Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
11-08-2005, 10:47 AM
#12
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Botetourt County, VA
Posts: 203
RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
How do axles, cams and risers get bent? Is it from abuse or what? Now I'm beginnning to think that there is a serviceable life of a bow and then it has to be reconditioned or tuned up, is that right? I think it would be easy to buy a used bow that is a piece of junk without even knowing it now. How do you feel about buying a bow online as opposed to going to a shop and paying more for it? Online has got to be the cheapest place to buy a bow.
11-08-2005, 11:36 AM
#13
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blossvale, New York
Posts: 21,199
RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
STICKER SHOCK!!!! You haven't seen anything yet.[8D] Wait until you start adding better rest, sights, $100 a dozen arrows, $5-10 broadheads,releases, quiversyada yada yada yada. Just the bow stuff for most of us runs to the close side of $1000 when it's all done. Throw in a practice target, climbing treestand yada yada yada and you're into used car territory. NOPE, it sure isn't cheap. AND THEN....throw in the cost of the divorce...or at least the make up points you have to pay... well, it's a new car.
11-08-2005, 11:53 AM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,927
RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
Hey MP, welcome to the boards. I live in Botetourt Co.too. Send me a PM with your number and maybe we can catch up sometime and I can give you a helping hand getting started. There's a pro shop, I'm sure you know, on Peter's Creek Road (Bryansteen's Gun Shop) in Roanokethat has some bows and can probably answer a lot of questions for you.
11-08-2005, 12:20 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,175
RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
Stuff gets bent from abuse, being dropped out of treestands, being shot over and over and over again with very light arrows and some parts, like cam bearings and bushings,simply wear out and have to be replaced.
All bows need to be tuned up from time to time. Strings and cables stretch out (what we call 'creep') and have to be adjusted back to spec. Screws vibrate loose and lets stuff get out of adjustment. It's just a fact of life with a bow.
As for buying online vs in a local shop... I like to save money as much as anyone else. I'm kind of a tightwad, actually. But I think it's very important, especially for a newcomer to archery, to find a good archery shop and develop a good relationship there. You're eventually going to need their help - eventually if not immediately -with tuning or replacing strings and cables or worn/broken parts. I think it's worth spending the extra money on the bow to get the advantage of havingtheir expertise when you need it. And, just starting out like you are, you will need it.
Today'scompounds are very high performance machines and, like all high performance machines, they are high maintenance. They do not hold a tune like the bows from 20 years ago did. Tournament shooters often have to retune their bows every few weeks. A book that you might find very helpful in getting up and runningis "Tuning and Silencing Your Compound Shooting System" by Larry Wise. If you're mechanically inclined, you can do most of the basic chores yourself with that book's guidance.
If you are very lucky, there will be an archery club in your neck of the woods. I highly recommend joining one and hanging out with experienced shooters. You can learn so much more, and learn it a lot quicker, by doing that than by reading books orwatching videos.
To tell the truth, it all got to be a lot more than I wanted to mess with. I like shooting a lot more than cranking on wrenches, so I've gotten away from compounds altogether. Longbows and recurves are all I shoot nowadays. That's what I started out with, way back when, and what I intend to shoot until I get to the point where I can't tug a string any more. Tuning is simple. Brace height and nock point. As long as your arrows are the correct stiffness for the draw weight, that's all there is to it.
I can tune one in 10 minutes. Changing a string and getting it the right length might take 3 minutes. No fancy rests to vibrate loose or break. Wood risers don't bend. No cams. No axles. They might be obsolescent but will never beobsolete. They require a little more work and practice to be proficient but, with a backyard range, that's no big deal. Most guys I know enjoy shooting their recurves and longbows so much they never have a lack of time to do it.
When you don't have any sights, then you don't have to worry about it being too dark to see the pins. If you can see your target, you can shoot it. Why sit and watch 'Wheel of Fortune' when you can turn on the patio light and be outside plinking?
Heck, I popped a raccoon with a recurve one night about midnight by the light of a full moon. It was a tad shy of 30 yards, perfect head shot.
You can spend thousands of dollars for a fancy custom stickbow, but you can also get customs made for wellunder $300. Get a quiver, shooting glove and armguard, a bow stringer, bow square anda dozen arrows and you're set.
