Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Bow Upgrade?

Not exactly related but worth a mention if your rather new to actually hunting. As a PH taking many bow hunters. I have seen my fair share of high draw bows and hunters so focused on speed they cannot actually hunt with the equipment they are using. Sitting in a blind watching the third attempt at getting the bow back while an animal is there 17 meters away. This is embarrassing to witness. The hunter while standing has the bow go above the head and then down to aim. Unfortunately this is not functional for hunting.

Stealth beats speed all day long. Have we forgotten this is a close range intimate event? 50 plus yard shots is something other then bow "hunting". Shooting long range like that completely removes the actual thrill of the bow hunting experience. It's suppose to be close range and prove the hunting skills of the hunter, not the shooting capability of new technology. But hey that's just me. Other folks do things differently of course. I feel sorry for them to be missing the boat on the real thrill of what bow hunting is. Nothing I would kill at 50 plus yards would ever match the hunting skill, success, and pride I feel for doing the same thing at 15 yards.

Can you kneel and sit back on your heels, then draw your bow straight back without having it go at all above level. Can you do this slow and smooth? If you can then that's great. However not many men I've hunted with can draw their bow this way smoothly. If you cannot then your not set up for hunting.

You see hunting is not standing and target shooting, but rather being able to draw slow smooth and silently with as minimal movement as possible. The game we bowhunt is close ......REAL close 10-25 yards. Real bow hunting ranges not the launch and pray 50-60 plus ranges.

I've killed everything I've shot at with 60-65 lbs which can be drawn very easy. Other hunters like Ted Nugent hunt with 55-60 lbs because it's such a close range hunt you must be very capable of a smooth easy effortless draw to remain unseen. This draw weight with a proper arrow has killed game for me to 2000 pounds ( bison and eland) Plenty in the 750-1000lb range too!

It's entirely up to the hunter to use what they like. I'm only suggesting that the fastest flattest bow made will not kill game when the effort to draw it exceeds the comfort and ease and stability that is needed.

Spot and stalk hunting with 25-30 let downs a day will begin to take its toll on your shoulders after a few days. People never let down when target shooting so they don't know how those joint ripping let downs effect them after countless times over a week of hunting.

I'm all for the heaviest arrows at the highest speeds. But I've seen 100% success with 55-65 lb bows and massive struggles with those exceeding 70 lbs. it has also become crystal clear that the wicked good killers are usually in that mid 60's range while the newer less experienced hunters are cranking up the power as much as they can, and using the lightest arrows that will ( kinda) work. Some handle it........ but very few!