Is there a bow on your rack that is the ONE.....the one you always seem to pick up and shoot well. The one that just feels right in your hand walking down a woods road. The one that you can count on to make "THE SHOT" whether at the range or in the field. I have had some real nice bows.......still have a bunch. Some were top of the line.....some not so much. Yesterday I just happened to take my old River Runner out in the yard to shoot a few.......It's not pretty with it's camo paint job but there's a reason it's my go to hunting bow......it just works for me. So what's your just gotta carry bow!!??
Centaur Chimera,it just fits.
No. They all are like that or I wouldn't keep them.
QuoteOriginally posted by Keith Zimmerman:
No. They all are like that or I wouldn't keep them.
:biglaugh: :biglaugh: That's good!!
It used to be my 68" Stewart Slammer 3pc. I probably could still shoot that better than anything, but I let it go because I have found shorter bows to simply be more practical in the swamps and woods.
Currently, and for many years to come no doubt, it's my Java Man Elkheart...oh but you gotta have a 'back up' LOL, that would be my 58" Slammer Special. Followed by my Lil Slammer 56", my Fox Triple Crown, OH, AND the latest edition, my Silvertip Carbon! LOL. But really none of them are back ups. I practice with all of them and when I go hunting I will grab what fits the mood and either the night before or morning before a hunt will sling a few arrows to realign the brain. I agree with Keith, if I can't shoot them all pretty well there's no point in having more than one.
My 65# Herb Melland Pronghorn one piece. Light and fast.
not a looker like some out there but a real sweetie.
1955 Kodiak Special
Not quite yet!
I have two, my PLX and PSRX same weight and Toby grip 48@28
My Thunderhorn Coup Stick, 62", 47# @ 27"
I can go months shooting other bows and be right on with the first shot from the Thunderhorn. It just fits me.
Still my beloved SuperD
my Hoyt Dorado
That would be my "new-to-me" Hummingbird Kingfisher, 62", 49# @ 28"... I'd get 44# out of her with my T-Rex draw of 26"... Gonna use it for Muzzy this weekend... Wish you were going to make it there buddy!
... mike ...
I have a River runner also and many Hill style longbows. And I think they are all quality and bows that have been built just to fit me. But I am sitting pretty with my Firefly static recurve. It just feels the same every time I pick it up. Grip is so perfect for me and points dead center, kind of like a good shotgun that fits.
I'm in KZ's camp. I have straight limbed longbows, mild r/d longbows, hybrids and a few recurves. I'll use from three to five of those bows over the course of the fall and several seasons for different critters. I have confidence that they'll all do the job or I wouldn't have them. I am trying to thin the herd a bit though. It's hard when they all shoot very well.
Kanati for me
Schafer, Schafer and Schafer!!!
1964 Bear Grizzly, like fine wine, it defines Vintage !!!
Habu vyperkahn. Got many great ones but still shoot this bow the best
I have my go to - actually a set of 'twins'. 58" Great Northern Lil' Creeps. One at 47# and one at 50#. Both jack-knife models.
I shoot them OK, it is the compact size, the consistency, and the simple lines (and the folding feature) are what made me decide on them as my go-to bows.
I still have an old John Dodge 48# 70" straight end longbow that I shoot regularly. It has tremendous sentimental value. Took my first two big game animals with it. A caribou and a moose. :archer:
At the moment I narrowed it down to two bows for the reasons you mentioned. It are the Phoenix Whippenstick and the Caribow Peregrine. Last weekend I test-drove a 3 pce LB 60" Timberghost extensive and it gave me also that feeling, so I ordered one :saywhat:
Not anymore. My 65# Wesley Special was that bow, but several years ago, I had a shoulder injury and have not regained the ability to handle that weight again. I do have a HH Cheetah and a Northern Mist Shelton that I am getting very comfortable with.
For me,it's my McKean, by PAW bow.
58", 57# @ 28".
Left hand, my 53@26 Morningstar, right hand, my 68" 58@26 bamboo/yew from a Hill blank.
I've shot a lot of them,and I really do best with a nice long A&H in my bowhand. rat'
I'm down to just one but I'm impressed every time I shoot it.
56" 54#@28 Lil' Hoot.
My Kempf Stealth T/D...
I only own one bow that I shoot. And it's the ONE and only bow I've owned for more than a year. It's my 62", 45#@28" Morrison Cheyenne, B Leadwood riser and D Max 1 carbon/foam limbs.
Bill
I sure do. For me it's my Sarrells Sierra longbow. I've looked for several years for a two piece or three piece that shoots as well and that I can connect to as good as I can with my Sierra, but I don't think that exists. If I ever find something that's both easier to travel with AND that shoots as good, I'll become a two bow man. Until then, I buy and sell tons of takedowns just to get the chance to try them out and keep holding onto my Sierra.
(http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee146/gdpolk/Traditional%20Projects/photo1_zpsbe696cf0.jpg)
I like it so well that I have had my custom knives, calls, and other things made in cocobolo to match it's riser. It's a keeper for sure. I'd just like to add a travel friendly equivalent to the mix for those times I hunt far from home so I could pack the bow, quiver, binoculars, etc in a Pelican case and pile luggage on top of that.
I never had more than two-three bows at any time. I just do like to switch. I am shooting a Robertson Wolfer for elk season but I can shoot my Dakota Pro Hunter and it's feels and shoots like I never stopped shooting it.
Still my RER LXR
DDave
Mine would be Ron's River Runner :rolleyes:
I have a 1960 Kodiak that works for me.
