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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: wisconsinteacher on November 08, 2013, 08:04:00 PM
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I have an honest question about nice/new bows. I look at pictures of them and dream of having one. My worry is how would I keep it in mint condition? I am hard on my gear and my old Bear Grizzly has a few scratches on it. I know if I got a new bow, I would scratch it while hunting with it. I know some will say that it happens and it add character but how do you keep them looking so nice?
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Simply? Don't use them.....
Everyone I know that uses thier bows,takes good care of them!!! However, things happen!!! Slips,Trips,Falls, They get dropped...
They're mean't, to be bent!!!!! :thumbsup:
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i am just careful while in the woods with mine. I also use the limb socks.
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I think some of the newer finishes are more durable than the gloss on older bear bows. I'm hard on gear and have had little trouble with scratching on my last several bows (Pronghorns and Morrisons).
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there are some spandex or nylon skins you can slip over your bow that might help.
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I dab on BriWax and let it harden to a dull, nonreflective coating. After the season a buffing with a cotton rag gets it back to shiney. BriWax can be had in many shadex from clear to black. One that matches the underlying wood fills the scratches and hides them (works for gunstocks as well).
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Stalker Stickbows have a textured epoxy finish that doesn't show wear or shine in the light. Pretty cool stuff!
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I won't hunt with a bow I can't stand to have a scratch on. They are made to hunt with! :readit:
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If I can't or won't hunt with it ,I won't own it.
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Originally posted by oldskool:
If I can't or won't hunt with it ,I won't own it.
+2 Dings and scratches just make them look prettyer
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On my Predator recurve, I handled it with OFF on my hands and it left my finger prints and some places looked shiny. This is with black glass limbs. I used spray on furniture polish and 99% came out and it was flat black again.
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I'm not crazy about real pretty bows. I like dark brown to black, dull finishes maybe with a tent of some kinda special dark color to set them off. Hunting bows.
I'm carefull in the woods with my bows to a point and don't like beating them up, don't push through brairs with them,etc., but like has been said..few old field scars gives them Character.
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I don't abuse them...
But I don't baby them either, I bought them to hunt with.
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I haven't hunted with any of my bows more than a single season yet, (I change every year). However, I've yet to even scratch one. I don't throw them on the ground, lean on fences, or bang around on haul lines coming up the tree.
For 45 years I've taken care of my equipment. I won't even lay a bow, quiver side down. I don't want to damage an arrow.
Frankly, I think it is very easy to take care of one's equipment while hunting. I compromise nothing to be careful.
Of course accidents can happen.
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I've had bows that stood up to hunting conditions better than others. The last one I had with Thunderbird finish was probably the toughest I have owned.
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Its just the finish. The finish gets nic'd up on any bow that's used. When I ordered my PCH in 2010, I just went with the basic Greybark. It's in need of refinishing. I've had other bows in "X" woods, they preform the same. I think that it gives the bow personality. If you don't want to spend the extra money, but like the looks, buy used.
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Life is too short to worry about how a piece of wood looks.
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I don't. I take very good care of my stuff but I bought it to use. My bow, guns, and custom knives all have minor wear on them. I don't care one bit about it. With that said, I won't abuse my gear out of laziness either.
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Originally posted by LongStick64:
Life is too short to worry about how a piece of wood looks.
That is a great perspective. I agree.
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Originally posted by WESTBROOK:
I don't abuse them...
But I don't baby them either, I bought them to hunt with.
+1
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I went to lower my custom BW down out of my stand last night and lo and behold... after about a foot of cord went through my fingers, it disappeared and my Widow fell 20 feet. I had a hold of the tag end of the cord instead of the one connected to the stand. Things happen. She made the "trip down" okay with just a stretched bowstring... thankfully. If you hunt with them, they will get bruised eventually. ;-)
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Like Westbrook said, you don't abuse a bow, but don't baby them either...
I just got the first "nick" in my go-to...I was actually a little relieved (after the initial shock wore off), because now I don't have to worry about the first scratch...!
I saw a picture of Willie Nelson playing a guitar once, and that guitar was so worn out from strumming, that there was a long and wide HOLE in the front!!! At first, I couldn't believe that he would want to use a guitar in that condition...after thinking about it, I thought it was really GREAT! Like an old friend who's been with you through it all!
Honestly, a pristine bow in my opinion is not as beautiful as a used bow...
life leaves a mark, sooner or later...
It's a Memento Mori of sorts...embrace it!
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Nice bows are like nice cars. Sooner or later it's going to get a ding! :D
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agree with all above - they were made to be hunted and are a tool to me. I take very good care of my tools - ie. maintenance - but I don't baby them. The finish can be replaced if you ever want or need to and they are pretty durable.
I was hunting with one on my custom Bighorn's that cost more than I really wanted to spend but love the bow. COLD night and after dark I looped my bow rope onto the top limb tip and let it go like I have maybe 1000 times. Well, maybe it was the cold and maybe just total human error but the loop was not hooked and away she went straight up and down on a 18' ride. Dang thing bounced on that bottom limb nearly back up to me :)
Other than some dirt in the arrow nocks she was no worse for wear. Bows are tough! I throw my longbows out of the tree when I am done hunting and climb down.
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I have bows to use and not to resell. I don't intentionally abuse them but stuff happens. Just this morning I was looking at the scratches on the belly side of my riser................and remembered the 4-wheeler ride across the bogs the last two days of my moose hunt this year - that's where those stratches came from. I don't want to get rid of them, those memories are priceless.
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A bow is a tool and wear marks add charm-a bow is not fine furniture.
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I personally don't worry to much about it! I just hunt! :goldtooth:
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Dble post - stupid computer
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A few scratches and dings are like a road map, or a scrap book, of where you've been. Don't worry about them, wear them with pride. :-)
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I love good looking bows. I buy them to hunt they are going to get character marks. The ones I have now have super durable finishes.
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Its only the first ding that hurts. After that the sting goes away.
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Originally posted by KentuckyTJ:
Its only the first ding that hurts. After that the sting goes away.
Ain't that the truth.
Love hurts. :biglaugh:
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Man dont take that bow hunting if you dont want it to get scratched up. Its like guns, those high dollar safe queens dont usually spend much time out in the world
C
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I am pretty careful with my bows, but don't go into woods worrying about what might happen to it.
Eventually it gets dinged up, but everything does over time unless it is kept behind glass or a safe.
Back in the day when I rifle hunted I was real particular about keeping my high dollar .270 in pristine shape. After a few seasons it got some dings and then I quit worrying about - 30+ plus years of beating through the Wisc northwoods has taken its toll, but I like it just the way it is.