About 20 years ago, I was at a 3D shoot when I noticed a few guys shooting traditional bows. I was intrigued so I started asking questions. It looked cool and like something I wanted to try, but I didn’t have a traditional bow of my own and hadn’t shot one since I was a kid. Through common acquaintances I got to know one of the guys a bit and it turns out he was a bowyer with a small workshop that primarily made bows for locals who wanted them. His name is Jeff Findish and as far as I know, he’s still living in the area. Talking with Jeff was my first real experience with someone immersed in the trad archery world. He was generous with his advice and eventually I ordered a custom bow from him. I think I paid just $325 for it, which was a bargain even then.
The order started out with having to answer Jeff’s questions, “What kind of bow are you looking for and what draw length?” I don’t remember what his advice was but I was thinking since I was pulling a 70 pound compound a 52 pound longbow should be easy. I settled on a 60 inch longbow set at 52 pounds at a 29 inch draw. Looking back, I wasn’t ready to order a custom bow and I definitely shouldn’t have ordered one that heavy. I have since learned that when you’re starting out it’s best to focus on building form with a light poundage bow and then work yourself up to hunting weights. That mistake out of the gate is probably the biggest reason I didn’t fall in love with the sport at the time. Not only was I over bowed as they say, I also didn’t have the first clue about arrows, tuning, or anything else frankly. It’s no wonder I set the bow down in favor of my compound. Not only was I lacking the patience and knowledge I needed, I was also still defining success by inches of antler and how many tags I could fill. The timing just wasn’t right.
When I dove back into the sport about a year ago, I dusted off the bow and flung a few arrows. Of course I didn’t have any arrows that fit and the bow wasn’t tuned so naturally I had a bad experience. That’s when I decided to dig in and do the research, and vowed to put in the effort it was going to take to figure it out. I bought a new string, figured out what brace height it liked, and started shooting.
I’ll jump way ahead now and say I didn’t touch the longbow again until I purchased an inexpensive bow with 35 pound limbs to work on building form. Once I built a bit of form and some confidence I bought a Hoyt Satori ILF bow thinking that would make for a smoother transition from shooting a compound. No doubt the bow shot great, but I didn’t love the mechanical feel of it. It just didn’t seem traditional. Then I came home with a 1972 Bear Grizzly from the swap meet at the Eastern Traditional Archery Rendezvous and began shooting it. That led to me selling the Satori and focusing on shooting the Grizzly and my longbow.
By hunting season I made the decision to hunt with the Grizzly because I thought it would be cool to possibly take a deer with a bow older than I am. By now you can see that the longbow always seemed to be pushed to the back of the line. After shooting my buck with the Grizzly, I decided it was time to try with the longbow and give it the chance it deserves. It took it to the woods for the first time yesterday and just having it along felt great.
I guess I didn’t appreciate the beauty of the bow until I had it in the autumn woods and could view it in that light. Although it’s a little more challenging to shoot than the Grizzly, it hits a little harder, is lightweight, and is quiet as a whisper. They say timing is everything and I think the timing is right for me and this bow and it’s what I plan to carry for the rest of the season. I’m excited to see where this relationship goes.