cheap and expensive bows

[John3]

I've owned production bows bought used for $100 and then at the other end of the spectrum I ordered a custom bow from Bob Morrison that cost over $1300.00.. Is the money well spent?  I would say yes; but the answer is to find a bow that "shoots where your looking". The money spent does equal perfomance, beauty, craftsmanship ect...  All that matters is that your happy and accurate with your bow.

JDS III

[DeerSpotter]

Some really good advice,

Carl

[Legolas]

Lately I have tried to sell a couple of old bows for very cheap prices and got no interest. Then you see that the "HOT BOW for this season" going at a very expensive price. People will pay big bucks to get an extra 5 fps or shoot the bow that has THE Name.

I think then of some self bows or bamboo backed osage bows I have shot- slow but deadly and the romance of it is worth more than some double carbon korean foam limb for two grand.

If I made my own bow and could be accurate with it at 15 yds it would be Priceless.

Paul

[Rob Fin]

As others have said, go with what works best for you. My experience is that a higher price usually means better looks, but often does not have much correlation to how it shoots for you. Once you find what style of bow shoots best for you, accept it and embrace it. Unfortunately, the one that works best for you is not always what you think is the coolest bow out there. I think straight limbed "Hill style" bows are pretty cool, but I have to admit (after buying and and then later selling a couple) that they are not what works best for me.

[Missouri Sherpa]

Pseman tells a story much like my own.  I am of a frugal nature and could not bring myself to spend much money on bows.  I started out with a $100.00 Martin mountaineer.  That bow was pulling nearly 70 pounds at my draw length and had plenty of thump.  I was not wise to the finer points of tuning a bow at that time and the handshock from that bow would jar your teeth loose.  I killed my first bear with it and moved on to more expensive bows because I didn't really enjoy shooting that stick.  Over several months time I traded for a couple dozen different used bows and never spent more than $450.00 for a bow.  That was for a used Super Shrew.  I thought that was an awful lot of money but it was worth it to find a bow that I could shoot, a bow that was smooth drawing with no handshock, and looked good.  When you find the right bow for yourself, you will be able to tell the difference.  It might not be the most expensive bow but you will find one that you like.

I found my shooting really improved when I got the right bow.  Maybe my shooting improved because I found a bow that I liked and I shot and practiced more.  Or maybe the short shrew bow required me to concentrate on my form more to be able to shoot well.  Maybe I just lucked on to a bow to fit my arrows and I seredipitously got better arrow flight than I was used to.  For whatever reason I was able to achieve a level of accuracy that I had not known since I gave up my compound bow.  I have never shot in a league or shot in a competition or course so I have no way to measure how much my shooting improved to have the right bow, but I can tell you that it made a huge difference for me.

If you are buying used bows and you don't like what you get, you can usually get your money back on the bow pretty quick.  You can find out what you need pretty much for the cost of postage shipping a few bows back and forth.

[James Wrenn]

Take 10 each of the lower end bows and top end bows spray them all black and put them in a pile. Have people start picking them up and shooting to see what they liked best and you would be real surprised at the ones that might be left in there hands when the black was washed off.   :D

In a lot of cases you can spend 50 to $100 extra for every fps performance  difference but mostly you buy  pretty. A good bow is just that no matter the cost,looks or what name is written on it.Best will always depend on which hand is holding it.  

[JL]

I have been blessed to have owned a lot of bows and I have quite a few very nice bows on my rack now. I picked up a very well used ash Fedora TD at the Baltimore shoot for $200 (Ugly Betty-and she came with a leather selway quiver!) and that is one fine shooting bow. I was dead on from the very first arrow shot from her (the very first 4 arrows grouped the size of my fist at 25 yards). Money has very little to do with how well you can shoot any one particular bow. You can't buy the ability to shoot instintivly well. That only comes from putting in the time behind the bow. I hope you find your own personal Ugly Betty one day. You'll know it when it happens.

Jerry

[RC]

What Mr. James Wrenn said!!!RC