Picking your "go to" bow?

[jamesh76]

Originally posted by robtattoo:
I have one bow (out of many) that just calls to something within my soul.

Every time I pick it up, it feels right. It belongs in my hand.

I have bows I shoot better, technically. But this particular bow seems apologetic when I miss. I feel bad for it when I miss, like I ought to be trying harder with this bow than any other.


I feel an urge to shoot when I hold it. I can smell fall leaves & see in shades of orange, red & brown when I hold it in my left hand.

It somehow seems....poised, as if it's waiting forme to take it from the rack & take it hunting. Not target shooting, hunting.

That's how I picked mine, anyway.

Well said.

[OP-archer]

I have a plain Jane 7-Lakes longbow that I shoot better than any other.  I try and go with the perceived "higher-end" stuff but always come back to my comfort zone - just seems fitting some how..

[overbo]

A GO TO BOW is earned,not picked.It's the bow that shoots accurately when things aren't ideal or shots that are more a reaction than planned(when that animal runs threw that shooting lane).When you have a bow that you've built that threshold of confidence w/,it was earned NOT PICKED!

[bentpole]

Well mine has to be a Mohawk Longbow.      

[BUCKY]

Two Kanati's for me.

[Bowwild]

All my bows speak to me ... all at once (just like CNN and Fox News). I can't make heads or tails out of what they are saying but I think it is mostly dissing the other bows?

Last year, my first back to recurves since 1975, I went with the bow I shot best. Even though It didn't feel, look best, or cost the most (I know, of those 3 criteria only feel is very important).
 
This year I am completelly ignoring that bow...I like it but I want to hunt with a wooden riser recurve.

I have it down to two bows. I don't think I shoot either of them much better than others I own.  I've tuned one to a 415 grain arrow (HABU) and the other to a 505 grain arrow (Silvertip). I'm pretty sure I'm going to start the season with the Tip.

Today I pulled three targets out of the woods and put them in the yard below my deck and downhill.  I put them at 10, 15, & 20 yards. I already have target at 30 yards.

Starting Friday morning (I'm traveling tomorrow)I intend to start each day for about 10 days with one shot from each bow at each of three distances (10, 15, 20). I'm hoping this will "tell" me what I should hunt with this year.  Then I will shoot that bow exclusively.

[Shifting Shadow]

I prefer bows that are light in the hand, like a slim profile longbow or 1 piece recurve. My favorite hunting bow from the past was a 58" 1 piece recurve I called "Little Soldier." I could be tired and still shoot it well. Miss it.

[snag]

Sorry, my bows don't speak to me. I hold my new 56#@28" Blacktail Elite recurve and it feels perfect in the hand. It balances nicely with the new Great Northern quiver. I shoot some arrows I've made just for that bow made from Surewood Shafts tipped with some 150gr Red Feather Archery 3 blade heads. The results tell me everything is lined up for the hunt. It is set in motion, solid, sure, it is up to me now to use them the way they were made to be used.

[LoneWolf73]

I have a designated goto longbow and a goto recurve. Any other bow that comes into the herd is shot against them. So performance is the number one reason.

[JCJ]

I just have one bow at any given time so whatever I have at the time is my go to bow.

[ishoot4thrills]

That's why I enjoy being a "one bow man", (except for my bowfishing bow, which I have along with my only hunting bow). I don't ever have this "problem" that way!

[smilinicon]

A go-to bow picks you. No mistaking it when you find one.

[Mint]

I've been hunting with my 55lb Palmer recurve since it is easy to break down for travelling and I shoot it real well. If I am hunting with a longbow my Matlock Predator X3 just seems right to me. I lost my friend Carl last year to leukemia and plan to hunt with his EB Holcomb fifty niner.

[RC]

I usually shoot what I feel like. They all shoot about the same for me. The ones i own at least. I`ve been favoring a HH Big 5 and will probably shoot it all this season. After the first of the year I may change up.RC

[coaster500]

I like all my bows but push comes to shove my Big Jim Buff always makes me look good  

[BWD]

Has boiled down to a 56" Bob Lee t/d recurve and/or a 56" Kanati. Looking like it might be the Lee for starters.

[Bowwild]

I started my one arrow test (3 distances) this morning (one day late). The Habu beat the Tip (in my hands) this morning.

I'm going to do this another few days and then focus on the one I shoot best to really hone down the groups for hunting season which starts 1st Saturday in September here.

[1screagle]

This thread is great cuz I have to have a reason for shooting what I shoot. I felt a bit weird for my decisions but now see there are alot of others weirdo's out there! Ha! I sold everything I owned except from one bowyer. I love longbows equally as much as recurves and that has become my biggest dilema. I love the primative nature of a longbow, the romance of sending a wooden arrow through it etc... I also love the performance and beauty of my recurves. My solution was to have 3 longbows and 3 recurves custom made by the same bowyer in different lengths and weights. In my hand they all feel familiar so when I shoot them for the various task at hand I don't have to re-familiarize myself with something that feels much different. Using Carbon Express Heritage arrows 150, 250 and 350's, I can change weights to accomodate each bow to shoot similar speeds that help my minds eye not have to make drastic changes to hit the target. Wes Wallace longbows 51#@28" 62", 56#@28" 64", 61#@28" 66" does everything I need from a longbow. Wes Wallace Recurves 61#@28" 56", 60#@28" 64", 55#@28" 62", and an extra set of limbs 49#@28" 66". When I want to shoot wood I reach out to my friend Andy Kenowski for beautiful handcrafted arrows. They do change things abit, but I love the feeling the wood gives. The Carbons are just so easy to use and work with, and their strait or broke, nothing else to think about.

[buckster]

For this Elk season I think I'm likely going to be hunting with my Dorado with 55# short Daala limbs making a 60" rig; although I haven't ruled out my 58" DAS Daala or 62" ASC CX.  I just really like the narrow low grip on the Dorado & have been shooting it well out to 25 yards.

During deer season I will go with a 15" Morrison ILF with short Daala limbs making a 56" bow.

[Cherokee Scout]

I am sticking to my old Bear Mag takedown. I do change limbs for hunting.