Might need to get started in the bow market

[DanB]

I've been looking for an excuse to buy a bow and give bow hunting a try. We have a subcontractor that has offered us a weekend at a hunting lodge he is involved with. The place is near Lake Texoma not sure exactly where. The weekend is in October. So if I want to go for a deer that weekend I'm going to have to leave the rifle and pick up a bow.

More than likely I'll look for a used rig that is already setup to go. It would take to long to research everything from bow to sight to rest and arrows to be confident in my decisions.

What is a good brand to look for? Any advise on setup? Is there any fitting I need to look into or can I go out and expect to "fit" any bow I can find.

 

[kdlong]

No you probably can't fit any bow.first you need to know your draw length.next Are you right or left handed and what poundage can you safely pull back.now you also know they opened up crossbows to everyone as of July.you can get in a crossbow setup for around 4 to 5 hundred mabey even a little cheaper.but a good compound setup used will run probably that much or more.

 

[Lithiumokc]

Go into any bow shop and they can fit you bow to you. H and H is running a sale right now.. I shoot a Matthews feather lite @ 70lbs, whisker bis rest. Becareful though... once you go bow its hard to pick up a gun again.. Bow season is 4 months long, gun.. 2 weeks.. There is nothing like getting within 10-20 yards and dusting a nice one. Just starting out get a sight with a removable pins and remove all but one. That pin should be pretty flat from 10-20. its hard to keep that thing steady on your first couple of draws when looking at a deer. I avoided shooting anyting past 20 for a couple of seasons just because I didnt want to get a bad hit. If your shooting close groups at 20, then by all means throw you a 30yrd pin in there. The truth of the matter is you will get 10 different ansewers from 10 different people so just get something thats not to heavy, shoots rather quite, You need to pull at least 55lbs IMO for actual hunting. Oh, dont get discouraged if you dont get anything, it takes a while with a bow to get them in close.

 

[DanB]

So the xbow fits into the same regs as the rest of archery? Hmm. I guess I need to do a bit more reading. i heard it was opened to everyone this year not just the HC. Just dont know the details. Bow is more appealing to me than a xbow. Might have to skip out of the house while the boy and Mrs take a nap tomorrow and get to H&H to play.

Unfortunately if I do get a bow I have to put my Remington 700 purchase on hold. Only good thing is I have another rifle that can fill the spot until the 700 comes home.

 

[Weatherby]

Bow hunting is addictive. You had better warn your wife, as your October weekends will be occupied.

 

[Lithiumokc]

Bow hunting is addictive. You had better warn your wife, as your October weekends will be occupied.

I use all my vacation between oct 1 and jan 15th... hahaha.. My wife knows she can get me to do anything the rest of the year, but if its MY 4 months I will be busy if im not at work..

 

[Lithiumokc]

Im not a huge fan of xbows because if you miss your not going to get another shot because your going to spook him reloading that thing.. With a bow you may or may not get another shot but if you do your more likley to be able to nock in another one and let it fly because the body movements needed to load a bow is much less than an xbow.

 

[DanB]

I'm about to drop some money on a TX non res hunting license later this month. I'm headed to go hunt Dove with one of my college buddies then deer in December.

The wife won't be to happy with me regardless for a few months.

 

[kdlong]

I use all my vacation between oct 1 and jan 15th... hahaha.. My wife knows she can get me to do anything the rest of the year, but if its MY 4 months I will be busy if im not at work..

I am the same way.save all my vacation and start using it oct first.

 

[Tampabucs]

How much money do you want to spend? There are some brands you want to stay away from. I won't bash on a public forum. However, these unlisted companies are known for problems i.e. limbs breaking, poor design etc..