Too much tinkering???

[dnovo]

My tinkering consists of getting a new bow, setting nock point( after all these years I just tie it on where I know it works) pretty much the same on all my bows, adjusting brace height for noise, going out and shooting. Most of my bows are almost identical poundage so arrows work for all of them. Then I go hunting. It's all pretty complicated I know, but it works for me    

[njloco]

What Roy from PA said, x 2 !

[J. Holden]

I don't mind tinkering until I find what works.  Then I shoot it until I'm confident.  I subscribe to the k.i.s.s. principle.  Keep It Simple Stupid.

Jeremy

[sticksnstones]

I've posted it before, but it's been a while.

When I took over as webmaster for the Michigan Longbow Association I also got access to the game awards archives. I created a database of every piece of data in the archive. What I can tell you is this: if I absolutely had to kill something with a longbow I'd do it with a cedar shaft, a 125 grain two blade/double bevel head, a 45-55 pound RD longbow about 64" long on a overcast/cool day in October.

I know some guys who've been hunting that setup for several decades, and those are the same guys who throw the curve for the rest of us. Is it OK to "not tinker"? Absolutely. Looking through these comments, there are a bunch of guys happy with their setup and very successful. Good for them! I'll probably end up with a similar setup someday.

To your point about your not having an interest in hunting Cape Buffalo, well that is exactly what I want to do. The reason I do tinker is because I feel that I really need to give it 100% in the pursuit of an animal like that. I owe it to the animal, as well as the people who will be going into the bush with me after the shot.

There is nothing wrong with being happy with your setup, and there is nothing wrong with pushing for a little bit more.
Thom

[Three Arrows]

I am guilty of obsessive tinkering.  I used to be anyway.  I tinkered with just about everything I got into: traditional bowhunting, pistols, rifles, fishing gear, treestands, you name it.  I wanted everything I had to be the best it could be or I would get rid if it and move on to something that I thought would be better.  I tinkered with my shooting style going from instinctive to hold and aim.  None of that tinkering business made me hunt better or shoot better, it just made me a fool eager to part with his money.  I'll relate an example of just how bad I was:  I was into bass fishing really bad one year.  I went and got $1K rods, $1K reels, the whole Luckycraft line of lures, big tackle boxes filled with hundreds os dollars worth of tackle.  I went fishing with the olld man who brought along a 50 year old broken tip bamboo fly rod and some hand tied flies.  After 3 hours fishing I was still skunked and he was pulling in bass about every other cast.  No, I was not better with my gear but I didn't know it yet.  I stopped shooting my bow and hunting after the 2009 season because I had no fun with it anymore. I was deep in the throes of target panic.  I was up in a tree or sitting in wait for deer and missing my 4 year old daughter.  But I still tinkered with my gear and my form. I didn't think I would ever like this traditional bowhunting anymore because I had no desire to pull the string or get into the woods.  I got OE Berry to build me a Vixen a couple years ago.  I didn't even have a dozen arrows to my name or even a quiver.  But I did have 3 arrows with some whitetail single bevels on them and 6 aluminum arrows with 145  grain field points. I also had a Neet tube quiver.  I got outside all winter long and practiced shooting instinctively. I shot all though the Spring and Summer also.  Last season I decided to get a license and deer tag.  I found some private property to hunt on and headed out.  My first three hunts consisted of chasing out trespassing Amish.  The following week I went out on a Monday morning to hunt the property all day.  I saw mostly does and a young forkhorn buck, nothing I wanted to shoot.  I decided around 1:00pm to go set up in the middle of an overgrown pasture that had a dip in it and some spruce trees growing close together.  As I got about 80 yards in to the pasture, the little forkhorn came over a rise and walked towards me.  He got to within 12 yards of me quartering to me and turned away giving me a quartering away shot.  Before I could make up my mind the bow swung up and an arrow went through the last couple ribs and out the front shoulder.  I have never felt such a rush of excitement or elation from hunting before, never until that moment.  I have replayed that shot over and over in my head many times since.  It took less than 2 seconds to get the shot off.  I didn't even consciously pick a spot rather I visualized the path of the arrow through his body.  I was done tinkering that day. One bow, a couple dozen wood arrows, a back quiver, some Tin Cloth for early season, some heavy wool for later in the season,  and a Hammock seat for the hunting spot.  I for one have made it my mission to keep things simple from now on.