"Longbow" is kind of a broad term, but there are some great ones out there in your price range...
When I think of a longbow, I think of Howard Hill laminated fiberglass straight limb style with a straight grip with a small shelf and length of over 68"... But there are straight grips, locator grips, straight, reflex, deflex limbs, laminated fiberglass limbs, selfbows (all wood), English style longbows without a shelf, flatbows, take down longbows, etc., etc., etc... Now days even metal ILF risers with straight longbow limbs are considered longbows...
A good way to determine what you like is go to traditional shoots and try to handle as many bows as you can... Trad guys are pretty good peoples...
If you are looking for a true Hill-style American Semi Longbow, there are only a few bowyers making them. There are additional ASL-style longbows being made that are more flatbow than ASL. If you want a reflex/deflex longbow there's a lot of choices out there.
A visit to the Leatherwall will get you more information and a lot of different opinions.
Just a thought, but if this is your first one, you would be crazy to spend that kind of money right out of the gate. It’s not that you couldn’t buy a really nice one, stick with it, and learn to shoot it well, but especially if you’re coming over from compounds, you are going to want your first bow to be as light as you can possibly talk yourself into… minus about 5 pounds.
And I say that as a guy who started off with a #55. Learning curve would have been shorter if I’d had the sense to start at net #35-#40. But I was mid-20s, unusually athletic, and a bit of a knucklehead.
so tell us what you are replacing or switching over from, and maybe we can get you started? if dollars are a significant consideration, you might want to look at a three-piece so that you can buy heavier limbs as you go along. If that’s less of a concern, then a nice one piece is a wonderful thing to have. Just not so great for air travel or shipping…
Corax_latrans's Link
Will this be your first longbow experience?
I would buy used on AT or Tradtalk where they rate the sellers.
Yeah, me too Ricky am curious of Tracker1's experience with longbows? If never done before, shooting with a straight wrist on Hill style ASLs takes a little getting used too and why I mentioned handling and shooting as many different longbows as you can because differences in longbow design effects the feel especially with the different grip designs... I own 3, all are customs, 1 Elk River which is a true straight limb ASL design and 2 reflex/deflex Chaparral Kaibabs, one is a Deluxe 2-piece Take-Down... I have to hold the ASL straight wrist whereas I do not with the R/D longbows...
Those 2 different designs have totally different feels, were ASLs requires being held straight wrist properly to keep hand shock from rattling your teeth... Straight wrist grip requires pressure on the palm of hand rather than thumb/index finger... It's kinda hard to explain, but there are plenty of videos and articles explaining these holds...
Pix attached of Howard Hill and his form...
