Bow Hunting

gangsta965084

gangsta965084

Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
696
i was wondering how many fellow knife nuts also hunt using a bow? Compunds and recerves to crossbow. what do you guys use and why?
 
I'm a longbow man. I like the fact that my gear can be both accurate and lethal while remaining simple and light. With the longbow (Howard Hill Halfbreed 60@29) and the recurve (DH Hunter) I shot before it, I've taken deer, rabbits, squirrels, groundhogs and so forth. It's certainly the right tool for me.

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Beckerhead #42
 
wow it looks amazing, and simple much more than compound bows! How much lbs would be needed to kill a racoon? They always come and oped the trash can and make a huge mess! Im not a terrible shot but practice and a better bow might be good.
 
I bow hunt for deer and elk. I shot recurves when I was younger, but not for hunting.
I use a compound, and have owned Bowtech, Martin, Browning, and for the last 5 years I've been using a Mathews Switchback.

I went with compounds because I ground hunt, and a lot of times the window of oppourtunity to draw, is very small. I like being able to draw and hold it for minutes at a time if needed, to wait for a good shot.

I like the simplicity and looks of the recurves and long bows though. I've been telling myself the last couple years, I was going to switch over to a recurve, but it seems I don't have as much time to shoot as I would like, so I just stick with the bow I have.

For me, bow hunting offers so much more than rifle hunting. I like the challenge of playing the game with animals, to see how close I can get without being busted.
Even though you don't always get shots, I've been as close as 20 feet to Elk and Deer.
Its incredible to watch and listen to animals in their element, when they don't know anyone is close to them.

I'm getting really anxious, because our season starts the end of August
 
gangsta965084 said:
wow it looks amazing, and simple much more than compound bows! How much lbs would be needed to kill a racoon? They always come and oped the trash can and make a huge mess! Im not a terrible shot but practice and a better bow might be good.
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Most states have a minimum poundage (typically around 40-45) for a hunting bow. I doubt there's much that you would be interested in hunting in the lower 48 that you couldn't kill with a 40 lb bow. It's not the draw weight that does the work - it's the razor sharp broad head intersecting with the important bits of your game animal. Heavier draw weights just let you throw heavier arrows - which (all things being equal) makes for better penetration.

Lots of guys fall for the arrow speed sales pitch. Don't do it. Unless your bow can throw an arrow faster than the speed of sound (it can't) the animal *may* hear your shot before the arrow gets to it. Keep your shots close (20ish yards or less) and slow/heavy arrows beat fast/light ones all day long.

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Beckerhead #42
 
i'm a nub to archery and went the compound route when i started ~18 months ago.

is good fun.
 
I'm going to hog hunt with this one as soon as the weather cools down some.I want to kill one with a bow I made myself. It's bamboo backed osage 66" ntn and 60# at 29".

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I live and breath archery......and knives. I hunt with a BowTech and carbon express arrows tipped with Slicktrick broadheads. I have not gun hunted in 15 years because I prefer the challenge. We always fill all of our tags.



Mike
 
Compound only for me and my on foot Moose hunts. I only hunt moose. Edit: and the reason why is because it is my family's only bow :D
 
i am also a long time traditional archer and longbow shooter, though i don't get out and hunt nearly as much as i would like to, i do shoot regularly..:)
 
I shoot Compound. 2010 PSE X-Force Vendetta XL -
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I love Archery before tis PSE I was shooting a 2008 Ross Cardiac & before that was a 2003 Hoyt Magnatech !
 
GingivitisKahn said:
Most states have a minimum poundage (typically around 40-45) for a hunting bow. I doubt there's much that you would be interested in hunting in the lower 48 that you couldn't kill with a 40 lb bow. It's not the draw weight that does the work - it's the razor sharp broad head intersecting with the important bits of your game animal. Heavier draw weights just let you throw heavier arrows - which (all things being equal) makes for better penetration.

Lots of guys fall for the arrow speed sales pitch. Don't do it. Unless your bow can throw an arrow faster than the speed of sound (it can't) the animal *may* hear your shot before the arrow gets to it. Keep your shots close (20ish yards or less) and slow/heavy arrows beat fast/light ones all day long.

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Beckerhead #42
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true and great advice from an obvious good bowhunter. well done sir. i cant tell you how many fools go for the speed. i want accuracy and sharp blades.

another tip. do not get hyped up on lbs of draw either. you pull what is comfortable to you. a good rule of thumb is any lbs that you can hold back and count to 30-60. i cant tell you how many times i have had to draw back only for the deer to look up my way and i cant shoot bc he needs to take a step further. i cannot ease my string back down bc he is looking right at me. catch my drift? if you pull and you are shaking within 10-20 seconds, its too heavy for you
 
hung-solo said:
true and great advice from an obvious good bowhunter. well done sir. i cant tell you how many fools go for the speed. i want accuracy and sharp blades.

another tip. do not get hyped up on lbs of draw either. you pull what is comfortable to you. a good rule of thumb is any lbs that you can hold back and count to 30-60. i cant tell you how many times i have had to draw back only for the deer to look up my way and i cant shoot bc he needs to take a step further. i cannot ease my string back down bc he is looking right at me. catch my drift? if you pull and you are shaking within 10-20 seconds, its too heavy for you
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Thanks! Good call on the draw weight. Another advantage of starting with a lighter bow is that it is much easier to develop good habits with a reasonable draw weight than it is when you are over-bowed.

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Beckerhead #42
 
I like to bowhunt with traditional gear; I use a Wes Wallace recurve, 46lbs at my draw length, 62" long. I have three of his bows. They are all I use nowdays, but I certainly did try just about every brand out there at one time. Ironically, I work at a machine shop where all we make are parts for compound bows, and at one time we produced and sold our own brand of compound bow, which has since been bought (the name brand) by the company we now make parts for, as their secondary line of non-proshop bows (bows you can buy at Bass Pro Shop, Cabela's, etc.). I hunted and competed with compounds for years before going to recurves. I guess once I got into making compounds for a living, I didn't want anything to do with them in my free time! There is some good advice posted above: don't use too much draw weight, quiet beats speed when it comes to bows, and use arrows on the heavier side with sharp broadheads. Although arrow speed (in compounds, trad bows are usually shot w/out sights) does help trajectory, arrows are so slow compared to a bullet that it doesn't gain you much. If you misjudge the distance by even 5 yards on a 35 yard shot, you will miss with a bow. I've never even taken that long a shot while hunting anyway.
 
hung-solo said:
true and great advice from an obvious good bowhunter. well done sir. i cant tell you how many fools go for the speed. i want accuracy and sharp blades.

another tip. do not get hyped up on lbs of draw either. you pull what is comfortable to you. a good rule of thumb is any lbs that you can hold back and count to 30-60. i cant tell you how many times i have had to draw back only for the deer to look up my way and i cant shoot bc he needs to take a step further. i cannot ease my string back down bc he is looking right at me. catch my drift? if you pull and you are shaking within 10-20 seconds, its too heavy for you
Click to expand...

Yep... I'm 6'2, 220 pounds and not a weakling by any stretch of the imagination, and even though my Mathews Switchback will max out at 72 pounds, I only shoot it at 62. It has a nice valley and a solid wall, so its easy to stay at draw for quite a while.

I don't get wrapped up in speed. I like shootabilty, and most fast bows are not forgiving, and if you even think about creeping forward, they want to release.
A fast miss or a slow miss, is still a miss
 
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