A bow survey - sort of!

[kennym]

Purty bows are nice, but if I'm hunting, I never sit and look at my bow.  So I can be happy with an eye candy bow or one with some flat paint squirted on it...

[Paul/KS]

Prettiest looking bow I own is a Wildhorse Creek Hawk and it's one of Mike's plainer ones that I bought off the rack. Shoots like a dream and is light in the hand.
Can't ask for more than that...

[Terry Green]

I have had Beautiful bows that were tricked up for beauty pageants.... Yet they all ended up with battle scars.....

[GCook]

It just hurts more to scar up the purty  ones

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[Red Beastmaster]

I have two pretty customs and three economical Asian bows.

The cheapy bows all have camo duct tape on the limbs. I consider them "beaters" but I shoot them better than the customs.

[RonD]

As a hunter, "Eye Candy" doesn't mean anything to me. I sold or gave away all my bows except for my Beeler Tracker longbow 41#@24" which I shoot at a 25" draw length. However, with a short draw length I shoot a brace height of 5 and 7/8". I have taken many hogs with that bow, but usually the hogs are a 100 lbs or less. Just because one has a short draw length and low 40# draw weight does not mean one should stop hunting. Just be more selective in the game one hunts.

[blacktailbob]

"I have had Beautiful bows that were tricked up for beauty pageants.... Yet they all ended up with battle scars.."

Just like the scars on my body bring back memories, some good, some not so. The same with my bow and it's dings and scratches. Some are ok, some not so. I figure my bow is like a Timex. "It'll take a lick'n and keep on stick'n". AND still be purdy with it's battle scars.

[Gdpolk]

I understand both sides of the argument.  So, what I did was buy/sell/borrow/trade/shoot about 200-300 bows until I found "my bow".  I let the bow and the bowyer choose me and when I found an exact bow model that I personally shoot better than anything else in the world, I got that bowyer to make me one that I find beautiful.  It's not in the highest end, top grades of lumber but is in some wonderful selections.  I had him put antler on it from a previous bow kill with my "used" one piece version.  I will use it as a tool and enjoy it for BOTH its performance in my hands AND its beauty/craftsmanship.

[stickandstring]

I think the market has changed.
Some years ago I lost desire for fancy woods and such, and started buying solid color glass limbs with phenolic risers etc. Sometimes, I go "gar gar" about fancy bows but that's rare.

[stickandstring]

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[hvyhitter]

I am now the same way. Plain is good. I just had Wes Wallace build me a one piece green stealth with black glass. shoots great and kinda looks like the old green bears that I lusted after as  a kid...………..
The only "fancy" bow I still have is a rose oak king panther that I keep as my heavy bow.

[Trenton G.]

For me if a bow doesn't shoot well for me, it doesn't stick around, no matter how pretty it is. Beauty is just a bonus in a good shooting bow IMO. One of my best shooting bows is an old Ben Pearson mustang that I got at a yard sale for $15. Black limbs and riser. Nothing fancy at all, but it does great and I'm not afraid to take it into the woods and beat it up a bit.

[Pointer]

Not alone no. It's been years since I cared about how pretty a bow was. I went through the phase and bought many customs that were made to my specs with woods. Now I shoot mostly 2 bows...a brown glass Bear Montana and a Glaxy longbow that's grey actionwood with black glass. Nothing to look at but a real shooter. I have two customs left. A Robertson that I will sell and a plain brown Palmer that I love and will keep. Makes no difference what a bow looks like...just how it shoots for me.

[ESP]

I have three bows and the prettiest is a plain PCH greenleaf widow.  The other two are ILF.  They all have scratches and dings on them.  They are made to be used.

[Hanktownpete]

My Leon Stewart Slammer has beautiful wood and yet is not flashy. The main thing is it’s a better bow than I am an archer. I’m still trying to catch up. Just love it.

[smokin joe]

Like many people, I love the look of the grain of  nice piece of wood. But, as far as bows are concerned, for me, form follows function.

I kind of nickname my bows, and the one I am hunting bears with next month is named Ugly Bow -- and the name fits. It is fast and accurate...and it looks as rough as a night in a small town jail. The riser is a Bear A-mag riser with moss green paint peeling off of it. It has Border aftermarket limbs in black, and those border recurve hooks look a little silly on a Bear A-mag riser. To top it off, it has a Kanati quiver with a black and brown hood. The overall look is one of beat up spare parts -- but it really shoots.


My back up bow for that hunt is Miss Coco, a Centaur longbow with black limbs and a dark, almost black, cocobolo riser -- pretty plain, but shoots great.

[Terry Green]

All my bows are utilitarian...no mater the "eye candy".... Never bought a bow not to fzfcet4hunt with or afraid to hunt with....

If they get a 'battle scar' so be it....

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[WVbowhunter]

I hunt in spots that beat the crap out of me and my gear (gets me away from some of the compound applied pressure here in southern WV). That being said if a pretty bow of mine gets a new "beauty mark" while I'm hunting then it just shows that the bow is doing what it was made to do, HUNT.

[bigbadjon]

I have been there for awhile, although I have high performance bows that also look good. At some point I think every hunter trades some form for function. A metal riser for me is just better for a hunting bow. Synthetic arrows are better than wood. Kydex knife sheaths are better than leather. It doesn't mean I don't like the other stuff, I just don't want to worry about it in the woods.

[Tedd]

My goal is always to have my best shooting bow also be my best looking bow. That is not always the case but I get pretty close.
2 years ago I purchased one of the big name customs with the long wait period and all the great internet reviews . The thing was incredible to look at in every way, shape and wood types. But it's shooting properties were not that good. It was loud, finicky and kicked. As much as I wanted that to be THE bow, it was not and got traded off.
Currently I have 3 Kanatis. They look good to me and shoot even better.