I'm looking into bow hunting as I've been rifle hunting for a while, and just feel like I'm ready to take it to the next level. My cousin has a bow, I've shot it a few times, for the 15 shots I've ever shot with it, I know aiming won't be a problem.
THAT BEING SAID . . . . .
What kind of bow should I look at getting for a first bow? I don't necessarily want a 'starter bow' because I don't want to have to replace it in two or three years if there is something important it is lacking. Other than replaceable accessories, (sights, rests, releases, stabilizers) what is it important that the base bow comes with? I don't know my draw length yet, but most bows have an adjustable range. I'm 6'0'' tall, assuming I have average length arms, I'm sure I fall into a pretty common range that bows are capable of with adjustment. So what is the real difference in a $300 rig and a $600 rig, other than fps? Quietness? Bow durability? Thanks in advance for the input, and I'm sure there are already some threads like this, please link them if there are, I can only see like 10 threads in the whole bow hunting forum.
Facts that might be important?
-I live in South Carolina
-I would be hunting private land that varies in thickness from medium to light foliage.
-Money isn't a huge concern, but I don't need flames painted on my bow, just a reliable set up.
-I would like to find out about base bow differences, not whisker biscuit versus other rest debates or opinions.
-I will get into arrows later, after I get a bow!
-Thanks for all opinions
Honestly there isnt a bad bow on the market today. Its just a matter of how much you want to spend and personal preferences. Weight and let-off are the biggest things to me. A light weight bow is so much easier to hold steady when aiming and is allot nicer to tote to and from the stand each day. allot of let-off is critical in a hunting situation. I have had to hole my bow at full draw for well over a minute at times, which may not sound like much, but without good let-off even the strongest of guys will begin to shake some and not be able to hold the pin steady on the deer. Another thing that is worth looking into is single cam vs. double cam and parallel limb tec. but I would not be the right person to tell you about those. If you have any bow shops in the area that would be a good place to go and get your draw lenght and stuff all figured out, but watch out, they will most likely try and sell you whatever is getting outdated on there shelfs. But they should give you honest answers if you ask the spesific questions.
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Yea i was looking over bows yesterday, and it occurred to me that people have killed deer with $250 bows, people have killed deer with $1000 bows. Native Americans made their own bows and arrows and killed game. I guess I'm really looking for 'industry standards' so to speak, for instance, is there a minimum fps you want for putting down white tail? I understand relief is important, most bows I look at are 65% - 80% let off. Is there a standard draw weight for ensuring good kill shots on deer? I guess draw weight, in a way, equates to your fps? Or maybe a better option would be to have people tell me things I don't want?
The FPS thing is the popular sales gimic of the day. what they advertise is a bow set to max. draw weight, max draw length, and nothing on the string (no nocks, peeps, or silencers, ect.) then they fire a super light arrow to get these numbers. but in reality, I've set women up with 45 Lb. draw weights and short draw lengths and had them blow an arrow clean thru a deer at 20 yds. and those setups are slow by comparison. all higher fps is going to give you is flatter trajectory (your short range pin will not have as much gap to your long range pin). some will claim faster bows will avoid deer "jumping the string" or moving before the arrow gets there. I believe thats a load of crap. even when I was much younger and hunting with a "slow" recurve bow they never jumped the string. If I missed it was because I blew the shot. not because the deer had a better reaction time than superman. but, even with my modern equipment, I don't take shots over 20 yds. in the woods. I've blown far too many shots in the past shooting 30 to 40 yds. because an arrow found a twig out there I couldn't see. It doesn't matter that I can drill tennis balls at that distance in the back yard. back there there's nothing to obstruct the arrows flight.
just my 2 cents.
and no, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a bow for hunting. until you get really good at shooting one, you probably will not even notice the difference if you were to shoot a $300.00 bow versus a $1,000.00 setup.
I would not even worry about the FPS. Its all just a way for them to sell there bows. As far as minimum draw weight goes, it can be done with lower but I would not go any lower than 50lbs draw weight. The bow that you posted looks like a fine hunting bow. I personally shoot an older PSE Nova with 65Lbs draw and aluminum arrows. Just about everyone will tell you that aluminum are way outdated but they weigh more, so they get better penetration. So my aluminum arrows will blow through both shoulder blades on a deer, while I have seen allot of the carbon arrows just barely penetrate the deer right in the lung area without even hitting any bone and stick in there. But It is getting somewhat hard to find aluminum arrows and everyone else will tell you to go with carbon because there this and that and aluminum id dinosaur technology, so I'm sure you end up with the carbons and when you have light weight carbon arrows FPS is pretty important to get any halfway decent penetration.
__________________
I'm a farm boy who definitely isn't afraid of hard work!
If its worth doing, its worth doing right!
