Hey guys, after taking my 8pt on the second, I thought I would switch from my black widow to a hybrid I had built. Well I got it out last night and today to shoot around the yard and make sure I was on and couldn't hit yhit!
I've been practicing with the black widow between 4 and 7 times a week for months and haven't spent anytime with the hybrid. Guess I thought good form would do all the work but the grip is so much different I have to change my grip.
My question is what do you guys do? Do you change the way you grip a particular bow just so you can shoot it? Or.... How do you switch back and forth between bows? Every bow is different and unless your buying mass produced CNC cut bows vs. hand made custom bows, grip will very slightly to a great deal.
The only answer I can give... I don't swap anything in hunting season, but that's just me.
I shoot a bunch of bows all the time both right and left handed...the more I switch the better I get at being able to switch...I have maybe a half dozen bows that I will hunt with and I shoot all of them regularly...that is what it takes to be hunt ready with a number of bows...my elk bow this year is a 1960 Kodiak...my moose bow is a Blacktail backed up with a Dryad d/r bow...I have a couple of other bows I will hunt deer with
DDave
I'll just say I have way too many bows that I've picked up over the years. Bought, sold and traded more than I can remember. The ones I kept were keepers for one reason, they shot well with my shooting style. Never know what I'm going to take on a trip or to the local woods until I load the truck. That being said I've killed a ton of critters with multiple bows, sometimes a couple on the same trip with different bows. Never been a problem for me switching up. Recurves, longbows luv em all.
:archer2:
You hit a pretty big nail on the head when you mentioned problems with different grips. I go back and forth very easily between my Toelke Super Ds and a Classic Whip because the grips are quite similar and when I owned low grip recurves from Dan, I found them easy to shoot as well.
As Jim said, it's all about the grip.
I've shot multiple bows for years,I think with good form and well tuned arrows you can shoot many different bows.I used to shoot all longbows but the last few years I have mixed in some nice recurves.
One thing to consider is the actual mass of the bow. If your BW is heavier than your hybrid, therein could lie the difficulty in switching between bows. For me, I really have no problem with any grip on any bow....it's all in the mass weight of the bow. I shoot a heavier mass weight bow, better then I do a lighter one.
Similar things happen to me..lol..I'm best off using one bow for the season. Someone gave me an old Martin Hatfield last week so I did take a few shots with it but just a few. It has a totally different feel than the TD longbow I've been shooting exclusively for the past 6 months
I only have two bows, but I don't have much problem switching back and forth. My longbow is slower than my recurve, so it takes me a couple of shots to get dialed back in.
I decide which bow I'll hunt with over Labor Day weekend then will not shoot any other bow until the bowseason is over in mid Nov.
If I decide I really want to change mid-season, I spend an entire Sunday afternoon shooting the new bow. Within a dozen shots I'm good to go but I shoot a ton more to erase any influence from the previous bow.
Throughout the rest of the year I switch around between my five (very different) bows frequently. Not much time is spent between switches so I'm always somewhat familiar to the various grip shapes.
I usually stick with one bow during season. I do have a recurve and a R/D longbow that I would be able to go back and forth with. Both use same arrows, same weight draw, grips about the same. I also agree it is a "grip thing" with bows, at least for me.
I also Practice and Stick with One Bow to Hunt with. Try to be as Deadly Accurate with One Bow, rather than bounce around in Hunting Season. Just my 2 cents.
I shoot an hunt with all of mine. No problem switching at all. I always use a different bow for a morning hunt and afternoon hunt.
I shoot 3 different bows and I switch back and forth a lot. This is probably why I dont have an issue, because I dont get settled into any one thing.
If you WANT to shoot multiple bows, you just need to practice with all of them and remember the adaptations you make with each. I love to switch bows, and each one shoots very differently. But I know by now what to do with each, which arrows to use, max distance...etc. or I wouldn't hunt with them.
To each their own of course. For me, I would not enjoy archery as much without all my precious bows and knowing I have done my homework and can grab anyone in total confidence.
