Seeking advice on modern bows
New York
Fellas: currently hunting g with a 20 yr. Old Kodiak. .aluminum arrows. Looking to "modernize" for next season. Looking to get good used bow (may just spring for brand new), not sure of brand. I guess looking for simple easy to draw/hold. But with adequate knockout power. Leery about buying over internet, have a few shops in mind, but used selection not too vast. Thank you in advance for opinions. Mad Dog
my advice is don't buy over the internet . don't buy at the big box stores (cabella's gander mtn 'etc) . go to your local Archery shop .any respectable shop will set up and let you shoot any Bow that you are interested in . There's a lot of good Bows out there .you don't have to go top of the line to get a good bow . I shoot a hoyt the only reason is when I went to buy that's the one that felt the best in my hand .I here Elite archery has a good line , bowtech , hoyt . Shoot them all and Buy the one that feels the best in your price range . What works for me you may hate so try as many as possible.
Go to a pro shop and shoot different brands.
I was a PSE shooter until I did this and after I shot Bear bow I was hooked. And it wasn't all that expensive. It was about $500 for the package and a dozen arrows.
Wow...just what I was looking form tanks boys. M.D.
I currently have a Matthews, bear and elite. The elite is 35 inch bow and hands down easiest to shoot. You can hold it back much longer than the others.
I have gone to bow shops and looked over different models and most importantly 2 things: 1) feel in hand and 2) feel of the craw cycle. I don't like hatchet cams or speed bows generally.
Then, I go to Archerytalk.com and search their classified section as they get a ton of bows listed there. I have bought several bows used from there and have sold stuff too. Haven't had a bad experience yet. I have also purchased and sold thousands of dollars worth of cameras and lenses & photo accessories over the years (mostly on Nikonians.org) without a problem too.
If you have the capability to set up a bow yourself, then when you find a model you like, you may find it used and go that route. If you lack that ability, then you either need a friend or buy from a bow shop and they can do the setup work for you.
>>>>----good luck---->
Maddog, I have a very nice highly adjustable PSE that I bought as a back up bow for KS. I put the deluxe biscuit on it and a very nice Tru-Glo 5 pin sight and it has a QD quiver. PM me if interested. I will give you a deal that will make your head spin if interested. I also agree with everyone about going to a pro-shop and shooting some bows, but with todays bows and their adjustability you also can buy over the internet and be pretty well off. I did with this PSE and threw some better access. on it and had it tuned and shooting 3" groups at 40 yards in less than 15 minutes. Shawn
I should also say watch out for bows with a jumpy cam, meaning that if you even let up on back tension a wee bit it wants to rip it out of your hand in other words tough to hold as full draw and wants to take off on you. If you a bit older like me, its terrible. Shawn
Having been in this game 35 years: perfect advice from the brethren. I'll add these thing:
1) Don't be afraid of a used bow from a good archery shop. Modern tackle is pretty amazingly durable.
2) Don't look at the name on the bow. If you like the way if feels, that's where its at.
3) Yes, I shoot a Mathews (expensive in its day, Switchback XT, its now "old" and I bought it for an excellent price cheap), but I think my favorite bow was a Bear instinct. It was cheap, quiet, fast, easy on the draw and it "liked" me. Camo finish banged off quite easily.. but that was the only thing I could fault it for. Next was a Mathews Outback (great cam).
4) Can you buy one on eBay used? Sure. But you should be a pretty darn good fitter/tuner, and you MUST have it fixed solidly in your mind and prepared to spin it right around and sell it… you may not like it when you get it, unless you have tried a buddy's of the same model and know that it'll be what you want.
