Martin Hatfield?

[Ybuck]

If you have owned or shot one, what are your thoughts and opinions about it?
Thanks much.

[Ben Maher]

had one a while back... seemed a bit sluggish but was very well built. would i recommend one ? not really. but i had a Martin Hunter that was beautiful to shoot ditto my savannah... But generally Martins are great bows ...great service ....good prices.

[anchorman]

like bmlongshot, I had one real nice to look at was slow as if that makes any difference. The thing with the one I had was the tiller was off and it stacked real bad it was only 50lbs... Not sure I would recomend one either..guess for the money they aren't to bad if you get a good one.

[tarponnut]

I've owned a lot of recurves(40+) and the best one I've shot is my Martin Hatfield(next best was a friend's Habu). Smooth drawing, absolutely NO stacking, plenty fast with FF, shoots where it points,fairly quiet(especially with a B-50 string).
It has been my go-to bow the last three years and has taken a fair amount of game(I'd like to say a lot of game, but it's bowhunting after all).They are not a low priced bow(retails over $600), but you can get one used at a fair price.
Martins are great bows.

[AkDan]

I remember when I first started stickbow, my first was the martin hunter...my buddy, the guys who got me into shooting trad was shooting a hatfield...mind you it's not the same bow then as it is now or atleast it doesnt appear that way.

That bow stacked badly and was a bit noisey imho.   I cant compare the newer models.

I will say for even less the hunter II is a much gooder bow....checkmate,  www.recurves.com

[George D. Stout]

I never notice any stacking on the Martin Hatfield Takedowns.  I've had three of them and they were smooth as butter.  I would like to see a force/draw curve on them...If they stack, it has to be past 30 inches of draw.  The last one I had was pretty fast, and very dead in the hand.

[AkDan]

maybe he gots a bad one George.....but all of us that played with it noticed a very distinct wall to it and I dont draw no turdy inches   .

[George D. Stout]

Was it the one with the gray actionwood riser with zebrawood accents?  The ones I had were the two piece risers, that looked kind of like bubinga.

[AkDan]

yuppers...heck this was almost 20 years ago George, back when I was still a youngn     There was a huge difference between my martin and his hatfield.  

To this day he still shoots it, and to this day that bow is still giving him issues!

[George D. Stout]

Maybe that's why Martin (Howatt) changed the design 8^).   Take care and shoot well.

[AkDan]

Tell ya this, what I would do to get my hands on a damon howatt hunter like my first bow!!!   I havent seen the new howatts....we're a little behind the times up here   .   Be nice to zing some arrows out of it though, I'm sure it's a winner.

[del]

I had one and still kick myself for getting rid of it.  Best shooting bow I have ever had.  Very hard shooter and quiet.  By the way, thanks for the memories, I think I'll go sit in the corner now!    <>< del

[Son of Texas]

I bought one some where around 1989 or 1990 I loved it, it was a great shooter, it had the gray action wood with zebrawood accents I thought it was the prettiest bow I had ever seen. Wish I had kept it. I traded it about three years ago for a longbow which is all I shoot now .

[bigiron]

have one of the new models now. have had several over the years & never had one that was'nt smooth drawing. this one shoots 500 gr. arrows at 185 ft. per sec. ain't to slow for me. ( 28" draw, b50 )

[Chris Wilson]

I've owned a few different model hatfields, ranging from the mid 90's to late 2007.  I can't say I've really noticed any stacking with any of them and I pull a touch over 29".  I can't speak for pulling them further than that though.  The older models were a touch slower, but they were also dacron only.  Not enough increase in speed with the newer models to really say they're faster by design.  I believe it was more the string material.   I wouldn't feel ill equipped out in the field with a hatfield or any Martin/Howatt bow for that matter.

[easyup]

Only one I have spent time with has been an excellent bow, still have it and if it will be a ruggered hunt it will go as it is getting a little banged up and my other bows are just too pretty.  In the used market I think they are one of the best bargins out there.  A family member picked up a really nice one off **** for $275 and after shooting it it is one of the best deals I have ever seen.

[Shooty1]

Had a newer model that was undermarked in draw weight by about 8lbs. Going back and forth between the Hatfield and the Hunter resulted in my keeping the Hunter and selling the Hatfield. While the Hatfield was very zippy, it sounded like a train if the brace height wasn't absolutely perfect, no matter which string material I used.
The one-piece Hunter was much smoother as well, but I just attributed that to takedown vs. one-piece behavior. If I weren't a longbow convert at the present, I'd buy another Hatfield, but about 10lbs lighter than I'd normally shoot.

[johnnyk71]

i bought one new about 8 years ago. 45# at my draw. great bow . smooth, good shooter. when i got mine, they were still retailing for around $450.00, which i think is a fair price for a new one. shortly after that, they shot up over $600, which i think is way overpriced compared to what you can get for that price or a little more.
i see a good number of them for sale used at good prices. make sure you check the year it was made if you buy used. there are tons of really old ones out there.