I keep seeing new bow threads and alot of these bows are nothing short of breath taking.My question is why pay for a bow that might get scratched or dinged in woods.Forgive me I own a kodiak hunter I payed $125.00 for and Savannah that will more than likely get some battle scars.I'm just curious because bows are nothing but a tool to me.Thanks.
MY bows are expensive. 375 for my Chek Kings Pawn, 485 for my Chek Hunter II. I'll hunt them both.
If I had a 1000-1200 dollar bow I'd shoot it. If you don't shoot them then you don't have a bow you have art on the wall.
Shoot em if ya got em.
oops I meant inexpensive
As I said in another thread, I don't.....and won't own a bow that I am not willing to hunt with. They are a tool, I don't baby them.....but I don't use them to plow through the brush either.
Winterhawk1960
I buy things to wear 'em out with use or I don't buy 'em period.
It better be able to take it or I don't want it. I don't baby anything...but I don't abuse it intentionally either.
jer bear
Never too fine or pretty to take into God's Catherdal, I say! Besides, the "battle scars" just add character to the piece, in my opinion. Isn't that what makes an object, especially a wood one, more beautiful? From violins to dressers to bows, I can think of no exceptions to the rule. :thumbsup:
Its like a car if you dont drive it dont have it sit around.Sell it
i try to take good to great care of any of my things, especially hunting gear. i would never buy a bow or anything hunting related that i didn't plan on using. i suppose if i had unlimited money, mabey i'd have some bows only for target only shooting, or collecting..... but i'll never have that problem. buy it and USE IT!
It's a great relief to have a bow that you can beat up; you just have to decide that it's going to be a keeper. Suddenly, no worries about banging it around in the trunk, digging for arrows under leaves, etc. This, of course, is conducive to the one-bow philosophy.
hey I used to see vids of Fred Bear and he would get up to the animal and jsut throw his bow down...made me cringe.
I don't do that either, but scratches are part of the game I think.
Saw a friend once just throw his bow down after a sheep hunt to take pics...His string hit the rocks and exploded...the bow ended up with a fractured limb because when it straightened out is hit a rock behind it..HARD.
Jer
I don't have the money to buy anything that I will not use, so unless I inherited something, I plan on using it.
DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
Won't own a bow, rifle, or shotgun I won't hunt with. Have top end models of all and if it's in my rack or my safe, it sees action...
As an aside, I still just cringe when I watch old videos of Papa Bear, who would just throw his bow down when he was about to lay hands on whatever critter it was he just laid low. I always figured he would just grab a new K-Hunter off the line if when he trashed the one he was hunting with... :D
I consider archery my method of killing animals for food, period.
Without hunting, I am without need of a bow.
I switched to trad n July and got a Black Widow because it was made to hunt.
It looks like it has been "alive" for exponentially longer than it has because it has been hunted as much as possible.
They don't give BW's away, but neither do they give away boots, binos, tags, trucks, yada.
I appreciate folks that consider bows and archery more than a tool used to do something else, but I am not one.
Also, I shoot broadheads daily. My curve hasn't been unstrung but 4 times besides adjusting brace. All were to travel and all were only long enough to load in case and get where I was going.
Scratches and dings just add character!
I don't recommend abusing any bow wether it cost 100 or 1000$ but I definitely use mine. Jason
I've got some nice bows worth $1000-$1200 I shoot them and hunt with them just like any cheap bow.I take good care of my tools.
I'm not wealthy but the cost of a bow isn't really that much.It's just a few trips to the grocery store.At least with a bow I've got something more than a bigger belly to show for my money.
I buy bows to use. Once they are unsafe to use or broken do they become permnent art unless I use the wood for a knife handle.
I dont throw bows like Tred Barta did but I'm not gonna cry if I accidently drop it.
Got a new bow last Thursday and it is already sporting a new ding in the limb :archer:
Tools to use
For me once my hunting equipment gets that used look to it and i stop babbying it i get better use out of it.
The only bows I won't hunt with are ones I don't own. If I'm not gonna use it for what it's for I won't buy it. Bows are tools and nothing more, although some are beautiful tools they're still tools. I'm not saying you should thrash your bow around and abuse it, but you should never be afraid to use it. Most if not all the expensive bows are built to withstand any hunting situation you'll be in anyway so the finish will hold up and protect the wood.
