Acadian Wood Tree Stick

[snag]

Does anyone else have one of these bows and  could you post a picture of yours? I made the mistake of looking at Nakohe's and am interested to see others and get your feedback on it's performance. This may lead to a lighter wallet!    

[bbassi]

I picked one up used this fall, or I should say my lovely wife picked it up for me. LOVE IT! I have longbow and recurve limbs for it. my riser is just like Nakohe's, except mine's left handed.  :D

[Huntrdfk]

Hey Brent, is that coming to the Bunny Hunt? Love to see one of those in person, even if it is "wrong handed".........


David

[bbassi]

Absolutely Dave.  

[Curtis Haden]

Snag, I got a new one back in October.  58" and 52@28.  It is without a doubt one of the prettiest bows I've ever seen!  The riser is macassar ebony and bocote.  The limbs are actionboo with some of the wildest looking birdseye maple you've ever laid eyes on, and ebony and bocote overlays.

Here are a few pics, and I'll add some shooting impressions below...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first took it out in the yard and started shooting, I had several distinct impressions:

1) It seemed a little slow, compared to my other bows. (*We'll come back to this)

2) The grip was way too big for my hand. (*We'll revisit this also)

3) Very smooth on the draw, dead in the hand, and a very stable shooter.

4) I couldn't hardly miss with it!  As inherently accurate as a piece of laminated wood and fiberglass gets!

More to follow...

[Curtis Haden]

Tim Mullins recommended a brace of 6.5" to 6.75".  The limbs felt a little mushy at that, and again, the bow didn't seem to shoot very fast.  I fiddled with the brace height some between 7.5" to 8" and it seemed to help a little.  The bow was marked 52@28, and it felt more like about 45@28.  Like I mentioned earlier, the limbs felt a little soft on the draw, with very little pre-load.

Well, a strange thing happened...  I've owned only a couple new bows, but never experienced this before.  The limbs actually seemed to stiffen up some the more I shot it.  At first, I attributed it to the string stretching and settling in, but this continued to happen even after several hundred shots, over the course of about a month or two.  I know it's pretty subjective, but the bow actually feels a bit heavier on the draw now, and it shoots visibly faster!  I don't own a chronograph, but I do shoot several different bows, and I shoot a LOT!  I don't know why it is, but I've convinced myself that this particular bow needed a "break-in" period to shoot like it should...

It's still not a speed burner, but it feels and shoots just as fast as my other 50-55# bows now.  BTW...the smooth draw never went away.  Just seemed to pick up some pre-load and speed.  Also, I draw about 29" now, and have pulled the bow back to 30" several times.  Doesn't seem to stack at all out to 30".  A little finger pinch, but that's to be expected with a 58" r/d longbow at 30"

The grip:  Acadians have a bit of a reputation for having large grips.  I ordered mine with a "medium" wrist, "medium" sized grip.  I'm glad I didn't order a large, high, grip!  It's big and it's high.  BUT... when I emailed Tim to ask about reshaping the grip for me, he said, "I'll do whatever it takes to get this the way you want it."  My riser is in transit now to Louisiana to have some wood removed.  I do like the general shape of the grip, and it promotes good, consistent hand placement.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my Tree Stick!  I can't wait to get the riser back and try it with a smaller grip.  I'll post some more pictures when I get it back.  I'll also say that I shouldn't have ordered it with a leather grip.  These bows are just too pretty to have anything covering up riser wood!  Thinking about having mine checkered later on.

Sorry for the long post.  Didn't intend to write a "bow reveiw" when I started!!!    

[snag]

Curtis, no need to apologize for the length of the post...that's what I was looking for! Thanks! I love that wood combo. Love the Macassar Ebony. The maple veneer on the limbs is very figured!  Did you consider ordering the carbon limbs? If so, what did Tim say about them? By your pics the grip looks like a regular recurve grip, as far as high or low. The throat does seem a little larger for the riser than some bows. But myself, I like the grip to be larger instead of too small. Sounds like Tim is giving you great service too.  I have never heard of a "break-in" period...interesting. I know Nakohe said his 60# didn't shoot like it was that heavy and his is used or "broken-in".
Thanks again.

[Curtis Haden]

Snag, I don't think Tim offers carbon in the longbow limbs.  In fact, I don't think the recurve limbs have a full length carbon lam.  My impression is that he uses some carbon  in the working part of the "curve".  Kind of like Great Northern puts an extra wedge in the working part of the Ghost limbs.  Could be wrong...dunno for sure.

As far as the throat of the grip is concerned, it is maybe a little larger than a lot of bows, but that wasn't a problem for me.  The thing I had issue with was the depth of the grip from back to belly.  My hands are not real big, and the lower part of the grip just made it uncomfortable for me.

I don't know what the deal was on the stiffness of the limbs.  Like I said, it's pretty subjective, but all I can do is give you my honest impressions.  I know the bow feels and shoots like a heavier bow now than it did when I first got it.  It feels about like my 64" 52@28 Griffin, and considering the length difference, that's a good deal, IMO.

Of course, I can't overlook the possibility that I may just be nuts!      

I don't want to give the impression that the bow is a "dog" by any means.  I have shot visibly quicker bows, but I've also shot slower bows.  I suspect that it's right there with most  custom bows in the speed department.  It is very smooth on the draw, especially for what I consider to be a "short" bow!

[snag]

Nuts? Not you!        So, all the recurve limbs have a core carbon lam?  Is that just with the one-piece? The smoothness of the draw and the steadiness in the hand and the consistancy in gripping the bow the same way each time is what I am looking for in a bow.

[Curtis Haden]

Here is everything I know for sure about the recurves:

 http://www.acadianwoods.com/recurves.htm