Bodnik Quick Stick

In the Bear lineup since the late 1990s, the Montana is the longbow most American trad hunters start with — a 64-inch, slightly reflexed D-shape design with a hard-rock maple riser, white maple limbs under black or grey fiberglass, and a supple leather grip with matching leather shelf rug and side plate for shooting off the shelf. The slight reflex and tapered limb laminations give it more zip than a straight-limbed Hill-style bow, and the 64-inch length keeps finger pinch and stacking away for draws up to about 29 inches. Lancaster calls it a longbow that 'performs well above its price-point,' and Amazon buyers rate it 4.4/5. Community feedback on ArcheryTalk and Trad Talk is largely positive but honest about longbow realities: there is some hand shock — mild by longbow standards, and mostly tamed with a properly tuned brace height, heavier arrows, and the included Dynaflight 97 string — and the sight window is not cut past center, so arrow spine selection matters more than on Bear's recurves. At $460-530 street it undercuts custom longbows by hundreds while delivering a genuinely huntable, quiet, lightweight package that carries all day.

Southwest Archery — the California outfit founded by people behind the ubiquitous Samick Sage — applies the same value formula to a traditional longbow with the 68-inch Scorpion. The one-piece riser layers dymondwood, tigerwood, white oak, and padauk into something that looks far more expensive than its roughly $280 street price, and the limbs carry reinforced tips, so unlike most budget longbows it is rated for Fast Flight and Flemish strings. It ships with a 16-strand Dacron string, a pre-installed shelf pad, and instructions; an optional kit adds a stringer. At 68 inches it draws smoothly well past 28 inches with no stack, and the ArcheryTalk owner thread is notably positive — 'shot well, seemed very stable,' with reviewers remarking how little negative feedback exists. Tradgang and Trad Talk posters treat it as the step up from an SAS Pioneer: cleaner finish, better hardware, one-year warranty. Like most American-style longbows the shelf window is not cut past center, so spine tuning takes patience, and there is mild hand shock with light arrows that a Flemish string and 10 gpp arrows mostly cure. Amazon and Walmart carry it, but their rating widgets could not be verified at research time, so no number is reported here.

Substituted for the requested 68-inch Black Hunter: the only Black Hunter longbow verifiably sold in the US is a 60-inch takedown, so the SAS Pioneer fills the budget one-piece 68-inch slot — and it's the bow budget-minded trad forums actually recommend there. The Pioneer pairs a makore and cassia siamea hardwood riser with maple-laminated, fiberglass-faced limbs in a classic American flat-bow profile. At 68 inches it is exceptionally smooth and forgiving, with no meaningful stack at normal draws, making it a favorite first longbow on ArcheryTalk and Trad Talk. Reviewers on Southland's own store rate it 4.7/5 across 18 reviews, and the consistent refrain is 'great quality for the price.' The equally consistent advice: bin the stock endless-loop Dacron string. With a Flemish twist replacement the Pioneer picks up speed, quiets down, and sheds most of its reported hand shock. The shelf is a simple non-center-cut window with a stick-on rug, so expect to spend time on spine and brace tuning, and the fit-and-finish is honest $190 work — visible tool marks and a chunky grip some shooters sand to fit. With 40-55 lb limbs it is genuinely deer-capable, and at this price it's the cheapest legitimate hunting longbow in the class.