Newbie lookin for help

[Buckmaster519]

Hey guys im 17 and from texas and i recently bought a bow for deer hunting and i love to gig carp and gar so i was wondering if yall could give me some suggestions and point me in the right direction. All comments will be appreciated.

I have a 8ft bass buster boat and a minn kota 30lb thrust trollin motor and i was wondering if this would be good for bowfishing. It is really stable and where i fish is really secluded.
I have a 05 Hoyt mt sport compund bow and i was wondering if i would be set by buying a reel seat, a reel, some arrows and slides. I can get all of this at academy for about 50 bucks.

THanks
Colten

[bigcountryok]

sounds like your set. The boat should work and the bow should work.

IMO though I would try to find a recurve (45-60lb)or a compound (if you like them better) with at draw weight around 45-40lbsat a pawn shop or garage sale to use. 1) If your compound is over 45lbs you're gona be digging your arrows out of the mud and stumps most of the time. 2)Tokeep your hunting bow from getting messed up, bowfishing is a nasty sport that is rough on equipment. 3) Your sights on you bow might or might not get in the way 4) I'm not sure what kind of rest you have on your bow, but bowfishing arrows are substantially heavier that regular arrows and some rests cannot support them.

These are just my thoughts. I'm still trying to get this all figured out myself. Good luck!!

[Buckmaster519]

Thanks man i appreciate your time and advice. Im 17 and i dont have job yet soo its kinda hard to get another bow so.... yea but i have a rest that i think will hold up fine and im goin to move my poundage down to 50

thanks again
Colten

[BrushPopper]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. My first bowfishing rig was a glass Ben Pearson recurve and a simple hand-wound spool for a reel. You are already light-years above my first rig.

San Angelo? Amistad is out that way, isn't it? Supposed to be Tilapia in that reservoir...

As for a recurve over a compound, I've used both alot, I like the waterpenetration and solid 'sticks' you get from a compound, and have really only had problems with my arrows getting trashed when shooting shallow water with a rocky bottom.

The recurve is nice for the weight, and for snap-shooting in close. Right now I'm favoring a compound for Calaveras Tilapia... it's nice to be able to come to full draw and hold it while the fish are moving into view.

I've personally never used slides, just a quick-release loop tie to the back of the arrow. It's easy to untie/retie when you get shoot-throughs.

You might also want a good clip-stringer with a long cord on the end, makes it easy to get your fish on and tow them behind the boat.


Welcome to the forum and keep us posted! Lotta' great guys out here and a fellow can learn alot from them.

BP

[Buckmaster519]

Thanks a lot man and yes amistad is about 4 hours south of here. One of our lakes about 5 miles from my house has shallows swarming with common carp and spotted gar so yea thanks for the help.


Colten

[hungry cow]

I use my deer hunting bow for bowfishing and it has worked great, but then again I never really get to deer hunt now so I don't worry about keeping my bow in perfect shape. I have a 55 pd Hoyt and my friend bowfishes with a 65 pound compound and they have both worked great. They really help with the long and deep shots like we often have from shore where I often bowfish and the arrows are so tough I have never had any problems, I have even hit rocks on shore multiple times and not had problems. One thing I have learned is for bowfishing it is much easier without all the potential bow accesories. When I started I had a peep sight, release, and fiber optic sights. With all this it is hard to quickly set up a shot and you miss out on allot. I now shoot the same bow but with an old sight with one pin with a round thing of sticky tac on it to aim, no peep sight, and shoot with fingers. I can get on the fish really easy and can pull back and shoot almost instantly like a recurve, and hit fast moving fish. I do know I have became much more accurate and confident since I started bowfishing and I imagine it will help your deer hunting as well.