Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting a different kind of hunting bow

I posted this elsewhere but thought it would be a good read here too.thanks for reading

throughout my days as a professional guide in Alaska I have been fortunate enough to talk with many bow hunters and see all sorts of setups for all sizes of game from a deer to a Kodiak brown bear. The over whelming majority of bow hunters I�ve come across share* a common issue when setting up for the hunt and that is how to and the issues associated with tuning to get a true broad head flight.* Now I�m not here to say one system is better than the other nor am I looking to brand bash as I think bows are an individual choice and most companies offer great bow. What am looking to do here share my experience with something most bow hunters would never consider and explain why I chose this bow for my adventures..
* My bow of choice is an OK archery DST38 Absolute. It�s a 37 � �axle to axle, 315 ibo, brace height 7 ��. The DST stands for double shoot through, meaning shoot through riser and shoot through cables. So why this choice? Let look at all the bows on the market*today. Every company in one way or another is trying to solve tuning issues from cam lean, from timing cams to get a level nock travel, to a smooth cam with sufficient speed for casting a hunting arrow to a true center shot bow for trueness of arrow flight. So with the dst38 every one of these issues have been addressed and addressed exceedingly well and although it is marketed as a target bow I am here to say it is missing its calling as a great hunting bow.*
* So let�s break it down a bit and how the OK solves some inherit problems archers face . First the cam lean, with the four cables you are able to individually twist each cable. So with this advantage you can lay an arrow along the string and adjust cables as needed to achieve zero cam lean, all without the need for a press.







Next level nock travel. What is it. Well I am no expert but in simple terms when the arrow is nocked on standard bows it is not centered between the axles so when fired forces are greater on one side or another and it effects arrow flight greatly.. The OK solution is simple, have a bow with the ability to nock an arrow centered between the axles so cams can be exactly timed for a true arrow flight..





* Again the cables come into play here for exact timing.* You can simply without the need of a press twist cables to achieve exact timing.*
** So some of the other key features I really like. OK is a no nonsense company. They don�t seem to try to hype their speed numbers. Although its 315 ibo I was actually able to achieve this with moderately light weighted arrows at 68 pounds, more than enough for any animal in north America.* Grip is a personal preference so won�t go there.* Axle to axle length is a bit longer then some newer tree stand bows but honestly longer bows are typically more accurate especially for us open country hunters. They are also nice for long draw archers for less string angle.. The cam smoothness is another feature, OK achieves a good speed with one of the smoothest cams made, the cam comes in three sizes to be even smoother but you do lose speed with the larger cams(just a few fps per cam size I am told). With a bad shoulder from guiding I have found for the first time in years I am able to hunt with a 68 pound bow simply cause of cam design and smoothness factor.
The bow is extremely light weight out of the box, reason being they use a better grade of aluminum. That is nice for the long trips in or putting weight where you want it.* The quality on OK bows is also second to none I have never seen a bow with a fit and finish like OK. You can also order in many colors including black for hunting..



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Another well thought out feature that I really like is the limb stops. Once again OK put their own little twist or lack of (pun intended) on it. Instead of the stops hitting the top of the limbs where we could possible have some flex they designed their stops to hit the heel of the limb making them simply rock solid. I've also used a caliper to micro tune cam timing to a thousandth of an inch.

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There always has to be a down side but does there? The biggest complaint or question I come across is how to load an arrow with those cables. I have found that with very little practice it is a very simple process to load from the front of the riser. I slide the arrow nock end first through the riser and cables and hold it with my bow grip hand and then simply grab the nock and nock it. I was able to achieve this on a half of run across the tundra this year while stalking a caribou..
* So what does all this mean? Well to me this bow has become one of the simplest tuning and accurate bows I have�

There are some interesting points here...at least to one who is still getting up the learning curve. Thanks for posting

Well, shoot through bows have been around since the 60s and have never caught on.

If it's a viable bow and concept, the market will say so.

The market is never wrong...unless it is sabotaged and corrupted.

Color me skeptical.

That's one convoluted looking arrow slinging contraption there. No thanks...

Markets are a funny thing he who pay the most generally wins . Shoot through risers have been around for a long time too and now they are all the rage in target bows.. time will tell I suppose. Fact remains non cable guarded bows with true center shot tune and cast broad heads with great ease which was the point of my post. Thanks for posting appreciate your input

Seems horribly noise prone to me. Banging arrows on the riser while "loading" is a huge issue IMO. I can't imagine trying to load quick and quiet

Can't see one in my future, but then evolution of products takes place and who knows where it ends up?

sliding a broadhead tipped arrow through there seems like it would be a problem.

I'll pass

Actual reading of the post would of answered that

There are ways of being quiet but I don't disagree with you. However in 35 years of bow hunting and guiding hunters including bow hunters since the early 90's the fact it it's the first shot that matters. It's rare to be in a situation where a stealthy second shot is need.

As a professional Hunter myself, we don't stalk walk or travel with a nocked arrow. Doing spot and stalk hunting having to sometimes walk fast, crouch crawl and struggle through the bush.

Loading and arrow only to take it out and put it back through again and Again during spot and stalk hunts all day would concern me. In the USA your mostly hunting lone animals. In Africa it's mostly herd animals. Setting up shots to get a clear unobstructed opportunity might take 20 try's a day

Speaking of which, those very agressive cams on the higher speed bows begin taking their toll on joints when letting down that often as well.

So as a professional hunter when exactly do you have a hunter put a bullet in the chamber of a bolt rifle, I would bet I can load an arrow much quieter then a bolt sliding a round in. Not looking to argue the point but your argument simply has never been an issue for me.

I have no worry of being stabbed in the back by the muzzle of a rifle.

While on a final stalk a chambered round is typical. There is a difference between unsafe gun handling and the exposed razor on the end of a long arrow shaft when walking.

One can be managed safely, the other is an accident waiting to happen. Just this year I had my hand sliced open to the bone with a broad head. I was 30 miles from the hospital. About 10 miles into the trip, I found was unable to think properly. I was dizzy, sweating and chilled. I was losing the ability to function.The blood loss was astonishing! There are still blood stains on the head liner of my truck from the blood pumping out with such force it sprayed across my vehicle.

In Africa you might be hours from camp on foot and many hours from a paved road driving. It's no place to make such a mistake! I have permanent tendon damage on my right hand now, from the simple mistake of cutting myself. The broad head was not even screwed into a shaft!

This is covered with my hunters before they arrive. If the rules are not acceptable, then there are lots of other outfitters to select from.

I conduct my hunts slightly differently. I do not allow hunters to follow behind me with a chambered round. We had an incident here in Alaska not too awful long ago where on on a guided bear hunt resulted in tragedy due in part to poor muzzle control.
That sounds like a terrible experience you endured and I'm glad it worked out in your favor. I do appreciate your input and I bet it would be fun to share stories over a campfire

I'm glad it works for you, but I am a firm believer in KISS. I prefer my gear simple and try to avoid stupid. No disrespect but that tangle of strings and cables coupled with the shoot through riser complications and oddly attached sights, rest, ect. just turns me off. But again, if it works for you rock on!

I assure you there is no disrespect taken. After all its just opinions. Not exactly sure what you mean by oddly attached sights and rests. There is no difference then any other bow. At face value the two extra cables do make it look complicated but thats my point. Those 2 cables are what makes it so simple. How many bows can you sit at the target butt and twist a cable with out a press to get better broadhead flight. How many bows have zero nock travel. How many bows are true center shot.how many with zero cam lean These are all things that effect broadhead flight. So may look complicated but it's actually quite the opposite! !

Moleskin would solve any noise issues
I've never needed to rapid load my bows. But I am a bit different the way I do things
I always thought that cables off to the side was an issue that created things that had to be solved
My solution was to get rid of training wheels.
If I ever go back I'd consider playing with ur setup. That way I would know for myself if it was good or not

Seriously, cam lean ain't a major problem anyway. If it were, companies would've been scrambling to fix it. The vast majority of bows are center shot, set up with a string loop, and shot with a release. Very little torque on those cams. Bows today are insanely easy to be accurate with, even for a relative novice. I think you've found a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist in any meaningful way. Jmo.

The market is almost always right.

Again I hate to disagree but that info you provided is not accurate. Companies like mathews designed one cams in part due to issues with level nock travel on two cam bows. Shooters tiller tune to alter limb pressure to offset level Nov travel, you creep to to fix level nock travel issues.
Cam lean and cable torque is a huge issue. Why do you think companies like prime and even hoyt this year went with flex cable guards..

market may be right but it would be foolish to believe these issues don't exist. Hell expandable were invented because of fixed blade tuning issues. All I'm saying is here is a bow that eliminates all the need for the bandaid fixes. Of course it's not for everyone

Don't ya think fixed blade tuning issues simply mean the archer doesn't understand how to properly tune a bow? I may be pretty naive or misinformed but don't consider tuning a bow tremendously complicated.