Well, like some of the CCW experts say: same gun, in the same place, all the time. At the moment of truth, you'll be familiar with it and it won't cost you your life. That's a bit dramatic, but you get the idea. My problem has always been that I do too much looking for greener grass, when I ought to be investing my time eating the grass I'm standing in. I always shot W. Wallace recurves best, the grip suits me, but I still sold and traded looking for something better. I've still got a bunch of bows even after selling off several, and I will randomly pick up one or the other at times. The biggest problem with this, as I see it, is if you are an instinctive shooter who must be familiar with a bow's trajectory in order to shoot well. Unless you have all your bows set up to equal velocities, then you will confuse your onboard computer by switching back and forth. This doesn't hurt anything, really, in the off season, but a month or so before hunting I would think it best to find one bow you like and stick with it till the end of the season.
I hunt with one or two, but I have a bunch. I really don't a problem changing bows most of the time. BUT.........all my bows are with in a couple of pounds at my draw and most have a very similar low grip. You need to shoot what your going to use!!
If I have a bow that I cant seem to shoot when I pick it up, I don't keep it. I don't want to have to try and get used to something mid way through a season.
The most important connect you have with a bow is the grip. If you made this bow my question is why is the grip that much different then the bow you shoot well? Sounds like it's time to get out the rasp and make it right.
Mike
All the bows that I swap about with any regularity all have the same grip and the same general characteristics. They are all Hill style longbows with either straight or slightly dished grips, are 68" long and are all close together in draw weight. No problems with swapping them. I have a couple of longbows with locator grips that require some adjustment. I seldom shoot my recurves, and they all require several shooting sessions before feel good and hit where I aim.
During hunting season, I don't swap around much. This year I have a NM Shelton that will get swapped into the mix with my Hill bows, but over the summer, it handled really well.
I switched between my Grizzly and KMag some over the spring and summer. I found the more I did it the less number of volleys it took to adjust. Once I settled on the KMag for deer season I quit shooting the Grizzly.
I'm with Keith..I bowhunt with a RH longbow and LH recurve these past 2 years. I love it...I also shoot both bows religiously during the winter deer in Jersey and Aug/Sept in preparing for NY and NJ.
I can switch easily for the under 20 yard shooting. Honing my 30-40 yard accuracy, it's only one bow for the season.
Interesting how this seems to work differently for different folks. I have only two bows at present, fairly similar. Identical draw weight at 58#, one is a Big River Hill-style bow, the other a Bama Bow which has a slightly wider limb and little more R/D. I can't quickly switch from one to the other. If I get dialed in with the Hill-style bow, I shoot high/left with the Bama Bow. I decided years ago that I needed to stick with one bow for the season and if I want to change things up, do it between seasons.
It seems to me that shooting only one bow would be
prudent. Each has a personality all it's own. I am sure an Olympian would not be changing up mid competition .... having said that, I do tend to want to and some times do change bows mid-seasons. Then I have wonder if I've got that best bow or is it the other one.
And heaven for bid if I miss a shot..... after changing bows.... Oh I need counseling..
QuoteOriginally posted by joe ashton:
It seems to me that shooting only one bow would be
prudent. Each has a personality all it's own. I am sure an Olympian would not be changing up mid competition .... having said that, I do tend to want to and some times do change bows mid-seasons. Then I have wonder if I've got that best bow or is it the other one.
And heaven for bid if I miss a shot..... after changing bows.... Oh I need counseling..
:biglaugh: :biglaugh:
I try not to dwell on the small differences between bows. Spend most of your energy thinking about the target and that will take care of most things.
I have always felt that I could shoot anything well...may not have always been true, but first I would have to defeat my mind to in order to fail.
I am hard headed too so defeating my mind isn't easy.
Last year in Ks, I shot two dear with two different bows (buck with my Desert Bighorn and doe with my thunderchild) and if I had only gotten a third opportunity, I would have taken another doe with my Buffalo.
I have all of my bows set to where they are shooting very near 10 g per lb arrows so at hunting distances, the cast is the same.
BIgJIm
I feel the same as big Jim. However the one thing that gives me fits is variation in the distance between the throat of the grip and the shelf. I am most accustomed to a shelf that is low, almost ontop of my knuckles. A lot of recurves have a good 1/2 inch or more elevation from the grip to the shelf and I always end up shooting high with these.
I have a rule. . one bow at a time. . . I'm not strong enough to shoot two at once. :laughing:
ChuckC