I'm a former bowhunter who quit because of lack of time and compounded by a couple shoulder surgeries. I plan to return to the game next year and could use some advice on what technology has offered in the last 15ish years that I must take advantage of.
My quarry will be idaho panhandle elk and eastern Washington deer. I'm not super concerned about finding the animals as much as not having gear failure. I'm currently in possession of a couple of mathews bows, an mq1 and a legacy. I have a 58# longbow that I shoot fairly well (6" @ 25yds) and I impulse bought a diamond provider this weekend that was dry fired and it tweaked the cam a bit. I already straightened it up and it looks like it should be fine. I'm just waiting to take it to work and have it magged.
I love the weight of the diamond and the longbow. I love the simplicity of the longbow. I appreciate the quality of the mathews bows. I know nothing about current diamond stuff, but it was worth a $150 gamble to me to try it out.
I have 30-40 arrows spined for my older 70# mathews bows, but the vanes pretty beat up and the nockes are mismatched. I am not sure if arrows have gained any advantage over my old carbons (a dozen plus cabelas branded and the rest are beeman). I'm absolutely fine with refletching my shafts as it seems few like the 4" vanes any longer. It seems blazers are the rage today.
In the past I've used thunderheads with good success, but found then to almost never group with my field points reliably, regardless of how the paper test went. I recently purchased enough slick tricks to give them a run, and with the length comparison, I can see them being a better chance.
All 3 of my compounds run fall away rests, two trophy takers and a ripcord. Both mathews have factory quivers and I have a tight spot for the diamond. I'm sitting on enough sights and miscellaneous parts to rig up a very well equipped bow (based on my 15 years ago experience.
Here's where it goes a bit sideways... I had an original mathews zlight that I shot amazingly well. I used it for a few years and was talked into the mq1 by the archery shop. I went from breaking nocks at 40 yards to 2" @ 40 with the mq. The legacy and diamond are new enough to me to not know exactly how much potential they have.
So if you were a guy in my shoes, what would your course of action be? I'm not really ready to shoot here for a month or so as I'm waiting on a target setup. Mostly just trying to get my gear plan and then start flicking as soon as I can.
