Just wondering if you've ever shot "it"?

The year was about 1998, and I attended the traditional 3d shoot north of Minneapolis. I was walking through the vendors booths and trying out bows.

I picked up a medium length used recurve that one of them had and took it out to the practice butts. I spent about 20 minutes with "it". At 10 yards all I had to do was pick out an arrow hole in the bag and my arrow filled the hole. I don't have any idea what poundage "it" was, or even what model "it" was. I was too broke to buy "it" so I had to leave "it" hanging on the rack.

I've probably owned near 100 bows since then, and to this day I'm still searching for "it".

How about you, have you ever shot "it"?

Ive had a few bows over the years that I just couldnt hardly miss with. One was a 66" 3pc Slammer. A few were Centaurs and Toelkes. A Bob Lee 3pc longbow I remember fondly.

My latest are a Tall Tines Stickflinger and a Big Jim Mountain Monarch. What shooters.

Unfortunately, once I get em where they shoot lights out I often sell them to grab the next thing that catches my eye, I guess aside from hunting the challenge of tuning up a bow is a hobby for me in and of itself.

I will say the Stickflinger and Monarch are bows of bows to me to this point, I can't fathom ever selling them.

Honestly at the end of the day if the bow has a grip that works, a quality FF string, a well selected arrow spine, I can make it do what I want. What is more special to me is a bow that shoots lights out easily out of the box AND is naturally quiet.

In my case “it” was an A&H 3 piece TD. Belongs to a guy I know in San Diego. Can’t remember the poundage but with my arrows every time he let me shoot it I was in the 10 ring. Now a reasonable question is: why don’t I own one? Beats me, just not thinking I suppose. Oh yes, I tried to buy that bow but he wouldn’t let it go.

JusPassin got the archer's blues.

It was back in '98, I saw her in a crowd. She was sweet and perfect, but I never got her name. Just didn't have the courage and now she's gone.

Yessir an old 62” Wing Thunderbird and I know where it lives, but he won’t part with it.

Fit is "it". I have a couple that I have great rapport with. Sometimes, it just takes a longer honeymoon to know for sure whether the it is "it".

Must have Coon Rapids? My "it" to this point was an aluminum ILF longbow. Still "own" it, but my wife has since inherited the riser but added recurve limbs. 3 bucks, but does, and 2 MN state 3d titles came to me with "it". Determined to fill a tag without "it" this season...

A Dwyer Original that I shot five or six years back at our annual WTA banquet. I have several of Daves bows custom ordered but this was just a "stock" bow. Knew I had to have it. Wasn't expecting it so I'd brought no money. Told Dave, "hold her for me" and he did. Gave her the name "Dantes Prayer" after a song that I listened to as I was driving out for a morning hunt where we first connected on a whitetail. To this day my sweetheart and I'd let go of a lot of things before letting go of that bow.

Yes I own IT . At one time I was ordering custom bows and swapping and trading on here so many bows that I had bows showing up in the mail almost every week. At one time I owned so many bows I couldn’t name them all. Trying to find IT. Then one day I did. I found the bow that fit me and my shooting style. It is smooth as silk , super quiet, and shoots great for me. It is my Freeman Longbow , 66 inch, slight dished grip , Hill style Longbow . Love the thing ! It is my go to bow . Sometime I get in mood to shoot Recurve then I shoot my Bear Super Kodiak. I get out of that mood fairly quick and go back to my Longbow . I haven’t bought or traded a bow in a while now. Just not interested in owning any others anymore. Very happy and blessed with what I have. I own six bows . Four of them I keep for sentimental reasons.

I found,"IT" 15 days ago. I posted about the bow as soon as I shot IT and yes, after shooting it everyday I am still in awe. It is the longest bow I own at 70 inches and is a little on the light side of what I normally shoot at 51# but it is working for me.

My,"IT", is a Javaman Impala Supreme Double Carbon 51# @ 28" 70" long. Never would have thought a competition style Longbow would be the one for me but for now it is "IT". Good Day

I have a number of 'it's, sometimes I think it would be better if there was just one 'it'.

My brother had a bud hit black ace that was the sweetest shooting bow I've ever had the pleasure of shooting. The riser was weighted in the bottom and balanced perfectly barebow. It was 70" long and had a fat dacron string and brace height of almost 10". That bow was so quiet and so accurate at indoor distance. Very slow but it had the best manners until it delaminated at the lower fade. I wonder if it wasn't that high brace height that led to it's demise.

Think I may have found “it”. Great Northern Lil Creep, 51#, green glass & riser. Stopped at their booth at the Great Lakes Longbow Invitational last month. Have owned and enjoyed shooting Great Northerns in the past, but that was back when I was shooting mid 60#. Sadly sold them off and moved on. Always loved their classic look, fit, and feel. Anyway, this Lil Creep caught my eye, and after a test drive, it came home with me. This bow just feels right, and I think this may be “IT”. The problem now is my OCD is kicking in, and I’m feeling the urge to get another just like it for a backup, will have to sell a couple bows to finance that.

Yes actually I did shoot it and thistime I was able to buy it lol. Was in RMSG while on vac. in colorado bought a Chastain Wapiti takedown its 60in and 47lb at 28. Just cant seem to miss with it smooth quiet and fast love this bow!

