Spray paint a newer bow
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: arky
13-Apr-18
Does anyone spray paint thier bow? I’ve got a Mathews chillX and I love the bow, but I’ve noticed it shines a lot when the sun hit certain spots. Does anyone do like Randy Ulmer and spray paint thier bow? If so what paint do you use? If you got any pictures I’d appreciate seeing them. Thanks!
From: PECO
13-Apr-18
I have spray painted a few recurves. The rattle can camo flat paint.
From: turkey talker
13-Apr-18
Ermine did a cool paint job at one time, maybe he can chime in again.
From: HUNT MAN
13-Apr-18
I have painted ever new bow I get. Just as you said it takes the shine off. Limb pockets and cams shine in the sun. Flat spray paint works just fine.
From: arky
13-Apr-18
Hunt man how do you do the cams without affecting any string contact? Just lightly spray it? I’ve noticed a lot on my bow could shine. From all of my stabilizers to the sight, limb pockets and cams.
From: Tilzbow
13-Apr-18
A light flat rattle can dusting from a distance definitely helps to take the shine off. It will wear off and shine up after a few hunts. If your camo shirt and pants have to match your bow and/or your bow has look good to impress your friends and the game you’re after this might not work for you. If that’s the case see the suggestion above.
From: HUNT MAN
13-Apr-18
A light dusting will do the trick. I also shoot my bow a few times after about five mins of drying.
From: arky
13-Apr-18
Lmao I don’t much care bout my bow matching my camo it’s more for the shiny areas. I just wanted to make sure it won’t affect the way it shoots. Thanks for the responses!
From: arky
13-Apr-18
Lol well I am just a redneck from Arkansas so it might be fitting. Na it really has nothing to do with looks. I love the looks of it in dessert tactical. It’s just for hunting I could see the shine messing up a hunt. I’m not a great hunter so i want to stack the odds in my favor
From: Kevin @ Wisconsin
13-Apr-18
Do it! Some flat krylon will do the trick.
From: Glunt@work
14-Apr-18
Back in the day I painted them all and repainted them before season each year. It kills the glare but honestly I enjoyed doing it and that is probably the reason. I enjoy seeing the beautuful wood these days so I let them shine.
From: wifishkiller
14-Apr-18
No but I buy them and sell them like a mad man, bowaholic here!
From: patience2spare
14-Apr-18
This is my '05 Bowtech Liberty. Shot it for 11 years and killed a pile of stuff with it. Eventually the Mossy Oak pattern became VERY shiny. I used blue painter's tape and taped off my grip, cams, string, cables and specs sticker and shot everything else flat black. Turned out very well and wore surprisingly well. I will probably do the same when the Kryptek on my Prodigy becomes shiny.
You can do it and it will look fine. Just take your time. Pete
From: Buglmin
14-Apr-18
Just use a light dusting, you don't need a heavy paint to nock the glare down. If you'd read Ulmer's article, you'd understand how and why he does it. Color's like flat tan work well. You're not painting the bow, just dusting it. Hydro dipping also has shine and glare.
From: bad karma
14-Apr-18
Bowflage paint works fine, and you can remove it easily.
From: huntinelk
14-Apr-18
Went from this
Went from this
Rattle can texture paint
From: Bowboy
14-Apr-18
Huntinelk did you have to dissemble the whole bow. Also did you use anything for prepping. That paint job looks very nicely done.
From: huntinelk
15-Apr-18
Complete dissasemble. I lightly sanded, then used a scotch brite pad to rough up existing paint and try to smooth out any of the spots where the finish had chipped off. I primed with a couple coats of the best rattle can primer I could find, then a couple coats of tan then topped with the tan texture color.
From: Cocoon Man
15-Apr-18
From: arky
15-Apr-18
Awesome job on your bow! I actually started yesterday evening painting my stabilizers. Starting small lol.
