Neither. At least in my book. I got a chance to match up my Toelke Whip against a Sasquatch longbow made by Kirk of Bigfoot bows the other day. The specs on my Toelke can be seen below, and the Sasquatch was a 3 piece, 60" bow, which was marked 55 lbs @ 28". Both bows have good reputations and for good reason, they shoot lights out!(when I do my part that is...) :readit:
The biggest thing which stood out to me about the Sasquatch was the grip. I have had my Whip since I was 15 and the grip is a little small for me these days. So when I picked up the Sasquatch it was love at first sight. The grip was better than on any other bow I have shot! In fact, the grip was so good, I very nearly asked Elkchaser(who owns the Sasquatch) to trade me on the spot. :help:
Now to performance, I am first and foremost a hunter, and silence is golden. After playing around with brace height on the Sasquatch I settled on a brace that was close to 8"(I just eyeball this sort of thing) :thumbsup: . Both bows were sporting fast flight strings, but the Squatch had two yarn puffs which were much farther toward the center of the string than I would like. My Whip has two cat whisker type silencers which are 9" from the respective tips on the bow. The Squatch was pretty darn quiet, but my Toelke blew it away in that respect. **Before people bother to ask, I was shooting ~740 grain arrows**(To be fair though, I think the Squatch could be quieted considerably with a different string)
As for accuracy and power, both bows were neck and neck. The Sasquatch and Whip both launch a heavy arrow with authority, shooting the two bows had me going into fits of giggles :jumper:
Both bows are extremely accurate in the hands of a good archer. I was having slight issues with target panic but once I got over that it was a wonderful day for shooting. I also noticed that out to 17 yards(my backyard is half an acre smaller than I would like) both bows shot to the same point of impact. If there was any way for me to obtain the Sasquatch and keep my Whip I would do so in a heart beat.
However, I believe my Whip earned a permanent residence in my bow collection on Easter Sunday. I rolled my Suburban going 75 on the way back to school. The vehicle rolled three times and unfortunately my bow was in the back seat, protected by no more than a soft case. I walked away from the accident with no broken bones and a couple stitches(God is good to me). I fully expected my bow to be firewood after a crash like that, but the Toelke made it through without a single scratch! There is no way I am ever going to get rid of that bow now!
Sounds like you just need to get a Sasquatch as a compliment to Whip, not a replacement.
Thanks for that review - sounds like you and the Toelke were meant to be. Glad you made it out of that safe!
Good review. Sounds like the good Lord set an angel on your shoulders.
God bless you, Steve
Toelke are wonderful, and built by wonderful people which is very important as well!
Glad you were safe in the end.
Patrick
Dan Toelke and his family are as good as they come...period.
Sounds like a great time was had... sans the rollover!
Glad you AND the bow were ok...but more you. Angels indeed were with you!
As you were so fair to point out, string type, silencer type, position of silencers... all make such HUGE impacts on final tuning. Hair pulling and head scratching issues at times, but once dialed in, these simple sticks can have a bunch of intricacies about them! :)
Sounds too, like owning the Tolke since age 15, you surely have that one dialed in to your style and shooting form!
I've read somewhere that Kirk, like you, prefers the cat wiskers for silencers.
Again, glad you came thru your drive home safely, if not poorer for the experience. Them insurance companies can make your brain hurt!
I agree that the sasquatch could have been tuned to utter quietness too if fooled with. I have never shot one but being longbows makes this possible, and string material and silencer type and location is WHAT determines it other than brace.
Now, I own Maddogs. I love them. I have all his longbow models and can say the new full size model is out of this world in fit and performance. They are my pick, but with tht said, if I didn't have the dogs, a whip would be my bow. I love them so if the sasquatch is comparable, it has to be the real deal. God Bless and prise the Lord
Glad you are safe....and I must agree, Whips are one heck of a bow that will compete with the best of them.
Really hard to compare apples to oranges. It might be easier to compare different models by the same bowyer. Its hard to compare production bows, custom bows and High End Custom bows. But if you have a production bow or custom bow that does compare to a High End product, I'd say you have a winner!
QuoteOriginally posted by Doc Nock:
Sounds too, like owning the Tolke since age 15, you surely have that one dialed in to your style and shooting form!
I have indeed fine tuned my Toelke to the point where I really cannot justify changing anything about my set up. It is silent as the grave and hard shooting to boot! Like I said though, the Sasquatch seemed to have the ability to match the Toelke with very little work. Both Kirk and Dan are fabulous bowyers.
As several people have already mentioned, the good Lord was watching over me, and the accident gave me a much better perspective on life.
Cheers,
Malachi
Nice review, thanks because I enjoy reading them. I've recently discovered your observation when comparing bows and that's once you get to the upper echelon of bowmakers, there's really not THAT much of a difference when it comes to overall performance. For me it boils down to grip and aesthetics. Glad your O.K.
Toelke Whip vs. Sasquatch and the Winner is....Me!
I got a Sasquatch T/D recurve ordered and if Big Foot bows are even in the ball park with a Toelke you've shot since age 15, I know I made the right decision.
Thanks for a good review and glad you and the bow made it through the accident.
:thumbsup:
What a great write up Malachi. :thumbsup:
I've met Dan in person several times and we got to meet his wife as well this last year at the Western States Rendezvous. I've handled his bows, or should i say fondled them on several occasions, and shot a few myself. Not only does he build a beautiful bow, he's a down right nice guy with a lot of knowledge about archery.
I'm a fairly new guy on the block and Dan went out of his way to make suggestions and welcome me to the archery community rather than just treating me like another competitor.
I've got nothing but good to say about the man and his product. My hat's off to you Dan.
Buy a Squatch, cause as you just got reminded, you can't take it with you.
Glad you and your bow are okay.
Kirk! Just gotta say your work is excellent and it was a blast to shoot your bow alongside my Toelke.
QuoteOriginally posted by kbetts:
Buy a Squatch, cause as you just got reminded, you can't take it with you.
Glad you and your bow are okay.
If I had the money I would buy a Sasquatch in a heart beat. They are great bows! :thumbsup:
For now, I will have to be satisfied with just one awesome bow. But hey, at least I'm still around to enjoy the bow I have!
Amen to that, Malachi