Im going on 7th season shooting a matthews outback. It still shoots great. I have some extra cash and was debating getting a new bow. I have a couple friends with bow's twice as old as mine and they still shoot them dead..

I was curious how long do most of you keep your bow before buying a new one?

IMO it depends solely on preference. It's pretty clear that bow technology is significantly improved from the 90's-early 2000's era to modern era. All that has really changed since is a few more fps, maybe a couple 10ths of a lb lighter... About 4-5 years ago? When the switchback was Mathews' new bow, my dad bought the switchback XT and said that he will never buy another bow as long as he hunts. His point being, the bow is quiet, fast, and not much can go wrong, or change THat drastically to warrant buying a new bow every few years. I shoot a Drenalin, which falls into the newer 'era' of bows and am kind of in the same mindset, for the time being, it serves me well..so unless i have a clear reason to change or upgrade. i'm content

^^^^^^whoooow thats a lot of mathews!^^^^^^ lol I have had three bows since I started bow hunting about 8 years ago. First one was a crappy buckmaster from walmart but it was a good learning bow. Next was a switchback XT. Even though I do poke fun at Mathews lovers its all in good fun because they do make great bows. I liked my XT a lot but wanted more speed. my switchback was barely grazing 280fps. I ended up buying the destroyer 340 and probably won't buy another bow for another 5+ years... at $1300+ a pop who can afford to?!? As Wiscounit said any "modern era" bow will be good for a couple of years because lets be honest how much more can they do? before you know it we'll have compounds that shoot as fast as rifles!

I just sold my mathews switchback after 7 years

Not your average bowhunter, I get a new bow every year. Sometimes I keep the old ones around, but rarely no more than 3 years until I figure out that I'll never shoot them again so they get sold. My oldest bow at present is a 2010 Rytera Alien Z, which hasn't been shot in about a year.

I loved my last bow... I had it for 8 years... I just bought a new bow the begining of this year... I didn't spend a whole lot on it... I bought a Mission Riot... It shoots a little faster but it is a lot more quiet... I don't know when I will buy another but it wont be for some time... I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't like it... It is much more easy to draw at a higher wieght...

Bought a Jennings FireStar in 1993. Bought a Darton Mountain in 2000. Bought a Darton AS 300 in 2008. Lastly bought a Darton Pro 1100 in 2010. The 1100 im going to keep for a while. It shoots smooth and fast. My favorite bow thus far. I would prolly still be shooting the Mountain if i hadn't broke the limb and cam whackin it against the railing of the stand while shooting at a buck. Got the 300 because I broke the Mountain. Bought the 1100 because it was the upgrade of the AS 300 and had a few little things that I wanted on a bow. Then again im cheap and work too damn hard and don't make enough money.

stell shooting my mathews lx 2004 year.