Whats a good Bow

Joined
Dec 15, 2001
Messages
774
Ok here is the deal, I want a bow, the kind doesnt matter, i will tell you guys what it needs to do and you can suggest anyhting as long as it is not that expensive($300 US). It needs to shoot with enough power to drop mid size game out to 50-100 yards. It needs to be very durable and able to survive weeks even months in the field without much work needing to be done on it. Must work well when wet or raining hard. Must be rugged, weight doesnt matter much, i figure the more heavy it is the harder it will be to break. Thanks guys!
 
50-10 YARDS!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW

first of all i have been a bow hunter for 27 yrs. and have taken both big and small game. The first thing you ned to realize is that a bow has its distance limitations, and a 100 yard shot at live game is way out of range a 50 yard shot is pushing the max and one i wouldn't take.

you need to get a couple books on bowhunting and then a few bowhunting magazines that should at least give you a start. Keep in mind before you start hunitng you have to master the bow at least a 8 months to a year to be proficient..
 
Hunting Michigan whitetails I won't take a shot over 30 to maybe 35 yards, and thats pushing it in my view. Bow hunting is about getting close in to your game; stealth, good camo, silence, and odor control are all critical. You might be able to have someone make a bow that would shoot that far, but you probably won't be able to lift it let alone bend it. Are you interested in a traditional or a compund bow?
 
I agree on the distance issue. I was once shooting a target course set up in heavy woods at an archery club. Most of the targets were realistic hunting distances but, just to make a point, at one shooting station they had a Buffalo target set up on a wooden platform at 80 yards. You shot across a little ravine. I was using a compound set at about 65 lbs with carbon arrows. My most long-range sight pin was dialed in for 40 yds. I aimed higher than I thought necessary. After I fired I heard a big "thunk" as my arrow stuck in the wood platform, several feet in front of the Buff. And the Buff was a big target.

When I shot the course with my longbow, I didn't even try that target because I didn't want to lose or damage a nice handmade cedar arrow.

[I have a compound, recurve 150+lb crossbow that's fairly accurate to about 65 yards, but even with it the trajectory isn't great after about 50 yards.]
 
I wouldn't worry about distance. It becomes pretty self evident once you start shooting what your max range is.

Rifter, I just started the bow thing last fall with a compound bow which I love. But my distinct impression is that compound bows require much more maintenance and tinkering than what you describe. I would recommend a recurve for that reason. My wife just started shooting an Internature. It is a very good starter bow and cost us about $75.

Modern breakdown recurves are really light and compact. The limbs come off for storage or to be replaced with other limbs of different weight. All the parts and peices are very simple, and can be extremely weather resistant if you stay away from wood components.

I have heard good things about the PSE Coyote, an aluminum hunting bow for $220. At http://www.lancasterarchery.com/ go to

products -> bows -> PSE recurve bows

You will still have enough money for a cheap sight, some arrows, and a quiver.

Scott
 
I very rarely take a shot outside of 30 yards if I can help it! Nothing worse than the feeling in the pit of your stomach when you have badly hit an animal. Go for the stalk, the closer you can get, the better the buzz! When you make a clean shot, and are able to take down game cleanly, it makes it all worth while. Doing this consistently takes a lot of practice, patience and time. You should maybe visit your local archery or bowhunting club as they are a valuable source of info and the folks are usually a great bunch of people.

Good luck and straight shooting!
 
Saw the use of the bow at 100 yards and that was VOLLEY FIRE from a line of archers at a GROUP of soldiers advancing on them...Sure they 'aimed' at one soldier, but it was a 'flock' shoot in reality.

Archery is a matter of 'stalking' and 'concealment.' You want the shots as CLOSE as possible and complete penetration of the broadhead. A bow and arrow kills be the broadhead cutting major arteries and causing massive hemorrhaging. You basically bleed the animal to death. A double lung shot is a relatively fast death as they bleed out very quickly and the lungs collapse/fill with blood.

Because of this you are shooting at an 8" circle and will quickly find that 'few' archers can hit an 8" beyond 50 yards TARGET SHOOTING every shot, let alone HUNTING where the pressures cause you not to be as accurate.

If you want to kill beyond 50 yards, look at a firearm and if you are considering over 100 yards, make sure it's a rifle.
 
if you want something low maintenance then you definately need to go with a traditional bow (recurve or longbow) and realize that it's going to take a long time to become good at shooting it. there are a lot of good production traditional bows, i recommend looking at martin archery www.martinarchery.com and remember that you usually get what you pay for. here's another site that has some good information and links www.bowjackson.com
 
How about this for an estimator of performance:

Sight your bow in at 30, 40, and 50 m (and 60m if you have that many pins).

Run a lap. Shoot an end (several arrows) at 30 m.

Run another lap, shoot another end at 40 m.

Lift some weights, shoot some more, this time from your knees at 50 m.

Run or lift some more, then shoot from an odd vertical angle, like down from a hill or up at a tree.

Repeat this process in the pouring rain and at night and in the cold and in the wind.

I have no doubts that any one of us who is diligent enough (and has a laser range finder) can aquire the skill to confidently hit an 8" target at a range we previously thought impossible. You get good at what you practice for. If you regularly practice for long range shooting, you WILL eventually get good at it. Maybe you won't get to 100 yds, but you won't stay at 30 either.

Regardless of how good or bad you do in a drill like that outlined above, a realistic effective range becomes blatantly obvious very quickly. Just don't be a jerk and shoot at an animal you're not likely to kill. I think the 8" circle business is pretty good advice.

Scott

PS: Rifter, have you gotten that bow yet?
 
Lots of good advice above. Hope I can add to it for you. I shoot and ground hunt with a 54# longbow exclusively. My last kill was at less than 18 paces. The arrow completely penetrated through the 163# hog and buried the Zwickey broadhead half it's length in an oak tree. I regularly practice (stump shoot) out to 80 and even 100 paces and wouldn't think of trying to shoot an animal at that distance. The reason isn't my lack of ability, but rather the fact that at that distance, even a relaxed animal can take several steps before your arrow gets to it. Which can mean, if you're lucky, a missed shot, but there is always the chance that you could hit the critter in the paunch (belly), in which case it can take hours for the animal to die and the chance of losing it are pretty good.

I agree that if it's lack of maintenance you're looking for, you'll need to go with the more traditional style bows like the recurve and longbow. However, durable they are not, if abused. They work just fine wet and will last for many, many years and will give excellent service. However, you do need to take care of them. An example of how long a curve or longbow will last is, I sold my oldest bow, a Black Widow recurve made in 1967 and it was still shooting as strong and accurate, some 35 years later, as the day that I bought it.

It will take you considerably longer to learn to shoot a traditional style bow than it would a compound and the compound is more difficult to master than is a crossbow.
 
I have a Hoyt take-down recurve with 55lb limbs that I like very much.
The limbs are attached to the handle piece via two large bolts. Broken down the whole thing fits nicely inside a pack. Unfortunately the arrows are just as long as ever. The bow shoots great.

I can't agree more that you have over-estimated the effective range for hunting. The longest shot i personally know of was made by my litteel brother, 45 yards on a 10 point too good to pass up(65 lb Leon Stewart longbow, Zwicky broadhead, Footed shaft). It was a clean kill but my brother is a phenomenal shot on his worst day. Even he admitted this was a real stretch and he has literally tens of thousands of shots in practice.

I would recommend a take-down recurve and a healthy arrow budget. Mac
 
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