New Bows

[coonhunter]

This is for guys asking what kind of new bow to buy. Yesterday I was at a bbq where five of us brought our bows to do a little shooting. These bows ranged from darn near, brand new up to five years old. The draw weights ranged from 52-74 pounds, and four different brands were involved. These bows included 2 bears, a Martin, a PSE, and a Matthews. Prices ranged from a little over 400 to a little over 1100.

 

The arrows were just as diverse with Beman, Easton, Carbon Express, Gold Tip, and some pink with black stripe Ted Nugent things.

 

I shot all these bow and arrow combos to try them out and see how they felt overall, and how consistently they shot. Due to differing draw lengths, I had to shoot a few arrows to see where I had to aim. Believe it or not, I never missed the target completely. I was worried because a couple of the guys are quite a bit taller than me.

 

My results and opinion on all these bows and arrows is that all the manufacturers put out a quality product. My bow was the oldest, and I can feel a noticeable difference in how much smoother and easier it is to draw the newer bows, even the two that were set at 70+. All bows shot quiet and I couldn't pick one out as the loudest or the most quiet.

 

I shot out to 40 yards and all arrows penetrated great still out to that range, even the 50 pounder. It was strange seeing the big arch in the shot, but the bow put them in the kill zone shot after shot. The arrows were a mix of vanes and feathers of differing lengths and if I had to pick which ones shot the best, I would have to say the carbon express with feathers. Sorry, I don't know what model they were, but the patterns stayed pretty tight even with a strange bow at 40 yards. I never ruined an arrow, and I was worried about it, but the guys wanted me to see whose bow was the nicest shooter. And of course, one of them takes my bow and robin hoods one of my arrows on the third shot.

 

My take is, get yourself set up by a pro shop, or someone that knows their business, and buy what you like because money didn't seem to matter other than weight and overall feel of the bow. Arrows all performed and penetrated great. The weight forward designs did carry a tighter pattern at 40 yards, but we are talking the difference between a baseball and a softball.

 

I was surprised at how well all these bows were set up and performed. The biggest thing, like I mentioned, is that a new bow is a lot easier on the draw. Most of these guys are young bucks and think they know it all, but they all had their bows set up by a professional and it showed. 

 

 

[Waldershrek]

All the new bows are so close performance wise it's really about personal preference. The bigger thing to me is what shops carry what in your area. Service is always priceless compared to everything else.

[dbHunterNY]

I wasn't content with the service in this area which is usually good. It was hit or miss. I ended up eventually purchasing everything I need to work on my own bows. The only thing I can't do is fully relax a bow to change limbs because of the press I have. I also can't cut arrows. Other than that I've got it all even building arrows that are square and true.

[dbHunterNY]

.... Now I can constantly tweak my bows to make them shoot better and better. I can also maintain a tune while shooting non stop throughout the year.

[maytom]

I was planning on up-grading bows this year, but just got too dam busy doing lot's of other things around the house. so look's like another year with the same set up. Been checking out the new line of Bowtec bows.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Buying something that feels right to you is the most important thing. Shoot as many as you can before you buy. Darn near everything out there now days will come close to 300fps or better, more than you need to kill a deer. A close second to that is buying from or having a good pro shop within reasonable distance (if you dont do your own work). Remember, they are machines, and things will go wrong with them at some point. Gotta have someone you trust working on it.

[The_Real_TCIII]

My advice for a hunting rig is avoid the true burners. When you get up in that 330+ fps range every little flaw in your form gets magnified down range, and a broadhead on the front compounds the problem

[phade]

Bows to me used to be a must have a new one each year. I finally got over that. I enjoy my bow and shoot it with joy. But keeping the same bow has allowed me more time to focus on my hunting and my money goes elsewhere.

[Guns&ReligionCop]

I've been using my Martin Moab now for several years and I have set up exactly how I want it and have been lucky enough to have 100% success rate. Just for the hell of it I was looking at new bows to possibly upgrade and there was really nothing that impressed me all that much. I feel like the technology hasn't really changed all that much since I got my bow. There seems to be a little lag time before you notice a significant change in the technology. Obviously my bow in the 90's compared to now is completely different but my bow compared to my buddies brand new one had nothing noticeably different.

[dbHunterNY]

I think technology is ridiculously better but you have to spend theory to get it. Most are changes that a normal shooter wouldn't notice. It all leads to greater forgiveness at higher speed. For example a high end bow that shoots 320 fps IBO is now built for feel and smoothness. That would be an unforgiving speed bow 10 years ago.