I got a call from Doug the same day that Ron talked to him. Doug had shot the bow from underneath his porch overhang, so he didn't get wet when shooting, but did when he retrieved his arrows. As a result, he didn't shoot too many times. He told me that the bow was incredibly beautiful, with the rough buffalo horn making the bow look really "Gnarly" and powerful. Although the Shrew Safari is heavy for a Shrew, with all the phenolic, the overlays, and the BowBolt, it is still light compared to three piece bows. Doug said it felt much lighter in mass than the Brackenbury that he took to Oz, and he also said it felt about 10 pounds lighter in draw weight than the Brack which is almost the identical draw weight. Doug has a masters degree in engineering and was puzzled from a scientific standpoint as to how a bow of the same draw weight as another could feel so much lighter to pull than the other one. I told him that many people had experienced that phenomenon (including me), and it usually had to do with the materials and the smoothness of the draw.
Dough told me that the first half dozen arrows where shot to warm up and get the feel for the bow, but then he started plunking the arrows into the target right where he was looking, just like he had done with my Buffalo Bow. He is far more accurate with the Shrew Safari than he is with his older Brackenbury Drifter, even though he shoots the Brack well. For Doug the Shrew Safari is the ideal looking, feeling and shooting heavy game bow. He is going to be using it this fall near his house in Colorado to hunt elk, and is thrilled to have it. He also has a 53# Shrew Classic Hunter that has the same veneers as the Safari, so that lighter bow will be used for deer hunting this fall, even though it would also be fine for elk.
Doug will be back in Oklahoma on July 22 and has promised to bring his Shrew Safari back with him for me to shoot and review. I plan to have a review, with pictures, to post before the end of the month. Hopefully, we can take a swing by the archery range and shoot it side by side with Doug's Brackenbury and my Shrew Buffalo Bow to get some chronograph readings to compare. All three bows are about the same draw weight, although we will confirm that at the archery shop when we are shooting the bows. My draw length is 29.5", and Doug's is about 30" or maybe 30.5" when he is really expanding properly, so we are fairly close.
I hope to hear back more from Doug after he supposedly shot the Shrew Safari yesterday. If I do, either he or I will post something here to update his experience.
Allan
Topic: Shrew Safari is here (Read 2678 times)
