My new Samick Deer Hunter T/D (50# @ 28) came in early this week. I strung it up, twisted down the string until I got it in the recommended brace height, grabbed a few carbons with 100, 125 and 150 gr field points, kissed my wife, DeeDee, and ran out of the door to shoot at the dirt pile in the back.
After the first few shots, I realized a couple things. First, the bow spits arrows out at least as fast as the 55# Hunter does and feels just as good in the hands with very little shock, if any. Second, it was loud as can be.
So Wednesday night, I started poking around TradGang.com and immediately found a post by "Apex Predator" in the How-To titled "How I silence a bow string". Lucky for me, DeeDee knits. She had made me a nice camo knit scarf last year and had some leftover yarn. After a few minutes and a bit of trial and error, I had two nice silencers and wrapped ends on the string. (SBD is on order but you can't blame a guy for being a little anxious, right?) Unfortunately, by the time I was done, it was dark, so I had to settle for a light pluck to notice the difference.
Here's a couple blurry iPhone pix.
Yesterday, I ran in the house, kissed DeeDee again, grabbed my new bow, two arrows with 125s, the 7 yr old's bow and three aluminums I set aside for him, grabbed Reed (the 7 yr old) and ran out to the back yard. DeeDee took Henry, (the 2 yr old) out shortly after. We had a blast. I'd pick a leaf and shred it, Reed was coming REALLY close to a pine cone.
Here's Reed lining up a shot.
Henry thought it looked fun too, so here's Reed giving him some pointers.
Even Mama shot a few. She's too shy for the camera though. :D
All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Reed grazed the pine cone on his last shot, which was as good as a bull's eye, having been the second time to shoot the bow.
I'm impressed with the performance of the Samick and can't wait for the SBD to arrive. The stock string will work just fine as a back up. I'm glad I read the reviews of the Samick bows here on TradGang.com and am more than happy with my purchase. I'd love to have the cash to throw at some of the beautiful custom bows I've seen here in these last few weeks, but that'll have to wait a while.
Shoot straight,
Rusty