I like to check out the auction site and see there is at least a dozen new bows going fo under $150.00. Some are take downs and some one piece. These aren't kid bows and have draw weight from 45 to 60 pounds. Bear has one out that's a take down and so does Martin. Anyone shooting them?

The only sub $150.new bow I have shot and still own is a Samick Sage. It is , great value.a great shooter, and I abuse it

I like Sage bows and have the Stingray and used to have the Red Stag. Both bows are excellent shooters.

The Bear Sonoma is a great shooter...same bow as the Greatree Goshawk. The Greatree models come from a factory in Korea and are of good quality. Andover Archery just introduced another Korean made brand Old Mountain that looks really good as well..both recurves and longbows.

I have a Red Stag, great bow.

I bought a Samick Sage several months ago in low poundage while trying to rehab an ailing shoulder. I am now back to shooting my regular weight bow but the Samick Sage was a real shooter. It is only 40 lbs but I plan on hanging on to it for a long time. It really does shoot very well and I am sure that at some point in my life I will have to lower may poundage again.

Sometime around 1956 my father gave me my first good bow (45# lemonwood long bow dated 1929).

Years later I paid around $400 to the bowyer (Harold Groves) who spent real time with me, getting me from abysmal rookie to serious rookie. That was money well spent. I was a grownup by that time so $400 wasn't a problem.

Of course, today many choose to spend $150 in support of Asian sweat shops instead of connecting to American craftsman who will always be happy to help with advice. To each his own.

On the Samick Sage make sure you replace the bow string if nothing else. Add a coin, round the square edges, add takedown knobs. You can come up with a really nice bow in the market you are looking!

Totally in agreement with George Stout (which is an easy thing to do).Didn't have much $$ and the Bear Sonoma was a good price.Love it.Whether or not i can hit a barn door with it is only on me .My 40# Sonoma is a pleasure to shoot.Finding it very stable. and well made.

The Korean economy is far from sweat shop John, they really are not far behind us in gross family income. Sweat shops are in China, where your little techno gadgets come from and are so sorely loved. The real question is why is it so right to spend $800 for a Chinese cell phone and not right to buy a Korean bow for $150.00. I would think guys like you would be demanding American made phones. Whats up with that? Oh wait, that's different right?

I have to laugh when folks talk about buying only American made bows. Not that I blame them for buying American, but most of us have probably over 50% foreign made products in our home...probably more than that.

The Korean bows offer folks an oppurtunity to get into archery without spending a lot of money. I'm for American made bows but I'm also for the Korean made bows that are on the market, not to mention other bows made in Germany and Italy,ect.

There's a veritable buffet of USA made vintage bows right now for $150. You just have to take the time to find them.

There's no useful comparison between Korean bows and smart phones. That is a goofy idea, a diversion. Meaningless.

We're supposedly advocates for "trad." So why would we want to abandon craftsmen and push the cheapest possible mass production?

I'm not pushing "buy American" ...George, that's just another diversion.

I advocate buying directly from human beings (such as bowyers, shooters, with whom we can speak directly in our favorite languages, RATHER than from non-people, non-human systems (big box stores, online marketeers) or robotic order-takers with whom no rookie can usefully communicate).

Bigger=better, more-beats-less, cheaper/cheaper/cheapest marketing rings certain kinds of bells.

Maybe when companies quit being taxed out the ying yang and everything under the sun gets taxed and regulated maybe bow Companies will have a chance to prosper. There's a lot of taxes involved in the traditional archery world, or I should say extortion money.

I know in the 70s every bow co offered a WORKIN MAN'S BOW...like the Bear Grizzly I bought in 1978, I still have it too.

The definition of "a lot of money" means something different to a "workin man" and a homeless person or burger flipper. Sorry about that, but it's reality.

It's admirable when somebody wants to pursue archery and reaches up to spend 2X or 3X as much for a bow as for a pair of good running shoes to do it.

Some of us want EVERYBODY to shoot arrows, no matter their financial ability. Let's call that "TrumpJrNomics."

