What's With the SKY HIGH Prices??

[Shawn Leonard]

Tomm44, your bow is as custom as your friends as far as the amount of hand work that went in to it, propbably a bit more in fact. CNC machines are used by most bowyers today. That Red Wing you have is a smoker for sure I have owned several and still own one and it will shoot right up there with a lot of so called modern recurves shooting FF and skinny strings. Great bows and Bob Lee new what he was doing than as well as now!! Shawn

[Jack Ripper]

Next year after I buy my wife a new car I'm ordering me a Black Tail. I'm looking forward to being one year older just for that bow. I'm going all out, will spare no expense. Man do they make some pretty bows. Do they shoot as good as they look?

[UrbanArcher1975]

Snypershot, I understand your point. Great bows are a luxury and something that some people want. I'd love a great custom bow one day, but I love my Bear as well. It cost me $300+ and works great. I think the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the outdoors, be it with a beautiful custom or a store bought less expensive bow. That being said, given the choice I will always try and support artisans if I'm able. Sometimes , however, it's not financially viable.

[UrbanArcher1975]

Snypershot, I understand your point. Great bows are a luxury and something that some people want. I'd love a great custom bow one day, but I love my Bear as well. It cost me $300+ and works great. I think the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the outdoors, be it with a beautiful custom or a store bought less expensive bow. That being said, given the choice I will always try and support artisans if I'm able. Sometimes , however, it's not financially viable.

[Sixby]

I found out years ago that I like the best. Discovered that when I met my wife. First rifle I bought was a Sako Vixen .222 RemMag. First car was a 57 2 dr hardtop Chevy with a built 283, 2 4bbls and 4 on the floor. It was so fast I could not even get a race.
First custom bow was a Marriah and then a Morrison with copperheads.
Then I went through some hard times along with millions of other folks , Sold all my bows and guns and everything else to survive .
I wanted a great bow so bad I just started building them. I figured that with the money it would take me to buy one I could build one and so I did.
I was really happy with that bow so I built another and now I have built so many I don'tknow how many. But , when I want the best I will build it or buy one from Kirk, Bob  or RER or some of the other great bowyers .
I will tell you all this. If you had an opportunity to build bows for a living for six months or work at your job for 6 months, If you have a job I would bet that at the end of that six months you would be doing your regular job. Especially if the wife didn't have money to buy groceries .
Bow building is pretty much this,. A labor of love or a manufacturing business . One bowyer shops are doing this for the love of it.
If the bows cost a lot it is generally because the bowyer is putting a lot into the bow. If the bow is cheap then its usually because the bowyer is not accurately assessing his cost and time structure or its because he is cutting some corners in either time or materials.

All this said most custom bowyers sell bow without the super fancy woods ect that are very competitive with the better factory bows.

God bless you all, Steve

[BradLantz]

times change

broadheads can be $25 each
arrows are $10-15 each
a single KS tag is $400
elk are $650 now?
fuel to my hunting spot $3.50 a gallon
feathers to fletch with aint cheap


my taxidermist is on the high side - $650 a mount .... but its premium work he's doing


I buy used .... wish I could order a decked out Zipper  :(

[beaunaro]

Can't help but think the poor guy from TX probably wishes he wouldn't have started this thread, but it's really good the way everyone has come up with suggestions as to how he COULD get the bow he wants.
Lots of good used bows to get a guy started at budget prices, and then save for the dream rig.
Whether that takes a long time with the cookie jar, or a second job, or giving up something else...there is a way.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Last week, I pulled up to a stoplight and sat beside a brand new Ford pickup.  Extended cab, diesel, still had the window sticker on it.

The MSRP on the sticker was $61,000.


I read that sticker while sitting in my $4500 Chevy pickup with 179,000 miles on the clock.  Still runs like a top, gets about the same fuel mileage as that $60k pickup and has no car payment attached to it.

I suppose things are worth what people pay for them, but it's incredible the things that we as a society throw away in order to chase the Next Big Thing.  I don't think archery equipment is any different.

[Bladepeek]

Well said Jeff. Sometimes we get so caught up in acquiring things we lose track of their real value.

