On the left: 2013 Mission Riot at 70 lbs (adjustable from 15-70).
On the right: Primal Gear Compact Folding Survival Bow at 55 lbs with take-down arrows. Highly recommended, especially to the survivalist crowd. Good review here: - YouTube
My son and I both shoot Hoyts, and I just purchased a new Bear Cruzer for my daughter for Christmas. The Cruzer is similar to your Mission, in that it offers a wide draw weight and draw length adjustment. I am already excited to see her open the bow. She is going to love it. My son shoots on his University archery team and my daughter and I kill foam blocks in our backyard, with occasional trips to the indoor range when the weather is nasty.
We had a groupon for archery lessons last winter. Even my wife went and enjoyed herself. I can’t see her ever wanting a compound, but a light recurve she might enjoy using in the backyard from time to time. Archery is a fun sport, and can actually be done inexpensively, if you aren’t a gear whore 
That Primal Gear bow is slick! I may have to put that on my list of things-I-don’t-need-but-might-buy-anyway.
Pale Faces and their bows. Me like’m boom sticks.
(Just kidding. I haven’t really ever been much of a bow hunter, which is kind of shameful for an actual card-carrying Mescalero. I lost the blood trail of a glorious elk when I was about 14. We found it about 3 days later, eaten by coyotes/dogs/wolves whatever. I actually cried over it because it was such a fine animal and, candidly, it was food we would have eaten all winter. Ever since then, I’ve never shot anything but turkey with a bow.)
[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
Pale Faces and their bows. Me like’m boom sticks.
(Just kidding. I haven’t really ever been much of a bow hunter, which is kind of shameful for an actual card-carrying Mescalero. I lost the blood trail of a glorious elk when I was about 14. We found it about 3 days later, eaten by coyotes/dogs/wolves whatever. I actually cried over it because it was such a fine animal and, candidly, it was food we would have eaten all winter. Ever since then, I’ve never shot anything but turkey with a bow.)[/quote]
lol. According to my grandmother, I am 1/16th Cherokee (not that that is a very rare thing), so perhaps that explains my enjoyment of the bow and arrow. Or maybe it’s just that I can’t afford the ammo my kids like to burn through with our boom sticks. An hour or two with the bows is significantly less expensive than even just rimfire ammo.
I understand a bit of what you mean about losing that elk. My dad didn’t hunt, but wild game kept me from going hungry more than once as a kid. We lost power here a couple of months ago, which killed my chest freezer. Lost half a tender little doe, some perch and trout. I felt bad about that on several levels.
I am a dedicated traditional archer. I own 27 recurves and longbows. The first two are: Bigfoot Bows and Eaglewing archery, both bowyers are in Oregon and great people to deal with . The third one is from Dale Dye, a Montana bowyer and the fourth is from Ric Anderson, also a Montana bowyer. I pulled the pictures of their websites, because, I am currently in Kabul, but, mine are the same except for some comestic changes.
Ric Anderson, Marriah Bows
Some good archery talk here:
Beautiful bows Idaho. I’d like to go down the traditional route eventually when I have some spare cash, especially recreations of ancient bows like Grozer Traditional Recurve Bows Hungary (I’m not much of a historian so I can’t speak to the historical accuracy).
[quote]Iron Condor wrote:
Beautiful bows Idaho. I’d like to go down the traditional route eventually when I have some spare cash, especially recreations of ancient bows like Grozer Traditional Recurve Bows Hungary (I’m not much of a historian so I can’t speak to the historical accuracy).[/quote]
Always like to talk traditional archery:))
I have been shooting traditional since I was in the Boy Scouts. I have learned a lot through personal trial and error. IMHO, if you are just starting out in Traditional archery, begin with a standard recurve or longbow, and wait before you begin shooting the more exotic historical bow replicas. You need to establish your shooting form, stance, anchor point, release, grip design, draw length, bow poundage, etc, and form a solid shooting platform before you tackle the historical bows. These are great bows if built correctly, but, they are " sensitive" to shoot, meaning your shooting form and release have to be rock solid or the arrows will be flying all over the target. This is due to their radical design, whether Mongol, Persain, or Egyptian. A good example would be learning to drive with an old pickup truck, verses learning in a Forumla One. Find yourself a solid well made recurve with good riser weight, and establish your shooting form. If you are interested in the future, I can list several websites that specilize in selling used bows, or, you can go the Ebay/ Craigs List route. Also, I have found several bows at various yard and estate sales. Good Luck.
boom!
