K.I.S.S. A beginner's guide.
12-07-2008, 08:39 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 6,006
K.I.S.S. A beginner's guide.
Due to the shear number of products saturating the market these days, the task of picking out and accessorizing your first bow can seem daunting. From choosing the right bow to finding the best sight or rest to suit your particular style of hunting, the options are seemingly endless. What follows should be taken with a grain of salt, as some of the suggestions I don’t even adhere to myself. I am simply setting out to give those of you who are new to the sport a few general ideas to consider before making your initial purchase.
The choice between a single or dual cam bow is entirely subjective. A whitetail hunter back east would be just as easily able to use his slower single cam bow out west as the speed hungry dual cam shooter from my neck of the woods. Without going into too much detail, what I generally try to relay to customers is that it’s a matter of trade-offs when choosing between the two styles. A single cam is generally going to be easier [read; smoother] to draw than a dual cam, but it is inherently going to be slower. A dual cam, while a bit harder to draw, will pick up quite a bit more speed out of the same draw weight/length/arrow setup. The best way to decide between the two is visit the shop you plan on doing the majority of your business at and have them let you shoot several models in the price range you’re most comfortable stepping into. Personally, I’ve always prefered how a dual cam draws and shoots versus a single cam, but that simply goes to show how much of archery boils down to personal preference. No one design is better than another.
I can’t begin to tell you how many folks I have who walk up to my counter throughout the course of a summer who think they have bows that are set up properly for them. Whether they’re struggling to draw as much weight as they possibly can or their draw length is two inches too long, somewhere along the lines someone told them they were good to go. If your bow doesn’t fit you, you won’t shoot well – plain and simple. I suggest shooting as much weight as you’re comfortable pulling while sitting flat on your butt with your back against the wall. If you have to point towards the sky in order to get the string back, you’re drawing too much weight. You should be able to easily pull directly back towards your anchor while holding on target.
With that said, a bow with an improperly set draw length (too long) will have the same effect as pulling more draw weight. The easiest way to measuer your draw length is to measure the spread between the tips of your fingers of your right hand to the tips of your fingers on your left hand and divide that number by 2.5. This will give you a general jumping off point to start. You may want to fine tune the length one way or another, which is easily done with the majority of the bows today, in order to be most comfortable. Once the bow’s draw length is set properly, you’re ready to start accessorizing.
Personally, I like a sight that is both durable and easy to adjust. Most of the sights designed for hunters fit this bill quite nicely. Spot Hogg, Montana Black Gold, G5, as well as Toxonics and Cobra all make sights that are easy to adjust and nearly bomb-proof. The number of pins you choose is completely up to you, based on your comfort zone and your style of hunting. If you plan on limiting your shots to fourty yards and under, you might stick with just three pins. If you plan on venturing west, where shot opportunities out to fifty-plus yards are the norm, you may want to consider a good five or more pin sight. The amount of fiber optics linked to the pins directly effects how bright your pins are. The more wrapped fiber, the better. Choose a sight who’s fibers are contained in some sort of housing themselves, or you’ll wind up replacing them before you complete your first season.
Keeping with the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) mentality, I’m going to suggest choosing some sort of full containment style rest. Whether you choose to go with a fixed position rest such as a Whisker Biscuit or Bowtech’s Octane series Hostage or you venture into a drop away like a QAD or Ripcord, a full containment rest is going to alleviate some of your headaches. Not having to worry about which direction or how far in that direction you tilt your bow is nice, considering how finicky our quarry can be to the slightest of noises. While a drop away style rest can be difficult to tune initially, once set, you shouldn’t have to worry about it coming out of tune again.
I'll add more later... As I write it and if its requested. In all honesty, I lost my train of thought at the end of that last paragraph and forgot the rest of what I wanted to write. [&:]Look for an update tomorrow, probably. Until then, enjoy?
The choice between a single or dual cam bow is entirely subjective. A whitetail hunter back east would be just as easily able to use his slower single cam bow out west as the speed hungry dual cam shooter from my neck of the woods. Without going into too much detail, what I generally try to relay to customers is that it’s a matter of trade-offs when choosing between the two styles. A single cam is generally going to be easier [read; smoother] to draw than a dual cam, but it is inherently going to be slower. A dual cam, while a bit harder to draw, will pick up quite a bit more speed out of the same draw weight/length/arrow setup. The best way to decide between the two is visit the shop you plan on doing the majority of your business at and have them let you shoot several models in the price range you’re most comfortable stepping into. Personally, I’ve always prefered how a dual cam draws and shoots versus a single cam, but that simply goes to show how much of archery boils down to personal preference. No one design is better than another.