150 dollars will buy a lot of bow on eBay sometimes. None of the ones I am interested in were made after Bear moved to Gainesville.

DDave

Jk, there's one thing for sure, we wont get there by way of the Socialist agenda..hows that worked out so far?

Getting back to the original question is anyone shooting any of these bows, if so which one, enough already with the other crap.

I have a Samick Sage, it shoots as good or better than a lot of bows I've shot in 40 plus years. I had the Greatree Osprey for a while and it is a good shooting bow. I would recommend putting a low stretch string on, like BCYX. The Sage is very quiet and clean with BCYX. Andover Archery has some good deals right now on the Old Mountain bows.

As mentioned above, you can find some good deals on vintage bows. The Footed Shaft has a lot of good used bows.

I have access to a variety of Korean made bows daily. They generally are good shooters. One or two need a little sanding on the limb edges. Tiller is good and marked poundage is darn good bow tobow. Some folks need entry level bows for youngsters who may or may not stick with it. These fill that niche-good quality at a fair price. Free market -take it or leave it as no one forces anyone to buy one here in the USA. My granddaughter shoots one

It's your money so buy what YOU like and don't pay attention or worry what others say.

I can't understand buying an old bow and paying 2 to 3 times what it originally sold for. To each their own.

I'm new to this site. But wanted to chime in on the Samick Sage. My wife bought me a 50# Samick Sage a year ago last Christmas. That bow is what got me in to traditional shooting and I love it. (Thanks to a gentleman on here for suggesting) If I would have told my wife I wanted a $400-800 bow to start out, she would have laughed. I own 4 bows now but still shoot the sage (looking for a decent longbow). My favorite is my 54" Bear Kodiak Magnum that's older than me. My wife shoots an old Browning Wasp. The Sage was my first bow and I'll probably never sell it. My point is if that Samick Sage wasn't available for so cheap, i may not have gotten into trad shooting. I'm new and know very little, but it's been a great bow for me. Thanks

Good point Frochevy. Glad to hear you and your family are enjoying archery. The Sage is a good bow period.

Just from my experience only, it's tough to get your compound pals to ditch the training wheels and come to trad when you tell them that a nice bow is going to cost them $600 minimum and up to $1300. Sure, I know about the USED bows and I've tried that avenue without success. When they heard the prices of bows, they laughed right in my face and that was the end of the conversation.

Most people that are wanting to get into TRAD shooting and bows aren't going to know about these Korean or Chinese bows and they likely don't want a 40 year old recurve. When they find out what an American longbow or recurve is going to cost them, a lot of them will bail out right there and won't come back. That's just the way it is.

Again...this is MY EXPERIENCE ONLY...it's what I've seen with my friends that are compound shooters and hunters that I've tried to convert. What you've seen might be totally different.

Larry

I see a trend now to over price some of the name bows, and some sellers want three to four times $150 for a bow which would put the buyer in a bad situation if he paid that much. These bows are not necessarily those desirable bows either, which shows a lack of knowledge with the sellars.

However, there are some good deals and some very desirable bows which pop up just after the first of the year. Often I have to think twice on a few of those bows whether I want to bid and buy. The last few years, I have avoided buying a bargin or that special bow I may have been thinking about since those I have on the rack are doing just fine.

I have over 100 bows and have never bought a new one.

The late 50's-early 70's was the golden age for recurves...given the quality of those bows I could now not see recommending buying a new, less expensive and lower quality model if I had an opportunity to counsel a beginner and recommend a good used vintage bow.

If a person has no mentor then I understand why someone would steer clear of a used bow and buy a new entry level model.

But with what I know about the used market, and assessing used bows if I can spend $150 on ebay and end up with a Howatt, a FASCO, a Root/Shakespeare, a Wing etc that's where my money is going.

Lancaster has a clearance sale on take down recurves and longbows for under $200 and free shipping.