Last edited by deerhuntertyler; 11-06-2009 at 08:27 PM.
just find a bow that fits ur price range and one that u like and then search for reviews on that bow. the price doesnt really matter to much as long as u stick with a name brand at least. my first decent bow, at least it was to me at the time, was a Hoyt Raider Intruder that i got around 1997. i think it was about $280. i would shoot at the range, they had an indoor projection screen that would play videos of animals and score u based on bullseye, vital, or body shots. i would outshoot people with their matthews bows all day long. just takes practice.
i personaly like brownings, but PSE, bowtech, hoyt, and most all of them are good bows, realy just a personal preference. for draw weight i shoot 55#, most bows are anywhere from 50-65# just set it to where you can draw it back and not tire quickly. when you go buy your bow the shop should have a bow you can draw back to see exactly what your draw length is and will set it for you.
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these are actually very good setups. I have one at work and need to check the adjustment range to see if it's a 10 or 15 pound adjustment range. that means that a 50 lb. setup can adjust down to a 35 or 40 pound minimum. if you want to shoot at 50 pounds, you would be best to get one bigger and adjust it down. that way as muscles build, you can adjust it up to higher poundage. my recommendation is a minimum 50 pound, with 60-70 being ideal. but start out with whatever you can draw without over exerting yourself. then find a bow with this as it's minimum poundage.
I stopped by PSE's web site and checked. they are saying this bow has a 20 pound adjustment range, so a 70 pound bow can be set back to 50 pound. I'm going to re-check this when i get to work later today. that much adjustment range is not the norm for most other bows.
another thing, it does not matter if your left or right handed. what matters is if your left or right eye dominant. if your left eye dominant, learn to shoot left hand bows. and vice versa. I'm left handed and right eye dominant. I had to learn to shoot bows, rifles, and pistols right handed. I was lucky that my dad realized this at my early age. he saved me a lot of headaches later on.
I love my PSE.....if your 6' youve probly got a 28 1/2 to a 29 in draw length....take your wingspan and divide by 2.5 and youll have you drawlength..............
I shoot carbon (Victor VH3)and dont have a problem with penatration(neither will you if you buy the Stinger NI)....carbon shoot faster, and flatter than aluminum, expecialy in a lighter weight bow(aluminum are still good arrows, and have killed many deer)
P.S. check your state regs on bow weight, most are around 45 so you should be alright if your shooting 50
just like deadzero said "EYE DOMINACE IS HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH HAND YOU SHOOT WITH"
I have been shooting for a while, and know that I'm right eye dominant. Thanks for the opinions! I'll probably have to go to a bunch of stores to look at bows around here, other than Dick's and Sportsmen's Warehouse (local) I don't know where would carry a decent selection/test firing.
Bows generally shoot better when you have the poundage close to the maximum. Probably not enough to matter unless you're a pro. Still, buying a bow with a 70 maximum and turning it down to 50 or 55 doesn't sound like a good idea to me. If you're a big strong guy and willing to practice a 70 shouldn't be too much. If you want something that will be comfortable even with little practice go with the 60 max.
My feelings on carbon arrows is that I like them better because they last longer for me. Unless you bend one they will shoot every bit as flat as a carbon. Depends on what weight arrows you get. Aluminum arrows can be purchased with the same straightness or straighter than the carbons. Generally speaking carbons are lighter.
The expense in a bow comes from advertising, quality and reputation. One big expense is the amount of machining that has to be done. These new bows have long risers with a bunch of holes that have to be machined. Most of this machining is just for looks.
Basically when it comes to bows, I want to buy one that will be a good shooting bow, and will last long enough without expensive problems. I don't want to buy a bow to find out after I really start shooting that is has some major flaws that have inhibited my hunting, and if I would have spent another $150 or so, would have been able to avoid those problems.
I've been reading up on the carbon/aluminum arrow debate. It seems like people like lighter carbon arrows because they are lighter, and thus fly flatter. Wouldn't there be some merit to aluminum being heavier, thus having a greater energy transfer?
I got my first bow kit from Cabela's about 5 years ago. The whole thing only cost about $279.00 at that point. It was a PSE kit. That was a huge mistake on my part, not because it was a PSE, but because I tried to get away with a very cheap option. It was not smooth quiet fast, or really enjoyable in anyway shape or form. It shot ok, but I hated it. Two years later I bought a Bowtech Tomkat, which was their entry level set up at the time. This year is my 4th year hunting with that set up. That whole package was under $700. I have killed 5 deer with it all complete pass through shots and plan on keeping it for a few more seasons.
I use fairly heavy arrows as far as carbon goes and 125g broadheads. The arrow is fast enough and heavy enough it blast through big bodied IL bucks with no problem. (I haven't had the chance to get a trophy racked one, but body size has been very big).
Most manufactures make good reasonably priced equipment that will easily get the job done, as long as you hunt within your limits. Some guys think you need to buy your favorite companies flagship bow every year but I think that comes down to a waste of money.
I have a great link for you, not sure if I can post it here so PM me. It lists all the pros and cons with no BS and they also have some fantastic bow package deals.
If you want the very best, go ahead and buy the top of the line stuff, but it's a sickness and you'll probably want next year's very best as soon as it comes out and you can obsess with owning the latest-greatest like many bow owners do, rather than practicing shooting it. Or you can buy a really nice package that's already set up to kill game and just be done with it.
