Not being able to leave well enough alone regarding my tackle, I am considering different quivers.
Don't want this to be a good/bad thing, and not too interested in brands. More bow quiver vs other designs with supporting facts.
What is in your HUNTING experience the quiver design you favor and WHY. For example, I would like to hear how the back quiver users handle carrying a pack with such a quiver and if tree limbs catch the fletching etc.
Thanks
Joshua
I have tried a bunch and have whittled it down to a BOA small fry for a bow quiver or a Cat Quiver 111 for a back quiver. The cat quiver has a back pack built into it and your fletching stays protected.The back pack is plenty large enough for day trips or one overnight. Last year all I used was the Cat Quiver and it's all I will use this fall.
I like bow quivers. I have always used them and never, save for a home made rig, used anything else. The added weight on my bow may have something to do with it. It does seem to dampen some vibration and kill some sound.
I have used a number of types from the spring arm Bear's back in the late 60's to my current favoriate Thunderhorn. I just this spring got a Kanati Slim Jim which I am playing with right now.
As to attachment, I have strap on, limb bolt and side. All seem to work for me equally well.
Years ago I tried a back quiver and could not get comfortable with it. It always seemed to give me some kind of problem. I have also tried a hip quiver. It did not do what I wanted either.
What kind of quiver you use is kind of like "what kind of vehicle" you drive.... You have to decide.
Good luck
I shoot a longbow most of the time .I like a strap on quvier easy access.plus the extra weight allows my bow to to fall to the right to a natural cant fourm.it also adds weight to my long bow with no quiver my bow is under 1.5 lbs.
I don't use a back pack or bow quivers.
Overall, I like a GFA quiver. It can be worn like a back or side quiver. It has an arrow holder so the arrows never touch one another so no noise even going over rough terrain. Has a broadhead hood to protect the broadheads from touching one another so the broadheads don't get dull. Arrows are easy to get to when swung around from back quiver to a side quiver.
Yes, the feathers are exposed if walking through a thick fog, but spraying Camp Dry or other equivalent on the feathers a week before keeps the feathers dry with no odor so animals won't smell the feathers and zero in on your position.
Does anyone know of a full enumeration of quiver styles --- how many different quiver concepts are there?
- basic open-ended tube
- Native American (one style (Plains?)soft leather w/ external hanging rod, usually has quiver for bow as well)
- back quiver
- target quivers
- field quiver (fletchings to back usually fanned out sometimes w/ individual holders)
- stalker quiver (tube w/ fletchings to back and opening to allow point first extrction
- Mongolian/Tartar/Turkish quivers (like a field quiver but w/ more attachment points intended for horseback)
- Chinese/Korean (small pouch w/ arrow grippers http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/koreanarchery/1991-0871-set.shtm )
(both of the above are often paired w/ a matching bow case)
- Chinese/Korean arrowcase ( http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/koreanarchery/1994-0826A-quiver.shtm )
(both of those links are from http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/grayson.shtml )
- and of course bow quivers
Lots of pictures here:
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/5682/Miscellaneous-Quiver-Styles-Many-Photos?page=1
Any other designs or interesting variations? Anyone suggest any good books?
I'm another one for the Catquiver. Been using a Catquiver 2 for 15 yrs. Stalking, just reach back and got an arrow in hand. Treestand, just hang it up and everything I need is right there. Very handy.
I wrote:
>- Native American (one style (Plains?)soft leather w/ external hanging rod, usually has quiver for bow as well)
That needs to be expanded/re-written, but I'm not sure how...
``one style I know of which is uniquely Native American...''?
I have bought or made a number of quivers, starting with a back quiver, Bear 4 arrow, Bear 8 arrow (works best with 5); Glenn St Charles back, Cat Quiver II, Safari Tuff, Thunderhorn Boa leather hood with straps, GN with straps with some recurves or R&D longbow, and Hill style.
