Please compare Kota, Lakota and Super Shrew

[Bowjangle]

I want a new deer hunting longbow and think I really want to try a Super Shrew, but I'm also interested in  a 64" bow like a Kota and also a Lakota and some of the other more classic longbow designs.  I want to know more about how they compare. (Yeah, I know the Shrew is a totally different deal.) I couldn't find much on  Kota and less on the Lakota on this site,but read a ton of all good stuff on the Super Shrew. Nobody ever says anything except good things about it. Sounds like the perfect hunting bow to read all that.
  I've never shot any of these 3 ,though I've shot over a hundred different longbows and used to compete for years in 3D shoots all over the country , so I  know the difference in hand shock,quietness,forgiveness, speed etc.
  So, I'd like to hear from those that know these 3 bows first hand and particularly folks that have shot 2 or all 3 and can compare.
    A  champion shooter once told me,(comparing 2 other longbows -- none of the 3 here), "Well, with  the one bow I  shot really nice, tight groups. Now the other one shot great too,super fast, but after a while I began to notice  I always got a  "flyer" outside of my group,a foot or more wide. The  other bow rarely ever gave me a flyer like that, and certainly not regularly,so I concluded the other one was more  sensitive and less forgiving."    
    I've already tried a bow very,very similar to a Super Shrew ( a competitor that cost less) and found it was simply too sensitive. I always got a lot more "flyers" out of my groups compared to my other good longbows.
   This bothered me since the Shrew looks almost identical. But I know the Shrew owners on tradgang love their Shrews and insist they aren't sensitive at all. So I'm looking for more input and advice comparing these 3, which I know represent two different types of bows. But,a Shrew is going to cost a whole lot more!!
  Will the Kota and Lakota be typical of the good longbows of the more classic design like say a Sentman or Robertson,or Green River or Dwyer - all great bows, but maybe not be as fast or as smooth drawing as the Shrew? Or will the Kota and Lakota  be a little more forgiving,  quieter, and almost as fast,typical of the classic bow, so that the trade off swings back the other way, depending on what you value most in a hunting situation?
  If you haven't shot all 3 or even 2 of them but have shot the Super Shrew and can still compare the Super Shrew to some of the other well known longbows out there you've shot, please give your input  and tell me the difference and plese mention the bows your are comparing, as I may have shot them too.
 Charles

[amar911]

Bowjangle,

I do not have many bows that you would probably think of as the "more classic design" other than a number of Shrews, a Holm-Made Osprey and a Treadway Black Swamp. I do have a number of 3 piece longbows like the ACS CX, a couple of Morrison Shawnees and a Morrison ILF, a Brackenbury Non-Typical, a Harold Couch longbow, and a Troy Breeding longbow. None of my longbows are the D shape style of bows; they are all the reflex/deflex style.

All of my bows shoot very well. The 3 piece bows have additional mass which helps stabilize them. The Morrisons have the foam/carbon limbs that are fast and forgiving and are very smooth. As with any bow, the longer they are, the more stable they become, and the more mass a bow has, the more stable it is, all else being equal. Therefore, the longer Morrisons are more stable than the shorter ones, and the same is true of each other make and model of bow. The Brackenbury Non-Typical has a riser that is beefier than the other longbows I have, even the other 3 piece longbows. That helps make it very stable. The stability of a bow, as you know, is directly related to its accuracy and its ability to produce consistent groups without the tendency to generate a flyer. When my form is near perfect (which it usually is not) I can shoot any of my bows about as well as any other. But when my form is a little off, as it generally is, I start getting flyers, and I do so much more with the shorter, lighter bows like the short Shrews.

I have Shrews as short as 54 inches, and they simply are not designed with the same characteristics as my longer bows. I also have bows that are as long as 66 inches -- a full foot longer. The short Shrews are my favorite bows for carrying all day long and shooting from tight quarters. They also are very quick to put into action for things like moving shots or thrown targets. The longer, heavier bows are far better for 3D shooting or other shots at fixed targets. I have a 60" Super Shrew with a phenolic riser and a Bow Bolt that pulls 68 pounds at my 29 1/2" draw, so it is not exactly a target bow. But with the added weight and length compared to my other Shrews it is more stable and shoots very well. I think a similar Shrew but with a lighter draw weight would be great for what you seem to be looking for. Also, Ron LaClair and Gregg Coffey have started producing the new Shrew Model-T which is a classic looking longbow that really is long. I know it is available in 64" and I believe 66" too. Ron has been shooting it at various 3D competitions and has been doing very well with it. He could tell you all about it, but it may be exactly what you are looking for. For the style of bow you describe, I can't imagine that you could do any better than one of the Shrews, and particularly either a Super Shrew similar to mine or a Model T. The Shrews are as great as any bow I have ever shot.

Not far behind is the Holm-Made Osprey, which in my opinion is the best buy on the market. Unlike the Shrews which are more than a year out from the date of order, Chad Holm can get you an Osprey in a matter of weeks.

Hope this helps a little.

Allan

[WESTBROOK]

Bowjangle

I'll stick with Allan on the Shrews, they are an amazing bow. Ron and Gregg have removed about every bad trait associated with short bows.

When I'm not shooting the Shrews I favor the classic D shaped longbows, Robertson and Northern Mist. A 30" draw keeps me in the 66-68" bow range on these. I shoot them for the same reason as most others do: stability, smoothness and they are very accurate for me, I'm also a nastolgic kind of guy, I like the ol'school stuff.

The Shrew isnt too old school but it does every thing else them longer bows do. Its got all the qualities of my longer bows and it still fits in my pop-up blind. Its probably the most "dead in the hand" bow I've ever shot, of ANY bow.

If I could only have 1 bow it would be my 60" Super Shrew. I think its THE best all around hunting bow out there.

Eric