I'm looking to get my first trad bow, but wanted to see what everyone's opinion is on a good beginner's bow. I wondered what in your opinion is a good choice to start with for under $400.
Thanks for your help.

I would find one of the old Bear's, they are relatively cheap, and great bows.

I would take a hard look at Great Northern's "Field Bow",  they are in stock and available in a variety of wieghts for $295.

Get a light draw weight bow that fits you well and you can practice with easily. Learn good form(find a mentor if you can) and shoot the snot out of it. When you're ready for more weight trade or sell it in the classifieds and move up 5#s or so and keep on shooting. Lots of good bows in the classifieds here, don't break your budget on your first bow, odds are it will be far from your last.

Maddog, Holm Made and several others in the sponsor forum can set you up for that price with a new bow if that's how you choose to go.

Bear montana thats what I shoot 329$

Go light & cheap cause you'll be looking for another bow in six months.  Then try every bow you can get your hands on.  Plenty that fit that bill in the classifieds used to start with...Doc

used 40# martin hunter...

Older Bear all the way.  You can get a great shooting, great looking bow with some history for well under your price ceiling and have plenty of cash left over for arrows, quivers, etc.

Yea i would look at the Bear bows also because you can pick them up cheap. I have a wall full so if your interested give me a shout. If i was going for a longbow take a look at the Dwyer longbows. There very inexpensive and they shoot great and the craftmanship is top notch. Try to shoot a lot of different bows and please dont over bow yourself. Thats the worst thing you can do starting out and i know because i did it and the first time i shot it i said oh ^%$*. Sold it as fast as i could and dropped 10lbs in weight and have never looked back.

Great advice above. For my money, you can't beat a Martin Hunter. Older Bears and Brownings, as well as Shakespeare and Pearsons would be a good place to start. Don't go too heavy, 45# or so to start. I assume you are coming over from the dark side, so remember that you are holding the full weight of the bow, not 20% of it.

By overbowing yourself, you can develop bad habits that will stay with you for a long time. Don't ask me how I know this!

You might also want to check out the Quinn bows, and Samick from Lancaster Archery. Both have interchangeable limbs, and you can buy new ones as your ability increases.

Good luck!

used bow , light weight 30-40 lbs or so or if you buy new a 40-45  pounder should do the trick. you move up to a new bow take a look at Chek Mate before you buy. Lots of good bows out there, do a good search befoe you buy.

Billion of old bows for sale at very affordable prices.Bear and other are great shooter and they mantain their value.Look for something around 40# at your draw lenght.A mentor will save you months of time

Thanks for all of the advice so far. I think I'll probably go with a used Bear to start with. I hoping to get one in the lower 40# range to develop good shooting form. PM sent to joevan 125. Thanks

Cody

Here is a good place to start looking for a bow
http://www.rmsgear.com/bowshop_inventory.htm  They have some nice bows (used). You could find a good one to start with.