IMO the bow quiver works best on a recurve, and should be lite. Cat Quiver works anytime with any bow, and same for Safari. Hill style is more versatile than it looks, but best used when it is not raining. No real favorites and will continue to use different types depending on the situation and bow. Some bow quivers get too heavy with more than 4 or 5 arrows, some do not work for me on longbows.
Nothing to fret about, just use what you want.
I use a Dawgware Timo lite most the time. Protects my arrows a bit and hides the feathers.I can carry an assortment of arrows and lots of them.I also use a homemade from a store bought bow quiver an Asbell type quiver. I started using one like this over 20 years ago.I also have used a back quiver a bit but do that usually in the Winter. I recently got the perfect for me back Quiver from Brother " Shinken"and look forward to putting it to use. If I had to use only one it would be the Dawgware or one like it. Safari Tuf looks good as well but have never used one.RC
I have tried every type of quiver over the years and have come to the conclusion I need something different with different bow styles and activities. When I hunted with my Treadway bow I had a Selway bow quiver on and loved it. It seemed to make the bow more stable for me. Now I shoot mostly selfbows and like them bare and physically light. When target shooting I use a side stalker type(homemade)quiver and for hunting I prefer a GFA type quiver that I made from my old selway bow quiver. I've never likes a back quiver although I consider them very traditional and I can't get used to a Plains style quiver. It seems to be in my way all the time.
I shoot the bow all year without a bow quiver, so I don't feel like getting used to one when I go hunting. The Safari Tuff works great whether I'm wearing a pack or not, and although I use a lot of different quivers for other purposes, I can't imagine using any other quiver to hunt with.
Over the years I've tried them all- back,hip,side plains indian and bow quivers! Thru the spring /summer I would stalk woodchucks testing each quiver under hunting situations! Come fall, I always revert back to my bow quivers! With my bow quivers,I like the fact that my arrows are right up front for mimual movement to retrieve that second arrow when needed! also I find them way easier to manuver thru brush and such! I use a fletch cover to protect and hide the bright colors from wary game! Now if I was going on an exttended trip of more than 2 days I'll also carry my safari tuff for the extra arrows! I also like the looks of bow quivers and don't mind the added weight!
For 3d I always carry my arrows in a back quiver. For short hunting trips I have a two arrow bow quiver I made that does not change my point of impact at all. If I am hunting more than a half mile from the truck I carry a home made side quiver that is similar to the Safari Tuff quiver that holds plenty of extra arrows and protects the fletching from our lovely wet weather.
I did hunt one year with a back quiver. If you keep just a few arrows in them a pack will hold the quiver against your back and keep the arrows really quiet. Downside, the fletching flag like crazy, are not protected from the elements and catch a lot of brush.
Like most of you, I struggled for years with quiver styles. I never really liked bow quivers, from early on. This goes back to the seventies....I hated the rattle and the awkward weight (for me) on my bows. Back then it was recurves, but when I switched to shooting longbows in the eighties, it was especially true. Of course back then, there wasn't the options available today. Hunting here in MT, most of my outings were more like expeditions. Hunting in the mountains requires more gear, and means packs. I own several back quivers, and I like them for targets, small game, and plinking around and about, but they never worked well with packs. I began experimenting with a Kwikee type bow quiver with a strap....much like the side quivers many are using now, and I liked that as the "best" option I could find and still use packs.
Around about that time, selway came out with their version of a hip quiver using the kwikee bracket, that slipped onto a belt, and many of my friends began using that option. It had it's merits, and that idea intrigued me, but I did'nt like the fact that you had to remove your belt to take off the quiver. I also did not like the angle of the arrows, and the quiver still hung too low on the leg, increasing the "flagging" of your fletches while you walked or moved. Still, it removed one of my other irritations of the other options...that being another strap around my neck, which already held pack straps, binos, calls...a various assortment of potential strangles.
