thought this would be fun to do this summer,,,, anyone get into this,,,, looking at Lancaster for entry level, system,,,

any other suggestions,,,,

I shoot an ILF bow, but do not shoot a stabilizer of sights.

I did with various bows for a long time, it is both fun and frustrating, because as soon as you start getting better, you will start keeping score, then the only good score is a perfect score. I quit when Saunders quit making grass mats. For me a new 48" mat every year was part of the game. I never even once got a perfect score on a PAA indoor target, came close a few times.

Yup,just got my gear:

WNS forged riser, Axiom training limbs, SF Carbon limbs, Cartel stab, WNS plunger and rest, WNS spr100 sight, Fairweather tab, galaxy extended clicker.

You can go cheaper but I would not recommend dropping back much, especially on the sight.

As far as "fun" goes, that only applies if you will enjoy investing a considerable amount of effort and work. I would also highly recommend lessons from an NTS certified coach, at least level 3 or 4.

Yep,shot it for years . Love 70 meters!

I recommend it. They are the most efficient bows and the easiest to shoot accurately.

I did the full monte for a while, and helped me develope excellent form. I eventually decided it was not for me and I just took the doodads off the bow and sold them and found I could shoot nearly as well and have a better time without them. I changed from the under the chin anchor back to the side of the face one.

Can use them for any kind of archery including hunting. I still use mine often in addition to my beloved longbows, which are harder to shoot really well. I use the Oly bow with light limbs for form practice and during the off season to maintain my fitness.

There are plenty of them on the used market at big discounts. - lbg

I shoot an Olympic style riser and rest bare-bow style without a sight, its a ton of fun. Gillo G2 riser, Spigarelli ZT rest and a Spigarelli plunger.

Back in the day of real traditional archery, not modern trad, we nearly all had "target" bows. They weren't called Olympic bows then because archery was not in the Olympics until reinstated in 1972. The name is a misnomer anyway. Back then field archery was the king and indoor archery that usually started around January first and run through March. Most people had a 'target bow' they used when shooting field and target archery in the off seasons.

The best thing is that you can build solid form with what is generally a lighter weight setup and that carries over to your hunting bows of heavier weight. We also used elevated rests, stabilizers, and even bow sights a long time before compound bows came along. And yes...I have a 'target bow' as well...64" and 35# that I love to shoot.

To reiterate and, if I may, expand on what George said above....Yes, back in the day (and to me that means the sixties and early seventies) most serious and active archers/bowhunters had a target bow and a hunting bow.

The two bows were not one in the same, they were two completely different bows,...most likely different lengths, different brand & models,... different bow weights, and they were set up differently.

Of course, they were not compounds.

Most were recurves with the very rare straight limb bow occasionally showing up. Hunting bows usually ranged from around 45# up to 65# and lengths went from 48" to about 62". Target bows for indoor shooting ranged from 30# to about 40# and lengths went up to 72", or in rare cases 74".

If a fellow was going to shoot outdoors where ranges were considerably longer a target bow might go up to 45# draw weight.

Hunting sights often had multiple fixed pins and would be screwed into the belly or back of the bow. Target sights were most often placed on the back of the bow, usually had a single aiming device (pin, crosshair, glass prism dot, etc.), and oftentimes a sight extension was used. Virtually all of them could be adjusted for different distances relatively easily, especially the ones for outdoor use.

Hunting bows often lacked a stabilizer but virtually every target bow had one. Single, dual, or even triple stabilizers were often used. Lengths of stabilizers went up about 36".

I will add, release aids were pretty much unknown back then, I do not recall ever seeing one used until compounds came out. Guys used either finger tabs or shooting gloves.

Also, back then most fellows used camouflage bow sleeves, grease sticks, or paint to camouflage their hunting bows. Target bows of course were left as they arrived from the manufacturer. Some fellows even used auto wax to shine and pretty them up, camo didn't matter indoors or on the shooting line!

That's how I recall the days & tackle of that time in southern Wisconsin. Perhaps you area was slightly different, I imagine it would have been. Perhaps the common ground was that all across our nation a great number of fellows sure enjoyed bending a bow and following the magical flight of an arrow.

As a youth I shot Olympic style equioment target and field competitions, and really enjoyed it. Three years ago I started participating in our states Senior Olympics. I bought a vintage Hoyt Pro Medalist which I used for 2 years, and recently went for new equipment much like camperjim has. The state competition calls for shooting at 60, 50 and 40 yards. I think Lancaster has the best prices and selections of this type of equipment I know of. My system has a $170 riser, $190 limbs, plus everything else of similar quality- I call it moderate priced, and don't expect to need to upgrade as I am not looking to compete at the top level. I think you will find this type of shooting ad competition to be fun and require quite a bit of practice- hope you follow through with your interest.

