What Bow For 3D Shooting?

[G2 Shooter]

I would like to get into 3D shooting after this season and I was wondering what things I should look for or consider in a bow for that. Should it have a longer A2A, higher brace height, lower poundage? I know there are a lot of bows out there so please keep this thread clean without bashing other bows.

My hunting bow is a 2005 Bowtech Defender VFT. It's set to 67# and a 29" draw. I think I should be at 28" but it is too close to bow season to change it. Would that be OK for 3D? How many guys use their hunting setup for 3D as well?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Rick James]

I used my Patriot for 3D this year and did pretty well for it. I went to a 2 day 60 target shoot this last weekend and only dropped 4 points on the last 30 targets......

[Arthur P]

Having a game where you can shoot your hunting bow and stay sharp with it. That's the original intent behind 3D. If you want to shoot and have a good time, stick with what you've got. They've got hunter divisions for you to play in. If you want to get into the target shooter divisions though, you'd need a whole different rig.

[PABowhntr]

If you are looking for strictly a hardcore 3D bow then you are going to want to try the best compromise between speed and forgiveness. Axle to axle length should be on the mid to long side at around 36 inches or higher in my opinion. Brace height of at least 7 inches but not more than 8-8.5 as you will then start to loose speed. I also prefer a heavier mass weight bow as it tends to promote a steadier shot and higher levels of accuracy.

Hope this helps somewhat.

[Bulzeye]

3-D for me is practice for hunting.
IWANT to use my hunting setup for it, even though there are about 100 things I could have different to give me an edge in the game.
Can't get better practice for hunting than shooting at life-sized 3d animal targets at unknown ranges with your hunting bow.

While I have a great deal of respect for those who can spend a years pay on equipment and go hit the 12 ring almost every time, to me, 3-d is just too valuable a confidence builder for the field.

In fact, I recently found out that some, or all, bowhunter divisions score very differently.
All hits in the vitals = 10,
All shots that completely miss the entire animal = 0,
All hits outside the vitals are Negative 5.

To me, this sounds the most like a proper motivation for hunting practice.
That's how I want to shoot them, even if a given shoot's rules are different.