hey guys i'm new with archery and want to start with a budget recurve and i'm not realy sure what to look for. like i said i want it to be in the inexpensive range solely for practicing, that way if i want to get in deeper i can purchase a better bow down the road.

i noticed bass pro has the PSE razorback for $119. i have some gift cards to bass pro so this caught my eye. is it worth it or not? was also thinking of maybe getting a cheaper take down recurve.

thanks for any help guys.

Or would I be better off throwing down an extra $10 for a samick sage?

I have a Sage and it is the best shooting bow I have, the thing is ugly as hell and not the smoothest or quietest out of all of my bows but it is consistently the best shooter. I was extremely displeased when my custom Black widow showed up and the Sage will consistently out shoot it.

ETA: Get the upgraded string from 3rivers archery, it seemed to make a difference with the speed.

My 55# sable is excellent. Picked it up for $155 used.

I recently bought a PSE and a Sage for a new archery program we are developing. The PSE lamination started coming apart after a few arrows. The Sage is going strong after hundreds of shots.

Does the Sage come with string and rest, or are those needed separately? Also, will a Whisker Biscuit work?

I had to give up my compound bow years ago due to shoulder injury, but I think a lightweight low-pull recurve would still be shootable for me now

Get the Sage, you won't be disappointed.  Also, try shooting off the shelf before you start adding whisker biscuits and such.

Learning that I had a hankering to get back into bow hunting after a 25 year lapse, my kids gave me a gift card from 3 Rivers as a birthday present a couple of months ago. I used it to help pay for a Sage along with a replacement, fast flight, Flemish twist, string.  It really is a very nice bow for the money. The wife sprung for a target and after rummaging through my shop I was able to dig up my old tab, back quiver and some Easton Gamegetter arrows. By laying the target against the back door of the shop and shooting from our utility room,  I  get about 8 yards distance which gives me a chance to work on rebuilding my form indoors over the winter.

The Eastons are too stiff for the bow but at this distance it really doesn't matter too much. My main goal is to get to where I can hold at full draw long enough to adjust my aim for best accuracy.  Fortunately,  in my rooting through boxes I hadn't unpacked since we first moved here, I also found several dozen Port Orford Cedar shafts so now I'm busy re-learning how to build arrows. They should be just what I need this Spring when I can get outside.

Trying to get up to speed on the current state of the sport by reading through some of the Traditional Archery forums I've found on the net, I can't help but feel like someone familiar with flying a Curtiss Jenny who's been dropped onto the flight deck of the starship Enterprise. It's all vaguely familiar, sorta. My hope is that this Sage will help me get to the point where I feel comfortable and confident at shooting at live game again.

was looking at these by chance bc of a $100 Cabela's gift card I got for Christmas. What are some cheap but decent target arrows to get and any other must-haves?

I recomend the Sage also.

The Samicks are the best buy in bows, hands-down. I have one and I highly recommend it.

Despite the fact that it costs a little more than a dozen of complete arrows would cost you, it shoots like a bow several times its price.

That being said, the reviews on the PSEs are good. I have yet to see one in person so I don't know firsthand but I couldn't imagine anything coming from a company like PSE to be crap. A lot of the people seem to love the Kingfisher, even for non-bowfishing purposes.