. I also like Fox's takedown sleaved handle, it's a locator type just like the one on their single peace bows.

Hope this helped, I know you would not go wrong with a Fox and Ron King is a Great guy to deal with also.

DJ

DJ

Originally posted by Crash:
"I've tried the Contender and for some reason couldn't shoot it very well.  Mark, I just test drove a Toelke Whip and the grip wasn't right for me.  Picky, I know."

Please forgive me for saying so, but grip shape is rarely the reason we have accuracy problems with a particular bow. More often then not it is a matter of familiarity with a bow that contribute to shooting success, along with a solid bow arm and consistent release.

The Contender grip, assuming the bow you shot was made over the last two years or so, is about as innocuous a grip as I can think of, along with Fox, Dwyer, Deathwish, Wes Wallace, Robertson, the Great Northern locater, and others. Are you coming from a recurve background?

I didn't have a problem with the Contender grip, only the grip on the Toelke which has the thumb locator grip.  I have a longbow background.

I understand what you are saying about being familiar with a bow, but I also know that some bows just seem to fit better than others.  There are several well made bows that I did not shoot well, shooting well being relative.  I could shoot them decent enough, just not as well as other bows that I have tried.

I would have to disagree as well Ghost Dog, I think that grip has a lot to do with accuracy.  I do think that you can get USED to just about any grip and shoot it accurately, but like crash said, some are better than others.  I have small girly hands, for instance, and don't like thumb rests.  Just plain old shoot better without them.  I do like Centaur style finger grooves though.  
Crash, I like the Great Northern bows.  My suggestion would be to post a want-to-try-will-you-lend-me-your-XXXX bow on the classifieds here.  Also, some bowyers have atry before you buy option.
Mike

I just got off the phone with Mr. Wallace and now I have a 64" coco and yew takedown on the way.

northern mist is excellent and i agree w/ gatot1.... hard to beat a treadway!

Here are the Great Northern handles.

Roy Hall Cherokee, for a mild R/D they are very quick and no handshock at all and best of all whisper quiet. I would also look for a 7 Lakes, much the same as the Hall. Shawn