M92

Years past when I was a kid I thought about getting into bowhunting, so I went out and bought a bow, and practiced a few times. Being as I was a young kid, and had the the attention span of a doorknob I gave up when it didn't come to me right away.

Well dad still has the bow at my home in Iowa, and I've been thinking about getting into it. I for the life of me cant remember much about the bow other than it was a compound bow.

The bow is probably twenty years old, and from what dad says is still is great shape, says it looks like it just came out of the store.

First off is there anything Im gonna have to do to it to get it ready to hunt again. Like restring it, or whatever?

Second, any tips yall can give to an old gun hunter about getting into this?

UPHunter08

By all means, you should take it to a pro shop and have it inspected for safety reasons. It will certainly need a new string.

Longer term, my advice is practice with it a lot, try it hunting for a year or two. After that, if you think you'll stick with bow hunting you'll probably want to invest in a new bow. They have come a long way in 20 years in terms of being quieter, faster, more reliable, and easier to shoot. I recently bought a new one after having used my old Browning for over a decade. After shooting a new bow, I wish I had upgrade a long time ago. You can buy a really decent bow for $500-700, completely set up with good sights, rest, etc.

Welcome back to the sport! Good luck hunting.

M92

Thanks much. I will still likely gun hunt during the gun season. Im more wanting to get into bow to make my season longer

I appreciate the advise.

IIRC It was set to a 40 pound draw weight (because I was like 12 when I got it) but could go up to 80 pounds.

UPHunter08

12? You'll also want the shop to check your draw length, since that will also likely have changed since you were 12. A competent shop (not necessarily one of the big stores like Cabellas, etc) should be able to get you squared away with no problem.

Like you, I got into bow hunting to lengthen my season. Funny thing is, now it's my primary hunting season. Gun hunting lost most of its appeal for me, mostly because the immense hunting pressure during gun season really messes up the deer patterns. Bow hunting will open up a whole new world to you! In many places, you have most of the woods to yourself during early bow season.

M92

Thank ya again. That very well may happen to me too. But I reckon itll depend on where Im living next season. During bow and muzzle gun season it is still damn near summer weather down here..

Im sure I will have more questions as I progress on through. Its good to be on a site like this.

bigcountry

You know I have had several 20 year old bows brought to me with folks wanting to get them back in action. In the end, you end up putting more money that they are worth in it. Especially if they have steel cables or something off the wall.

I would opt for adding another 200 dollars and getting a newer bow. Bows loose value very quickly.

You can get a great 4 year old bow for $250.

M92

Thanks. We will see what happens.

phil_pick

I actually just picked up a 2007 bowtech off of craigslist for $300. I was using my dad's old bow and had no idea about draw lenght or weight. I still killed deer with the bow but I am blown away with how much better the new bow is. Plus your arms and shoulders will thank you for the 70-85% let off of the new bows compaired to the (what felt like 0%) let off of the old ones.
Just be warned that, even if you don't have an adictive personality, the first time you shoot a deer with a bow you will be hooked for life.