I Got A Bow

[Tifford]

I have a lot of experience with rifles but this is my first true bow.

The only other bows that I've used were the cheap ones back in high school. I tried but I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with those old cheapies.

However, this bow is extremly nice!!!! I can get 5" or less groups at up to 40 yards. At 20 yards the groups are usually under an inch.

I have to work up my back muscles though because after 5 or 6 shots it gets hard to pull it back.

Tifford

[tcoop]

Tifford,

Welcome to the ranks of those of us that shoot with sticks and strings. Sounds like you are shooting good!!!

One suggestion on the draw weight. If you are having any trouble now, it would be best to turn down the draw weight. When you have been sitting in a stand for hours in the freezing cold and have on several layers of clothes, that bow is 10 times as hard to draw. BTW I speak from experience. I have had to point the bow straight up & give it all I had to draw, which of course scared the deer.

tcoop

[Myk]

I like coveralls, I found my main problem with drawing was the shoulder bunching up on me. I get extra talls and make sure I loosen the shoulder before settling in.

[DickPal]

Excuse me I am going out to the trash can and look for my ego. ::big I have been shooting sticks for 30 years and don't think I have ever put 5 arrows in an inch at 20yds and 5 inches at 40 is still a great group for me. Nice shooting!!

[Bigpapascout]

Tifford
Be careful archery is addictive! :blink:


Dick
still shooting the ol recurves huh? :D

If this sounds like I am tooting my own horn..well....Its because I am :lol:
but if i shoot at the same 2 inch dot at 20 yards away I wil have a bunch of arrows that will need to be refletched or either ruined from robinhoods.

but that comes from shooting on a daily basis.

it is not practice that makes perfect, it is perfect practice that makes perfect!

[Myk]

if i shoot at the same 2 inch dot at 20 yards away I wil have a bunch of arrows that will need to be refletched or either ruined from robinhoods.

Same here. If I'm shooting broadheads it's one shot per dot. When I'm fine tuning the broadheads to field points the broadhead has to go first. Then I really get mad when I hit the arrow because the broadheads are on my best arrows.

[Mossyhorns]

Welcome to the bowhunting world Tifford.What kind of Bow did you purchase?

This year will test your true skills of hunting critters up close and personal.

Bowhunting is a lifetime of lessons.

[Tifford]

Hey guys,

Mossy horns......It is a Hoyt Magnatech. While at the store the guy behind the counter was a little busy so I asked a couple of country looking guys what brand to go with. They without a dought said that a hoyt is the way to go. I also found a bow hunting web site and did a search and they spoke highly of the hoyt. So hoyt it is.

They guy behind the counter said that he also had a Fred bear but the hoyt just felt better in the hand. The grip on the fred bear felt a little small to me and I didn't want to go looking for hand grips.

I lucked out. The guy behind the counter hunted with bows for 30 years. He had me:
1) Use a cheap light bow to determine draw length.....31 1/2 inches
2) Cut some arrows to length and let me try them out at a shot range
3) set up a chrono on the arrows I shot
4) He backed off the draw weight. He measured it on a scale. The arrows are aluminum and I think they clocked at just under 300 fps.
5) I got a bunch of other stuff. Leather band to hold the bow as I release, a weight that screws into the front, a trigger release for holding the string.
6) He put the vibration reducers on it

It was about 2 hours before I walked out of that place with it. He said that the bow needed to be tuned by a professional about once a year. I think the draw weight on it is around 168 lbs. It has the new cam and 1/2 system. It is not the best bow in the hoyt line up but I think it shoots just fine for me.

Tcoop,
I'm a pretty big guy. I think my back muscles are just a little weak b/c I don't use them a whole lot. I can curl 100 lbs with one arm a few times. I've started to include working my back muscles into my biweekly workout. I guess having trouble drawing a 168 lb bow makes me seem like a wimp. I'll fix that soon.

Tifford

[DickPal]

Bigpapascout; OUCH!! :huh: You say I must shoot as recurve because I have not usually put put 5 of my 2213s in a less than 1" group, I tried it today and if they are tight in a rubber band one 'OD' measurement is 1"no matter how I rolled them. Its been 20 some years since I broke my first knock with the next arrow but I still can't shoot like you guys can. Hell I can't even break a 168# bow in warm weather! Thank GOD for firearms :D other wise I may starve! :blink:

[Myk]

Surely you mean 68lb's. I haven't heard of a 168lb cam bow. That would be one tough puppy to turn over. But with a 31 1/2" draw you have to be a pretty big guy.

I say learn how to tune. At least a little of the tuning is to your shooting style, unless you do picture perfect by the book shooting.

I bet you need a bow tune up DickPal (or maybe a new bow :) ). 20yds isn't that far for the modern wheel bows. I have to practice to be able to hunt at 40yds but 20yds is just like shooting a gun, the arrow doesn't have time to have me sway it off course :)
My old Browning is a different story. 30 yds is its accuracy limit. It's slow and does not give clean arrow flight no matter how it's tuned.

[realtree]

just wait and see how much more time you spend in the woods now and how much longer your hunting season will be. bowhunting, theres nothing else like it.

[tcoop]

168 lb. draw? I couldn't do that with both feet on the bow & both hands on the string. Even 68 lbs. is not wimpy. Most guys shoot 60-65 lbs. from what I have heard. I think my bow is at 67 lbs. The only guy that I know of that shoots heavier is a buddy of mine that shoots 73 lbs. That is only during the 3-D season. Makes the longer shots flatter. He backs it down about 5 lbs during the hunting season. It is just too hard to draw after sitting in sub freezing temps for hours.

tcoop

[Bigpapascout]

168# has to be a typo :unsure:

I think the heaviest is 100 LB

168 LB you would have to shoot logs! ::big

[Myk]

I think I used to shoot 75lbs but I've since come to my senses and turned it down to 65lbs. Doesn't wear out my shoulder that way.

[DickPal]

I've been doing 12 OZ curls for 2 days now so I can shoot a 168# bow. <_< Geese I wonder if that is affecting my shooting :blink: If that was a typo I wish somebody would let me know so I can stop working out :unsure:

[Tifford]

No need to think of me as the mighty Arnold.

I am 6' 215 lbs mostly muscle with wide shoulders and arms like an ape but the future gov of cal. I'm not.

Yup, the 168 was a mental typo. It is 68 and not 168. I'm up to about ten shots now. I shoot 5, go collect them and then shoot 5 more times before my arm starts to give out. It helps to point the bow up and stretch it as it comes down.

No need to stop lifting those 12 oz. on my account. I'd hate to be the one responsible for limiting anothers enjoyment of one of natures finer spirits. Then again I don't think anyone would stop on my account.

My top two are (in no particular order) sam adams, coors light. When I get a bonus then I get sam adams. If I'm on a tight budget for that month then I get the coors. It must be ice cold. I don't understand how those English guys can drink their beer warm.

Right now I'm debating as to where to hunt. I can hunt in a blind where there are a ton of deer esp in the afternoon hours..but it is a 1/2 hour drive. I can also hunt 5 minutes away, fewer deer and I might need a stand. I kind of like that tree loung that was mentioned as holding over 1,000 lbs of static weight in another post.

Tifford