My official "winter" bow is a 1983/84 Browning Explorer 4 wheel compound. I used it because I could wear heavy gloves and still use fingers. I was practicing when I released a shot and was showered with small black pieces of black epoxy. The laminate at the upper axle finally separated from the wood.

Now I have a legitimate excuse to buy a new bow. I've been asking around and can find no one who has had a bow long enough to wear it out. I feel proud.

After reading PA Bowhunter's review on Hoyt bow engineering, I wonder if it's even possible to wear out a bow in a person's lifetime!

I'll bet you can find a couple more of those limbs if you look hard enough. Don't give up on it now. There's probably a lot of life left in that old bow!<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Sounds like you got some pretty good mileage out of that bow. Not a bad life span, considering many bows are retired after just 2 or 3 years (or less) today. I'll bet there's a lot of history in it. You gonna play taps when you bury it in the backyard?

You definitely got your money's worth out of that ol' timer... For what it is worth, I had a Bear Whitetail that lasted from around 1985 through 1998...13 looongg years. Then one of the limbs went.

As for your comment about my post and Hoyt's engineering.......

...try one and find out...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>.

That bow has been retired to my wall. It has a nice wood riser so it's pretty enough to keep my wife from complaining. I will continue to look for replacement limbs but they will be 20 years old as well.

As far as the Hoyts, I was at the local dealer who only stocks two models - MT Sport and Magnatec. I need to find another dealer with more choices. The secret cash stash is fat this year <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle> so I'm getting what I like regardless of price!