DJ welcome to the site. That is good thinking on your part about the bow. I would encourage to learn to shoot as well with it as you can. However as you get better in your shooting you may find the Samick is not what you need and a change may be in order. As far as carbon arrows they are probably the best bet to start with but not cheap. Enjoy the learning process and if you ever have any questions always welcome to ask. Also for me the one best thing I did to help with learning to shoot the longbow well was to take a couple of lessons form a coach to help with my form.

Welcome DJ. I think you will find a wealth of helpful info on these forums. As far as carbon arrows are concerned you may find you are able to use the same shafts you use for compound shooting but you will need to refletch with feathers. It seems like there are as many selections of carbon as there are days in a year. I’ve found that any straight arrow of the correct spine can be shot well from traditional equipment regardless of the material from which its made.

Hey man. I just started shooting myself. I bought a Samick Sage back in January and have been shooting it everyday.

I’ve found the bow to be of good quality. I did find that it’s a little short for my 30.5″ draw length, so I’ve ordered some Samick Journey limbs, which will fit the Sage riser. Then it will be a 64″ bow instead of a 62″ bow, so my fingers should get pinched less and I should be able to work on my release a little more.

I started out with some inexpensive Arrow Dynamics Hi-plains Hunter arrows. So far I’ve broken 5 of the 6, either stump shooting, whanging them off rocks or hitting them with other arrows. I wont’ be buying those again.

I bought some Gold Tip traditional arrows off Amazon for less than a $100 for a dozen. They came fletched with feathers, but uncut, at 32″. Since I have a such a long draw length, I just glued the inserts into some of them. Yesterday I went to a store here in town and had some cut to 31″ for free. They’ve been much more durable.

I’m very much enjoying shooting a Trad bow. The Sage is kind of like the Ford Taurus of the bow world: inexpensive, not very sexy, but it gets the job done.

Once I settle on a draw weight, I’ll probably treat myself to a nice longbow, but I think the Sage is a great tool.

Hi DJ, welcome to the site. You’ll get lots of good advice here to be sure. Look up advice for tuning and stand close until you get the hang of it. Look up videos by Moebow, Jeff Kavanaugh and others on youtube. Keep it fun. Dwc

Welcome aboard! There’s a shop here in town, Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear….also on internet rmsgear.com , that sells the Sage that will exchange limbs for free as you get stronger and develop form, as long as you buy the bow from him.

Don’t rule out the Sage as a keeper bow. My avatar pic is a muley buck taken with a Samick Stingray. Samick makes fine bows.

Once you get into it you may drift to a longbow. Matter of choice once you shoot one.

Carbon arrows are the ticket, alot more durable and easier to tune.

You came to the right place for help! Alot of years of expertise on this forum, with great camaraderie.

DJ,

You are exactly, perfectly on the right track…light draw weight to learn form and easy to maintain equipment. The fewer variables you work on at a time the better your progress will come. I also agree with the suggestion to go with the Journey over the Sage due to your draw length…and this from a guy who draws 32”.

As far as carbon arrows are concerned, Big Jim’s Bow Company (Google them) sells Gold Tip blemished shafts very cheap. From what I’m told they have cosmetic flaws in the finish but are otherwise of the same tolerances as their regular shafts. For light draw weight I would suggest the 1535 spine, which equated to a .600.

Leave them full length, and as you progress, tune with the tip weight as needed. There’s no sense in trying to fine tune when you’re first starting out, since your form will develop as you go. Just get them flying reasonably straight and work on form. Accuracy comes second.

With respect to form, don’t think that what you know from shooting compounds does not apply. Form is form, archery is archery. The fundamentals don’t change just because there are no wheels on your limbs. There are tons of videos on YouTube that are worth watching. Anything by Jimmy Blackmon is top quality. I’d also suggest getting Masters of the Barebow, Volumes 2 and 3. They cover different aiming styles and then go into shot mechanics. Great stuff.

Most of all, enjoy yourself.

DJ,

I prefer a tab but that is probably because when I started shooting way back when it was impossible to find a glove to fit my 11 year old hand. Now 43 years later it is so familiar I sometimes forget to take it off and all my winter gloves have the middle finger cut out on the right hand. As with anything it all comes down to personal preference.

Hi. New to traditional archery, and have neen shooting my compounds for about 5 years. On the sage. Both my wife and i have them with gold tip arrows. Love the arrows, like the bow. Draws smooth to my 30 inches draw length and shoots well, no complaints in 3 months with either bow 40# or 50#. And we both use tabs after trying both.

colt

nockednloaded wrote:

Another question i thought of was using a glove vs using a tab. Can somebody spell out pros and cons of either or both?

From your first post on this topic it sounds like you have a pretty sound plan to start traditional shooting.

I’m new on this forum, but have been shooting both traditional and modern bows for over 45 years. Regarding a tab vs a glove…you may just have to try both to see what you personally like. My choice is a leather tab…not a hairface one. A tab does not get a “groove” in it, which helps my release.

On the other hand, a soft glove seems to get a groove where the string rests that “hangs up” on me affecting release. And the gloves I’ve tried with “hard” finger tips don’t allow me to feel the string.

Another thing I like about a tab is for hunting I wear it over a light cotton glove. In very cold weather, I can wear a glomitt over it all. My fingers stay a lot warmer with the cotton glove fingertips than the leather tips of a shooting glove. I practice a lot wearing those light cotton gloves so that for hunting the feel of the tab over the glove is engrained into my shooting.

Good luck with your entrance into the world of traditional shooting. While I have shot compounds off and on, I’ve never stopped shooting traditional equipment over the 45+ years I’ve been involved in archery shooting. It’s simple, fun, and effective…what more could you ask for?