Hi Forestryguy and welcome, I can only suggest that you try as many trad bows as possible, speak to lots of people until you find a maker that you are confident in.

I shoot a Dwyer longbow at 50+# and have been very happy with it nice people good service pick up the phone and speak to them.

Mark.

Whatever you do, don”t overbow yourself! I almost did this when getting started, but luckily I had a mentor tell me otherwise. I was shooting 68# with the compound, so I figured I could shoot 60# traditional… WHOLE different ballgame with traditional. Not about being macho, its about shooting what you can handle and shoot well, especially in the early morning when you haven’t shot 10 or so warm-up shots. Try and shoot several different bows to see what you can handle. Limb designs between bows really effects their shootability. Recurve are easier to transition to than longbow, but the hybred reflex/deflex longbows are the best of both worlds. I thought going into traditional would be easy, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought, but I have become what I call a student of traditional….its more technical than I thought..BUT I’M LOVIN IT!!! The best production longbow that I have found has been the Martin Savannah. If there isnt a trad shop around you to shoot bows, most Bass Pro or Cabelas has them, although you probably wont get much technical advice there. I just picked up a 50# one, and it is a VERY smooth shooting bow. Lots better than the Bear Montana. Good luck in your quest, and ask TONS of questions!!

If I could start over I would get a 35 to 40 pounder to start with and work on form. Outside of that these two gentleman have sent you in the right direction. Good luck but most important, enjoy the journey!

Where you from? Maybe someone in here might know of a trad archery show or something in your area. Or, if not, maybe call a local traditional club and ask to come hang out at the next shoot just to ask questions. Learning from those who have been into the sport for a while could save you lots of headache. Im sure anyone into traditional archery will be more than glad to help, thats how it works.