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yater
05-26-2005, 12:55 PM
I've always been big on bird hunting (duck and dove) and have been on a few gunhunts for whitetail but never really got into that. I have a few friends in Louisiana that bowhunt and I would really like to check it out. I don't know JACK about equipment....any recommendations on a nice bow for beginners? I have a little experience with a recurve (and was actually pretty decent with it) but would rather a compound. Any good websites/forums?

ejc042
05-26-2005, 01:39 PM
If you are buying new, look to spend around $400-$600 for decent equipment. PSE is a good bow for the price. Sights, release aids, arrow rests, arrows are more of a preference. I have two bows right now. I have about $750 in my PSE if you include the arrows and everything. My Alpine is about $950, maybe a little more.

yater
05-26-2005, 01:49 PM
Guess I'll need to do some reading on accessories and equipment but I'm surprised that the new bows are reasonably priced. I thought I'd spend an arm and a leg getting into it. I'm all about value and don't need the latest and greatest.

chris200x
05-26-2005, 01:51 PM
If you are buying new, look to spend around $400-$600 for decent equipment. PSE is a good bow for the price. Sights, release aids, arrow rests, arrows are more of a preference. I have two bows right now. I have about $750 in my PSE if you include the arrows and everything. My Alpine is about $950, maybe a little more.

:eek: For that much cash I would buy a gun. It's alot easier! When I started I bought a used onieda eagle for like $100 or so. Once I learned how to shoot I started sinking some money into it. It can add up quickly that's for sure. No use spending all that money if your not gonna stick with it.

yater
05-26-2005, 01:58 PM
I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it. I've been an avid bird hunter since I was a kid and always wanted to get into bowhunting. I have ZERO interest in rifle hunting....killed one doe with a 270 and didn't find it any fun. There is something primal about bow hunting that really attracts me. I think I'll like it.

chris200x
05-26-2005, 02:04 PM
Your making me jones... :D Sad to say but I'm already looking forward to Fall. We get about 6 weeks of bowhunting here in Pa. Smack dap in the middle of the rut. You can also use it during regular rifle season. I would like to try bowfishing eventually.

If you decide to buy new, definitly go to some sort of proshop to get measured up. I'm sure they'll be more than glad to help you out.

BIGCRIP28
05-26-2005, 02:10 PM
id buy a used setup that comes with everything on it, sights, rest, arrows, the whole deal and try it out just to see if you really like it before you drop serious cash on a new setup. you should be able to start hunting on 2, 3 hundred probably. (maybe less)

yater
05-26-2005, 02:19 PM
id buy a used setup that comes with everything on it, sights, rest, arrows, the whole deal and try it out just to see if you really like it before you drop serious cash on a new setup. you should be able to start hunting on 2, 3 hundred probably. (maybe less)

I'm gonna run by the local shops and get measured and see what I like. I'll definately look for used before new. These things shouldn't be hard to find on ebay. Anybody bowhunt in Texas?

Meat-BoX
05-26-2005, 02:35 PM
Well lets see. I bought my 1st bow at 13 A Browning Nomad Deluxe. I still use that Bow as its mostly Wood which is light and keeps your hand warm. For you the 1st thing you need to do is measure your Arm from ips of fingers to shoulder I believe. Thats your Draw Length. The Bow you Buy need to Have your Draw Length. It is adjustable and even more so on the new bows. Get your Bow, talk to your Bowhunting Friends on Good Bows for you. If you are a lefty make sure you get a Bow for you. Dont worry about all those new goodies on todays bows, they are a Joke and you dont need them. All you need is a Good rest for the Arrow, a Peep sight for your eye, a Sight with 3 pins preferably Fiber Optic Pins as they tend to be visable longer in the woods before dark. The 3 Pins are for 10, 20, and 30 Yards, Bowhunting is all about being a good Woodsman and getting close to you Deer. These new bows are capable of shooting Farther but good luck getting a clear shot in the woods more than 30 yards. If in a field and you think its 40 yards and you are Sure you can take that animal cleanly just aim the 30 yard pin at his spine above vitals. Anyways you allso need a good release, as they help with accuracy big time and is comforatable. Then go to a Bow Shop and ask about Arrow size and Broadhead and Target Tip Weight. I shoot big ole lincoln Logs at my deer so I use 125 weight on my broadheads. You need to dial the arrow and brodhead in so they fly good and straight. A bow shop will help you, as there are a few different Variables that are involved in getting the proper arrow and Tips. As in how many lbs your set at, mine is at 65lbs and I thought I was good to go this year but when that Crotch Horn Walked up at 10 yards and watched as I feebley tried to draw back 3 times on him. Messed up my shoulder, I had target shot to sight in, but being in a Tree freezing your nutties off for 2.5 hours with all you gear on is another situation. One I should have known better after all these years. Im dropping it to 55 lbs this year. Dont fall for that Macho shiot, "well my bow is set at 70lbs" there is no need for that. Of course you will need all the Hunting gear and thats where the cost kills ya. Then you need to find the place you want to hunt scout it out and set up properly, as in down wind and your entry to your stand. No use walking to your stand with the wind hitting you back, every deer in front of you will smell ya. Thats another thing. I keep my gear in a huge Camo Duffle bag year round with apples in it. When I was em I rinse the washer a few times then wash in Baking Powder. The less scent of you the better. O yea and last thing is, it took me 12 years to get my 1st deer :rolleyes: If your state is like mine and you can shoot either sex trust me "If its Brown its Down" is a good motto. I fell for going after Racks, you cant eat the Rack. Practice alot need to get that good clean shot, nothing worse than killing a deer that you cant find. Its a crappy felling knowing you killed an animal for no reason and that it probably suffered. I love Bow hunting, there are no Idiots running everywhere shooting 5 bullets at a deer. It quiet, peacefull and the rut usually starts during Bow seaason. Jeez I wrote a book.

