Compound Bow

N.F.W.M

Well-Known Member
In my youth (the days before compound bows) I was a competent archer. I am now thinking of taking up the sport again with the intention of hunting abroad.

Having never used a compound bow I am looking for advice and recommendations.

Budget of £750 inc Sights/arrows etc.

Cheers

Ed
 
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All bows have pro,s and cons, I use a bear Arena34 not sure of price in UK, but here are my thoughts
get a bow that has a good poundage range so you can build up to what suits you 50-70.
sights - you can get away with a 3 pin set at 15/ 25/30,
arrows - so many to choose from, I use Victory V force sport 400 ( shooting 56lb at approx 300ft/sec) , a good speed arrow and not too expensive to break or lose, and you will do both.
Heads - again so many, but avoid Rage expanding unless you are shooting from a blind or tree stand, I found they can be delicate.
Quiver - if getting a bow attached get a good one as the cheap ones can vibrate
Front damper, some people get away with out one.
target - you will need one , I have a square on you can stick picture targets on it if you want.
have a look on British bow hunters for info, but remember on this site you will be classed as on the dark side.
 
There`s a as new Mathews Z7 sitting here with a Armortech 5 pin sight doing nowt with a dozen Easton Axis full metal jacket arrows, muzzy broadheads, field tips and Rhineheart 18-1 target.
All of which needs re homing ;)
 
Mathews, pse, bear ect are all great bows and will serve well. Me I'm a Hoyt man I find them smooth, good honest ibo's, solid and easy to tune. The Hoyt nitrum 30 with a hha optimizer is a wonderful setup before that I had a maxxis 31. I use 100grain fixed blades from british bowhunters society, they are solid and have punched through all african game ive shot no problems. Arrow wise there are plenty i use gold tip but eastons full megal jackets are what i hunt with, just make sure the spine is correct for the poundage.Also think about a release i use a sniper 2 (bit cheesy i know) Defiantly worth visiting a shop they will advise and set up your bow and paper tune, remember if you want to hunt you will need to broadhead tune. Be warned bowhunting (abroad obviously) is highly addictive and will have your bank account tapping out in no time.
 
I have been a successful bowhunter since 1979 and have a few thoughts.

First - For someone seeking to get in and become proficient quickly, a compound is definitely the way to go. I also have traditional (recurves/long) bows, but these take consistent practice to be good, and even then, most excellent traditional shooters are only as good as the average compound shooter.

Second - You don't need the latest and greatest bow. The bow manufacturers come out with a new "gee whiz super special" about every other year and the price keeps going up. I killed many deer with an old PSE that pushed an arrow along at 175 fps. My newest bow is still 10 years old, and it pushes a carbon arrow out at 225 fps. That bow was a $800 bow the year it was released. I bought it 2 years later for $400 with sights and other paraphernalia included.

Third - Attachments, etc... Hip quiver rather than bow quiver, Fiber optic sight for improved visibility under hunting conditions, rest - hard to beat a whisker biscuit (very forgiving, very easy to set up, very easy to fix on the tailgate). Arrows - carbon really are a great arrow, expensive but great. Heads, begin with target points and get to know the bow. Hunting heads opens up a big can of worms. In this area you can go with fixed blades (cutting edges always out) or mechanicals/swing/retractable blades. The indisputable truth on these is that mechanicals are easier to tune to same point of aim as target points, while fixed blades are much less prone to failure. Other than that - I am not going to wade into the broad heads further
 
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