I can’t begin to tell you how many folks I have who walk up to my counter throughout the course of a summer who think they have bows that are set up properly for them. Whether they’re struggling to draw as much weight as they possibly can or their draw length is two inches too long, somewhere along the lines someone told them they were good to go. If your bow doesn’t fit you, you won’t shoot well – plain and simple. I suggest shooting as much weight as you’re comfortable pulling while sitting flat on your butt with your back against the wall. If you have to point towards the sky in order to get the string back, you’re drawing too much weight. You should be able to easily pull directly back towards your anchor while holding on target.
With that said, a bow with an improperly set draw length (too long) will have the same effect as pulling more draw weight. The easiest way to measuer your draw length is to measure the spread between the tips of your fingers of your right hand to the tips of your fingers on your left hand and divide that number by 2.5. This will give you a general jumping off point to start. You may want to fine tune the length one way or another, which is easily done with the majority of the bows today, in order to be most comfortable. Once the bow’s draw length is set properly, you’re ready to start accessorizing.
Personally, I like a sight that is both durable and easy to adjust. Most of the sights designed for hunters fit this bill quite nicely. Spot Hogg, Montana Black Gold, G5, as well as Toxonics and Cobra all make sights that are easy to adjust and nearly bomb-proof. The number of pins you choose is completely up to you, based on your comfort zone and your style of hunting. If you plan on limiting your shots to fourty yards and under, you might stick with just three pins. If you plan on venturing west, where shot opportunities out to fifty-plus yards are the norm, you may want to consider a good five or more pin sight. The amount of fiber optics linked to the pins directly effects how bright your pins are. The more wrapped fiber, the better. Choose a sight who’s fibers are contained in some sort of housing themselves, or you’ll wind up replacing them before you complete your first season.
Keeping with the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) mentality, I’m going to suggest choosing some sort of full containment style rest. Whether you choose to go with a fixed position rest such as a Whisker Biscuit or Bowtech’s Octane series Hostage or you venture into a drop away like a QAD or Ripcord, a full containment rest is going to alleviate some of your headaches. Not having to worry about which direction or how far in that direction you tilt your bow is nice, considering how finicky our quarry can be to the slightest of noises. While a drop away style rest can be difficult to tune initially, once set, you shouldn’t have to worry about it coming out of tune again.
I'll add more later... As I write it and if its requested. In all honesty, I lost my train of thought at the end of that last paragraph and forgot the rest of what I wanted to write. [&:]Look for an update tomorrow, probably. Until then, enjoy?
12-07-2008, 09:07 PM
#8
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blossvale, New York
Posts: 21,199
RE: K.I.S.S. A beginner's guide.
ORIGINAL: Washington Hunter
Jesus H...
Jesus H...
12-08-2008, 06:37 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Castile N.Y.
Posts: 2,090
RE: K.I.S.S. A beginner's guide.
Well Dan at least I thought it was a good read! Lol
I'll be traveling out to colorado in 2 years and am probably going to have a new set-up by then. I shoot a non-containment drop away right now, and will probably consider one of the choiced you have up there, most likely the whisker biscut. Also, you give me a darn good reason to upgrade my sight as well. I really like the G5's even though they are pricy, i'll probably go with that.
Good read for anyone though!
I'll be traveling out to colorado in 2 years and am probably going to have a new set-up by then. I shoot a non-containment drop away right now, and will probably consider one of the choiced you have up there, most likely the whisker biscut. Also, you give me a darn good reason to upgrade my sight as well. I really like the G5's even though they are pricy, i'll probably go with that.
Good read for anyone though!
12-08-2008, 06:52 AM
#10
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 564
RE: K.I.S.S. A beginner's guide.
Being that I have been out of the archery game for almost 20 years and dedicating myself back to the hunt after tagging my largest buck to date with an il-fittedrig that is almost 25 years old, I am in the market for a new setup. Alot has changed since I was a teen and archery lingo and technology is vastly different from what I use to know.
I guess what I am trying to say is, I appreciate the thread and look forward to the next one regardless of something as trivial as font style.
I guess what I am trying to say is, I appreciate the thread and look forward to the next one regardless of something as trivial as font style.