Bow suggestions

[eastex]

My wife surprised me with a custom longbow. Love it, but I'm a newbie and at 55# it's a bit much to put the practice in. I got tendinitis pretty bad from shooting it a lot. I want something I can practice, shoot 3D etc. I want good equipment. Doesn't mean it has to be expensive. Leaning toward recurves for some reason. Are they easier to start with? Looked at sage, grizzly and Martin hunter recurves. Based on reviews. Kinda like the new satori, could change limbs and poundages with that. Obviously I'm completely undecided. Just want something in 40# range that I can shoot a lot. I'm 29" draw. That would put me at 42 1/2#. Thanks!

[Danielb89]

Well,

if you're just wanting to get into it and it doesn't have to be expensive, the sage is a great bow. IF you want an ILF bow(the satori is), you could look at a hoyt excel riser and some black max limbs from lancaster archery. But $450 for just a riser would be a pretty large price for me.

[fwood]

To begin with, learn with and train with, the Sage is a good bow. At 62" it should fit your draw. I would recommend probably not over 35# to begin with. Work on the form. If you already are having tendonitis issues, I might go lighter to 25# or 30#. You can purchase heavier limbs as you advance and always return to the lighter limbs for training and form work. Don't underestimate what a light draw bow can do for you. You do not want to be overbowed when you first start out or really anytime.

[eastex]

Yeah, it is expensive. But, I don't mind paying for quality And something that I can do it all with. Practice, 3D and hunt.

[60 Deluxe]

Buy the Sage in your weight. You can get it or the new version that I forget the name of already from 3 Rivers Archery or Southwest Archery Supply. If you don't bang it around and keep it nice I'll give you $100 for it when you upgrade in a few months. You can buy them for $140 and sometimes get free shipping.

[CRM_95]

I started with a Sage and think it's a great bow for the money. I still shoot it every now and then. If you do get one, I'd get a good FF string. The ones they come with aren't that great.

[Kossetx]

where does the piney woods meet the post oaks? if your anywhere near me your welcome to try some off the shelf bows. literally and figuratively.

[gettin closer]

I agree with everyone else. The sage is a great way to start and it is not to expensive when you are ready to go up in limb weight. Once you settle in with a weight you are comfortable with, then you can spend some coin on a nicer bow. I am not sure if they have longbow limbs though... I started recurve and learned I liked the longbow better.

[RJH1]

I will be the "antisage" guy. I have only shot a couple but the ones I did stacked at 29. I would go with a used bear grizzly or even better a Super K. The martin is a great bow too. If you buy used you won't lose money if you decide to sell it, and you wont really ever need to upgrade because one of those bows in a lighter weight are great 3d bows. Used quality is still quality

[smokin feathers]

Good thing bout a ilf bow though is you can start low n have adjustability n then swap those limbs for some heavier ones or sell them n by more. Yhey are easier to get rid of and swap than a kot of bows. Look on archerytalk, stickbow, and tradgang n you can find a deal on anything!! Ive traded through a 100 recurves n longbows but when it came down to it the acs longbow n daas recurve feel the best n both perform for their draw weights!!!

[eastex]

Been looking for few weeks. Seems like a grizzly or hunter in lower poundage is a rare item in the classifieds. Most are 50-55lb

[CRM_95]

Been looking for few weeks. Seems like a grizzly or hunter in lower poundage is a rare item in the classifieds. Most are 50-55lb

You could probably pick a Grizzly up on ebay. I watch for the left hand ones almost daily. But I'm looking more for an old one just as a collector's item to shoot every now and then rather than a hunting bow.

[DRT]

I have a black panther hunter in lower 40s. I would think it wouldn't be too good for a draw length that long.

[fwood]

Buy the Sage in your weight. You can get it or the new version that I forget the name of already from 3 Rivers Archery or Southwest Archery Supply. If you don't bang it around and keep it nice I'll give you $100 for it when you upgrade in a few months. You can buy them for $140 and sometimes get free shipping.

I'd get the Sage and just keep it. Limbs aren't too expensive if you want to increase weight. You can always get a nicer bow later, after you've shot a few months and got the form down a bit. Keep the Sage for a backup and trainer or for a guest to shoot with.
ILF bows are great. Lots of options for adjustment and many options for different limbs but a basic starting ILF will be double the money at least. I started back in traditional with ILF because of the many options for growing with the bow. It wasn't a bad decision for me but I've looked at the Sage and shot them and know plenty of folks that shoot them and shoot them well. Not a bad option.
There is a very good reason you see so many 50# and up bows in the classifieds. For many, they're just too heavy weight to be shooting a lot and it's just too much to start out with. It takes a lot of time to stretch the ligaments and tendons to handle weight like that to shoot 50-100 shots at a time. Very hard to develop the form to excel if you are overbowed.

[eastex]

Thanks for the inputs! Think I will try the sage. Would make a great bow for guest to shoot. Can't lose much at $140!