QuoteOriginally posted by David Mitchell:
I wonder how much our predecessors in our sport worried about how pretty their bows were!  Just when did we get so wrapped up in cosmetics of the tools of our trade? Oh, and to answer the question, no I would stay with the bows I want to shoot and seek to shoot them as well as I possibly can.

I like pretty bows.  A bow doesn't HAVE to be ugly to shoot well.  Shoot what makes you feel the best.

BTW, the more I shoot only one bow, the more I think ONE BOW shooting is the way to go for consistency.

QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
I guess I should answer my own question. I was a dyed in the wool classic bow guy since the mid 60s. Never owned a true custom but had some really pretty Howatts, Bears and others.

About a year and a half ago I bought a Hoyt Buffalo which I shot better than any of my classics although cannot be considered a thing of beauty. I've been shooting it ever since. I also have been dabbling in ILF and have a Morrison wood/phenolic handle with Samick BF Extreme limbs. Another great shooting combo but not what I'd consider ugly. These two bows are great shooters and you can catch me shooting one or the other and the pretty wood classics gather dust.

Heh, nothing wrong with that Richard. This is how such great bows end up in the classifieds here. Everyone likes something different, which keeps that beautiful flow of used bows moving at our fingertips.  

For hunting, we owe it to the animals we hunt to be the most accurate that we can be, so the new bow.

But owe the beauty, we owe it to ourselves.

Keep both! and enjoy both in their own way and times.

I don't think I could stray from my old wood bows. To each his own but I still have not seen a ILF that I would consider pretty. My .02

I'll just state the obvious. You can have beauty and accuracy today. So why have only one or the other?

You can make a very functional home in a concrete bunker. But I'd sure miss the beauty outside my windows.

While sitting in a blind or tree stand, it's pure joy to hold and admire your bow made of beautiful woods.

A large part of going to traditional bows was the wood and the beauty of said bow just the feel and looks of a well made bow make me happy. shoot what you like for me the bows looks are a large part of the experience.

For me, I spent years shooting a compound, nothing wrong with them as hunting implements.  But I got into the traditional world 20 years ago.  About 3 years ago a buddy and me was hunting and he had a new metal riser recurve and he wanted me to shoot it.  I did, for me it just wasn't the same.  It shot fast and accurate, but the natural feeling was not there and to me didn't feel right.  So, I still use a traditonal bow, untill my body will not let me.

Just like I prefer wood arrows over carbon for aesthetic reasons moreso than practical ones, I would keep shooting the sexy bow. And, thanks to Big Jim, I do have the most beautiful bow, at least in my mind.

I have too many bows for different reasons some shoot good some I have had too long. When I see or shoot a new bow that interest me I can build something similar in my little shop, put my spin on it and most times it shoots great. Always looking but not trading up, just adding to the collection

James

Mr. Carl,

You have been afield a decade before my parents reached adulthood (based on previous post).  If you have no problem blurring the line between what is excepted as traditional and technological advantage I see no reason I should.

The culture I live in very much believes in the concept of filling the freezer with fish and wildgame and bucking the out of state beef prices to the point where traditional hunting is mostly for hobby, at least for me.  We have places so far off the grid that without embracing a subsistence lifestyle a family could face the ultimate sacrefice.  Of course that is not me or the majority of people I know, but it somehow brings me spiritually closer to the salt of the earth that is no longer found throughout North America.

So with this in mind, I guess when we evolve to minning materials off Mars whose properties allow for bows to push the velocities of my .338 Lapua I will have no hesitation instinctively filling my freezer.  Until then it just has very little meaning for me to pronounce exclusivity to any one thing???  

Although a dyed in the wool exotic wood guy, if  Hoyt would make the Buffalo with longbow limbs I would, figuratively, pull the trigger...

 

My wife says I buy the worlds ugliest running shoes.  I say who cares, they are comfortable.

So I say  who cares if it's an ugly bow.  If you can't miss, it's a beauty queen.

Bow is a tool. The best tool wins. Even if it's ugly. Lucky for me, my best tool is pretty.

Ugly bows don't bother me nearly as much as tacky bows do. Nothing wrong with keeping both bows, but the better shooter would be more useful to me.

Keith, I understand where you are coming from. I don't think Hoyt will come up with those longbow limbs for you but there are some good ones in ILF versions. But we covered that in another thread.

I'd hate to rely on my bow to fill my freezer for REAL.

I'd sell the beauty and look for another beauty that I could shoot better!Though first,I'd probably try to figure out what I was doing wrong with the bow.Most of the time the lousy shooting is the guy who's drawing the strings fault,not the bow. I really appreciate the woodwork is some of the "pretty" bows. I have a few beauties that also shoot great,my Timberline and JD Berry come to mind. I don't like the looks of metal risers,but to each his own.If you like them have at it.To each his own,whatever keeps you happy.
I prefer to hunt with a longbow.Maybe I would be  more accurate with a metal riser target bow,or a sight,or some wheels,crossbow?30/06?,like I said whatever makes you happy.

Deer don't care what your bows looks like

When I shot compounds I could drill a bullseye at 50 yards 9 of 10 times fairly consistently.  Since I switched back to the wooden traditional bows several years ago and I can probably only hit the bullseye at 50 yards only 1 out of 10 times.  But I still keep trying to.  This is not a distance I personally would ever consider taking game with either weapon.  I am effectively / deadly accurate up to 30 yards 99% of the time when shooting targets.  So, this is my maximum effective hunting range with any bow I choose to use, ugly or pretty.  I have to admit that I enjoy shooting my more aesthetically pleasing bows more though.  But I also agree with the statement that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and what looks great to me may not look so good to you. I have some rather ugly wood traditional bows that I shoot just as effectively as my pretty bows but I just don't shoot them very often anymore. I just prefer shooting the pretty-to-me all wood bows.  I just prefer all wood for the feel and the looks.  No carbon, no glass, just wood.  This probably a bit hypocritical of me because I also prefer to shoot carbon arrows and use modern string materials!  The bottom line is that it's your life and you should do what makes you the happiest.  It really doesn't matter what the others think!

Fortunately, with some effort, performance and beauty can be a package deal...just gotta find the right one.

What would you prefer,to shoot lights out or shoot a bow that looks good,seems like a no brainer to me.