At that time, I was eyeballing a quiver made by the Idaho Leather company, or something like that. A real quality product, still made, that also fit on your belt, but rode high on your hip eliminating flagging issues, and your arrows and feathers trailed straight back behind you. The only issue was the belt thing again, and I wasn't crazy about the springy friction way it held your shafts together. I began to put my thoughts together using the selway idea, and the way the idaho quiver rode.....and incorporated a pistol holster idea I used when packing in the backcountry, and came up with my quiver caddy.
It "hangs" on your belt...no more straps! It is the easiest to remove in a hurry....works with any number of quiver designed to fit the AMO holes on a bow riser (like a kwikee, which we prefer). Being that it hangs, it is easily taken off and hung while in a treestand, or moved in the thickest, brushiest situations (that even a bow quiver won't survive) or when stalking close to critters.
The arrows and fletchings trail straight back and don't flag...when you squat with it on, they lay paralell to the ground....not flagging up, and if they are a problem take it off....easily.
It is still the only hanging quiver thing I've ever seen made other than a similar type that Marv Clynke uses that he designed himself for similar reasons. We have been using this for more than 20 years everywhere from Alaska to Texas, with big packs and fanny packs. It just works. Also, with the kwikee bracket, a guy can have several kwikees, one with target points or with carbons....another with woodies. One has my antelope arrows, another my elk arrows, etc.
It may not be the perfect solution, but it's well thought out, and works for us very well.
Can't stand a bow quiver, never have liked them dating back to the early 60's... For hunting I've been using one variant or another of the Cat Quiver even since Jerry brought it out as a speed quiver.. for 3-D, field or just stumping I usually use a custom Pro 1 hip quiver made by Fist Inc.
Mark - Please toss up some pics of your quivers....would be interesting to see.
Awesome summery Mark. And thanks for everyones input.
I own several of the more common quivers on the market and I think it depends somewhat on what bow your carrying and type of hunting you are doing. I have used Selway slip-on and QD; Great Northern strap on and Limb-bolt; Rancho Safari hip quiver and various back quivers. For bow quivers, I really prefer the Great Northern quivers although the slip-on Selway is a close second for longbows if you don't need to remove it often.
However, a few years ago I picked up a MANTIS side quiver from LaClair Archery, and I think this is one of the most versatile quiver options around! It works like the GFA but it is ALL leather, and I have found it to be extemely lightweight and most of all, QUIET...even when it is slung over my shoulders while I am carrying my Lone Wolf stand on my back. Because of the all leather construction it wont make noise if it rubs/bumps against something...and there is nothing as nice as quality leather (I think these are made by Art Vincent).
heres' a couple pics....also my avatar has a pic of me in Alaska with it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/woodwizard/caddy1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/woodwizard/Mark.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/woodwizard/Elkhunter.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/woodwizard/Mdoe1.jpg)
+1 for Eagles Flight on the bow or Mark Baker's Quiver Caddy.
I had one of the Idaho Leather Co quivers. Mark's setup is better. :thumbsup:
I'm tired of any more straps around my neck or shoulders when it's hunting time.
Since this is an honest assessment....here's some things to consider. By the way, I'm not trying to sell these, I don't have but a few left anyway, and I think I may keep them. They are easy enough to make yourself.
Hip quivers get a bum rap about going through brush and stuff. I'll put this design up against ANY quiver for ease of maneuvering through thick brush. When you get tangled, it's much easier to take this off and free yourself or gear, than to do the same with 60 inches or so of bow attached! Believe me, I've been there and done it.
Bow quivers do have some advantages however, in getting an arrow quick, and always being right there, but it's minimal. Many do like the extra weight with them. That's all fine. It really boils down to preference and opinion. And in the end, you will try everything like we all do.
I am partial to a strap on bow quiver most of the time,Have used Great Northern for many years,my bows seem to shoot a little better with it on.I shoot nothing but a 1 piece longbow
I went with a safari tuff quiver, I didn't like the bow quivers because of the extra weight on the bow, I thought it threw the bow balance off, at least for me. It also makes the bow more noticeable when moving it. If your going through thick stuff it made it harder to keep from getting tangled up.
