First off, I am brand new here and appreciate letting me join. New to traditional archery but not new to archery as a whole.

I've got a couple old Shakespeare bows laying around I was planning on shooting, an x26 Necedah and a Cascade. Scrolling around I haven't seen much on Shakespeare bows. Anybody shoot them?

One of my first trad bows was a Shakespeare Necedah @45# I rescued from an abandoned, soon to be demolished shed. That was back in the early 1980's. Missed an 8 point 3 times with it. Deer back then were dumber. 

That's what this is. 58" 45# that I got at a yard sale for $50. Limbs are straight and picked up a new string for it but haven't really shot it. Bought it a couple years ago thinking I would get into hunting with a trad bow but never got around to really dedicating myself to it and decided not to hunt with it. Getting it back out and starting again now

Welcome Noah,
There are so many  more custom bowyers so there is a lot of competition and you can have lots of options added. My first real bow was a Shakespeare Wonderbow 40#@28"
It worked.

I have a few of the Shakespeare Archery bows still (built by Root).  They are awesome bows, that get the job done,excellent for introduction.  I took several deer with my 52", and used them all the time for bowfishing.  Both will need to be refurbished but still good shooters.

Anyone over 65 likely started out with an all fiberglass Shakespeare bow. They were everywhere.  Cheap, virtually indestructible and easy to shoot.  Lots of schools where I lived used them to teach archery. 


I still have the 50-# Necedah that I took my first deer with in 1969 when I was 15.  I have not pulled it in about 8 years,  I also have the Yukon that my dad shot a nice buck with the previous year.  I also have a 40# Yukon that I picked up cheap at a garage sale that I taught my wife to shoot with and she still shoots that on occasion.

Back in the late 60s we had a few choices in bows where I lived and although we really liked the Bear bows, the Shakespeare bows were at a better price point for us.  I never felt that they were inferior in any way to the more expensive brands.  I will say that now that I have shot many different bows over the years that the Shakespeare's seem to have a lot more hand shock than the customs I shoot now, but they are a nice introductory bow.

Owned a Sierra Shakespeare in the early 70's....

A good source of information on Shakespeare bows is at    http://www.vintagearchery.org/root-shakespeare-archery.html

I have a 1970 Kaibab that is a great shooter. Admittedly I'm not a recurve guy, but I have spoken to people that are and also have read that Shakespeare bows didn't have the advertisements or hype that Bear did back then, but the quality and performance was similar.

The shakespeare bows are good. I bought one from a fella back in 1983 for $15. Me was going to get him a compound. I shot 27 deer with that bow and still have it. But as of now, I got a bug about Bear bows.

Should say "he" was going to get a compound. And I shot 27 deer with the Shakespeare.

The old Shakespeare plant is still around. It's something different now in cola SC. But it's located on Shakespeare Rd.

I agree with Mike. The kaibab is a great shooter.