I am 58 and have been shooting since I was about 6. I started to make a list of all the bows I can remember owning and have come up with 65 so far. And you know I can not pick only one as my favorite. Seems as I can only remember the best shots I have made with some of them. None are really ones I would say was the best bow for me. So I guess that is why I am still looking. I would like to find one I can pick up and say I do not need any other bow. Do you have any that you can say this is the one, or am I like everyone else?
Counting that red glass bow (at age 10) maybe 20..
I would say I have owned about 25 to 30 bows in the five years I have been at it...I am not searching for a particular bow, just bows that I like...I collect 1960 Bear Kodiaks in a small way so that total will only grow...I shoot both right and left handed so I have some of each...I enjoy shooting 3D and have one bow for that...I shoot with a group of purely longbow shooters and I am in the process of getting a Hill style or selfbow for that...I have a dual shelf longbow being made for a particular type of hunting I do...I just seem to have about 15 bows around at any given time
DDave
Probably around 50 so far...
In the thousands! Am still collecting and trading, swapping and playing. It doesn't seem to matter what bow I shoot as long as it has enough draw weight! I have been collecting the older early fifties bows, next year I will do all my hunting with the oldies! Jacques
Too many....
Around 30 I would say.
I would be a better shot and have more money to hunt if I had stuck with one but I too am a sucker for old bows.
Different bows mean more strings, more silencers, more rests and often more arrows.
But if anyone has an old LH B riser for sale that's a little beat up...LOL
Probably 75+, but I'm a recovering bow-a-holic!
Good Lord, way beyond the abilities of my memory.
A lot.
22 that I can remember. Not including bows I bought to give to nephews, or the bow that is the wife's.
Three "real" bows. A 50# Pearson I got for Christmas when I was 12 or 13. Used to take a bus 20 miles to the range. "Gave up" archery when I was old enough to own a rifle. I guess you don't really give up archery, just put it on the shelf for a while. Picked up a used Bear Kodiak Magnum (50#)that I shot with for the last 30+ plus years until the tips started to turn. Just bought a Samick Red stag that will probably outlast me. This doesn't count the play bows that got me interested in the first place or the 10 or 15 glass bows that I bought to teach cub scouts or give to my kids & then their kids to keep archery alive through the decades.
I have about 27 on the rack right now.....I have rotated the stock at least 1 1/2 times.....so that's a bunch. I have made some great deals over the years and moved up in quality as I went. I have some nice stuff.......I love shooting them all. Variety is the spice of life.....lol!
I would guess for me I have had around 50+ bows,still have 20+ right now.
200+ over the past 13 years. I have one shooter, my Morrison , and 2 new Bob Jones bows I bought as keepsakes.
Bill
I don't have that many fingers and toes :)
I am finished looking now that I have my AW Selfbow to go along with my Journeyman recurves and my other longbows :thumbsup:
Is TOO a number? :D
I almost think its a necessary evil. As you need to shoot a lot to see what works for you and what doesn't.
I would say 50 in the ten years I've been shooting.
A drop in the bucket for some people.
:archer:
Hundreds for sure including my Bear collection...............a few self bows I made, and a coupla' ACS which are my regular shooting bows.
Untelling,besides my wife may read this,LOL. :dunno:
So finding only one is pretty uncommand, and having and trying many is the normal. I think most men are alike in many ways. I had quit shooting my bows for about three years and wanted to sell them. So I took them to the Baltimore shoot and did sell about all I had, but on my way home I went back to thinking how much I loved shooting bows and then started buying more. It has revived me and is very enjoyable. And at least now I am normal.
Do you Really think I can count that high?
At 61 years old I can only remember 26 bows but there are some I am sure I forgot.
After reading some post 28 I forgot the 2 predators.
75 plus at this time. I am 58 also.
At least 85. I made a list a while back but am sure I forgot some. So many bows....so little time. :rolleyes:
Not enough and time's running out.
I'm 54 and have owned 19 in the 26 years I've been shooting. Half of those were custom and I never had any more than 6 at a time.
It wouldn't be that many but I worked up in poundage then back down again to where I started. If I don't shoot it regularly, it goes.