Habu Vyperkahn. I still try others.
Dakota Pro Hunter Recurve, so much so that I sold 2 really nice top end bows, really cheap I mite ad
What Keith said.
QuoteOriginally posted by ron w:
QuoteOriginally posted by Keith Zimmerman:
No. They all are like that or I wouldn't keep them.
:biglaugh: :biglaugh: That's good!! [/b]
I am with my friend Keith,when I am shooting well doesn't matter what I am carrying,but when I ain't consistent it is a mess with everyone.
Only a few bows left now but i can shoot decently any of them
(http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx225/hybridbowhunter/imagejpg1_zps078389cc.jpg) (http://s758.photobucket.com/user/hybridbowhunter/media/imagejpg1_zps078389cc.jpg.html)
I can't choose. I love shooting all my bow and shoot them all equally poorly! :goldtooth:
Nope, the last mental inventory I took I was at 18 longbows and 24 recurves. Probably need to move a few to new homes but when it comes down to it there's about a half dozen in that pile that consistently wind up heading into the woods with me, with a couple of the chosen few being in the pile for 20 plus years. I really appreciate a well put together working piece of art. And that's how I look at them, finely crafted tools that are working pieces of art. A lot of great Bowyers out there over the years.
NO, I STINK WITH ALL OF THEM!
I am comfortable with my Schafer recurves and my Stewart longbows.
My BlackWidow PA or PL. Either one is like that for me.
My 3 piece, 64" ACS LB, 51#@28" with highly modified alum riser & grip. All the modification work done by me and fit exclusively to my hand & preference! Arrow shoots right off the hand almost. A low wrist beauty.
It would be the bow I'd reach for to save my life!
I love all trad bows and have a "few", just like the rest of you. It is the grip the counts though!
Kris
I'm not at all fair or even logical in my choice of which bows to shoot. I'm wishy-washy, disloyal, and fickle.
Right now my likely choices for hunting season this year are either a TT Titan (last year's hunting bow) or a Bob Lee Ultimate. Some other very nice shooting bows are simply being mistreated and ignored.
The Lee is in Texas right now being fitted to a new pair of 56" limbs. I don't know whether I'll like em enough to hunt with them or the 60" limbs I already own for this bow.
I have had a number of bows over the years and am currently down four. Of all of the bows I have and shoot I always end up with the Sentman Moosejaw in my hand. Of all of the bows, 2 Marriah Thermal recurves, and a Lofton Half Breed longbow the best shooting bow has always been the Sentman. It is smooth to draw, no hand shock, and delivers an arrow on target.
Ron,
The only way I could have that "ONE"bow is if I only had one,which I do not. I have gotten better,when one comes into the stable,one leaves. They don't eat much but I do,so when one comes one goes.
I am presently trying to keep my fingers wrapped around a Buddy & Jim 21 Century. It belonged to a very dear friend and it only seems right to try and make some meat with it this year. That "ONE"will never leave the stable.
That being said, I have a Holm-Made Osprey that is begging to be shot and a Toelke Lynx that I horse traded for up at Denton this year. It is a very unique takedown.
Oh well,life is to short to shoot just one. Good thread!
By the way, is that the River Runner you bought off of me?
Take care and Good Shooting,
Craig
Yes it is Craig......I bought that RR from you 3-4 years ago, as I recall it was one Chad made for himself and he missed the weight, I think you got it at Denton Hill. It's been my go to ever since. I have quiver inserts all over so I can use a bunch of different style and it's got a rattle can camo job......it is ugly.....lol! But it shoots well for me.
I love my Zipper Lb, it's all I've shot for over a year now. I found it a real treat to meet the man that made it at Denton Hill last year. I see some custom bows and wood combinations that simply amaze me... I would love to shoot a silvertip but I've never held one, I guess Paul's story touches my heart a little. More than anything though I would love to craft a bow from a piece of wood I carried out of the woods, stripped the bark off, dried for a year and then slowly scrapped and crafted into a beautifully arching stick. To put a 31" red osier dogwood shoot through a chest cavity of a whitetail deer at 10 yds... ha... well I think that might give me a whole new smile! Everyone's journey leads somewhere different... for me it feels like more in equals more out... (http://i.imgur.com/5gYrfnl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/l4SfjIQ.jpg)
Yep but it is really two. A Silvertip and a Robertson. I get along nicely with those two bows.
When I made the switch to traditional only in 2000, it was a Black Widow SA III that did it... Well, I've gone through a bunch of bows since then... Longbows and recurves... looking for something better and all the while comparing everything to that Widow... Only thing I changed in the last 14 years is that I like quiet over anything else and low grips better then medium or high grips...
In that time too, Widow came out with a low grip for their Recurves, and I tried a "skinny" string on a Widow Curve. Quite by accident! Who knew them thin strings would quiet a bow??? Anyway, those changes took care of any qualms I had with the "a for mentioned" conversion Widow I had in 2000. Low gripped Widow Recurves are my "One" bow. I can pick any one of them low gripped, skinny stringed beauty's to drop an arrow where it belongs as needed... Can't ask for much more then that!
My favorite has evolved into a low grip Morrison Shawnee longbow. I have limbs from 56" to 62" length and 62" seems to be my favorite limb length on this bow.
Right now I have several - but the two that seems to always hit where I look is my Thunderhorn and my JD Berry Vixen.
I am amazed at the variety of bows, just shows everybody has different tastes and needs. Thanks for all the input!
My 60" Morrison Cheyenne takedown recurve is my favorite and most trusted bow.