I have been busy looking at bows, can you give me some input on the following bows listed below. They are supposed to be in good to excellent shape- no cracks or twisted limbs.

Ben Pearson Apex
Bear Grizzly and Super Grizzly
Ben Pearson Colt 7070
Black Hawk and Black Hawk Short Bee
Ben Pearson Hunter

I will be thankful for any input.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that in the used market, on the average, it's hard to beat a Bear Grizzly. I buy and sell quite a few used bows, and overall the Grizzlies seem to hold up really well, and can be bought on e-Bay usually around $75.00 or so.

Good luck, & happy shopping,

Darrel

I don't know a thing about the Blackhawk bows. Pearson made some decent bows, but the only one that I've actually shot out of the three that you've listed is the Hunter model. It was a long time ago so I don't remember much about the bow. Needless to say, it didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I owned a Grizzly. It tended to pinch my fingers a little as compared to the bow (Wilson Bros. Black Widow) that was my primary shooter at the time. It also stacked some for a friend who had a longer draw (30&quot than mine. I sold it on ebay and bought a couple dozen wood arrows with the proceeds.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> It is a decent bow though and as long as the weight is right for you to begin with and it doesn't pinch your fingers, then it'd probably be a pretty good starter for you.

Also, when considering the weight of the bow, many of the production bows could be as much as 3# heavier than the listed weight, plus if you actually draw more than 28&quot;, you can add another 2 1/2-3# for every inch over 28&quot; that you draw. Of course, the reverse is true as well. If you only draw 27&quot;, the bow would be 2 1/2-3# less than the actual weight at 28&quot;.

If you buy an older bow and need to replace the string, Dacron is the string to use. The high performance strings like fastflight, dynaflight and 450+ would all eventually take the tips right off of the bow because of the lack of reinforcement on the limb tips.

Another thing to keep in mind when you buy a bow is that the longer the bow is, the more forgiving it will be to shoot. I prefer them longer, some prefer them shorter and some don't care one way or the other.

Make em sharp and shoot em straight, or leave em home.

Welcome to the club IA. I too have recently come into the stick bow craze (a year or two). From the bows you have listed are good bows but I must say I have a prefference for the BEAR bows and SHAKESPEAR. It is hard for anyone to reccommend a bow for you as you have not listed your vitals e.g. draw length, or weight of draw you prefer. I have suggested to others to first attend a local traditional archery club shoot and ask questions there, you may find shooters willing to let you shoot an arrow or two from their bows. Rendevous are a really good place to ask around at as there are usually a number of different bow makers willing to help you. It is all a matter of what YOU like. My bow is beautiful to me but to others it is an eye sore. Good luck.
Shoot straight, aim well,
and tell tall tales to
good friends.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

I borrowed a Pearson Hunter from the pro shop last year while I was waiting on a new bow to come in, and it was a very pleasant bow to shoot. Almost didn't want to give it back because I liked it better than the bow I'd bought.

I've got a Pearson Colt that I've been toying around with for the past month or so, and I like it also. The grip feels a little funny in my hand though.

I've owned a couple of Grizzly's and I just wish my draw length was 4&quot; shorter because they're nifty little bows. Pulling one of those boogers to 32&quot; will certainly teach you the meaning of finger pinch.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Have not shot the Apex or the Black Hawk bows.

Based on what I liked about the three bows, I'd take either the Hunter or Grizzly, preferably both. But I think the Apex was Pearson's top of the line bow at one time, so I wouldn't hesitate to take a hard look at it too.