I like to think that the $150 bows are reasonable quality even if made in Asia, but, like Pdiddly, I cannot justify using $150 for one rather than a classic recurve with no warranty but a 50 year track record. I couldn't begin to list the bows I have acquired for under $150 that have technology, materials and craftsmanship that are hard to replicate in a new bow at any cost.

Forget nutcase politics: The various alleged South Korean bows that I've seen shoot great. I don't know why it took so long for a good American company (Southwest Archery) to improve them so much.

"""I advocate buying directly from human beings (such as bowyers, shooters, with whom we can speak directly in our favorite languages, RATHER than from non-people, non-human systems (big box stores, online """

Andover Archery in Connecticut is made up of real people. Lancaster Archery are real people. Twig Archery...again real people running real American business and selling imported bows that help pay the bills and get people into archery. Each one of these, and there are thousands more, are classified as American Small Business entities. They hire American people, pay decent wages, and offer imported bows. For every of those bows they sell, they will likely sell a bunch of American made accessories, including arrows. You can talk to them on the phone and they are far from non-human...whatever that means. Well, I guess the voice on the GPS is non-human, but then maybe not.

As for buying American. Where will you find a selection of adult bows, takedowns...longbows..hybrids, etc., under $400.00, and I'm talking mass produced so everyone has access to them? This isn't 1960 and we don't have five archery factories turning out 4000 recurve bows per week. Competition keeps prices in check but there is no competition anymore in archery circles in our country, other than for compound bows. We gave up on traditional archery for the mechanical bows because that's where the money is. We have Bear, and then we have custom bowyers who are already booked months in advance for just just one bow.

So unless you have a time machine, we aren't going back to cheaper entry level American made bows in the near future. That leaves few alternatives for the thousands who want to get into the sport, and the other thousands who don't have dollars coming out of their kazoo to spend on whatever they like. I think some of you folks never had to worry about a family budget just to eke out enough money to get your kids into a sport. Must be nice.

"""I advocate buying directly from human beings (such as bowyers, shooters, with whom we can speak directly in our favorite languages, RATHER than from non-people, non-human systems (big box stores, online """

Andover Archery in Connecticut is made up of real people. Lancaster Archery are real people. Twig Archery...again real people running real American business and selling imported bows that help pay the bills and get people into archery. Each one of these, and there are thousands more, are classified as American Small Business entities. They hire American people, pay decent wages, and offer imported bows. For every of those bows they sell, they will likely sell a bunch of American made accessories, including arrows. You can talk to them on the phone and they are far from non-human...whatever that means. Well, I guess the voice on the GPS is non-human, but then maybe not.

As for buying American. Where will you find a selection of adult bows, takedowns...longbows..hybrids, etc., under $400.00, and I'm talking mass produced so everyone has access to them? This isn't 1960 and we don't have five archery factories turning out 4000 recurve bows per week. Competition keeps prices in check but there is no competition anymore in archery circles in our country, other than for compound bows. We gave up on traditional archery for the mechanical bows because that's where the money is. We have Bear, and then we have custom bowyers who are already booked months in advance for just just one bow.

So unless you have a time machine, we aren't going back to cheaper entry level American made bows in the near future. That leaves few alternatives for the thousands who want to get into the sport, and the other thousands who don't have dollars coming out of their kazoo to spend on whatever they like. I think some of you folks never had to worry about a family budget just to eke out enough money to get your kids into a sport. Must be nice.

cant beat a samick sage for that money...ive started a lot of buddies that want to try out traditional archery on one. PSE has a line I think the mustang recurve and sequoia longbow that aren't too shabby for similar money

George....whew! Epic spam!

You forgot to mention the Arizona company that has improved your favorite Koreans without raising prices :-)

I make my own for practically nothing. That beats an import for ANY money :^) but if I didn't have the gumption and had to buy one, I'd buy a used U.S. made bow. Right now on my local Craigslist, there are 15 used recurves and longbows for less than $150... some, a lot less. Even a couple of nice ones between work and home that I could be shooting today.