Enough to supply all the active members? Perhaps. Perhaps not, but way up there. As far as outstanding bows. A lot, I have a soft place in my heart for Sentman,Hills, Saxon, Bigfoot, Morrisons, Robertsons, Martin Hunters , Martin CAtalinas, Martin Monterreys, Bear Grizzlies , and of course EagleWings. I will hunt with any of these bows and be happy happy.
God bless and Merry Christmas, Steve
Over 150. When I fell hard for selfbows I sold a bunch of glass bows, and now my collection is around 90, 65 or so are selfbows. I have tried not to buy anymore bows, but I am going to Kalamazoo next month. :)
I need to let my wife read this thread. I have 4 recurves and am getting ready to get a longbow. She can't see why I need a fifth bow. The cool thing is that I haven't spent a dime for one yet. One was my uncles and was given to me by my grandmother when I found it leaned up in a closet when I was a kid. Luckily the limbs were straight (though I didn't know that then) despite being stood up for years. Two came from an older gentleman I met through my job. He hadn't shot them in years and his only son would rather play bluegrass music. He found out I was starting to shoot a recurve and gave both to me. I tried to pay him but he refused. Said he was just glad they'd see some use again. The fourth came from a coworker kinda the same way. It was given to him with a bunch of other hunting stuff years ago and he'd never even strung it. Once again, he found out I shot trad and gave it to me refusing any payment. I've only had it a couple of weeks and don't even have a string on it yet. Borrowed the one from my hunting bow just to try it out.
Mid 70s Black Bear from my uncle: 35@28 60"
63-64 Red Wing Hunter from older gentleman: 53@28 58" (my current hunting bow)
69 Super Kodiak from older gentleman : 70@28 60"
65-69 Ben Pearson 709 Hunter from my coworker: 42@28 58"
At 48 y.o. I would say 25. I stick with what I like most of the time! :cool: Unless I get a Deal I Simply cannot pass up, or a Wild Hair! :biglaugh:
I bought my 1st recurve about 2 yrs ago and have had 12-13 since then. Only have 3 on the rack now, a predator, a grizzly which was given to me, and a 68 superK which is being sent off in a week for a refinish. Got a black widow in the works and am gonna try and get the ball rolling on a timberghost very soon.
Only ten I think, over the last 47 years.
Not counting the ones I built for others I have only had 3 longbows and 5 recurves that I can recall.
I have 11 minus a compound I owned a week and gave a way, and a recurve I gave my brother that he broke.
3 hedge bows I gave to nephews would put me up over 15 total.
LarryDawg
Counting bows would be to much like work and I'm retired and never counted before. That being said I might guess at ----60-70. And loved every one of them. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL. MIKE
Well over a 100, it has been alot of fun trying many.
Around 50. I honestly would have a bit of time invested into trying to remember them all. Running out of the ones I wanted to have in my hands at this point. I've had just about all the bows that interested me at one time or another already. Some of those that I've sold,I wish I had back. I'm getting to the point of contention. Very happy with what I've got. rat'
:dunno:
Not enough but working on it I am up to 20 and if I am up to 20 Zimmerman has to be at least 6 time that. Yeah bud your a bow crazy and you know it. Love ya bro hahahah!!!
17 Bows
I didn't read it carefully. During my life so far. I have owned 100 or more
As an adult (hunting bows) 4 in 35 years and only one at a time. All Black Widows. I get attached.
I've been shooting traditional bows since 1964. I currently have 18 on the rack and have owned somewhere over 200 longbows or recurves over the years. I can't really pick out a favorite bow.
That my wife knows about, or really?
(2) One Blackwidow HS60 I bought new in 1987 and still have, and one Blackwidow 54"KB that I got in the summer of 2012.... I am attached to both! :goldtooth:
I think I'm on my 5th or 6th and I still do not have a traditional harvest! I've been telling myself that I cannot get a new bow until I get a harvest with the one I have....but the tall tines are really catching my eye!!
In the last 5-6 years... Probably 2-3 dozen
Enough
Pretty sure I have the one bow now that I'll hunt with for many years to come.
Trap
My Mom would always ask my Dad how many beers he drank while in his wood working shop. With a twinkle of his eye, he'd always say TWO knowing that he couldn't get away with ONE and fearful to say MORE. So I just have TWO! :) tippit
Thanks for the input. I see many have owned more bows and few have just stopped at one or two favorites. I guess we are all lucky to have so many to choose from and different bowyers coming up with different models to try.
