October Mountain Products Full Recurve Bow Lineup Overview
The Different Categories and Types of OMP Recurve Bows
Traditional archery provides a vast array of opportunities for archers of all levels. Not only is backyard shooting with a traditional bow a great way to introduce youth to the sport of archery, traditional archery is also a popular choice for experienced archers who are looking for a pure and authentic experience as well as a greater challenge.
The range of trad bows available is as broad as the spectrum of hunters and archers who decide to pick up the stick and string. It’s a good idea to assess your experience level, along with your traditional archery aspirations, when selecting a traditional bow.
At October Mountain Products, we categorize our traditional line of bows into various categories to help guide customers in the right direction.
Below is a brief description of each category and type of trad bow in terms of performance and features. We’ve also highlighted a few key features of each bow to help you with your selection process.
Youth Trad Bows
When an archer is in the learning phase of shooting a bow, simplicity, reliability, and forgiveness are important features for the bow. Traditional youth bows typically offer a wide range of interchangeable limb weight options. This helps ensure that proper shooting form and technique can be easily taught and mastered when initially starting.
Additionally, it is a bonus for youth bows to come equipped with bushings that allow for the use of a sight, plunger, and stabilizer. These are items that many traditional archers will eliminate when they gravitate towards instinctive shooting, but they are beneficial for a youth archer who is learning the craft.
Passage 54″ Recurve Bow
Passage
The Passage is the first bow in the October Mountain Products Youth lineup. It’s a great all-around beginner youth recurve bow. With a 20 lb. draw weight, this 54” three-piece takedown recurve is ideal for youth archers between the ages of 7-12.
The riser has bushings that are compatible with a plunger, sight, and stabilizer for more forgiving and accurate shooting.
Adventure 2.0 Recurve Bow
Adventure 2.0
The Adventure 2.0 is a next-level youth bow that provides a variety of options for draw weight and length. With its AMO length ranging from 48” to 68” and draw weights from 10-38 lbs., the Adventure 2.0 has the ability to fit a wide range of archers and grow with them.
The three-piece takedown recurve has a riser with bushings compatible with a plunger style rest, sight, and stabilizer.
We categorize the Adventure 2.0 in our Youth line, but it is suitable for many beginning archers, regardless of age.
Recreational Trad Bows
Recreational bows cover a widespread when it comes to traditional archery.
Truly, any traditional bow can be a recreational bow as long as it provides hours of enjoyment in the back yard, 3D course, or treestand. Our Recreational Bows are great entry-level bows for those interested in trying out traditional archery, without a high price tag.
In many cases, a recreational level traditional bow is adequate for hunting, so there is some overlap between the two categories.
Recreational bows are designed with the beginning archer in mind. They are available at lower draw weights, and have a wider range of limb options that can be swapped out as the archer becomes comfortable with a heavier draw weight.
58″ Ascent Recurve Bow
Ascent
The 58” Ascent is one of our recreational traditional bows that has a bit of modern flair.
The magnesium riser is tapped for a sight, plunger, and stabilizer. It also features a slim grip design that helps to reduce hand torque on the bow. The solid riser absorbs some of the shock of the bow, making it a blast to shoot.
With draw weights ranging from 20-50 lbs., the Ascent is a recreational bow that can grow with the archer and can be used to take down just about any big game species in North America with the appropriate arrow and broadhead combination.
Explorer CE 54″ Recurve Bow
Explorer CE
The Explorer CE is a great bow for recreation in the backyard. With limb weight options from 15-28 lbs. this 54” bow offers simplicity with a splash of color.
Explorer 2.0 Recurve Bow
Explorer 2.0
The Explorer 2.0 builds off the Explorer CE by offering a greater variety of sizes and draw weights.
The Explorer 2.0 is available in 54” or 62”, and features limbs from 20-40 lb. draw weights. These options make it a fit for a wider range of archers, and creates the ability for the shooter to progress with their bow.
The three-piece takedown bow is a blast to shoot and a very forgiving bow that holds on the target.
Traditional Hunting Bows
Traditional hunting bows are the next level up from recreational bows. Many of the traditional hunting bows you will find feature bushings for sight, plunger, and stabilizer. They also feature a wider range of wood laminations and materials for strength and aesthetics.
Smoky Mountain Hunter Recurve Bow
Smoky Mountain Hunter
The Smoky Mountain Hunter has remained one of our most popular traditional hunting bows since its release.
This 62” recurve features a laminated wood riser, sight, plunger, and stabilizer bushings.
The limb weight range is 30-55lb., making it a great choice for many hunters who are looking for that entry-level hunting bow that will provide the performance and shoot-ability to pursue many popular game species.
Sektor 62″ Recurve Bow
Sektor
The 62” Sektor combines Zebra wood and phenolic construction in its 17” riser, which helps to increase the riser’s strength and the bow’s accuracy.
This hunting recurve is designed for the traditional archery hunter who wants a truly authentic experience and a few extra bells and whistles. The bow is designed for the instinctive archer with its crowned arrow shelf and a riser that is cut 3/64” past center.
Not only is the Sektor a great looking recurve, but the extra detail that has been engineered into its design makes it an accurate and lethal hunting tool.
With a draw weight range from 35-50 lbs., the Sektor offers plenty of options.
Mountaineer 2.0 Recurve Bow
Mountaineer 2.0
The Mountaineer 2.0 has become one of the staples in our traditional hunting bow lineup. It features a hardwood riser that has been carefully carved from Oak, Maple, and Walnut wood.
It is equipped with bushings that allow for the use of a plunger, sight, and stabilizer. However, this bow is a great option for the instinctive shooter, as well.
This recurve also features our reinforced limb tip design, making it compatible with Fast Flight strings for increased performance in the field. The Mountaineer 2.0 is equipped with a slimmer grip that makes the bow easy to shoot with both comfort and accuracy.
With draw weight options from 35-55 lbs. the Mountaineer 2.0 is capable of taking various types of big game from all across the continent.
ILF Traditional Bows
ILF, or International Limb Fitting, bows are in many ways the gold standard of traditional archery.
For experienced archers, or those looking for tune-ability, ILF bows offer unmatched customization. ILF bows allow the shooter to assemble the riser and limb combination of their choice to get the perfect fit and feel from their recurve.
ILF bows are the most technical bows in the traditional archery family, and this is where trad archers have the chance to really tweak their set-ups and transform their passion and hobby into an obsession!
The ILF recurves that we’ve designed feature lateral limb alignment and tiller adjustment for additional tune-ability and accuracy.
Night Ridge 60″ Recurve
The Night Ridge
The Night Ridge was the first ILF recurve that we designed at October Mountain Products.
When we embarked on the project, the goal was to create a high-performance recurve that offered all of the features demanded by the most hardcore trad archers.
The Night Ridge ILF takes the traditional archery platform and gives it a healthy dose of modernity with its rigid machined aluminum riser. The riser is tapped to accommodate a plunger, sight, and stabilizer.
The Night Ridge comes in a 60” package, with its 19” riser and short limbs producing a shooter-friendly recurve that still has an abundance of speed and performance.
For those who are looking for that incredibly smooth shooting experience, medium and long limbs are available and turn the Night Ridge into a 62” or 64” shooter’s dream. The crowned shelf also features a quill cutout, and the riser is cut .335” past center, making the Night Ridge an incredibly accurate recurve option.
The Night Ridge is available as a complete bow, or the ILF riser can be purchased independently and fitted with your limbs of choice.
Sektor ILF 60″ Recurve
The Sektor ILF
The Sektor ILF is one of the most versatile recurves in our lineup of traditional bows.
Its 17” ILF riser offers shooters a broad range of options and is compatible with a vast number of ILF limbs. The two-tone riser is constructed of Zebrawood and Phenolic for added strength and durability.
Like the other ILF recurves we make, the Sektor ILF features a crowned arrow shelf. The Sektor ILF riser is cut 3/64” past center.
With overall lengths ranging from 58” to 62”, depending on limb selection, the Sektor ILF can be customized to achieve the exact fit and feel you are looking for in your ILF recurve bow.
Carbon-Z ILF 58″ Recurve
The Carbon Z
The Carbon Z ILF was brought to market as one of the flagships of our product line.
The Carbon Z is a great place to start with ILF, and in addition to the performance and customization it offers, it also has plenty of eye-appeal.
A 15” riser constructed of padauk, hard maple, phenolic, zebrawood, and finished off with a carbon fiber laminate provides a strong platform for this bow.
The Carbon Z is compatible with several different limb lengths, depending on the shooting experience preferred by each individual archer. Pairing the 15” riser with our shortest Reaper limbs will result in an aggressive-shooting and high-performance ILF recurve, while longer limbs will result in a smooth shooting and forgiving platform.
The riser on the Carbon Z is cut 1/16” past center, and the bow features a crowned arrow shelf.
Recap
When selecting your next traditional bow, take some time to consider where you are at in your trad archery journey.
The beauty of traditional archery is that there is a bow for everyone. What you look for as a beginning archer will almost certainly be different from the bow that you gravitate to when looking to take your trad archery skills to the next level.
There are plenty of quality bows available, within all categories and price points, that will help you accomplish your goals as an archer.
The important thing is to consider the performance required for the type of shooting or hunting you plan on doing.
Look for additional resources about traditional archery, such as online forums, where you can gain information and direction from more experienced archers. As with any type of archery, fit and comfort is key when picking a trad bow.
Whether you’re a seasoned archer or just someone getting into the sport, shooting a traditional bow is one of the best ways to make you a better overall archer.
For more traditional archery related content, be sure to check out our full blog archive on our website.
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