Huckypuck

I'm purchasing my first bow (2003 PSE Thunderbolt 70# LH) and trying to figure which brand accessories to get (rest, sight, release, ie,). There are umberous brands and a huge selection at each price range and I was wondering what you guys started out with. Let me know if you liked or disliked it and why. I don't really know what features are must have's and which are just fancy gadgets to make it look good.

So far the Cobra Sidewinder sight seems to be pretty popular

Thanks in advance for the help.

mjqood0

First off, let me welcome you to the forum. You'll find discussions of almost anything you could ever want around here!

Simply put, get the best accessories you can afford. They can always move with you to whatever bow you may end up with down the road.

For shootability, get a good release. I like the Scott brand the best, but Tru-Ball makes good releases as well as some other companies. I did a review of the Scott Little Goose on this forum. It will probably run you around $55 for a good release.

Rests are highly debated. There are two roads to go here. Containment (arrow is surrounded by the rest. Great for beginners or for stalking with an arrow nocked) or drop away. I started off with a Whisker Bisquit and really liked. I only switched because I was having some clearance issues with new vanes on my arrows. I think they are great for hunting since you never have to worry about nocking an arrow and leaving it. I now have a Drop Zone drop away rest and like it better for a couple reasons. The first was that I had the cheap whisker bisquit which is very hard to tune due to lack of adjustability. The second is that I seem to be shooting better groups with my Drop Zone. Probably due to the fact that I have no fletching contact now. If I were you, I'd get a Drop Tine model of the Whisker Bisquit. Probably around $45, it's a good rest that will give you great service.

Sights are stongly a matter of personal preference. Anything which you like and will hold up to branches and brush while hunting is a good sight. Pick something which offers enough fiber optic to make it bright when it's overcast or cloudy. Then, just look for whatever you like. You can get good sights for less than $75.

The final thing I would seriously look at are silencing for your bow. If you're not going to hunt, this isn't such a big deal, but if you are hunting, a good stabilizer and limb savers will go a long way in making your bow quiet. I'd budget about $60 for a good stabilizer and a set of limb savers.

From here, shoot the bow a while and see what you like / dislike. Add as you see fit. I now bows tend to be a money pit since they are so much fun to shoot and new accessories are always fun to play with!

Most of all, Enjoy your new bow!!!

Huckypuck

Cool. Thanks for the tip. I have narrowed my bow choice down to a 2003 PSE Thunderbolt or a 2004 PSE Nova L3. I have already decided on getting the PSE NV system as I have heard so many great things about it.

I have noticed that the Whiskerbiscuit seems to be one of the top choices around. Being new to bowhunting, it just looks like it would alter the flight of your arrow.

Do pro shops let you try things out like sights and rests before you buy them? I'd hate to buy something, fit it up, and not like it.

mjqood0

None of the pro shops around here are going to let me try rests / sights...

Sights are easier. You should be able to hold them up and look through them. Basically, hold a few up to your eye and get a feel for how they do / don't block the target (I like the verticle pins of the Trophy Ridge Matrix personally since it doens't block the front / back of a deer i'm looking at). Fiber optics are pretty good these days, so you really don't have to worry too much about that.

Rests are a pain. Even the best rest takes some adjusting and they tend to be very personal choices. I know the whisker biscuit looks like it would really mess up an arrow's flight, but in actuality, they are quite accurate. They can sometimes be a pain to tune, but if you get a good pro shop, they will have you shoot it a few times to make sure everything is lined up. Then you can paper tune or bare shaft tune to fine tune everything. Not too bad really. It just sounds hard.

One of the big benefits to the whisker biscuit is that it's not too expensive (A drop zone is around $99) so if you don't like it you can shoot it for a year and switch without feeling too guilty.

Good luck!

gselkhunter

Huckypuck, KISS, which means "keep it simple stupid". There are so many high tech products out there and for YOU to work on your bow will be very hard. If you have a friend that is very good with high tech to teach you, go for it. The sight system and quiver are what ever you like thing. I use an old PSE unisystem and love it. The rest is a different thing, are you goin to shoot fingers or release? I am not fond of a rest that has a lot of moving parts. If something comes loose in the field you are finished. I know guys that love drop away rests, I wouldn't own one. I use a hunter supreme rest $9.00. A lot of guys out there will laugh at me for this choice, but I can match arrow flight with anyone. And I do shoot a release, Martin Quicksilver. For finger shooters an inexpensive rest is a cavalier super flyte $14.00 at FS discount archery[ has a web site]. Simple set up rest. A whisker bisquit is another easy set up rest, good for fingers or release. The arrows you choose will make a difference in the rest you use. I have stayed with XX75's. I have a lot of friends that have gone carbon and think I should change. Mine isn't broke. I don't shoot a PSE bow, but I think you are making a good choice as far as a bow. How ever you go with set up, learn to do it your self. Welcome to archery, have fun!
Gselkhunter

nubo

what I've found is that I'm alway's changing my accessories new rest's and new stabilizer's and new sight's .I didn't scrimp on cost when I put my new Patriot Dually together .I bought the Spott Hogg ?Real Deal sight and found it to be great for 3D ,but I prefer my Impact Archery Cosmic for hunting it's much brighter longer and has a larger pin and is about 80.00 cheaper that the hogg.I bought the Stealth Stabilizer and I bought a Vibracheck Isolator stabilizer and I like the Stealth much better for the fact it has a wieghted end and a lighter end but the cost was about the same.I bought a MZE rest and i also have a NAP quicktune 3000 arrow rest and I prefer the MZE which was a little cheaper than the nap since I got it on e-bay. It's hard to say just what accessories you should buy because it's a matter of finding what feel's right to you.Good luck on your choices and just go for what feel's right .Some bow shop's have different accessories on various bow's that you might be able to try out .
When your choosing your accessories be sure to follow this forum and find out what everyone think's of them. This is a very good forum to find out that kind information on what work's well and what doesn't.

nubo

ARSavage

What I found when beginning was to go with an arrow rest with point of reference marks. Either numbers or score lines, helps greatly when paper tunning. I started with a tm hunter arrow rest and now with a new style whisker bisquit. Could not be happier, had no problem getting great consistant bullet holes. Also on pin sights go with whatever you like. Not much magic in them, most brand names all good. Get proper draw length set by a good pro shop. And practice, practice, and then practice. Have someone that is knowledgeable view your pre-shot routine to verify your anchoring well and form is good.

BGfisher

I've got several sayings about archery that usually pan out:

KISS (keep it simple stupid)
Plastic has no business on a bow ( buy good accessories)
Your drawlength is too long (if this isn't right then the rest of the bow doesn't matter)

primetimearcher

For rest i have a biscit great choice for me. It wouldn't let the arrow fall. My friends have a drop away and they have a problem going through brush. And if tuning is a reason not to buy a rest think again pro shops have lasers to tune bows. Five minutes and you have a perfictly tuned rest. Go to a pro shop they will help alot with finding the right equipment. Just make sure you have a bow for your draw lenght.

bayfire300

i satred at age 13 w/ a 25lbs recurve (yellow) lol
my first compound was a bear black bear then went to a bear whitetail 2
next was a hoyt raptor w/ carbon arrows
from there was a jennings buckmaster
and finally (just got it today) a bowtech mighty mite
otto