One day I hope to build a traditional bow and kill a deer with it. For now the compound keeps me busy.
[quote]idaho wrote:
[quote]Iron Condor wrote:
Beautiful bows Idaho. I’d like to go down the traditional route eventually when I have some spare cash, especially recreations of ancient bows like Grozer Traditional Recurve Bows Hungary (I’m not much of a historian so I can’t speak to the historical accuracy).[/quote]
Always like to talk traditional archery:))
I have been shooting traditional since I was in the Boy Scouts. I have learned a lot through personal trial and error. IMHO, if you are just starting out in Traditional archery, begin with a standard recurve or longbow, and wait before you begin shooting the more exotic historical bow replicas. You need to establish your shooting form, stance, anchor point, release, grip design, draw length, bow poundage, etc, and form a solid shooting platform before you tackle the historical bows. These are great bows if built correctly, but, they are " sensitive" to shoot, meaning your shooting form and release have to be rock solid or the arrows will be flying all over the target. This is due to their radical design, whether Mongol, Persain, or Egyptian. A good example would be learning to drive with an old pickup truck, verses learning in a Forumla One. Find yourself a solid well made recurve with good riser weight, and establish your shooting form. If you are interested in the future, I can list several websites that specilize in selling used bows, or, you can go the Ebay/ Craigs List route. Also, I have found several bows at various yard and estate sales. Good Luck.
[/quote]
You might enjoy this video.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Thank you, Bowfishing is on number two on my list for archery fun, the first being feral hogs. I always plan a trip home in April to take advantage of carp spawn. This July, I was able to spent three days hunting for stingrays in the Florida Panhandle. I would like to hunt alligator, but, can’t justify the cost of the tag:))
[quote]idaho wrote:
[quote]Iron Condor wrote:
Beautiful bows Idaho. I’d like to go down the traditional route eventually when I have some spare cash, especially recreations of ancient bows like Grozer Traditional Recurve Bows Hungary (I’m not much of a historian so I can’t speak to the historical accuracy).[/quote]
Always like to talk traditional archery:))
I have been shooting traditional since I was in the Boy Scouts. I have learned a lot through personal trial and error. IMHO, if you are just starting out in Traditional archery, begin with a standard recurve or longbow, and wait before you begin shooting the more exotic historical bow replicas. You need to establish your shooting form, stance, anchor point, release, grip design, draw length, bow poundage, etc, and form a solid shooting platform before you tackle the historical bows. These are great bows if built correctly, but, they are " sensitive" to shoot, meaning your shooting form and release have to be rock solid or the arrows will be flying all over the target. This is due to their radical design, whether Mongol, Persain, or Egyptian. A good example would be learning to drive with an old pickup truck, verses learning in a Forumla One. Find yourself a solid well made recurve with good riser weight, and establish your shooting form. If you are interested in the future, I can list several websites that specilize in selling used bows, or, you can go the Ebay/ Craigs List route. Also, I have found several bows at various yard and estate sales. Good Luck.
[/quote]
Thanks for the advice. I love shooting my folding longbow even though it’s not really traditional (aluminium riser and all), but it feels much more rewarding than a compound when you actually hit something. I’ve had several friends get into archery as well and they all got Samick Sages, which seems to be a good bow for the price.
I will stick with my current bow for now and eventually move up to something harder. From what I’ve seen, it seems to be the longer you shoot the more primitive you end up getting to increase the challenge.
I’ve found this quite helpful as well:
