Which Bow?

[Todd Rahm]

Ok, all you Ishi wanna be's.  While I haven't really been looking to get into the sport, a fine opportunity might be falling in my lap. 

Wyatt's comp soccer couldn't field a enough players for team this winter (Man talk about some free time now) so we took him and one of his soccer buddies down to the local archery shop to see if its something they would be interested in, and Kenna tagged along cause dad was watching her.  Well they give the kids a lil orientation and let them shoot some bows and play around for 30-45 minutes to test the waters. The lady was getting some bows adjusted for the bows and Kenna tugged on my shirt and said "Dad, I would like to try too." (Heck yeah lil girl, get in there I thought.) Well all three kids did it and loved it and came out a lil more wobbly armed then they went in, but they had a blast. Well they offer beginner classes every Tuesday for a month for 2 hours for a simple $75. Both kids said they wanted to do it so we signed them up (along with Wy's soccer buddy Daws) All three kids did great in there first session (better then the adults in the class)  Well the lady mentions that they have a youth league every Saturday for 10 weeks in the winter for the kids and said if I wanted to sign them up she would provide all the equipment to see if the kids were really into it, and later o if they were we could outfit them if we wanted too. Heck yeah they can join I said. 


Well they went to the first Saturday shoot and both my kids using the lil compound bows with out sights did as good as expected but Wyatt was impressed by the younger 9-10 year old girls there that had loaded bows and was putting most if not all the arrows in the 10 ring.  So now he is hooked. I told him to practice a lil more with out the sights and get better and I would think about getting him a better bow. 

Well Wy don't know it yet, but he'll be getting a Bowtech Razors Edge and all the gear for Christmas if not sooner, and Kenna well, we haven't picked out one for her yet as she is a lil smaller, but she'll get one cause the only thing driving her is the ability to out shoot her brother. They got to shoot 3d targets tonight from a blind and she had a blast and managed to take out the black bear vitals at 20 yards with no sights.   

So Kenna says "Dad if I get better can I hunt moose next year with a bow?" (Fellas I just hit the jack pot)  At a whopping 10 years old, I doubt she'll be pulling back the required 50 lbs for a moose in a while, but there's a few other things she can hunt and Wyatt's at 40 I think now which makes him able to hunt Bou if we choose too.

So my dilemma is I'm going to have to get set up for hunting, or at least shooting for now so I can go practice with the kids outside of their league.

I'm kinda a dummy with bows because they don't require gun powder, but I have been reading and looking. I kinda have it narrowed down to two bows right now just from reading but wanted to see what all you arrow slingers had to say, or if ya had other suggestions.

PSE X-Force Super Short (I like everything about the size for beating the brush and carrying up here)

Hoyt Maxxis 31

Thanks future archery hunting family (With any darn luck) 

[HaMeR]

Those are both very good bows.

[KySongDog]

Welcome to the bow hunting family!   The bows you listed are good bows.  

I suggest going to an archery shop and shooting a few to see how they feel in hand.  

Keep in mind that you do NOT need a high dollar fancy bow to bow hunt with.  Also, I suggest practicing without sights for bow hunting.  Shooting paper targets is much different from shooting game that might be moving in and out of brush, trees, etc.  I know lots of people use sights on their hunting bows but I have found they are more of a hindrance than a help to me.  Instinctive shooting works best for me.

Above all, keep it fun for the kids and you have gained some new hunting partners!    

[Hawks Feather]

Todd,

Sorry to hear that you won't be able to spend every "free" minute watching soccer.      You have already been doing the best advice that I could give - go to a decent archery shop so that you can get bow (and arrows) that fit the bow and a bow that will fit you kids.  So, is dad next on the list?

Jerry

[Todd Rahm]

So my dilemma is I'm going to have to get set up for hunting, or at least shooting for now so I can go practice with the kids outside of their league.

I'm kinda a dummy with bows because they don't require gun powder, but I have been reading and looking. I kinda have it narrowed down to two bows right now just from reading but wanted to see what all you arrow slingers had to say, or if ya had other suggestions.

PSE X-Force Super Short (I like everything about the size for beating the brush and carrying up here)

Hoyt Maxxis 31

Thanks future archery hunting family (With any darn luck)  

Uh, that would be affirmative Ghost Rider!!!!

[George Ackley]

.

[weedwalker]

Those are both good bows Todd. But like Semp said, try them out 1st to see which one suits you best.
I'm thinking about a new bow myself. But I'm gonna go old school with either a PSE or Martin recurve bow. I had a PSE Thunderbolt compound. It blew up on me when the upper limb broke at full draw. And my old Ben Pierson recuve split on me this week while shooting here in the yard. So all I've got to shoot now is my early 70s model Bear Grizzly compound.

[George Ackley]

 Hoyt Maxxis 31

it only come in drawl up to 30 '' so if you have a shorter drawl you ok.

looks to me it is a fast bow

fast bows come in handy for only 1 thing ,,,,,,, they are flatter shooting. why do I like a flatter shooting bow. well it helps in judging yardage,  I set my pins on my bow for point of impact,, I don't need to shoot aspirins all I need to do is put the broad head in the kill zone witch is at least 4'' so with a fat shooting bow I can get 1 pin to do what 2 or 3 pins do. I shoot one pin and that pin is good to 32 yards , it will hit withen the 4'' from 0 to 32 yards before it starts to drop off drastically , so fast is good! but what is fast ?? anything shooting over 280 is ballistic and will get you in that 4'' kill zone .
i dont like to have to think of yardages ,, i like consintrateing on the part of the critter i am going to shoot ,,this was evident  on my gator hunt, no time for yardages he was under 30 so just point and shoot , as he swam away from us at a good pace
that's all the time you had anyways

31'' axle to axle,,, well that is short and not of my liking

why don't I like short axle to axle bows , well they are as unforgiving as they come most have very short brace height ( like Hoyt Maxxis 31) witch is 7''

brace height is the distince from the string to the back of your  grip on the bow ...
the reason they are so unforgiven is with such a short brace height and twitch in you bow hand at release will effect the flight of the arrow. some have a hard time trying to not hit there inside of there wrist with a bow with a short brace height
also with such a short brace height this bow should only be shot with a release add. any bow in my mind under 38'' shouldn't be shot fingers , if you go with this bow everything will depend on your shooting style ( form)  witch will need to be the same with every shot of a arrow .. so practicing you drawl and the release of the arrow is everything even more important then hitting any targets at first form ,form ,form!!! this is a very high tec bow
and very unforgiven .

I would set this type bow up with a drop away rest,,, a Keller pendulum sight, and would shoot it on or around  at 68lb
i do like the XTR CAM 1/2 on this bow it should drawl smooth .
one thing good about this bow is it FAST!!!!!!!!!! so onice you have your shooting form down and everything working good this bow can be shot at light pounds and still preform point of impact shooting

what i am saying is this bow will need practicing, its very unforgiven ! and in real life hunting situations there to much for me to think about with this bow ,,, i am a look drawl and shoot kinda guy , I like them no shorter then 38 axle to axle 






as for the PSE  WELL AXLE TO AXLE IS 27'' WAY TO SMALL FOR REASONS ABOVE !!!!
AND 900 BUCKS


PS

let me say this  so I don't sound like a hatter , A hatter of short bows... this has just been my experience with hunting high performance bows . they are very much like anything that's high performance they take skill to operate
. I have always said to the guys at the range that have to point there bows to the moon to drawl them back that they are shooting to much weight ,, in the woods not many critters will let you get away with all that movement and if your throwing one arrow out of 6 out of the kill zone then your form is bad. you littlerly have to have a soft touch with bows 31'' and under. and and man when that big deer ,hog, moose, pig walks out and you just hicked a mile up hill or chasses a lion, or a hog  for 3 miles the last thing a am thinking is my shooting form...the rush of the hunt and the rush to make the shot can be all i can handle
keep it simple and aim small is what I think

please forgive my spelling,,,,,,

[Todd Rahm]

Thanks George thats a whole lot of info right there, and none of it went un read or heeded. 

I'm not really limit to those two bows, but after a tone of research those were two I kinda narrowed down too. The Destoyer was another.

Now as far as the shorter bow, I really like that option for Alaska. I wouldn't be sitting in a stand or a blind as much as it would be spot and stock, and if ya ever nuscled through some thick alders and willows....shorter sounds great.  I also figured I would be carrying it on my back alot to and figured the smaller the less it would get caught up? 

I think I'm also covered on the 30" or less draw too. As far as poundage, heck I cant even begin to guess at that yet?

I keep reading about 70% ot 80% let off etc...... What does that mean?

Thanks a tona gain for the info George.

[iahntr]

Very cool Todd ! Fun thing for the family !
I've bow hunted for about 30 yrs now, I've shot recurves, long bows, and many different compounds.
I've owned an archery shop with a shooting range and a club in it, and was a Hoyt dealer. I could probably
write pages on what I think is the best,,,,,yada yada yada.  But I'm gonna take the boring route
and reiterate what I also think is the best advice, ya gotta shoot em. Twenty of us could all come on here
and say, "ya gotta get this bow", "best bow I've ever shot hands down!" You pick it up and shoot it
and it just doesn't feel right to ya.  There are a lot of good bows out there these days.
All that aside,,,, Maxxis 31 !      If I was gettin a new bow right now, that'd probably be the one I'd
buy, but I'm also a little partial to Hoyts.  As far as components go, I'd be glad to give ya my opinions
on anything ya want.

[Todd Rahm]

I'd be glad to give ya my opinions
on anything ya want. 

Well that will be next Scott so feel free to jump right in. So far I'm only aware of rest and sights, but I'm sure there are other things ya put on those things too.

Thanks,
Todd

[iahntr]

The let off is talking about the weight you'll be holding at full draw.
As you draw the bow back, when your almost all the way back you'll
hit it's peak, and then it will roll over, or it "lets off". So the higher the
percent of let off, the less weight you'll be holding at full draw. But again
it can somewhat come down to personal preference, and higher isn't
necessarily always better. I've shot different bows where I didn't like the
higher let off, didn't feel as smooth to me.

[Todd Rahm]

So if I understand ya, if I'm pulling back a 70 lb bow. When its all the way back I'll be holding about 56 lbs on an 80% let off? 

[coyote101]

So if I understand ya, if I'm pulling back a 70 lb bow. When its all the way back I'll be holding about 56 lbs on an 80% let off? 

You'll be holding about 14 lbs. That's why those guys on the hunting shows can hold those bows at full draw for so long.

Pat

[Todd Rahm]

Ok, so my struggle will be getting it back there?  Thanks.

[George Ackley]

Todd, i look for a good read for yea and this sight has some good info.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm

[alscalls]

Any bow that makes you confident in the woods.......... I still use my old Whitetail legend ......we been together 20 years or so and still kill deer together........(60#)

[Todd Rahm]

Thats a very good read George. thanks.

[awh]

I can't believe you didn't  even list a recurve or long bow as a choice

Just picking. Go with what you like. You and the kids are going to love it

[Todd Rahm]

Thanks, I think Wyatt is gearing towards a Missions Craze and Kenna is gona get a Missions Menice. Both seem to be a lil better fit for youngsters, but I'm still looking.