Bow Hunter Armor and Weapons

I'm trying to see which set of armor would be beneficial as a bow hunter.
I'm low rank now, started about a few weeks ago. So far i found battle armor and kutku armor to help. even basarios armor with def +20 helps a lot. Anything set in particular that any bow hunter should be aiming for?

Also, bow choices get confusing for me... I find rapid more useful then pierce on some large monsters. Is there a particular bow or charge levels that i should be aiming for? (no pun intended)

Just asking general bow hunter questions.
Thanks