Hey guys I have a question for you ? I know this is ridiculous but do some of you guys have trouble with getting your nice bow rained on ? I assume it wont hurt the bow at all but I just can't imagine letting my nice caribow sit out in the soaking rain. Anyone else feel the same ? SS
My ole crooked oasge dosen't mind the rain, as long as it gets its rub down with bear or pig grease!
Does it say "Display Model" on it? :goldtooth:
However fancy a bow is a tool built to be used and not babied! :archer2:
Yeh, I hate messing up a pretty bow. But I mainly buy a bow to use. Case in point, I recently bought a nearly perfect Blacktail VL. I took it as my elk bow on a recent trip to CO. In that country if you hunt hard you will probably do worse than just get your bow wet and I did.
The only way to keep it perfect is to keep it on the rack at home. My VL is going back for a refinish soon, but again mainly to make it more useable as a hunting bow by putting a less glossy finish on it.
A bow is to hunt with. It can't help that it is so beautiful. Just needs to be used for what it was intended and taken care of at the end of the day.
Ain't none of us as purty as when we started!
Mine gets rained on every time I look at my 3D scores.
Killdeer :jumper:
haha i dont mind mine getting wet, muddy or beat up really. and its not because its a samick sage either :help: its because its a tool to be used to put meat in my freezer or embarrass the mess out me :jumper: truth be told i even thought about switching out the wooden riser for the cartel riser to make it even more uglier...er i mean more useful and weather proof :p
Use Johnson's paste wax and you'll be ok. Take it from me, I live here in Oregon where it rains a lot!
Mine was wet most of the day .Still has mud on it.
I beat the crap out of my bows. They hunt in the rain, snow, sleet, etc. my bowfishing bow gets bounced around on the aluminum floor of an air boat 6 months a year. They get punished.
At the end of the season I just go over any nicks scratches and dings with a little polyurethane on a qtip or spray a light coat along the edges. been doing this to my bowfishing bow for 14 years and its the most beat up bow i have and it still looks good and functions perfect.
Im my opinion.... a bow is tool to use to enjoy hunting. But i understand having some beautiful bows to admire and display if somebody wants to. If that were me Id also have a bow that was a tried and true tool. for me personally all my bows are tools. I love them dearly but they have to work around here, no free rides, and no sitting on the wall, they have to earn thier keep...lol.
Caribows are build like a tank. No need to baby them.
If you notice a spot where water is get in under the finish. Quality nail polish will usually seal it up. After a hunting in a good soaker and when back inside dry it off, take it down if that applies and look for swellings under the finish. Let it dry out first until the finish looks good again.
Deer hunting season only comes once a year, if I can go, I'm gone.
welcome back Killie, I always enjoy your wit and humor..
I am getting ready to head out to a 3D now. good chance for rain, it will wash my tears off my bow lol.
How else would you get the blood off it?
x2 on Johnson paste wax.Wax my Cari-Bow a month before season and right after.
I waited a year and a half for my Blacktail. When I got it, I too felt it was too pretty to use the way I would my Howett Hunter. I even sent Norm an email to the effect, to which he responded that the bow was made for hunting.
I have to admit, I couldn't shoot the bow well until I changed my thinking. Yes, it's an amazing piece of handiwork. But, it's a tool meant to be used.
It took me a while before I felt the bow was a part of me. And, I hunt in the rain and get wet, just like my Blacktail.
Hope that helps somewhat. Good luck. Take game.
x3 on johnson paste wax
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j456/jalariso/WetSilvertip.jpg) (http://s1086.photobucket.com/user/jalariso/media/WetSilvertip.jpg.html)
I'd rather see it get wet than collect dust sitting in the house. Besides, that Silvertip is almost bulletproof. :)
I've used my longbow to carry out deer and paddle a canoe, but I make my own bows... :bigsmyl:
Mine doesn't get wet very often. I tend to stay home on rainy days. Now that I am retired, I can be more picky about hunting weather.
Wouldn't get to hunt here in Washington if ya had to keep your bow dry!
I have a nice Blacktail Elite VL that I have mostly just hunted whitetail locally with. But it was the bow I felt most confident with and took it to Colorado for elk just a week ago. I was a little apprehensive at first, trying to keep it out of harms way. But after a couple days of being out in the brush and soaking rain with it, I figured screw-it, I can always send it in to Norm for a re-finish if it bothers me that much. It now has several battle scars and has received a good drying out and buffing since returning home. Gonna leave it just the way it is - adds character and each ding has a story to tell.
i dont store it out in rain but if I am hunting...I dont fret too much about it. I make sure my glass backed bows are good and rain wont much hurt them though it can get down in the wood and raise the grain if bug spray has eaten the finish.....nothing a light sanding and spray with varathane or another product wont remedy. In addition to that...on both glass backed and self/backed bows...a coat of paste wax a couple times a year is good to help keep it sealed.
Where I live the humidity can be in the 90%+ in early season so it is nearly as bad as rain in pushing moisture into anything not protected or sealed.
I use my bow as a tool...I hunt with it in mud, heat, rain and snow...afterwards I clean it as needed...check for damage or compromises...take care of it and then hang back on rack for next visit to backyard to shoot or woods to hunt.
they are tougher than some of you admit....yes they can be works of art but they are still just a fancier tool. :)
Some of the best hunting can be in lite rain. I'd be more worried about my Fletch's.
I figure I can't really enjoy it until it gets the first ding...then I can quit worrying about it an let it be the tool it is (and I like pretty tools... ;) ) . Of course that doesn't mean I use it to dig holes but a few character marks don't bother me at all.
Haha Thanks everyone for the comments. I see that my caribow is just gonna have to get wet. I agree with all of your comments, just wanted to make sure before I look my beauty queen out into the weather. Thanks again, SS
Old Fred bear used his kodiak as a wading staff to cross streams jamming the tips into underwater rocks and still shot game on the other side
I put the rubber tip protectors on all my bows and have used all of them as props and walking sticks on steep terrain and in deep water..... I dont plan to do it but if needed...I do use it as needed. When I get home I take off the rubber tip and dry and clean it and then reinstall...
enjoy the bow and use it as it was intended....and as needed.
keep em sharp
Honestly, I worry more about my feathers, strings/silencers, leather grips, and rests than I do about the integrity of my bows. I trust in the quality that I purchase.
I agree with the others, dont worry about it getting wet. If it gets dinged or loses the finish anywhere put some true oil over it to seal it.And the paste wax is a great idea too. I know how you feel about taking a beautiful bow out in the rain, but after a few years and it has some dings and scratches or its shine is flawed, im betting the man who made your bow could refinish it for you and it come back looking like the day you bought it.