Okay guys,
I finally received the bow on Thursday, but I got home from work after dark and didn't have time to shoot it any. Yesterday I was off work, and it was on! I told Kent that I would post an in depth review after I got her tuned up. You guys that are waiting for a bow from Kent, IT'S WORTH IT!!! So here we go, I'm going to break this down by the category.
Fit and finish: Flawless. As I unwrapped this bow, it immediately was obvious that the workmanship is second to none. Kent uses multiple coats of thunderbird epoxy, and the finish is tough and practical, as well as pretty. The grain in the coco looks phenomenal, on both the riser and the belly side of the limbs. As you can see in the pictures that Kent posted, he put copperhead skins on the back of the limbs, over coco. I could not have asked for them to be any better. Big thanks to YORNOC for supplying the skins. I also had Kent carve and stipple the grip (I'll review the grip itself in its own section later). The workmanship is second to none here as well. Kent is a master at his craft, and its apparent on this bow before one even strings it up.
Grip: For me, the grip of a bow is extremely important. The grip on this bow is without a doubt the best of any I have owned or shot. The throat is very narrow, putting the arrow very close to the hand and making it very natural to point and shoot. Kent puts a thumb rest on all his bows, and the one on this bow ensures proper placement time after time, shot after shot. The stippling and carving in the heel really ensures proper placement in the hand, without applying too much pressure. Here is a good picture showing the grip.
This grip hits my hand everywhere it needs to, and nowhere that it doesn't. I'll say it again, hands down the best grip I have ever felt on any bow.
Performance: Perhaps the most important part of any review. We all know that pretty bows don't kill game, so above all else I wanted this bow to be a good performer. I will say here that this is my first bow shorter than 60". At 56" I can't wait to get this bow in a blind and a tree stand. Its going to be very maneuverable and handy. I have to admit that I had my concerns, mostly due to lack of experience with shorter bows. I only draw to 27 inches, so Kent told me I could put any of those worries aside. This bow draws SMOOTH! There is no stack at all. Kent told me that most of his bows like a brace height between 7 1/2 and 8", this one proved to be no exception and I finally settled on just a shade below 8' and 7 7/8's of an inch. From the first shot, the bow is extremely well mannered. Smooth through the draw, no handschock at all, and VERY quiet. I found it to be extremely forgiving, especially on poorer releases. Everything I have read and heard about static tip recurves has proven true. "Tuning" this bow took a matter of minutes. In less than a half hour I had found the proper brace and nock height and was in business. For testing purposes I shot this bow using .400 spine Easton full metal jackets with 300 grains up front (my primary hunting setup), Arrow Dynamics Hammerhead Lites with the same amount up front, and some old Goldtip 5575's I keep around. This bow shoots all of these arrows great. I did find that the hammerheads preferred a slightly higher nock set. However, I have found this to be true with several other bows when shooting the heavily tapered hammerheads. I don't own a chronograph, but I wish I did. This bow really spits an arrow, and the cast becomes especially evident at longer (30+ yard) distances. In the future I hope to borrow my dad's chrono and post some arrow velocities with the arrows mentioned above and some others as well. Here is a picture of a group I shot with this bow after spending a few minutes tuning. I will also point out that this is only one many similar groups I shot.
In summation, this bow has surpassed all my expectations. Kent has built me an heirloom quality hunting tool, a bow that will be passed to my children one day. The term "functional art" is thrown around a good bit on this site, and this bow personifies functional art. A truly outstanding piece of tackle that will accompany to the hunting woods for many years.
Thanks for coming along Tradgang, I'm off to scout for the turkey opener next week.
Good Hunting,
Jake
Topic: My new Timberghost is here!!! Full review on page two (Read 994 times)