Recently acquired a Ragim Matrix that I now carry in my archery go bag/The riser is not as bulky as the Sage but it is based on a similar configuration(metal limb holders on the riser)It comes in a variety of weights. I've hung up my favorite Quinn~sad example of great American manufacturing disappearing.

I have a basement full of $150 bows. They were all made by fantastic American craftsmen. It's hard for me to buy new rifles or bows when used were made so well.....

T4

Excellent post George.

Here's where Ragim's come from. Sounds like American ingenuity.

https://www.yeoldearcheryshoppe.com/about.php

Ragim source. Interesting story.

ragim is from Italy, what a bunch of sour grapes on how a person can buy a good bow for 150$ or less, made in America, made in America, give it a rest folks, it's a world economy now wether you like it or not. I may not like it either but at least i'm smart enough to see it & old enough to see how it came about.

American ingenuity markets Ragim in the US. http://www.ragim.org/

Just think how much cheaper the Korean stuff would be without those huge retail markups. 20% ? 30% ?

Race to the bottom. I'm very happy with Hoyt, Groves, Carroll, Wing.

One of the best shooting bows I've ever had in my hands is a Martin X200. I gave a fellow from the LW close to 150.00 brand new- in the plastic.

I'd like to have a used Martin Mamba, but I doubt that they come in at the $150 mark.

New ones are almost $600.

Larry

Shot my '64 Howatt Hunter at the indoor tonight.

Believe I paid a little, not much, over $150 for it.

Nalajr...used Mamba's generally sell for between $175-225. If I see one for sale I will let you know. Do you want the laminated birch model (1986-1994) or the newer ones?

My sub-$150 2016-2017 bows are my girlfriend's Wing Gull and my Hoyt Gold Medalist TD4 with carbon foam limbs (new to me this year).

To build some arrows and pay for some shoots I'll be listing two r/d longbows in classifieds at $200 each as soon as I can photograph them properly.

Dendy, I got a X200 myself that is a lights-out shooter as well. I like it so well that I'm planning on hunting with it some this coming season, and wont feel not one-bit "under-bowed" compared to carrying my more expensive bows. Its sending my Zwickey Delta tipped XX75s downrange perfectly.

The X200 proves to me you don't have to spend a small fortune to get a very good shooting bow.

My 45# Samick Sage, from 3Rivers, will always be my hunting bow. Got it at 65 years, killed 2 deer with it so far. No shot last year. All my archery is a phone call away and delivered to my door.

There are usually several vintage bows on the auction site for under $150, with caution, you can get a pretty nice old bow.

I paid $150 for my 1990 Howatt Hunter. Brand new from a dealer.

Guess I made out OK, seeing as I still love to shoot it; divide what I paid for it by the number of arrows I've put through it, and I'm into small fractions of a penny per shot :)

I have a new Martin Jaguar Elite that is a great bow for the money! Super easy to tune using the supplied arrow rest. I would definitely recommend it!

Andover Archery has new Edge takedown recurves, one piece recurves, and longbows identical to the Samick Sage line (except red stripe) with sale prices $105-$149.

If I didn't already have a Samick recurve and a Greatree longbow (total cost $325) I would be all over this.

I still shoot my customs but have really enjoyed shooting my economy bows. It cures my itch for new bows without costing much.

I also like a warranty. I've owned a pile of bows over the years, all new except one.

I recently bought one of the new edge recurves from andover archery & can honestly say it is a very suprising bow for the price.having owned or shot about everything made since the early 50s I was more than surprised but elated to have found such an out standing bargain that shoots so good. it quickly replaced my new one lam Bear Grizzly (which was a dog)& a over priced dog I might add. some Bear people may be hurt , but oh well.

Doug i am not hurt i like bear i have a super grizzly it shoots better than a straight grizzly .the grizzly comes with dacron string the super has a d97 that helps .

Sure a lot of fantastic vintage in and under that price range. One of my favorites I paid 80 something bucks for.

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