After you ding a couple you don't feel like you're gonna puke when you do it. Remember, a bow is a bow and that's what they're for.
There are some bows out there that should not be shot due to their rareness. I don't own any of these but if I did I wouldn't shoot them, moreless hunt them. I have others to risk blowing up.
I personally feel that 56" '59 Bear Kodiak with the maple sight window that is up for auction now is one of those bows. There are no others known to exist.
I have an old 30lb ben pearson long bow that I probly will never even string, as I am afraid to damage it, but I wear my bear cheynnee out! I even threw it at a deer that I missed once! (wouldnt do it again though lol)
I have hunted hard with mostly the same bow for 15 years,very nice top end bow,it is still in good conditions and for sure it will survive to me,so I have to take care of myself more than to my bow. Life is short enjoy what you can affort.
When I got my last Dale Dye bow, I was so enamored with it I told Dale I was going to hang it on the wall for decor and hunt with my older Dyes. He said if I did that he'd never make me another. I hunt with all of them.
being a lefty,i won't hunt with a righthanded bow.
:D
I take care of what I own but if I can't use it, I don't want it. I have a couple of bows that I use primarily for 3-d shoots, because of their high gloss finish, but if that is the bow I decide to hunt with in a given year I will do so without worry.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jerry Wald:
hey I used to see vids of Fred Bear and he would get up to the animal and jsut throw his bow down...made me cringe.
Jer
I used to see that all the time too. Fred had a pretty good supplier of bows though.
I hunt my bows. Some of them I paid a lot for. 800 plus. They have gotten some scratches but like Jerry said I dont abuse them intentionaly.
I hunt with expensive bows and will use them to block a branch etc. I prefer to use the bow than my face but that's just me. Everything you own will one day belong to someone else. I like scars..er scratches on my bows-they are more beautiful when it is clear they have been used for their intended purpose. There may be a heaven but this life is only now. Use it all!
Yep, there is a difference between use and abuse. I use my guns and bows, but they still look dang near new. If I do get a scratch on one, I feel like I lacerated my own arm.
I just got a new Shrew CH, carbon and foam, Prettiest yew burl veneers you ever saw.And oh yea it has a bow bolt. You just can't drive tent stakes with a 1 pc bow.
Scratches and nicks are just like my gray beard, and wine they only get better with age. There is one bow I have that I will not hunt with, an old herters lemon wood longbow made back in the fifties. I started my adventure with flinging arrows when I was seven years old, and still have a place for this bow as a reminder of times gone buy. If you can't use it, why have it! :rolleyes:
These are some of the bows I won't hunt with.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Killdeer/TG%20Uploads/Oddball/beefstew-and-hair-bows-081-396x400.jpg)
Won't hunt with these either.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Killdeer/TG%20Uploads/Oddball/bows030.jpg)
Got a couple of twenty-five pounders that likely will not see any hunting action, unless I take up hunting grasshoppers.
Killdeer
Your killin me Killdeer, I think thoose flip flops would be lousy for stalkin. But I do like the red bow with white polka dots! ;)
I hunt with my Quinn Stallion as well as my Widow. They are sort of like at opposite ends of the price spectrum, but I treat them both the same. I guess I baby them both a little whether shooting at a target or hunting. I do use them both, though I wouldn't use them for a walking stick or for something they are not meant for. If they do get scraped up, though, I wouldn't get too uptight. I have an old Bear Super Kodiak that I likely won't hunt with. I bought it just because for some reason I wanted a Grayling Bear. It is a sweet shooter, though. And it reminds me of a friend I lost that had an old Bear hanging on his wall.
ron
if i have it...it gets hunted with/shot...
I have a number of custom for me bows. I paid extra for the little things that I feel make a bow look better. All of these bows are bought with hunting in mind. A few scratches or dings are just more memories of the places that bows has taken me.
QuoteOriginally posted by bozara:
When I got my last Dale Dye bow, I was so enamored with it I told Dale I was going to hang it on the wall for decor and hunt with my older Dyes. He said if I did that he'd never make me another. I hunt with all of them.
I like that!! :jumper:
I think it's a Sin to Buy a Bow and not Hunt it!
A Bow without "Good Medicine" from Hunting is useless! But,I would never abuse them under any circumstance! I would risk limb first before Bow.
