Samick Red Stag Review – a Recurve Bow Inspection

Image	Length	Bow Weight	Draw Weight	Takedown?
Samick Red Stag See on Amazon.com	60 inches	2.3 lbs How to: choose arrows, draw weight, and tune your recurve	30 to 60 lbs.	Yes

Pros - Gorgeous, stunning finish - Shoots straight and true, with awesome accuracy - Durable, and fantastic customer service	Cons - Not drilled for accessories - Did not come with a bow stringer
Also recommended: Best Samick Bows

Sometimes, a bow comes along that just stuns you with its majestic beauty. That’s certainly the case with the Samick Red Stag, since I knew I had to test it out from the moment I first laid eyes on it. The bow is crafted of hard maple, walnut, rosewood, and white ash, all combined and laminated together into one of the most beautiful recurves I’ve ever seen.

Beauty in a bow isn’t always indicative of how well the bow will perform, though, so let’s take a deeper look into this bow and see if its performance is as gorgeous as its appearance.

What Do I Get With The Samick Red Stag?

When you unbox your Samick Red Stag, here is what you should expect to find in the box:

• The Samick Red Stag bow, including riser and limbs
• Bow assembly hardware
• String
• Instruction manual

As has almost become normal with bows these days, my box did not include a bow wrench or bow stringer. You should make sure you have these items on hand when you are ready to assemble your bow. You should also note that the bow does not come with an arrow rest, so you’ll have to purchase one separately.

How Challenging Is The Bow To Assemble?

Assembling the Red Stag is quite easy, since all you have to do is attach the limbs to the riser and then string the bow. After that, if you choose to use an arrow rest, you should install it. That’s all there is to it, unless you want to add accessories to your bow. Doing this will be more difficult than is really necessary, so read on to find out why.

Will Any Accessories Fit The Bow?

Unfortunately, Samick does not predrill this recurve for any accessories like sights, stabilizers, or Berger buttons. If you plan on using such add-ons, you’ll have to have a bow technician drill and thread the holes for you, and then get the brass inserts for the bow. You should make sure you like the bow first, since this process will likely void your warranty.

Is The Red Stag Powerful And Accurate?

This recurve is available in draw weights from 30# all the way to 60#, assuming a 28-inch draw length. I’m accustomed to shooting with a 55# draw weight, so that’s what I got. The bow pulls back nice and smooth, although not as smoothly as some of the more expensive bows I’ve used. Still, for a bow that costs so little, it’s an amazingly smooth pull.

The bow also shoots as fast as many of the more expensive bows, translating to plenty of power and energy behind the arrow when you let it fly. I was a bit shocked at how hard the arrows hit, when my first few shots went clean through my haybales and into my backstop.

The Samick Red Stag is also highly accurate, and I was able to maintain 2″ groupings even from 40 yards. That’s quite impressive for any bow, let alone one as inexpensive as this one.

Can I Use This Recurve For Hunting?

With its power and speed, the Samick Red Stag is great for hunting, if you properly tune it and quieten it. I’ve used mine for deer, elk, and even black bear a couple of times. At a mere 60″ long, the bow maneuvers nicely through the brush, and is easy to swing around in a tree stand. I’d take this bow hunting any day of the season, all day long.

Can Beginners Use Samick’s Red Stag?

Since it doesn’t readily accept accessories, I can’t recommend this bow for novice archers. Personally, I practice the instinctive shooting method, going without a sight, but I always recommend beginners use a sight. Sure, you can have the bow drilled for a sight, but I’d still recommend another option, like the Samick Sage, for a beginning archer.

What Arrows Do You Recommend?

Arrow choice is a highly personal thing, and it really depends on how you want to use the bow. A recreational archer will use much different arrows than a hunter, so there are a number of questions you need to ask yourself before picking out your arrows. We help guide you through this process in our detailed walkthrough of selecting your own arrows.

How Durable Are The Limbs And Riser On The Samick Red Stag?

As previously mentioned, this bow is crafted from hard maple, walnut, rosewood, and white ash. Additionally, the limbs are black fiberglass reinforced, and the bow is very hardy and resilient. I’ve used this bow for years without a hint of limb twist, and there have been no problems with the limbs or riser delaminating for me. That’s not to say that it can’t happen, and I’ve actually heard about a couple of Red Stag buyers suffering that problem, but Samick is quick to replace the bow as long as it’s still under warranty.

What String Fits This Recurve Bow?

The limb tips of the Red Stag are reinforced, so the bow is perfectly compatible with FastFlight or other performance bow strings. You can also easily use a Flemish string with this bow, as I have done, and will get awesome performance.

Is The Bow Heavy?

I don’t have exact numbers on how heavy this bow is, but I would estimate it at around 2.3 pounds or so. It’s not very heavy, and is very comfortable to hold and carry. I’ve hauled this bow around all day long for hunting trips, and never had any problems with fatigue from carrying it. I’ve also used it for that long in tournaments, and suffered no problems with hand cramping.

How Quiet Is Samick’s Red Stag Recurve Bow?

Out of the box, this is a very noisy bow. With the use of string silencers and possibly even horse hair padding for the limbs, though, and you can quieten the bow so well you’ll never realize it was such a noisy bow to begin with. I’ve never seen a deer string jump with my setup, so I’ve obviously done a good enough job at silencing the bow.

Recurve Bow Summary

Thanks for reading my review of the Samick Red Stag. This is a great bow for intermediate to expert shooters, or anybody who wants to enjoy some instinctive shooting. If you are into accessories and tricking out your bow, though, you should choose another option unless you don’t mind voiding your warranty. Take a look at Today's Amazon.com price on the Samick Red Stag if you’re interested.