Arthur P

Absolutely, TFOX, absolutely. But the point I was struggling to make is that when those accidental form mistakes crop up - and there is nowhere they are more likely to happen than in the hunting stand - forgiveness in bow design should be given a LOT more consideration than speed.

Think about it... We spend long periods of time, hours on end sometimes, waiting for a shot. Muscles get cold and and joints get stiff. Sometimes an opportunity comes along at a moment's notice and will be gone in another moment. In circumstances like that, we haven't got much time to get mentally prepared before drawing down. We don't have the luxury of taking a few warm-up shots to get the juices flowing before taking the one shot that counts. We don't always have the time to go through each and every point of shooting form to make sure everything is exactly right before dumping the string even though we still try to, even if we've practiced our form enough that it should be automatic.

But there again is another point. Though we might have spent hours upon hours practicing during the past few months, much of that shooting has not been done while fully decked out in our hunting regalia. Most practice has not been done while up in a tree. Most of us have NOT practiced in actual hunting conditions to the point that our form will be automatic in a hunting situation.

And then, the bow that has been so easy and comfortable to draw while standing flat footed on the ground in warm weather can become a real bear to haul back with cold muscles and stiff joints, in the confined space of a stand.

Can a single one of us, regardless of expertise and/or experience, fully guarantee our form is going to be perfect, or even adequate, in all circumstances in the field? I think not. I've blown my share of gimme shots over the years, and that's an unfortunate fact. That's why I place such a high priority on bow design and demand forgiveness over speed.

Now, one thing I do when thinking about buying a bow is to draw it and intentionally twist my wrist to see how easy it is to torque the bow. My Bear TRX, a fairly standard high let-off, single cam, reflexed riser bow, is so easy to torue it's ridiculous. It will very nearly torque so far that I'm in real danger of popping the string out of the cam and idler. My Hoyt ProTec, long with a somewhat deflexed riser with wheels nearly up to modified cam performance and 65% let-off, is extremely difficult to torque. Compared to my old SuperSlam from the 90's - a long A-to-A bow with extremely deflexed riser, 65% let-off with E-wheels and a hand position forcing grip - they are both torquey and unforgiving. The SuperSlam is virtually impossible to torque and just as unlikely to let me get the wrong grip.

I shot field archery with the SuperSlam and I guarantee you I made some awfully bad foul ups with that bow that turned out pretty good. One instance in particular sticks out in my memory. I was shooting a 60 yard target, towards the end of the course. I'd certainly had shot over a hundred arrows that day by the time I got to this target. It was hot and humid and I was pretty well pooped. My first 3 arrows were dead X-rings. My 4th arrow for the target was the one I messed up on. I made a severe string pluck (a horrible finger shooter's mistake caused by poor back tension for you guys who don't know what it is) and that caused my bow hand to recoil left and down at the shot. Naturally I missed the X, but the arrow did manage to fatshaft the line at 7:00 on the spot, giving me a 5 instead of a 4.

If I'd done the same thing with the ProTec, the arrow would have been off in the 3 ring. I know because it happened to me in another tournament, same situation, same course and same target.[&o] If I'd done something similar with the TRX, I'd probably never seen that arrow again.

That tells you the degree of forgiveness I want from a hunting bow though. I've got really good shooting form, but I am human and make mistakes. I've proven to myself that bow design can go a long way toward covering up some pretty bad errors in form. I make far fewer mistakes in yardage estimation than I do with my form, and that's another unfortunate fact. Give me a bow with just decent speed but oodles of forgiveness and I'm a happy camper.

If I were buying a bow today, the one I'd go for is the Bowtech Commander. It's got a whole lot of I want in a bow. Smooth draw, generous valley. Speed of a reflex riser but with the anti-torque characteristics of a deflex riser. I thought it was hype when I read it on Bowtech's website, but I tested it for myself and it's true.