what bow do you prefer?

grumpyvette

Administrator
Staff member
selecting a bow is a rather personal decision, I have a hard time because I got used to using a 87Lb recurve and a 31.5" draw length,
and most bows sold today have a lower poundage and a shorter draw length.
about 35 years ago I happened to be in the market for a new hunting bow,
as my re-curve bow, Id used for decades had been stolen out of my truck where Id left it parked out in front of my house one evening.
I went down to the local archery range and the guy showed me what he told me was a very recent high priced bow that they had gotten in on a trade-in deal that he would sell be dirt cheap.
now usually that means its a TURD they can,t hardly give away,
because they try to get top dollar on every sale.

I bought most of my bows at PAWN SHOPS or on the used bow racks at archery shops
I can't see paying $500 plus for a bow that I can buy a year later, that have been obviously, barely used for less than 1/2 the price, especially since I vastly prefer using a 75lb-90 lb bow with a 31" draw, and bows like that seem to show up rather regularly on the used bow racks at archery shops


but it was a rather interesting compound bow design so I tried it out, at their indoor range and I found it fit and functioned just fine, but Im a fairly large guy, this bow had an 87lb draw that was 31.5" long and it sizzled arrows much faster than my old re-curve, and it was cheap enough.
the reason they could not wait to sell that bow was it was an 80lb-90lb pull and 30'-32" draw which was exactly what I was looking for but I,m hardly typical, in that most people can,t draw a full 31" or 90lb pull weight.
So I purchased it and used it with decent results since then,
its surely not state of the art but its accurate and drives a 32" arrow clear thru an elk!
now its obviously an antique by todays standards

but its accurate and while fairly heavy, its been dependable.
I purchased a rather similar BEAR bow about 7 years ago at a pawn shop that lighter and shorter that has a rather similar center mounted large cam design and Im slowly transitioning to that due to its lighter weight , but I just trust and shoot the older jenning unistar a bit better.
Fred Bear-M.jpg

BTW get a good supply of vanes and a jig and epoxy if your going to use a high draw weight hunting bow, arrows that zip thru targets tend to strip off vanes rather quickly



http://www.huntersfriend.com/bow-review ... nd-bow.htm
unistar.jpg

unistar1.jpg

Ive used a jennings unistar bow I bought and used since about 1987
similar to this picture
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304203761926?hash=item46d3f50906:g:hnoAAOSw3XlhexMx
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088LZCGP...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
s-l1600.jpg


btw I use 3 4" vanes for fletching
its an 87 lb and 31" draw bow, which I purchased, and have used every year since.
yeah there are newer, and lighter bows , even faster bows,
but I'm comfortable and consistently accurate with it,
it drives a 200 spine carbon arrow,
with a decent three blade broad head plus
https://www.3riversarchery.com/woodsman-broadheads-screw-in-original-series.html
4225-1x_alt_2_500x290.jpg

broad head completely through an elk,
done that a couple times over the years,
and its also worked on white tail deer.
I've been asked dozens of times why I don't upgrade?
why would I?
this bow and arrow combo is familiar in my hands,
and is accurate and lethal,
yeah I'm a dinosaur, by why spend money to replace a known , trusted functional proven combo??
unistar2.jpg
 
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Never seen a center cam like that... Intriguing...

This is an old friend - 2006? Bowtech Patriot + Whisker Biscuit + Chocolate Addiction mechanical release. That release is the best $250 "upgrade" I made to my kit.
In my line of work, I actually met the guy who designed the whisker biscuit.

bowtech2_zpsab7cd410.jpg


The last use it saw was as a show-and-tell for summer camp

bowtech_zps75d80773.jpg


A little off while sighting in at 70 meters. I never got that arrow back.

70m_zps3af1dba1.jpg
 
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