Sorry for the huge pictures. I'll try to resize all of mine.

Having trouble with Imgur resizing my pictures. Don't know what happened to all of them.

Although I do not shoot Olympic style bows I utilize the information I have gained from talking to, and watching FITA shooters. Thanks to a shooter who trained with the Korean Olympic team I not shoot 3 finger split attempting to achieve 90 % draw weight on my middle finger, 10% on the 4th finger and the index is just a locator. I am not always successful in doing this having only been at it for a couple of years but in another 10 years it will be second nature. And thanks for the reminder as this may be the year I take up shooting FITA competition. The pressure of shooting any competition mirrors the pressure a hunter feels, and that is a good thing. It makes shooting game a lot simpler.

DDave

Mike, I have everything you need, except a 25 inch riser. You'll have to use a lefty 21.

I had a kid I was coaching and he kept asking me about Brady and Jake and the equipment they shoot. I could tell that he was really interested and I was kind of interested too.

I had limbs from my other caoching rigs, so I bought a 25 inch riser and stabs, plus a sight. Got the stabs at Lancaster. I knew what I wanted for a sight and got that at AT classified. Don't remember where I got the riser.

The kid shot it for about 3 weeks. Couldn't hold the sight on target and said he liked no sights better.

I liked shooting it, but... At 20 yard I can beat my no sights score. At any other distance I'm better off with no sights. Just not good at yardage estimation, which is not really part of that game.

Bowmania

Bowmania

It's cool Reddogge- I went outside and looked at your pictures through the window. They look good from twelve yards:) JayInOz

Tried a few times (Wife has Oly rig) I still more accurate with my BB setup, even at 70m, Barebow is was what I was born to do, that's my excuse lol

I have a 25 inch 'Oly' riser with 38 pound limbs, it's great for form work and indoor targets. Have tried it with sights once or twice but just didn't want to go 'backwards' to my old compound days.

"It's cool Reddogge- I went outside and looked at your pictures through the window. They look good from twelve yards:) JayInOz "

Maybe you could put them on a 55" TV.

I have a Hoyt Excel 23 inch riser and 2 sets of SF limbs. Lately I have been using my Satori limbs on it and together it is a very nice shooting bow. Total length on mine are 68 inches and I think you will like the long length of an olympic recurve.

Yesterday I compared my two Hoyt Gold Medalists at outdoor range.

The 40# has new "Long" Samick carbon/foam limbs, wire flipper and plunger...I shoot that without cant.

The 50# has "Short" Hoyt carbon/foam limbs, built-up to allow shooting off shelf...I shoot that WITH cant, which is the reason I created the shelf for it.

They're both great fun. I tuned to shoot the same Axis #600 with brass inserts. I'm about to build some Axis #700, aluminum inserts, for the 40# bow...wanting flat trajectory beyond 30yds.

As somebody said earlier, they can be "frustrating" because they're incredibly accurate IF I'm perfect but they're VERY frustrating when I don't do my job (because I know how accurate they can be). My longbows are forgiving by comparison.

Not using stabs or sights or clickers (but I should try clickers).

"any one shoot Olympic style recurve"

I may be, in the future.

Wondering how these are for durability of the limb detachment hardware on the limbs and riser? (I do take good care of my bows and equipment, if that is a factor)

Noise, wondering how they are for noise typically, I have heard a few that buz or vibrate. Not that hunting with them is a concern for me, I just prefer things on the quiet side.

I do like the general package, I enjoy shooting the 1970's version of these bows.

Did it a long time ago. Became way to costly.

DanaC, sights were around a very long time before 'your compound days'. Sights have nothing to do with compound bows...they are bow sights. Some folks would do well to consider them from the accuracy issues we hear on this forum. And, they are plenty 'traditional' since they were being used in the 1930's and likely well before that.

Another thing is this mindset against sights on traditional bows has nothing to do with tradition....it's a new mindset. When we had our shoots in the 60's, likely 85%+ were freestyle shooters using some kind of sight on the bow. And clubs today that are wondering how to maintain and grow a club, the answer is likely as simple as creating a 'freestyle' category in their traditional shoots....just like back in the old days. They still only shoot against others with fixed sights and they will bring more money into the club coffers. The only thing holding that back is a mispent notion of what "trad" is.

Yamaha: both my Hoyts are ILF, neither shows any wear whatsoever around the ILF fittings. One is 1980-ish, the other is 1990ish. I'm sure they're more durable than bolt-down because metal on metal holds them in place. The fittings are dead silent because nothing moves around but the limbs are somewhat extreme compared to a lot of recurves so some fooling with em' is necessary to quiet them. I'm shooting BCYX and an old Fastflite, can't imagine shooting B50 with a bow like this,

That Gillo above only has the common string twang that all recurves without silencers have. No buzzes, clicks, or clacks. Those limbs came with the dampeners on them.

reddogge, have you shot your Gillo without those dampers? Have you tried conventional silencers (beaver balls etc)?

