Several new bows have somehow arrived at my house in recent weeks, and it just so happens that three of them scale exactly the same-- 47# at 28", and 50# at my 29-1/4" draw.

The top one is a Dick Green...early 60's maybe? The middle one is a 1962 Howatt Hunter, my favorite year in those; and the bottom one is a 2009 Great Plains Cazador in pommelé bubinga.

Of course, this called for some flight shooting comparison, winter or no winter! So I decided to head out to a nearby lake, with snowshoes to help me get around.

That Dick Green bow is a subtle beauty; it reminds me of the FASCOs of the same era. Check out how skinny the tips are on it, compared to the Howatt at left and the Great Plains at right.

Some of my other bows saw us packing up to go and started pouting, so in the end I also took the old Firedrake and a 1965 Pearson Mustang. That Mustang riser is supposed to be Freijo according to the catalogs, but I'd swear its either Brazilian rosewood or cocobolo...

I even took Fred's old Mojo along for the outing, just so those nasty old snakeskins he put on it could get a little fresh air...

I put a wooden stake down range about 175 yds. (didn't measure; didn't care about overall distance) and started flinging arrows at the sky. There was a bald eagle circling and watching the whole operation; try as I might, I kept missing him, heheh.

This chart shows where the arrows fell from each bow. Not really drawing any major conclusions here; this was mostly just an excuse to get outside... BUT I did notice a couple of things:

1. That poor little Great Plains has all kinds of surplus weight holding it back-- antler tip overlays and bow-hush on the limbs, and half a beaver carcass on the string! That's just the way it came to me; I have a strong urge to peel some crud off it and see how it does.

2. The Firedrake has yarn puffs, the Mojo has cat whiskers, and the Mustang was bare-string.

3. The aluminum arrows are half an inch longer, so when I draw them as far as I can, they get a bit more draw weight than the woodies do. Nonetheless, they are still 60 gr. heavier, yet fly close to 30 yd. farther-- must be those vanes, right Frisky?

4. People are always saying that the old Howatts are several pounds heavier than marked, yet this one is just the opposite-- it's marked 50 @ 28", but on my scale it's 47 @ 28", and only gets to 50 when I draw it to 29-1/4". Ditto the Great Plains-- marked 50, but 47 on my scale.

As I said, don't take it too seriously; it was just a bit of cabin fever relief. I was just guessing at my angles, and the wind was a bit puffy intermittently. I also did it to shame Frisky into getting off the couch and out in that cornfield before winter turns to spring. I know him well-- he whines about the cold now; come April it'll be too muddy, then too buggy in May and June, and so on.

Whoops, I should also mention that I was shooting from bottom to top... so the long shot of the day was an aluminum arrow from the Firedrake.

My goodness...things were going so well in this thread...until the very last " Whoops..." addition when you just had to mention that a DRAKE won the day. No good will come of that...just saying... Oh, what's that noise coming from North???? ( I see your ploy...rouse Frisky from his slumber and taunt him into finding an empty pasture for the Deathbluster and the Slight Bunter!)

Though I've never stood on a frozen lake, your Archery project would have been exactly what I would have preferred doing today. I would have brought a couple old low-weight Lefty Target bows, and my skinny alums, and asked to join you. Heck, I would have even brought hot chocolate along!

Thanks for the "shoot along", from a place here that was quite miserable today...all day...!

I'm pretty sure it was just a freak gust of wind that accounts for that one long shot... and yes, I fear that further gusts are in store for us because of it ;-)

However, I'm not seeing much activity from "Punxsutawney Frisk" these days; maybe he'll miss that little item. We can hope...

I think he's busy making back quivers.

He won't even see this thread.

Wait. Maybe it was brush buttons.

Interesting stuff .. thanks

That looks like fun! Shooting hunting weight arrows is my favorite flight shooting event at the salt flats.

Very interesting, but I knew what bow would shoot the farthest. The Firedrake is not as fast as my Grail, so we know what the Grail would have done. Of course, my Deathmaster would have been off the chart.

Joe

In all seriousness that would have been a fun day.

I have a colour vision deficiency, especially on dots, so can't tell which bow dropped the aluminium arrows at the farthest distance around where the Firedrake did. Was it the Howatt or the Pearson?

How did the Green feel to shoot? That was the short one right?

I enjoyed the data. Thanks.

Peter, That was the Howatt; fresh out of the box from the mailman... I don't even have a dedicated string for it yet; just grabbed a 6-incher off the Ocala for the day.

The Dick Green bow is really quite something. When you first pick it up, you can't believe it's a 47# draw bow because it's so light. For comparison, the lightest hunting weight bow I've ever had is my 58" George Birnie "Rampant Kiltie," which is a 47# draw also and weighs 22.5 ounces. The Dick Green is 60" long, but weighs just under 20 ounces! I don't know yet what it will do when I take it target shooting, but it was smooth and pleasant and quiet even when shooting it with a bare string. The lines are very similar to those 1960-ish Black Widow, which was also very light, but the Green has skinnier limbs than those. Same hand-forward riser though, so it wasn't shocky. Maybe someone on LW can help me date it... here's another look at it.

It's the middle bow in this picture, with the 68" Dick Green above it and the Perry Magnum below it. Both of the Green bows are maple risers, but the shorter bow has a more nut-brown color to it. Reminds me of maple walnut ice cream...mmmmmm.... ice cream...

What about the Hunter-Flight you had? Mine weighs 21 ounces.

Joe

That Dick Green is a nice looking bow, do you know where it was made?

Trying to post records

Trying to post records

Larger

Dick Green bows were made in California...they were cutting edge designs and builds...tip wedges on some, slim limbs that did the job with no excess. Simple and classy!

I've seen pictures of a 1957 Dick Green model named "Morfi": it looks to be about the same riser as the two that I have... but I don't know much about him or his bows. Maybe George or Fred can tell us more about him... I have a special way to get in touch with Fred about these great old bows; I'll give it a try...

This doesn't always work;it depends on the sky conditions over Seattle...

Kerry!!

How in the name of all that's holy do you create this stuff!!

I just fell off my chair!!

SKOOOOOOKUM!!!!!!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!

That's hilarious!

Looks like Batman ran a Marathon ...

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