OK guys - the Alaska PFD is 1100 bucks this year (free money baby!).

I' ve got a Browning Spectrum II bow, that I bought new in 1997. It' s an old dual-cam style, and it shoots pretty well.

What I' m wondering is - are the new bows out there going to shoot better, enough to warrant spending money on another bow?

Thanks...!!!

Andy
Kodiak, Alaska

While there have been some technological advancements since 1997 , a bow is only as good as the shooter. Honestly, if you feel comfortable with your bow and can put your shots in the 10x ring consistantly, why buy another bow? Almost any bow can kill an animal w/ the proper shot placement. But if you want to venture into the new bow market, have fun! There are so many great bows out there not to mention new bow accessories. You will find that there are Hoyt, Matthews, Bowtech, Parker, Jennings, PSE fanatics throughout this msg board that are more than willing to give you their advice. Listen to these guys. There are alot of good archers here. Good luck.

-BJ

On a serious note, I believe the above post to be right on the money.

However, on the humorous side my response would be....

" At least once a year...." ......

If you knew me well enough then you would find that a typical response.

Again, seriously, there are many bows on the market today that will shoot quieter, faster and with less recoil and vibration than what you are currently shooting. There are also many bows that are more convenient to carry through the woods while still being able to produce very good levels of accuracy.

Only you can really decide on this one.

Perfect example of what' s old is new again. Don' t worry about being stuck with ' old' technology because duals are coming back. Like Frank said though, there might be a few points of comfort and convenience with the later model stuff, and maybe a bit more performance, but only you can decide if a new bow is worth the price to you.

It is all up to you, I got my first bowkill with a 20+year old Bear Black Bear. I have a new Browning Ambush now and I have to say I love it, it is far superior to the old Bear, but it will be years before I buy a new bow again. To me the more you shoot a bow the more natural it becomes. The longer you shoot it the more it becomes part of you and not a bow.

I don' t really know when it' s a time to get a new bow. I have a friend of mine that has an old late 70' s/early 80' s style Browning compound bow, and it still shoots fine. He' s seen the $600 Parkers out there and can' t justify spending that much on a bow. Besides, he' s an " occasional hunter" nowadays and doesn' t get out in the woods up in a stand as much as he used to.

For me, I have an " Ebay special" .... [&:] Two seasons ago I got a PSE Edge 1000 series lefty compound bow for $65 bucks. 30" draw, 65# draw weight, but the guy on Ebay stripped it down for the auction. So, when I won the auction for a bow - that' s just it - I got A bow.... No sights, no rest, no quiver, no anything. I remember bringing it right to Green Top Sporting Goods here in town and they went all over it and checked it over. It' s was true and square according to them, and it cost me about $100 bucks to get it fully outfitted and ready to go. It' s still a great shooter and I have it setup with 10yd, 20yd, and 30yd, pins and can hit the center bullseye from 30 yards (most of the time) .

I plan on keeping this PSE Edge 1000 bow for a long time.

Butch

If you are thinking of getting rid of your 2 cam bow for a single , dont do it . I believe the bows browning was making in 97 were some very nice quality bows .

My older bow a High Country with twin hatchet cam and 100 lb limbs was shooting 283 at 80 lbs. Made it hard for some of those longer hold times. I switched to a High Country Carbon 4 runner extreme single cam this year and pulling 70 lbs I' m shooting at 310 with the same exact arrow.

Because the bow is quieter, easier to hold, more user friendly when tuning the upgraded bow was a blessing. I agree with these guy' s if your comfortable with the bow and can shoot consitantly accurate why change. However if the bow is un-comfortable like in my situation change but maybe wait for next year so you can adjust to the new bow.

I traded in my 1988 pse last year. I tried to get parts for it after giving up on my newer Hoyt. However, I could not get the parts I needed.

The nice folks at PSE offered me a newer bow for half the price. All I had to do was send my old bow back to them.

So, shoot what you have as long as you can. When you can' t keep it in safe shooting condition (for lack of parts) then get you a new one.

When the new ones come out each year!

Timba