No and no. The dampers don't hurt anything and no reason for speed robbing silencers on a target bow.

Not exactly Olympic, but I am considering buying an ILF target bow, as my next bow, to shoot bare bow.

Basically an Olympic bow minus most of the accessories hanging off it ;)

An "Olympic" bow without the "accessories" is classified "barebow" in my club, not trad.

That means 3D competition in same class as stripped-down compound bows. And that's why flat trajectory beyond 30 yds is important. Barebow isn't very popular around here, but I suspect it will be.

Not here;

9.1.1.7.2. Blue pegs: Men and Women Barebow; Men and Women Longbow; Men and Women Instinctive Bow; Maximum distance: 30m. Minimum distance: 5m

Olympics of what year?

1968 - I'm your blueberry. ;-)

According to the guys over at TradTalk FITA forum, Olympic risers balance differently than barebow risers. The Olympic riser needs the full stabilizer to balance it so it falls forward. The barebow risers either are designed to have the weights built into the design like the CD riser or added internally to the lower half of the riser like the Gillo. Usually the weights don't project out front much, if at all.

I’ve shot Olympic style recurves for decades. I like the longest riser and limb combo I can get. So smooth and they shoot great. I use a wrist sling and short stabilizer..and a homemade rest.

Douglas Denton, the young engineer at Hoyt is a great bow designer. He’s developed some Great shooting bows and Earl Hoyt would be proud.

Frank

"According to the guys over at TradTalk FITA forum, Olympic risers balance differently than barebow risers. The Olympic riser needs the full stabilizer to balance it so it falls forward. The barebow risers either are designed to have the weights built into the design like the CD riser or added internally to the lower half of the riser like the Gillo. Usually the weights don't project out front much, if at all."

I think this is the reference for added weights on an Olympic riser used for barebow;

Excerpt from WA; 22.3.1. The unbraced bow complete with permitted accessories shall be capable of passing through a hole or ring with a 12.2cm inside diameter +/-0.5mm. (that’s a 4.8” hole)

22.3.6.2. Weight(s) may be added to the lower part of the riser. All weights, regardless of shape, shall mount directly to the riser without rods, extensions, angular mounting connections or shock-absorbing devices.

What George said. I fooled around with a sight when I was 14 but it wasn't near as much fun as chasing squirrels, ground hogs, carp and suckers so I eventually got a new "target bow" , a 1969 Bear Polar, to match the weight of my Grizzly and shot both without sights. Decades later, I now have a Fasco Decathalon II and a Hoyt PM, each of them at least 5 lbs with the stabilizers and torque compensators, a righty and a lefty, and its a lot of fun.

"According to the guys over at TradTalk FITA forum, Olympic risers balance differently than barebow risers. The Olympic riser needs the full stabilizer to balance it so it falls forward. The barebow risers either are designed to have the weights built into the design like the CD riser or added internally to the lower half of the riser like the Gillo. Usually the weights don't project out front much, if at all."

My understanding is that "falls forward" is the natural result of wide-open, virtually zero grip pressure...which calls for a sling.

In my perhaps less civilized New Mexico 3Ds, it makes sense to actually hold on to the bow. That makes slings less necessary (or maybe bad ideas)...as when hunting.

I don't think the "Olympic riser needs "stabilizer to balance it" if it's not being used for its Olympic purpose.

Jk, an Olympic riser with no stabilizers will fall back and hit you in the head with zero grip pressure. They want it to fall forward and rotate past 90 degrees. A barebow riser can be balanced to stay neutral with no movement at all with no grip pressure. Watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjnUDiouC2M

George, I have nothing 'against' sights, I simply find them far too 'different' from what I've been practicing for the past 20 years.

I can get good balance from my Oly riser with short 'barebow' weights, takes a fair amount because you lose leverage going shorter.

Something people don't realise between Oly setup and Barebow is how the limbs react during and specially post shot.

On my Fita Coaching course as a demo the instructor tapped the limb tips on Oly setup, the limb flutter stops very quickly, took all the Stabs of and that limb flutter lasted well over two seconds.

zetabow

Thanks for posting that.

I have been considering purchasing a target ILF to shoot bare bow, as one option but I am not sure I's get used to a limb flutter lasted well over two seconds.

When I think about a bit more, these bows are intended to be part of an integrated unit that includes all the accessories.

It's something you just get used to, even if you come over from Oly shooting style. Some higher price bracket limbs in my opinion have less limb flutter, WinWin and Uukha come to mind.

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