From: Cocoon Man
15-Apr-18
After reading Randy Ulmer's article about spray painting his $1500 dollar Hoyt bow you would think Hoyt would get a clue and offer a flat no glare finish option which includes the cams.
Send an email to Hoyt or other brands suggesting such an option if they get enough demand maybe they will offer it. After all they are hunting bows. For what they cost you should not have to spray paint your bow.
From: arky
15-Apr-18
Well to be fair I bought my bow used off of archerytalk a couple years ago and don’t think I’ll be getting a different one anytime soon. So I really didn’t spend a bunch of money at Mathews. But I agree it should be an option since they are made to hunt with every once in a while. Not just to look pretty at the range lol
From: ELKMAN
15-Apr-18
I would if I thought it wouldn't hurt their value for re sale.
From: Cocoon Man
15-Apr-18
Elkman, your right. You should be able to buy a factory finish that does not shine. I can buy a shotgun in a non glare finish why not a HUNTING BOW. I spray painted my Hoyt carbon Spyder after I noticed it reflected like a mirror after laying it down to go pull my arrows. When I was walking back I was shocked to see how much it shined.
It is tough to take a spray can to a $1500.00 bow, you should not have to, they should offer a non reflective option. ( Done ranting)
From: t-roy
15-Apr-18
Huntinelk.....I’m curious as to why you didn’t add another contrasting color (or 2) to the tan finish?
From: huntinelk
15-Apr-18
Just personal preference, I prefer the clean single color look.
From: t-roy
15-Apr-18
Gotcha.
From: Topper
15-Apr-18
Has anyone tries just spraying a flat clear coat over existing color? Would think that could work and not really effect resale.
From: LBshooter
15-Apr-18
Dip it, easy.
From: Buglmin
15-Apr-18
Now days, dipping is getting expensive, plus you have to ship parts, they won't disassemble a bow.
From: Snag
15-Apr-18
Pick some leaves and ferns. Use as templates. Rattle cans, black, olive green, light green...done.
From: arky
15-Apr-18
So to update. I got brown, black, and kaki. Started with my front and back stabilizers and the quiver yesterday. I’ve decided on my bow I’m only doing thit limbs and cams because the riser doesn’t really shine. I will post pictures once it’s done.
From: Nick Muche
16-Apr-18
Rattle can all my bows these days, don't care about resale and I don't care how they look but I do know that the less shine the better.
From: smarba
16-Apr-18
I've used flat spray cans on mine. Mask anything you don't want colored (strings/cables/grip) and touch up as needed. I want my bow dull and silent. I have sticky fleece plastered anywhere an arrow might accidentally make a noise when loading or letting down too. Looks ugly but have never alerted an animal due to glare or noise.
From: Bake
16-Apr-18
Instead of spray painting just hunt some oak brush and serviceberry (? I think it's service berry?) brush in Colorado right after buying your new bow. Rubs the glare right off. Just check your quiver occasionally and make sure you haven't lost any arrows.
I'm joking but it does kinda work. I haven't noticed a heavy glare on my Heli-M. I'm sure some is there. The cams are kinda shiny. . . .
Damn you guys. . . now I gotta go buy some spray paint. . . .
From: buc i 313
16-Apr-18
I used to spray "flat black" on all of my bow's. Re-curves, compounds, wheels and cables excluded :^}
No need to now a days. My SBXT, is doing just fine with no shine :^}
From: bill v
16-Apr-18
OK, be careful. I used to paint all my bows. My best buddy was bow tech at our local shop. I had bought a new High Country and painted it within the first week. It had a nice camo on it but, I wanted it dull like stated above. Well, I ended up getting some paint down into the limb socket. It started squeaking right away. I had to take the bow back to my buddy at the shop, boy he gave me hell, he had to take the bow apart and clean it out. Moral, keep your paint out of the moving parts! :)
bill v
From: Mathewshootrphone
16-Apr-18
I know some guys have them dipped camo
