I don’t think you can do any better than Black Widow Bows. Their customer service and products are top notch. I have been shooting a PMA model for almost 15 years and it still performs, plus they are great for follow-up information when I have a question. My bow is a takedown 54# @ 28″ greybark and I love it. It is fast and quiet and a pleasure to carry into the field. Check them out.

Sounds like you need to go to a lighter bow weight. My situation was the same and I went from a 58# longbow to a 52#, and it sure made a difference. Of course, I had to change my arrows and everything, but I’m right back in the hunting game. I found a Elk River 52# R/D that is sweet to shoot….unfotunately the bowyer, Keith Smith of Moundsville WVa has quit making them. Waiyne

I’m shooting a new Predator take down and it shoots great. The lines are reminiscent of the old Super Kodiak. Great thing about a take down is you can change limbs as your weight requirements change. I too have moved down in weight due to aging. There are many choices of wood combinations to choose from. Check out the website at Hunters Niche, there are usually a number of risers posted there for sale. Reduces the wait time if you can choose a riser already made.

Duncan

I’m with Duncan. I also shoot a Predator take down and I love it. They make a great shooting, fast bow.

Shrew Li’l Favorite. It’s a short longbow that shoots better than most long longbows. My 2 scents. 😀 dave

some ppl look at me silly when i say this u might want to checkout some of martin archery recurves. i if ever decide to buy a recurve it be there mamba its pretty nice!

johnny58 wrote: Do to arthritis in my neck it has been difficult to draw the bow. Thanks for the help!

John, have you ever been to a physical therapist for the arthritis? They know so much. Let them know you are an archer and they may have some ideas for you. I am seeing one now for pinched nerve problem in my neck. Good luck with your search for a recurve.

Tom

I think it depends on what, and how you hunt. I love Cascade Bows little recurves for the brushy, western part, of the state, and a liberty longbow for the eastern section. My advice–shoot as many as you can.

Nate

Blacktail!!!!:D They are beautiful bows (not cheap) but very well made, good shooters, smooth, relativily fast, quiet, overall a really nice bow. Norm is a super person to dear with.

The Fox High Sierra is another great bow, and of course both Norm & Ron will make it any draw & weight you need.
Frank

PS: Both advertise in TBM!
FV

Don’t mean to put words in his mouth, but I think Dave P. above meant to say of the Little Favorite Shrew, “a short recurve that shoots better than most long recurves (rather than “longbows”) — since the LF is a recurve and that was the original question: suggest some good hunting recurves.

Chiloquin wrote: I think it depends on what, and how you hunt. I love Cascade Bows little recurves for the brushy, western part, of the state, and a liberty longbow for the eastern section. My advice–shoot as many as you can.

Nate

Before buying one that is!

If interested in a 50s-style recurve, you may wish to contact Mike Dunnaway at Wild Horse Creek Bows in Perry, Kansas(MKDSLD@aol.com). He makes two recurve models, a 54″ and 60,” and his prices are reasonable for the quality bow you’re getting.

Lots out there.

Wapiti TD or One piece
Schafer
Morrison
Rampart

The list goes on………………………………..

Mike

It really is archer dependent if you stick with the well known names there are no worries of poor quality or being taken for your money….

Schafer Silvertip, Black Widow MA series, Habu, Robertson Stykbow Falcons, Blacktail Elites, Cascade, Wes Wallace, Bob Lee, Bruin, Marriah Thermals, Shrew, Kim-Sha, Brackenbury, Fedora, and Bill Stewarts with multi-cam limbs if you can find one for sale since his death. In my opinion these are guys that have been around for a while and are solid performers building beautiful but expensive custom bows. Some may argue the Widows are not true custom since they are nearly all machine made now…..and that the Habu is following behind but their tolerances are at levels that no hand made bow can match when it comes to repeatability and overall reliability.
That being said….I prefer these bows as they are what is on my wall and except for two are long time companions in the woods:

Jeffery Royal Hunter – plain bow but reliable performer

Habu- smooth, fast, accurate…high performance

Bear Grizzly- nice short bow, not as accurate for long draw lenghts but nice bow…but not custom.

Browning Cobra II- beautiful bow, great shooter, rivals many custom bows of today with beauty and performance. Also consider Browning Explorer II.

Robertson Stykbow- light, nimble, smooth and exceptional performance…my newest hunting recurve

Strunk- vine maple selfbow…hard hitter
Mattingly- osage with static tips….fast shooter

Bows I desire to own still after years of lust based on beauty and performance:

Schafer Silvertip
Bill Stewart with yew limbs
Browning Explorer II

Best thing you can do is look at pictures and various wood combinations….and then go to a shoot or see if they have a Try Before You Buy program like Robertson Stykbow. When you find that combination of beauty that makes your heart sing….combined with the shootability that makes your soul clear and the world seem like a more pleasant place….then just buy it. Got to follow your heart and soul on these big purchase…if it is not tugging at you in some way internally then it is not your favorite bow in my opinion.

Dick Robertson has quite a few nice ones available and ready to be adopted at http://www.robertsonstykbow.com/pages/fatal.html

I contacted him looking for one of his Montana Falcons used…and he offered to let me shoot one of his Fatal Styk Y recurves that had a blemish in it. It was beautiful and almost exactly what I was looking for…and it shot…it shot like a dream…smooth, silky, light in hand, and with accurate authority. So I bought it and at a discount due to a blemish I cannot find but he knows is there in limb glass.

Good luck…and shoot some bows…and follow your heart and soul and you will be more than pleased.

Really, I don’t think you will get any opinions on the best bow here on TB. We as a lot seem to kind of keep to ourselves. LOL.. LOL 😆 😆 😆

I really only have one bow, with two sets of limbs. The bow I bought when I decided to go back to traditional. It is a chekmate, and I am very happy with it. If I was to start looking I think I might try looking on some used bow sites and playing with different bows to see what I liked, reselling them if they were not quite right.