Used recurves and longbows don't have most of the potential problems that compounds do. You can get a good used recurve from Ebay for a very reasonable price. I got a late 60's vintagePearson Cougar for $45 a couple months ago. So it's entirely possible that you canget set up for $200 and have change left over.
Best thing is you can do everything you need to do for maintenance on a stickbow yourself. No need to haul it down to the shop every time you need a string replaced, for instance. Stickbows are just like compounds in one area... They are only as effective as the guy pulling the string but, within the shooter's limits, they are just asdeadly on gameas any compound.
Now the stickbow might not be your meat. I'm simply pointing out there is an alternative for you to consider. If it's something that sounds like it might appeal to you though, drop on down to the traditional forum and give 'em a shout.
All bows need to be tuned up from time to time. Strings and cables stretch out (what we call 'creep') and have to be adjusted back to spec. Screws vibrate loose and lets stuff get out of adjustment. It's just a fact of life with a bow.
As for buying online vs in a local shop... I like to save money as much as anyone else. I'm kind of a tightwad, actually. But I think it's very important, especially for a newcomer to archery, to find a good archery shop and develop a good relationship there. You're eventually going to need their help - eventually if not immediately -with tuning or replacing strings and cables or worn/broken parts. I think it's worth spending the extra money on the bow to get the advantage of havingtheir expertise when you need it. And, just starting out like you are, you will need it.
Today'scompounds are very high performance machines and, like all high performance machines, they are high maintenance. They do not hold a tune like the bows from 20 years ago did. Tournament shooters often have to retune their bows every few weeks. A book that you might find very helpful in getting up and runningis "Tuning and Silencing Your Compound Shooting System" by Larry Wise. If you're mechanically inclined, you can do most of the basic chores yourself with that book's guidance.
If you are very lucky, there will be an archery club in your neck of the woods. I highly recommend joining one and hanging out with experienced shooters. You can learn so much more, and learn it a lot quicker, by doing that than by reading books orwatching videos.
To tell the truth, it all got to be a lot more than I wanted to mess with. I like shooting a lot more than cranking on wrenches, so I've gotten away from compounds altogether. Longbows and recurves are all I shoot nowadays. That's what I started out with, way back when, and what I intend to shoot until I get to the point where I can't tug a string any more. Tuning is simple. Brace height and nock point. As long as your arrows are the correct stiffness for the draw weight, that's all there is to it.
I can tune one in 10 minutes. Changing a string and getting it the right length might take 3 minutes. No fancy rests to vibrate loose or break. Wood risers don't bend. No cams. No axles. They might be obsolescent but will never beobsolete. They require a little more work and practice to be proficient but, with a backyard range, that's no big deal. Most guys I know enjoy shooting their recurves and longbows so much they never have a lack of time to do it.
When you don't have any sights, then you don't have to worry about it being too dark to see the pins. If you can see your target, you can shoot it. Why sit and watch 'Wheel of Fortune' when you can turn on the patio light and be outside plinking?
Heck, I popped a raccoon with a recurve one night about midnight by the light of a full moon. It was a tad shy of 30 yards, perfect head shot.
You can spend thousands of dollars for a fancy custom stickbow, but you can also get customs made for wellunder $300. Get a quiver, shooting glove and armguard, a bow stringer, bow square anda dozen arrows and you're set.
Used recurves and longbows don't have most of the potential problems that compounds do. You can get a good used recurve from Ebay for a very reasonable price. I got a late 60's vintagePearson Cougar for $45 a couple months ago. So it's entirely possible that you canget set up for $200 and have change left over.
Best thing is you can do everything you need to do for maintenance on a stickbow yourself. No need to haul it down to the shop every time you need a string replaced, for instance. Stickbows are just like compounds in one area... They are only as effective as the guy pulling the string but, within the shooter's limits, they are just asdeadly on gameas any compound.
Now the stickbow might not be your meat. I'm simply pointing out there is an alternative for you to consider. If it's something that sounds like it might appeal to you though, drop on down to the traditional forum and give 'em a shout.
11-08-2005, 12:44 PM
#16
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 854
RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
I would wait to buy until aftert he first of the year. Bows are just like cars, new models come out and the older models, which are still brand new, drop significantly in price because they are last years moddels. I picked up a brand new Hoyt Razortecin the mid 400s simply because it was last years model and being dicontinued. Keep your eye open and you can find some of the packages really discounted.