All kinds of deer met their demise at the business end of a 1995 Hoyt and an aluminum arrow with a fixed broadhead 15 years ago, you can buy a quality package that will just blow that setup away for about $500 new. It's the same game with fishing lures and reels etc... 20 year old equipment never stopped anyone from catching a fish 20 years ago. A $300 fishing pole will impress your buddies but it won't impress the fish one bit. Likewise that buck you draw down on won't have a clue what brand name the bow is or what kind of stabilizer it has. Technique kicks ass all over brand names.
__________________ NRA Lifer. God bless our troops.
BUY USA MADE.
Thanks for that ACFixer, that reinforces what I've been thinking, which is to not 'overthink' which bow to get. Me and my girlfriend are going to the Bass Pro in Charlotte this coming Sunday, I hope to work with someone up there to get some hands on experience before I make the decision to buy one. I doubt I'll want to buy the new flag ship bow every year, I can see how thatw would be addicting, but I simply could not afford to do that. Whenever i buy something that costs more than $100, I spend lots of time researching all the specs in that industry, just to get a general idea, then I look for either forums about it or user reviews. Nothing tells you how a product works like a bunch of people that have used it! There are always people that hate something and people that love it, I just try to watch the numbers and make sure it's like 9 people like to 1 dislike, watch for consistent problems, that kinda thing. I'll let y'all know how it turns out next Sunday.
For what it's worth, people that use Bear bows tend to love them, and they have a very low dislike rating. From specs i'm looking at the PSE Stinger NI (as mentioned above).
Hit the gun shows and you'll probably find a decent bow. Just make sure to find out your pull length. I found a Martin Cougar Magnum, an older Martin compound bow with a quiver of 6 broadhead tipped arrows and about 15 extra arrows with target tips for $75 bucks. So again, check/hit the gun shows...
But I then went to Gander Mountain and bought a cheap Cobra 3-pin fiber optic sight for $19.99 (works just fine by the way) and a cheap thumb style release for $14.97 (was on sale).
Just have someone measure your reach, arms stretched normally, not forcing them as far apart as possible, just your natural reach then measure middle fingertip to middle fingertip, then divide by 2.5.
The easiest way to determine draw length is to put a yardstick on your adam's apple and reach out with your fingers. Then you have it. Factor in an overdraw, and all things change !!
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
Well the trip to Bass Pro in Charlotte went well. My girlfriend and I went up for the day to go to the Bass Pro, then drive through McAdenville (some Christmas lights town). We got to Bass Pro, I went up to the archery section, and told my girlfriend to leave me and go shopping. I spoke with Phillip from the archery department, our interaction went something like this.
Phillip: Hey! You folks need any help?
Me: I'm just looking around. I see all the bows are tied up, I was hoping I could draw a few back today?
Phillip: Sure, any bow you want.
Me: Well, I'm not a bow expert, and I know people really talk about having a smooth draw and feeling it in their hands. I don't know what a smooth or rough draw would feel like. Could you pick out two bows one with the worst, one with the best so I can see what it's like?
Phillip: Sure. (Hands me wrist release thing with no release, I put it on backwards, correct myself before he notices, and put it on the right way)
Me: Is this the good or bad draw?
Phillip: You'll see
Me: Dang, I'm not used to pulling back a bow (as I shakily pull back the string looking very weak)
Phillip: And try this one
Me: WOW! That was smooth (I pulled it back like a pro taking his 10,000th shot)
Phillip: Those are both 70lb. bows, the double cam holds the weight a lot more, this (other) bow is single cam, and has a smoother weight let off.
Me: I see. Jessica - you can go shopping, I'll just call you when I'm done here (sent gf away)
Me: Ok, now that she's gone, I got about $800 to spend and walk out of here with everything I need from arrows and a release to a field ready bow.
Phillip: Ok lets get to work.
(Finds my draw length, hands me two bows, one is a Parker Red Hawk (ready to shoot $699.99), the other is a Quest G5 QS31 (bare bow $379.99). We talk about various bow parts like the arrow rest, sight, etc.
I decide on the Quest bow, I got a Hostage Pro arrow rest, Tru-Glo 5-pin sight, Scott Release, generic stabilizer. 12 arrows cut and field tipped. I sighted it in, got a case, and walked out for under $800 ($773 and change to be exact). Now I probably could have gotten a better bow for my money used from craig's list or ebay, however, I feel like talking about the parts with 'Phillip' was invaluable information. I am super excited to have my new bow, I'll post pictures of it sometime. I don't know if I'll use it this season (only 3 1/2 weeks left) but I most likely will try.
Thanks for all the advice given on here. Personal experience and knowledge are resources I really value!
Good to here, I'm happy to here someone has actually gone through with there plans for once... And yes, you may be getting pretty good at target shooting, but I still suggest that you hold out on hunting until next year, you should try target shooting from different ranges of all sorts, and not just 10 yd intervals, try odd number interyills until you know exactly were to hold the pin at different yardages, and then try shooting from a tree stand at different angles, and with the same cloths on that you will be hunting in.
__________________
I'm a farm boy who definitely isn't afraid of hard work!
If its worth doing, its worth doing right!
NRA Lifer. God bless our troops.
