Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting renewing old habits

I bowhunted for well over 20 years. Then my partners got out of it and I ran out of people to shoot or bowhunt with. My bow's been hanging in the garage for over 10 years. I now have a new friend who bowhunts so I de-mothballed the bow. It had some rust on the screws (anything steel) and my old FreeFlite release was well rusted and inoperable but I cleaned them up with rust remover and all is working well. I had to drive a couple roll pins out of the release and use a drill bit to hone the rust out of the holes so it would work freely. It worked and it's shooting like a new one.

My big issue is a rotator cuff problem in my draw arm. My bow only goes down to 60 so it remains to be seen whether my shoulder will allow me to hunt with it. It would be better if I could lower it a bit more. I'm only shooting 10 or 12 shots in each session but doing that several times a day to slowly stretch out the arm. So far it feels pretty good but it's easy to overdo it and mess myself up again. I'm 70 and the body doesn't strengthen or heal as fast as it used to.

I only had 4 usable arrows and didn't want to spend a wad on more until I knew if my shoulder will be ok. I was in Walmart and they have some that you can buy by the arrow. They have some decent looking carbons for $5.95/arrow. They have Walmart's Mossy Oak store brand so I don't know who makes them. They're supposed to be .003 straightness. I bought 2 and they shoot as well as my old CX300's, at least at short range (I haven't backed out beyond 20yds yet). They're made in Mexico and I think that's where Gold Tips are made so they could be GTs. I used to practice at 60 yds a lot. I doubt I'd shoot at an animal at that range but after a lot of that, 40 or 50 is a piece of cake. Eventually I'll find out how these arrows shoot at that distance. We're going to a 3-D shoot at the end of July so I'll have to stretch out the ranges before then.

It's good to be getting back. I hope the shoulder allows me to continue.

Take a field trip to Advantage Archery downtown Twin. There are lots of nice used bows, etc and the owner and staff are second to none.

My old Browning bow is good for a long time yet. Advantage doesn't carry replacement shoulders and that will likely be the determining factor.

the newer used bows and new bows pull over easier,are faster so you can use less pounds and do the same speed -power out of the same arrow. those old Browning bows are a good bow as are all the other old compound bows but these newer bows are easier to shoot. heres an example that i have notice you take a 25 year old compound bow at 70 pounds and shoot it thru a chronograph then shoot a new 50 compound thru the same chronograph both will probably shoot the same arrow at the same speed,maybe the 50 pound bow might be even be a little faster.? i still remember when shooting a a 70 lb. bow shot 200 fps and people thought that was fast now days the new 70 lb. bows shoot 320 fps but theyse bows do use a lighter arrow now days too. newer used bows are cheap look around and see whats out there. good luck and be safe this fall,Pete53

This doesn't make sense. First off a bow at 70 pounds isn't going to use the same spine arrows as a 50 pound. Second the cam can change the spine needed. So the two bows will not shoot the same arrows as you have in your scenario.

As for lighter arrows these days. That is a choice the shooter makes and unless for target use only lighter is never right.

>heavy arrows will fly out of both lighter and heavy poundage bows if you have the ability to tune arrows and a bow. done it many times ! indoor target shooters shoot 50 lbs. 2712 aluminum arrows with 250 grain points all day long .

Ok clearly you are lost! You might want to re-read what I wrote really slow.

you win ! i grow up learning respect during Fred Bear days , i kinda wonder are you a troll ?

Show me where I am wrong! I showed you your lack of knowledge. I could go on farther but really it is a waste of time. I might have met Mr. Bear a time or two. You want respect? Earn it!

JUST A GRIN

A 70# 1980's era energy wheel bow and a newer fairly fast 50# compound bow store about the same amount of energy, therefore a similar spine arrow could be made to work for both of them. Say a 400 spine. As with bullets there are optimal weights for everything. A medium weight ~400gr Carbon arrow has worked well for me.

Keep your draw weight low.

This spring I had a few sessions of physical therapy on my shoulder but it didn't help much. After shooting my bow for a few weeks, my shoulder feels better than it has for a year. Apparently this is just the exercise I need. I only shoot 15 or 20 arrows in a session but I do it several times a day. That's the nice thing about living where I can shoot at home. It would be better if I could drop 5lb on the bow but 60 is the lowest it will go. I can handle 60 as long as I don't overdo it and stop before I get tired and sore.