Earlier this year I had an interesting thought which I shared with Kirk at Big Foot Bows. This lead to a brief discussion and payment sent to secure my place on Kirk's list. Time ticked by and weeks rolled into months. To make a long story short, I got a call last Sunday from a number I didn't recognized. You guessed it, Kirk had a bow nearly ready to ship to me!
Now the "interesting thought" I had wasn't to be. You see the longbow I had in mind was not one that Kirk currently builds but one he was willing to investigate and prototype. Again, long story short, it didn't work out. To his credit, he didn't laugh at me but politely told me what I had proposed was basically a dud. So instead he sent me one of his mild r/d longbows aptly named the "Flatliner".
I've had a few days to shoot this bow now and my first impressions remain the same. The name is more than a title, it is a description!
I currently have three longbows of the mild r/d persuasion and all pretty much shoot the same. All are in similar draw weights and length (as is the Flatliner). All shoot the same arrow to the same point and, as far as I can tell, at about the same speed. Not so with the Flatliner!
This bow is quick but it's not the quickness that surprised me (I've had several speedy bows) ... it is the cast. Now, I've always viewed cast as a near synonym of speed and maybe that is true but I have to believe there is some level of a bows efficiency in that description as well.
This bow, with the same arrow, shoots with the others at relatively short distance but when I get to 18 yards and beyond the difference becomes very noticeable. The arrow just seems to continue like a lazer to the target.
The Flatliner shoots so ... well, flat ... that it messes with my hand/eye coordination as I am accustomed to some level of subconscious adjustment.
I'm not invovled in any competitive shooting but for those who are in leagues/ 3-D shoots, this would be a bow to consider. I image on those distant targets it would take some guess work out and I can't help but believe that those shots would be more consistent. Who knows, might even increase my effective hunting distance.
Anyway, enough talk of how it shoots. Here are some pictures Kirk sent before shipping it: