Image | Length | Bow Weight | Draw Weight | Takedown? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter See on Amazon.com | 62" | 2.95 lbs. How to: choose arrows, draw weight, and tune your recurve | 40-55 lbs. | Yes |
Compare With Other Recurve Bows
Intro & Package Contents
Welcome to the site. Today, we’re looking at the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter. This is a 62” bow that ships in draw weights ranging from 35# to 55#, in 5-pound increments. This bow is very nicely constructed, and is designed to be easily taken down for transport and storage. A good all-around target or hunting bow, each bow delivered by OMP includes the following items:
- A set of limbs
- The Smoky Mountain Hunter riser
- Dacron bow string
Other accessories are not included so make sure you know what else to buy to get started.
Assembling The Bow
To assemble the Smoky Mountain Hunter, you have to attach the limbs to the riser using the included hardware, and then string the bow. This process is very easy to begin with, but stringing the bow might be a challenge if you do not use a bow stringer. There was no bow stringer included in my package, but I had several already laying around. Make sure you invest the extra money in buying a bow stringer, if you do not already have one, as they make the entire process of stringing the bow much safer and much easier.
How Powerful and Accurate is the Bow?
My Smoky Mountain Hunter has a 45# draw weight, and was quite powerful in my testing. In this draw weight, the bow is powerful enough to drop a buck from 35 yards, and a more powerful draw weight will open up farther ranges and more game possibilities.
I found my Smoky Mountain Hunter to be very accurate, and I was able to maintain 2” groupings from 30 yards without a sight or stabilizer. After installing the sight and stabilizer, my groupings from 30 yards dropped to an average of 1.5”, and I was able to maintain 2.5” groupings from 45 yards.
For the cost, the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter rivals many of its more expensive counterparts in both power and accuracy. To make things even better, the smooth draw and release yields very little in the way of vibration, making the bow an absolute joy for target shooting.
Is The Bow Suitable For Hunting?
As long as you equip the bow with at least 40# limbs, the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter is good for small- to medium-sized game. During one hunting season, I was able to bag my limit in turkeys and two whitetails using this bow. From 35 yards, my arrows flew true to target and left the deer with barely enough energy to run 50 yards before dropping from blood loss.
If you aren’t sure what kind of draw weight is right for you, check out my Recurve Bow Draw Weight Chart to settle this matter.
The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter isn’t the smallest recurve, but it’s compact enough that tracking through the woods with it isn’t difficult at all, and its lightweight enough to reduce any fatigue from carrying it around all day. With whisker biscuits on the string, the release is so quiet the deer barely hear anything, so they are much less likely to string-jump on you.
Is The Bow Suitable For Beginners?
Whether you’re a beginning archer looking for a top-quality, beautiful recurve within a budget or a more advanced archer, the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter is an excellent choice. I have never experienced any limb twist with this bow, and the few times I’ve had beginners try it out, I’ve noticed that it’s quite forgiving of poor stance and technique.
Does This Recurve Accept Accessories?
Bushings for a stabilizer, sight, and plunger come pre-installed on the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter, but these accessories are not included. Installation of them is definitely easy and quick, so much so that I had my bow tricked out and ready to go in minutes.
Arrows For The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter
The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter will gladly fire any arrows you might want to use with it. I had very good results with my Carbon Express arrows with both field tips and Rage broad heads, so feel free to build your own combination that matches your hunting or target-shooting style. If you would like a bit more guidance on choosing arrows for your bow, be sure to check out our guide and arrow selection.
Is This Bow Comfortable To Hold?
Does a bear do his business in the woods? Yes, the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter is a delight to hold and fire. It is lightweight and ergonomic, which allows the target shooter or hunter to carry and fire the bow for hours without hand cramping or sore arm muscles. During my hunting trips, I’ve probably carried this bow around for six or seven hours, at least, and barely noticed I was carrying it. I can target shoot this bow for hours, too, without feeling tired from holding the bow.
Materials And Durability (Riser, Limbs)
October Mountain Products’ Smoky Mountain Hunter features a riser made with hard maple and Dymondwood, and multi-laminate limbs of hard maple and black fiberglass. The traditional design is as polished as it is simple and 
effective.
The laminated hard maple and dymondwood materials help the bow to be extremely durable and able to take a beating. I was surprised at how well the bow held up to a hunting trip, even after being dropped nearly 10 feet when my hand slipped when I was hauling the bow up to my tree stand. This bow will stand up to years of use and even a bit of abuse, so I’m confident in recommending it to anybody looking for a relatively inexpensive bow for hunting or target shooting.
What String Fits The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter?
The Smoky Mountain Hunter ships with a Dacron string, but the bow features reinforced limb tips to make it safe and simple to replace the manufacturer’s string with a FastFlight string. Any string that matches the draw weight of your particular model of the Smoky Mountain Hunter should shoot well for you.
Is The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter a Heavy Bow?
The Smoky Mountain Hunter isn’t the smallest recurve in its class, but it still features a lightweight design. Weight just less than 3 pounds, this recurve is barely noticeable in weight and is designed to be transported easily both in the woods and out.
How Loud Is The OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter?
The Smoky Mountain Hunter has a very smooth draw, and a quiet release. The bow has very little vibration, and the string is but a whisper when you fire the bow. After installing whisper biscuits, my Smoky Mountain Hunter is almost silent when shot, an amazing feat for a crossbow in this price category.
OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter Review – Summary
Thanks for reading this review of the OMP Smoky Mountain Hunter. While the price of this bow is relatively low, it shoots like a much more expensive bow. I would strongly recommend this bow as a good investment for any type of archery, but especially for hunting. Try taking a look at Today's Amazon.com price if you’re looking to purchase the Smoky Mountain Hunter.
Thanks for your reviews. You helped me decided on a #35 Smoky Mountain as my first bow and a #20 Razorback for my wife. It’ll be a while before I trust my aim enough to hunt, but it’s good to know that this is a bow I can grow into. Great site overall, tons of useful info.
I have a 50pound omp recurve and I wanna go down to a 40 pound recurve can I buy just the limbs to convert it or do I have to buy a whole new bow if I can buy the limbs how Mich are they and where can I get them
Got my omp hunter 45# RH August as a early birthday gift from my girlfriend,all i can say totally awesome bow ,and mind u first recurve,less than a month of shooting no more than a 2″ group 20,30,35yds,hair rest,beaver ball silencers open sights highly recommend.
I bought my 50# Smoky Mountain Hunter about two years ago. I’ve only this summer gotten serious about accuracy and there is a lot to learn! I still prefer to shoot sighting down the arrow. It just feels more natural to me.
I had to do a lot of digging and finally went to the dealer I purchased the bow from to find out what the brace height should be. Let me save you some time. Brace height for this bow should be between 7 1/2 and 8 1/4 inches. Mine was way off. So now I can set my nock rest properly and tune the bow from there.
Overall, though, I really like this bow. The only smoother bow they had was OMP’s longbow but I wanted something I could transport easily. The only negative I’ve experienced with this bow so far is that it’s challenging to find information specific to it. I’m pretty sure you can find just limbs for the riser but I haven’t looked for them.