I was told black hunter longbows were good bows for new trad shooters. Any other info would be great.
I have 3 of them. They are a good deal at 4x the price, IMO. The riser has micro-laminations and is a good mass and structurally very strong. I shoot one at well over 60lb, without issue. Shelf radiusing gives excellent clearance and is well suited to shooting arrows off the shelf. The grip is known for its excellent thumb locator and for being very low-torque, which is great when you are learning. Torquing at the grip is a big deal when you're getting your alignment sorted out.
These things make it a real point-and-shoot bow. The bow is also very quick for a longbow, and tough as nails. I have taken mine into some extreme country, also on overnights. River crossings, all fours, climbing, the works.
The only things to note:
I would recommend getting it at 30lb, while you are learning, and a set of spare 35lb limbs for it, for when you are stronger. Very inexpensive limbs, and they sure belt them out. More thwack pound-for-pound than my fancy Bodnik longbows and up there with many recurves.
- The string it comes with sucks and is loud. Get a Fast Flight made for it
- They sometimes come in a few pounds heavier than listed
- If you draw more than 31" you will be into the stacking, so no good
There's more than one bow company in China, and many bows come out of Korea as well...and others come from areas of Europe. Win-Win of Korea has been making bow limbs for the Tradtech brand for a long time and makes many of the bows/limbs that are chosen by Olympic athletes. Greatree of Korea has made bows for Bear, PSE and others, along with their own branded models. My grandson has a Samick Sage and it is a great bow and has had no issues in the four years he's had it. I've shot bows by Top Archery, Junxing, Win-Win and Samick and all seem fine and shoot well.
Samick has been making recurve bows since the 1970's so they do know a thing or two about the process and are also into many high-grade models. Most are done nowadays using CNC equipment so, like modern guitars, there is little difference in them no matter the origin. I also understand that copyrights are basically nonexistent over in that world so there is a freedom to follow a successful product like the Sage and Black Hunter models.
Having a representative over here in the USA is a plus for the buyers as it gives them access more quickly if there is an issue. Not everyone has a pot full of cash to spend multi-hundreds of dollars on a bow so these models have a place for sure.
Wrong.Word to the wise…all Black Hunters are not the same. All made by the same Chinese company but some are better than others. The ones on Amazon for $90.-$100 bucks are the “blems” so to speak. The Black Hunters that places like Lancaster Archery and Twig Archery and now even Big Jim Bows is selling them, are better quality and sell for $199. Same bow, higher quality that’s all. Lancaster sells the Black Hunter under their own brand “Galaxy” and it called the Ember. 3 Rivers also sells a fancier version called the Timber Ridge T/D longbow. Again same bow just fancier woods. All the Black Hunter/Ember/Timber Ridge limbs are interchangeable. All of these also come as recurves and those limbs will also interchange with the longbow…the risers are all the same.