The price of something is whatever someone is willing to pay for it. It's value is whatever the owner perceives it to be.

But I am a sucker for nice wood  

[tarponnut]

It is disheartening, but I don't begrudge a bowyer for charging that much or more(I know you don't either). I think used bows are great, I've bought 100 or more and have yet to be cheated or even disappointed with one.
The wheel bows are made on an assembly line mostly by machines and somehow cost $1000+?
I recently bought a great custom recurve bow for $650 shipped.
I would shop around some for a new custom, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
This being a free market economy, bowyers will charge what they want and should.

[Paul WA]

I bought the last bow I will buy 3 years ago an ILF recurve $189 FOR THE RISER, $219 for the limbs and it is a sweet shooter. Like many others I have put out some good money for custom bows but those days are behind me.

[Mike Mecredy]

These days EVERYTHING cost too dang much

[tomsm44]

I had the privelege of visiting Bob Lee's shop about a year ago.  Got to meet Rob and JJ, but Bob had taken the day off to play golf the day I stopped by.  (He's earned it at I believe 82 at the time with 60+ years of building bows, and what with being one of the true pioneers of our sport and all    )  I would love to have one of his custom rigs to go with my RWH, but for now, i've decided to try to save for an Acadian because I like the way they look better, and I wanted to support another Louisiana craftsman.     Whatever I buy, I plan to keep my RWH and will likely still hunt with it from time to time.

Mike,
You are right about that and I'm glad you chimed in.  I don't know if anybody has mentioned it on this thread yet, but if you want a true hand crafted bow for a stupid low price, you guys need to check Mike out if you haven't already.  I haven't personally shot any of his bows, but I have yet to hear a single negative comment about them from the guys that have.  He also makes some great looking youth bows that are dirt cheap.  I hope to get a couple of them for my son and daughter over the next year or two.

Matt

[Cherokee Scout]

As long as guys continue to pay the higher prices the prices will continue to increase. If guys stop paying the higher prices, the prices will reduce or the bowmaker will have to close up shop. They can not survive without profit, they don't get profit if they don't get sales. Price is one reason you see an increase in ILF sales, especially for stuff made outside USA.

[BWD]

Partially because bows containing every wood known to man, plus antler and bone, don't come cheap.

[JohnV]

It is unreasonable to think that a custom bow with exotic woods and cosmetic features not found on production bows will cost the same or close. That's like going into a BMW dealer and trying to tell him he should be charging Ford prices.  I know quite a few bowyers and most are far from being considered well off so I am uncertain what is happening to all these buckets of money they allegedly are making.

[Bonebuster]

$1000 is a lot harder to come by than it is to spend.

The other day, I took my wife grocery shopping. We turn it into a "date" because sometimes things are too busy to fit it all in.

We needed a lot of things for the house, like laundry detergent, and cleaners...as well as restocking the house with GOOD food and vegetables. We bought very little meat. Groceries totaled almost $260.00 dollars. Add to that a lunch at a small Mexican restaurant, and a $70.00 fillup at a gas station and you have some serious coin. And neither the groceries nor the gas will last very long.

I HATE to say it, but $1000.00 dollars is not that much money anymore...a bow is a bargain.

[riverrat 2]

I have a buddy. BIG time Bass tourney guy. Spent 50K on a Bass boat. Hauled it to the launch in a rusty $1,500 Chevy pick-up. YEAH BABY! that's how we roll!!       rat'

[Hit-or-Miss]

BoneBuster hit the nail on the head... $1,000 is NOT that much money anymore. And as previously mentioned, $20 here and there, tucked away, adds up. Pay yourself first, no matter how much you earn.
When I think back to how much money I wasted as a youth on "wine, women and song", it makes me cringe. I could have, SHOULD have, went west and visited with Jack Howard and had him make me a GameMaster. But I didn't. I spent my money as many of you guys did on Friday and Saturday nights.  
Yes, as Bonebuster stated, "A bow is a Bargain".
Buy a good quality one and it will last for years.

[GreyGoose]

Nothing wrong with owning some stuff. Make sure, though, that your stuff doesn't own you.  If I have to have the best of everything, or if I can't let go of anything in order to get something I really do want, I take that as a sign.