BIGCRIP28
05-26-2005, 02:42 PM
yeah, around 50 pounds is plenty enough to kill a deer.
shooting 70+ is not needed, the lower poundage bows are just as fast nowadays.

yater
05-26-2005, 03:15 PM
Another thing...archery season in Texas usually starts at the beginning of october. "General season" starts about a month later. I'm assuming that archery season overlaps with general season and runs into february right? It's not just 4 weeks I hope

chris200x
05-26-2005, 03:29 PM
Texas... Everytime I watch those huntin shows on the outdoor channel most of those guys are hunting in texas. Your a lucky guy. seems be be some very big dear down there.

I'm not familiar with your seasons but we also have a late season that starts the day after christmas and runs till mid January.<--way to cold for my blood!

ejc042
05-26-2005, 03:30 PM
Most states you can use archery all the way through gun season. And I usually bowhunt as much during gun season as I gun hunt.

ejc042
05-26-2005, 03:34 PM
My next archery investment is a bowfishing set-up. Haven't decided what equipment to get yet. Still doing research on bowfishing.

BIGCRIP28
05-26-2005, 03:51 PM
My next archery investment is a bowfishing set-up. Haven't decided what equipment to get yet. Still doing research on bowfishing.

i was thinking about getting a setup for bowfishing also, then i can get after these bad boys. :naughty:

http://www.lasmag.com/lpic/templates/default/pics/p1117121160238056.jpg

Oldshell4481
05-26-2005, 04:55 PM
ive seen shows on them fish, what are the called shnarks or somethin lol... i would also like to go bowhunting, i love my gun hunting, but id love to do some turkey hunting/deer hunting by bow.. im planning on buying a nice bow this summer sometime and putting some practice in, get a wild turkey for thanksgiving lol.

BIGCRIP28
05-26-2005, 08:19 PM
alligator gar

chris200x
05-27-2005, 06:12 AM
i was thinking about getting a setup for bowfishing also, then i can get after these bad boys. :naughty:

http://www.lasmag.com/lpic/templates/default/pics/p1117121160238056.jpg





:eek: ...... :eek: Holy smokes!!! That thing would eat you if you fell off the boat. :D

Unfortunatly we ain't got none of those things around here...which is probably a good thing. I don't think I would ever swim in a lake again. right now (end of May) the carp are spawning. very easy to pick off with an arrow. I was watching some guys do it last year...looks like loads of fun.

Tri-ZNate
05-27-2005, 06:25 AM
Hmm I think that fish looked so scary that they had a priest bless it. (there is a cross commin out the mouth).

3 weelin geezer
05-27-2005, 12:07 PM
How strong are you? I have one thats set at 70#. I think that 55-60 # might be better but I heard the bow works best at that setting so I leave it there. Its not so bad if I practice with it even though I don't shoot anything but targets with it. My first one cost me 279 I think and then it ended up under the wheels of a jobe dump truck on the freeway when it fell out of the back of the pickup. I wonder where it had hidden. I didn't see where I put it until my dad told me to look in the rearview where I saw it cartwheeling in the road. Pretty weak little twig compared to 10 tons or so of rocks. I also have one from 'custom shooting systems' out of Florida I think. I'm not sure if they are still in business. Its set at like 95-100 draw weight. I may only draw it once and thats it. Very difficult but it puts the arrow right through a 2x4 if my aim is good.

yater
05-27-2005, 12:16 PM
I would set my draw weight at something reasonable (that I would use for hunting). I could probably pull 70lbs all day while target practicing but I'd hate to have to do it while I'm in full hunting gear up in a tree with a deer within 25 yards.

ejc042
05-27-2005, 12:21 PM
My Alpine is set a 53# draw weight and it will drive 2/3 the way trhough a Block brand target at 35 yards and they are pretty dense.

chris200x
05-27-2005, 12:51 PM
I really don't think a heavy draw wieght is necessary. Mine is set at about 50lbs and was measured at around 245 fps. Some of the newer bows can be set to 70+ and shoot more than 300 fps. That's Ok I guess but it's a good idea to shoot year round if possible. To keep your arms and shoulder muscles in shipshape for bowseason. I can easily hold mine back at full draw for many minutes, which is important. you never know what might happen out in the field.

ejc042
05-27-2005, 01:08 PM
The Alpine is really fast, I am right around 290fps at 53#. it gets over 300fps at 60# according to specs.

BIGCRIP28
05-27-2005, 02:40 PM
yeah, 60 or 70 pound bows can shoot up to 350fps (bowtechs)

ejc042
05-27-2005, 02:54 PM
My friend has his bow set at 70# and his shots were slightly erratic, we found out the force put on the arrows he was using was causing arrow flex. He ended having to get heavier arrows or turning down the poundage.

yater
05-27-2005, 03:13 PM
Ok...so I just got back from the local shop where they let me shoot several bows. 1) the PSE bruin--tempting at $369 ready to hunt 2) the AR34--I REALLY liked this one. $589 decked out ready to hunt. This was by far the quietest of the bunch and didn't have silencers on it yet. Also felt very smoothe and consistant. 3) Hoyt ultra mag...IMO this was overpriced. It was loud compared to the others and I couldn't justify the hoyt ($599) over the pse bruin ($369)

So..I'm thinking that I'll buy from a local shop since I don't know much about bows and will probably need quite a bit of help from them to get me going. What do y'all think of the pse bruin and the ar34? I realize the AR is in another league but the pse seems to be a decent value. Or should I consider a used v-tech or similar?Thoughts?

ejc042
05-27-2005, 04:06 PM
My PSE is 4 years old and had quite a few arrows fire from it and it still works great. The only reason I got the Alpine is my father-in-law can't pull it back with his shoulder. I got it from him, It is a better bow than my PSE, that may be why I like it a little more.
Buying from a local shop is helpful when you are new, they will be able to give you assistance with set-up and tips if you need any help.

yater
05-27-2005, 10:49 PM
I'm going back in the morning to get the ar-34. It was the CLEAR choice of the ones I shot. I decided that the vtech was out of my price range ($800+) ready to hunt. The AR was a little more than I wanted to spend but I really liked the feel. I would hate to shoot for the summer and be ready to upgrade before the season starts. I've done a little research on the ar and it looks like a solid choice. I'm sure I'll be happy with it.

90nut
05-28-2005, 06:51 PM
There is just something about bow hunting that intigues me. It takes way more skill and patience than using a gun. You have to wait for just the right spot to show up un-ubstructed. It is more challenging than gun hunting and I think that is why I like it. As far as bows go I have a hand-me-down high country. I got it from my brother when he was done with it and I am still using it. I may retire it this year though. I really think that if you have the best bow out there and the one that shoots the fastest it dosen't mean squat if you arn't going to practice. I have shot many deer with that old high country bow. It is heavy and she needs some new silencers but it gets the job done. My dads buddy has like 900 into a martin and he still can't hit deer with it. He can shoot targets all day long and be right on with every shot. If you don't take your time though when the time comes and wait for just the right shot and all of that stuff you are either going to miss, wound it, or maybe get lucky and get a good shot. I really think that it just comes down to patience, practice, amd just having fun. It dosen't matter if you have a 10,000 dollar bow if you don't know how to use it! But all in all just go out and get a bow you like and start shooting. You are bound to loose arrows at first and miss and get mad but things will all fall together in time. just stick with it.

atcmatt
05-29-2005, 09:41 PM
Bowhunter here. Matter of fact I just got home from a weekend of hunting after goats in the rough, hilly, scrub country of australias ex-goldmining towns. Only shot me one goat. Im still happy, will post a pic up later or something.

Matt

250RWANTER
05-31-2005, 12:09 PM
I have a bow that I got with a bunch of stuff in trade. I have no use for it and not sure exactly what it is. It does say PSE I believe on it. If I post some pics would you guys be able to tell me what its worth or what kind it is? I dont have any use for it.
It has a case, bow and some arrows and tips.

250RWANTER
05-31-2005, 12:10 PM
Here are the pics:
http://community.webshots.com/album/214480813RbmmzR

ejc042
05-31-2005, 12:52 PM
That is an older bow, you can tell by the cams at the end of the limbs. The newer bows have lorger cams for more let-off. Not sure how much it would be worth, but like I said it is a older style bow and probably will not have as high a value as something newer.