dog1

Alright folks, I admit, I'm out of touch with the archery market today. I have two bows I hunt with, one is an old PSE Nova that's over 20 yrs old, before the yoke system. It's set on 65 lbs and only has 35% let off, they said it had 50% letoff, but myself and numerous whitetail and hogs have lived with it. I also shoot an old Bear Kodiak recurve, 60 inch bow at 55 lbs. I've had this bow since 1985 or 86. As a matter of fact, I'm still shooting the last 3 or 4 dozen arrows and broadheads I bought several yrs ago. I started using the NAP Thunderheads 125s' back in 86 or 87.

Now the problem and question. Because of age and arthiritis, I have been considering geting a new bow. I never liked the real short bows, my PSE is 42 inches axle to axle and I've never had a problem with it. I shoot with my fingers and the short bows (20 yrs ago) pinched bad. Need something with more letoff if I go with another compound.

I've been reading y'alls' post on different name brands and really don't know what is best these days. Need some recommendations, please keep in mind that I shoot with my fingers. Oh yeah, don't want to spend a fortune. Also need some recommendations on recurves and longbows.

Just a note for you younger archers. I bought the PSE Nova new, with sites, bow quiver, arrow rest, and a dozen Gamegetter II arrows for $125.00, taxes included. I paid $59.00? new for my Bear Kodiak, does that convince you as to how long it's been since I bought a bow. I hate to mess with success.

Now y'all don't start a war, just some good advice.

Thanks to all,

dog1

KBacon

My dad shot a Bear Alaskan till about the mid 90s (the kind w/ 4 wheels)... when I finally made him buy a new bow... which was an XI Legend.. that he's still shooting today.

As far as new bows w/ a long a-a... I'd prolly look at the Martin Scepter 3 or Cougar... of course they also have several nice recurves/longbows.

PLB

dog1,

I don't know that there truely is a "best" bow manufacturer today. Of course they all claim to be the best. Any bow you buy from a reputable pro-shop will be a quality bow. Go and try them all out, one or two will jump out at you and that will be the brand/model that fits you best. As for prices, I have read on this forum where a bow's (same manufacturer/model) price will vary $100 from location to location. I would mention brands to look at, but I would probably leave one or two out and then I would never hear the end of it.

Arthur P

Age and Arthritis.... Sounds like me. [:-]

Here's what I did for my A&A. I tried the high letoff, hard cam stuff and JEEZ!! Talk about painful! The cams they've got today come up to peak draw weight real fast, hold it until a few inches before you hit anchor and then dump you like a gob of mud into 75-80% letoff. If you creep the slightest bit, the cam tries to take the string away from you, giving a whole new meaning to "Become the arrow." That kind of stuff freakin' HURTS my shoulders. (I hate to think how many people are going to have their shooting careers cut way short with ruined shoulders because of these cam designs they're shooting nowadays.)

Anyway, I got a Hoyt ProTec with LXPro limbs and Accuwheels, 60 pounds peak, 65% letoff. Yes, it's slow by popular standards, but it's a darn site faster than my old 80 pound ProVantage was with E-wheels and still very comfortable to draw and shoot. The price tag sucks though. A lower price option would be the Reflex Caribou. Even lower price would be the new PSE Nova with Vector wheels.

Martin Cougar Elite or Scepter Elite with their milder cams might be good. Haven't drawn on in a long time though.

Recurves? Chek-Mate. Good quality bows and very reasonable prices.

www.recurves.com

Mike from Texas

Possibly a Bowtech Pro 40 Wheely or maybe a Hoyt Protec with the Xt3000 limbs. The Hoyt has specs of 41 1/2" axle-axle, 8 1/4" brace height, 75% letoff and still has good speed at 292 fps.

The Bowtech is actually 38" axle-axle, 7 1/4" brace height, 65 or 80% letoff, and speed of 304-312 fps.

I'm sure there are several others available, but these are ones I can think of right off the top of my head.