The Safari tuff quiver protects the arrows and can keep the feathers from getting wet or tangled up, it makes it easy to access the arrows and put them back into the quiver, and if necessary put them back in, It keeps the arrows quite and holds them firm, It comes in camo . It has the potential to carry many arrows of different types. It's easy to get an arrow out for a second shot. It attaches to the sides of most packs easily and still maintains the ease of getting to the arrows, but the question is do I like it ?, what do you think ?
Thanks Mark.....I like the thinking and experience that went into that. I really like my Big Jim bow quiver.....buy you've got me thinking by having removed some of the issues of a standard hip quiver.
I really like that idea Mark! Now I just need to figure out how to make one of those.
I've tried back quivers and bow quivers and prefer bow quivers while walking through the woods. I did have problems with the arrows catching on low branches while ducking under them with a back quiver on. And it was kinda noisy with the aluminum arrows rattling around.
For 3-d it doesn't matter,but for hunting,I will take a bow quiver.
I only use a back quiver when shooting flat range or 3-D.
Otherwise I will use some sort of side quiver. I have a GFA, Safari Tuff Duiker, a leather side quiver.
The leather quivers will soak up the rain most. They are also the most rugged. The side quiver I have is much like the HH quiver on 3RiversArchery.com
The Safari Tuff Duiker is an ok quiver. It protects fletching better than all my other quivers. It doesn't soak up much rain water and when it does, it dries fast. It's a good quiver.
The GFA quiver is a good quiver. It has a plastic bar down the back side of the quiver that can make noise if you bump an arrow shaft on it or even if you bump up against a rock with it (happened to me).
The perfect quiver doesn't exist but any of the side quivers above seem fairly decent to me. If I was going to fight brush and rain all day long I would go with the Safari Tuff. But if it's not raining and I am hiking into the high country I will likely bring my GFA quiver. If out in the open like in Montana or Wyoming I like my leather side quiver. Most of all I like the option of all of them and am spoiled. I even have a quiver made from a coyote. I won that thing in a raffle. Pretty neat.
(http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n64/2fletch/DSCN0248.jpg)
A lightweight bow quiver is convenient, will more often then not quieten your bow, and can even act as a stabilizer to improve how a lightweight bow will shoot. Many of them (such as the Eagle's Flight Archery quiver shown)do not require retuning to allow for the quiver.
Back quivers can be hot in warm weather and catch on over head brush. Side quivers and pocket quivers are unobtrusive, but I have seen guys forget they were there and sit on them.
:archer2: :archer2:
I love my High noon hunter. I carry it like a GFA and a back quiver combination if that makes any sense.
I like Mark Bakers outfit. Where can a guy get one of those.
I am a bow quiver guy but I have one of Marks side quivers. Thats what I would use full time if I ever got away from the bow quiver. They just work.
I have one of Mark's quivers but I prefer the bow quiver for weight etc.
I have two of these hip quivers from the late 80s (the other is in treebark). I modified them over a decade ago with a shoulder strap to use as a side quiver for hunting. I really dont like bow quivers either. It gets worn like a GFA or straped to the treestand on the way in or out.I do use a back quiver when squirrel or rabbit hunting or 3d in cooler weather. In the summer I have one of Steve Catts belt side quivers.
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/yelojello/PB120024.jpg)
My vote goes toward the catquivers and those like them that have a cover for the fletching
in my experience, I have found side quivers to be very cumbersome and noisy when hunting on the ground, and not usable from a treestand. the arrows scratch the bark if you have to turn to make a shot. i like the simplicity of having all major sources of noise in one spot, i find it easier to move silently only having to worry about one object, the bow. i have only been bowhunting for three years, but i have definitely settled with bowquivers exclusively. i do love the look of many side and back quivers, I just dont prefer them for hunting.
