Any archers here?

[dubtheAxe]

I've been hunting with a Browning recurve since I was a kid. About 15 years ago I finally bought my first compound bow (Martin Scepter) and I remember thinking that I was "cheating".
Last summer I went to the local pro shop to get my 7 yr old a bow (Bear Brave2) and ended up testing a few of the latest models. I couldn't believe the difference. I ended up walking out with a Mathews Reezen...couldn't help myself...still feels like cheating though...
Funny thing, I've never used release aids, so when I was testing the bows out in the shop range, the guys thought I was out of my mind...until they saw my groupings anyway...

@Mike - not sure where your from or what you want to hunt, but if you really want to learn, start talking to the locals in the area, especially the old timers. When i was 20 something I met an old buck who was a legendary hunter in the area. He was too old to hunt by himself (85 yrs old, bad leg) so I offered to take him out with me and do all the grunt work (cleaning and packing out the deer ect...). He taught me more about hunting than I could've learned from anyone else. He also showed me some of his best spots and hooked me up with a old buddy of his who let me have sole hunting rights on his 500 acre farmland.

 

[webetricky]

^^Nice!

They taught us archery in school and I always wanted to try bow hunting but just haven't done it yet. I wasn't even aware people went bow fishing..that sounds awesome.

 

[Midas Touch]

@Midas Touch - Thanks for sharing your trip down memory lane, I really enjoyed reading it. I tried bowfishing once long ago at my Granddad's place in Illinois and didn't do so well. The string got hung up on the rig and snapped the arrow back into my leg. It didn't penetrate because it hit me nock first, but it made me stop and think a bit. I like recurves as well, but I am insanely inaccurate with them, so I stick to what I'm good with. Plus, I'm kind of fascinated by all the gizmos and whodads for the compounds, and the speed.

I am seriously considering contacting an outfitter next year to try my hand at hunting. I figure the best way to learn is to have a pro show you. Maybe that's flawed thinking, but it'd also be nice to just show up with bow / arrows and clean socks and not have to worry about all the rest.

As I said above, Archery is Archery. It's just a personal preference, kind of like with pistols where some like revolvers and others like semi-autos. It's still shooting though.

It pained me to hear of your bow fishing mishap. (Ouch!)

I use a shoot-through rig like the one in the photo on this page: HuntingNet.Com - Learn the Bowfishing Basics I never did like how the other setups. The ring/hoop also helped me to target the fish and track it since I have to site the arrow through the ring. I usually would release the arrow just as the fishes nose crossed the outside edge of the ring. I try to hit them through the gill plate or the thick part of their back just below the spine. It's easier for the arrow head spines to grab and stay in place to retrieve the fish in these areas.

It sucks when the arrow goes through and gets pinned to the bottom. The fish sometimes spins around it and tears a hole bigger than the spines of the arrow head and then you can lose the fish.

I think you have the right idea of hooking up with an Outfitter for your first hunting trip with your son. Everything will be taken care of for you so that you can just focus on the hunt. It should be fun and safe for you both.

Thanks again for starting this thread.

 

[emp]

Dude, it's been like 14 years since a I shot a bow but I really enjoyed it. Wanna get me one of them things again soon, they're fun. You've probably seen it but, Nicolas Cage played a dude who loved archery in The Weatherman:

I HAVE to +rep you for that. The Weatherman is a seriously good movie.

::emp::

 

[emp]

Also if you guys wanna try something reallx weird, try Japanese archery once.
The bow is more like a slingshot, as it rotates around your front hand and releases the arrow on the front... the mind boggles.

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