No such thing as a bow I won't hunt with! :thumbsup:
Ok maybe a bowtie
A compund
Not only will I hunt all my bows regardless of how pretty they are. If you or anyone else has a pretty bow they want hunted I'll do that too..lol
God bless,Mudd
I like a nice looking, nice performing bow same as nice looking guns, hunting dogs and trucks. They are all acquired to acomplish a task.
Performance first, but if I can get looks and performance, I'm a happy boy.
I havent got one yet.
I've hunted'd with my expensive bow, and my less expensive bow. Just depends on what suits my fancy when I get up in the morning. Can't see owning anything I wouldn't use. Actually, the 3D courses and hunting are about equally hard on equipment if you let it. I'm relatively carefull with my stuff, but don't sweat the small stuff.
:archer: I agree that scratches are part of the game my recurves all have scratches from hunting.We dont abuse them but we do hunt with them and one can fall while hunting or hiking out in the dark,which I have done both many a time.
I take care of all my bows, and would shoot any of them anywhere at anytime.
Use all my bows regardless of cost, that is what they are meant to do. My wife has art, I have funtional art.
People that can afford to buy expensive bows, just to look at, simply have too much money to throw around, and not much sense to go with it.
:saywhat: :knothead:
QuoteOriginally posted by bozara:
When I got my last Dale Dye bow, I was so enamored with it I told Dale I was going to hang it on the wall for decor and hunt with my older Dyes. He said if I did that he'd never make me another. I hunt with all of them.
Mark,
I'm sure he would eventually build you another bow.....but I bet he'd never gut another elk for ya!
He's converting my older bows/limbs to fast flight...almost like getting new bows!
Well I have one I won't hunt with. You wouldn't either. A '65 Bear Kodiak that delaminated last year. It's a wall decoration among the deer racks now.
I don't have the heart to cut it up for projects so it's waiting for a miracle cure kind of like waiting for a cure for cancer.
I have a 67 Kodiak and shoot it everyday and can't wait to get my first kill with it. won't own'em if i can't shoot'em.
Hey George , You make it sound like it's a bad thing to have money.I've bought alot of expensive bows I've never hunted with. Does that mean I don't have much sense? I don't get your post.
The perttier they are the more I pound onem!!
my dads old herters recurve .
there's nothing like useing a well made tool. no matter what the cost.
I have one bow I would leave home because of the high gloss finish. I am blessed to have several other bows to choose from.
the bows i wont hunt with are the wheel things see i cant even say it! LOL!!!!
If I had a bow that was too shiny to hunt with I would spray paint it camo. No use for any thing you can't use.
QuoteOriginally posted by Thumper Dunker:
If I had a bow that was too shiny to hunt with I would spray paint it camo. No use for any thing you can't use.
I think it would be pretty foolish to take a rattlecan to a snakewood and ebony bow. Besides, I know at least a dozen guys who would pound me into the ground if I spray painted it. I'm thinkin of sending one of my bows to be camo dipped...
To each his own.
i beat the piss out of my plx but it's still beautiful, I payed a lot for
a bow i can count on and really that's the most important thing. When I go out of state and then drop my bow from 25 feet in the air with my rattling antlers bashing it, along with every branch on the tree the whole way down (like i did this year), I'm glad i can dust it off and keep on hunting.
JL,
Several coats of Johnson's paste wax smeared on and left to dry will dull it up fine for bow season. They give it one more coat after the season and polish it back up. That's what I do on the old Kodiaks.
No women is too pretty to sleep with, well unless your married and she's not your wife
I found that most bowyers like to see you use them no matter how sweet they are.
I hunted with the same Widow for 14 years. Every little ding and scuff is a memory of a good hunt. I've actually decided to pass it on to a good friend of mine who really wants to give up his training wheels. I just ordered a new widow but went with the standard wood. I also acquired a few vintage Bears along the way, and have hunted with most of those. I picked up a walnut compass Kodiak in really good shape for real cheap, but I'm not sure if I'm going to shoot it or not, cause I was advised against it.
I have some custom muzzleloaders that I hunt with that cost twice as much as any bow that I have. I hunt with my bows and muzzleloaders because that's what they were intended for......stabow
I can't imagine not using the bows I own, maybe if funds were unlimited but so far that has not been a problem. :D