I now have a Safari Tuff ,and an Asbell,some bow quivers from different manufacturers, The Safari Tuff maybe the one........I have used Mark Bakers style for a few years on and off, It maybe the most underrated of all of them. It just works very well!I have tried lots and still have not found one that fits all needs.......Mr. Bakers is very close!!
I just can't get used to back quivers, I have tried them, I just like my arrows right by my hand when a quick follow up is needed. I have been using the Selway slide on quivers for years and really like them, also like the way they look on the bow, very traditional looking to my eyes. I practice with them all year long so when hunting season rolls around I'm all ready to go. I was always brushing the noisy fletching on trees and things when I tried them years ago. I'm sure though for someone who uses them all the time you would get used to them, it just seems to me that right on the bow is much more efficient. DK.
Hip quivers and back quivers are just more junk to carry IMO. I like the quiver on my bow for the added weight and stability and the quick second arrow if needed. I have 4 or 5 kwikee quivers and 2 delta 7 arrow quivers.
I am actually looking for a quiver right now..I used selways and currently use a thunderhorn but i went to 3 under and Idont hardly cant my bow at all now. And now with my quiver on I shoot right. I am thinking of going with a catquiver. I would try one of the tube style side quivers but i am afraid my broadheads will dull not being seperated.
I use a selway slide on, on my recurve. I like the arrows in front of me so I know which one I'm using. I keep one or two field points for stumping or practice shots. The arrows don't get caught up in the brush like a back quiver. I can somewhat hide behind the full quiver. Follow up shots are easier with less movement. It's just more convenient all around.
IMHO, each individual can make any quiver choice work well. Just a matter of personal preference for whatever reasons. Mark Baker mentioned success w/hip quivers especially through brush. Used my own hip quiver (similar to Fred Bear quiver) successfully over 20 years. The feathers pointed behind me & the quiver swiveled at a pivot point on my belt. Could adjust the pivot point to stationary if I wanted easily in the field. Tried Selway, Cat, pocket, Solo Stalker, etc & others eventually settling on the backquiver (more arrows). Suits me as I feel connected. Never had ANY probs w/hip quiver though. Just wanted to try new things.
I've tried tons of them over the years, including Cat quivers, a homemade GFA style (years ago--wish I'd have thought to patent it!) etc. Until a couple years ago, what worked best for me was a hip quiver that I wore GFA style.
Now I use a Safari-Tuff. I've used mine in CO, NM, SC, and of course MS. From mountains to swamps; stalking, treestand, ground blinds. Infinitely adjustable, plenty of D-rings to bind it off on a pack or in a tree stand; holds plenty of arrows, carries them quietly, protects them, hides them. I try to find something wrong with mine and can't--best I've ever used.
Chad
I have used them all and for hunting bow quivers work best for me
Especially for still hunting or driveing deer
I too will vote for bow quivers. Handy, silent, add a bit of mass to a light bow, easy to manuver through the thick elk woods, and easy on off if necessary. If you drop your pack for a stalk, your arrows are still right there where you need them.
QuoteOriginally posted by Over&Under:
... If you drop your pack for a stalk, your arrows are still right there where you need them.
Scratch any system attached to pack...
Thanks for that tip had not considered that and I drop my pack at least a couple stalks a season.
Joshua
I like a version of a plains style quiver. It rides behind me low enough it doesn't interfere with a pack.
It covers my fletching completely. Rain is not an issue.
It pinches my arrows tight enough that I can pull on the strap and position it up and down (nocks down) when going through thick brush to prevent snagging and my arrows do not move.
soft leather is just quiet in all situations.
It can be hung in easy reach while in a treestand or ground blind.
This particular one has a plce for a blunt on the outside for small game or stumoing on the way to a stand.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/bearhuntgear003.jpg)
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/bearhuntgear094.jpg)