Saw the title and I thought...boy a bunch, maybe too many with all the money represented. Have now whittled them down to one.
I think I owned only a dozen, but I try to shoot and test-drive as many as I can.
My keepers and best bows I found till so far, are my Caribow Peregrine, my Whippenstick Phoenix and my RER Vital. In no particular order.
I don't want to say out loud.....
last ten years - 13
6 -
Not including those that I've picked up to try and sold after less than a dozen shots for whatever reason or those that I made from a bent stick and trotline as a kid
I've shot probably 200 or more traditional bows but the vast majority of those were less than 6 shots at an archery shop with a wide selection of trad bows. I've been on a quest for years now for a take down that performs as well as well as my one-piece. As soon as I find that bow, it's coming home to stay. Until then, I'll deal with the inconvenience of packing a 64" one-piece bow in the car for traveling.
I think 14 but some I bought used just to try and sold without even hunting with them. Three of those bows also came apart or were starting to come apart on me. I switched to traditional around 1993.
Jacques, you've got me beat. I'm sure bearbowman does too. A few years ago, I figured I'd passed 1500. At one point the collection numbered about 450, but it's probably below 200 now. A few come, a few go. But, the fever seems to have broken.
I do not have to answer that.
I've owned more than 25 different well know brands and a few more not so well known with multiple bows within those brands ....so I'm guessing 75 - 100 different bows....
><>>
Glenn
I'll have to say hundreds. I make selfbows and make them all for my self even though I have sold a few and given away many. I probably have 50 bows now, most selfbows(some made by me, some by others), some wood backed bows or all wood lam bows but I also have my first recurve(Shakespear), my first custom Recurve(Ernest Gilbert Canoochee Warrior), first custom longbow(Mike Treadway) and a few other glass lam bows and one or two solid glass bows.
I'm only at 26 trad bows since about '90
way more than I needed but not as many as I wanted
I was on a huge Montana bowyer kick for about five years. Robertson, Bear Paw, Schafer, Howard Hill, Centaur, Thunderhorn and Toelke. I owned one or multiple at one time and got to see the shops and meet the bowyers. By far the best bow and bowyer IMO was Jared and Dan Toelke. I have moved on to a Black Widow for right now, but if I ever get away from them I will buy more Toelke bows.
At least a dozen
5 or 6, I lost count.
35 to 40. Too many, but I have owned and shot some wonderful bows.
Fifteen or sixteen, I hunted with a Martin Hatfield for 12 years and never gave much thought to trying anything else. Then I met Steve and shot his Fox Breed and Shrew and Caribow and the list grows. I check the classifieds nearly every day now. Jim
24 Got 23 now and only remember selling 1
QuoteOriginally posted by elkken:
way more than I needed but not as many as I wanted
x2
Only had 5. Still have two.
I've only bought 5 since year 2000? Only sold 1, so i've got 4 and shoot 'em all :) :archer2:
In about seven years of shooting (with a ten year gap in the middle), and including my daughter's bow, and my wife's, and my yellow fiberglass bow as a kid... I think seven. I only own one that I shoot. There'd be more if I could afford 'em!
maybe around 45
12
Over 50
Ten and have one being made now.
hello, my name is rob, and i WAS a bow-aholic.
since i started in 1953, i WAS seriously addicted to all manner of archery bows and i still have a record of most of them i bought/owned, for a total of about 112 (save for a gaggle of lemonwood and osage selfbows my dad made for me back in the 50's). it WAS a sickness, but i enjoyed the beauty of wood and craftsmanship and artistry. thankfully, today i have but 3 bows and all are keepers, the mad bow questing is over. amen. anyhoo, it ain't the bow that matters most, it's the archer ... and then the arrow. ;)
A few over 40.
160 give or take.
I'm going to probably have to plead the fifth amendment on that one. Some things ae best left unsaid.
bear kodiak
bear polar
hunterbow longbow
beeler tracker
two tracks ambush
******** titan w/ carbon/wood limbs
omega archery longbow x2
All i have now is the bears and hunterbow. Im still kicking myself for selling the ******** set up, wish i could go back in time and slap myself lol. Miss the omega longbow as well.