Did you ever think that you may have simply stumbled upon a bow/arrow combo that was well tuned? May not have been the bow at all. Just sayin.

I do know what you mean though. I tried a Kota Killum once at ETAR. I Fell in love with that bow and they had to pry it out of my hands. If I had bought that bow I wouldn't be here to write about it today. My wife would have seen to that.

I bought a Trad Tech 19" Titan III riser in 2012 and married it up with a pair of used Samick Extreme BF limbs and it has been my "it" bow ever since for 3-D.

I traded a rifle to a friend for a Wes Wallace Mentor 6 or 7 years ago and it is my "it" hunting bow.

My "it". Factory camouflaged 1984 Bear Kodiak Takedown, 60#@28". :)

I shot what I believe was "it" at RMSG. I took a bow up there to put on consignment. I shot a Mamba. "It" felt real good and was a fair price. I was thinning the heard, had the money, so I didn't buy it. I decided that when my bow sold, if the Mamba was still there, I would shoot "it" again buy "it" if "it" still felt so good. Of course the fair priced "it" was gone, and I've never shot another Mamba.

The "it" bows I had all blew a limb within the first 100 hundred shots:(

Can there be more than one "it"? I shot a Dick Boss 50's style recurve the local shop. Another very sweet shooter I regret not buying. I didn't really have the money at the time for that one.

I became infatuated from afar with Faith, the left handed one-of- a- matching pair Dryad Orion made as a pass-along hunting bow for a charity event sponsored by another trad site. A few years later, that bow showed up on the classifieds here and I made the deal. The first arrow from 25 yards hit the rim of the golf tee I was aiming at, the second hit the tee dead center and drove it into the bale and the third drove right up the center of the second. Best three arrows I'll ever shoot. Vision changes reduced my first shot accuracy from the left side so I passed her along a few years later. I have many bows that sit on my rack , but by the time I got her, at least 10 other fellows had carried Faith into places all over the US with deadly results. Faith had too much mojo to leave her sitting on my rack on opening morning.

I hope I never find 'it'. There have been days when everything fell together well, and I thought, this is a bow I will always keep. I still have several of them. But, the fun is in the search for that elusive perfect bow that will take the place for hours of practice.

I own 2 recurves, a Kodiak Magnum and a Galaxy Ember. They are the only 2 bows I own and they are both my "it" bow as long as I shoot daily and make sure my tune is good. I'm of the opinion that I could make any bow my "it" bow if I put in the work. Conversely, I also feel that if I don't put in the work any bow I shoot would go from "it" to "sh*t" pretty quickly.

Kodiac hunter..

NY Yankee, I would have to say no. My "IT" bows have had nothing to do with the bow and arrow being well matched.

The grip feel, draw cycle, string angle, balance and physical weight of the bow, cast of the arrow, ease of shooting consistently all come into play to a degree.

Arrows landing in small groups with minimal effort without perfect execution on my part is what puts one into the "IT" column for me. I will say with age and choosing to shoot different disciplines my "IT's" have changed over the years.

Where the arrows are grouping isn't something I consider, groups can be adjusted many ways. Good Day

I had a mint 1964 zebrawood Grizzly that was absolutely perfect for me. Probably the best bow 'for me' I ever shot...including customs.

I sold it in a fit of stupidity.

For me " It" was a Black Widow MA 111, 56# @ 28 62". Had that ol girl for 17 years. I was lights out with it. But traded it like a dummy. Needed a different bow because of joint issues, should of just put lighter limbs on it.

D31, I absolutely agree. Had nothing to do with being tuned. In my case, I picked the bow off the rack, guessed on the nocking point, & brace height. Went out and shot about a dozen arrows, came back & said “sold”. As you stated, it was “ the grip feel, draw cycle, string angle, balance and physical weight of the bow, cast of the arrow, ease of shooting”. After coming home from the Great Lakes Longbow Shoot, I worked on the tuning and of course it got even better.

My "it" is a Yellowstone Custom Longbow that I traded for this summer. I haven't liked shooting any other bows since I picked that one up.

I bought ONE bow to get started and shot nothing else for about 20 years.

And I have never had trouble getting ANY bow to shoot at the highest level of accuracy that I’m capable of.

So JMO, it’s NOT about the bow.

I have a 50# 65" straight osage self bow I made in 2013 or 14. Its the "it". I have made 150 bows since and when the crap hits the fan, I grab my Baby. Every fall I dance the same dance. Grab 6,7, 8 bows and head to the targets trying to decide who is going hunting with me this season. Its always the same bow in the end. I can over draw, under draw, snap shoot, pluck or drop my bow arm and that arrow always comes off clean and is always "close". Dont ask me why, I have yet to explain that bow.

This one - Gharing Non Typical that I traded off. Wish I could find it.

One of my hickory bows is "it" but she has decided to go on a diet and loose some weight so I am taking my last black locust bow with me this fall. Jawge

I with Stan. My “it” is more of a model. Kodiak Hunters. Fred must have made them for me.

A lot of them, changes daily.

About every tenth time I shoot my old bow, it becomes”it”. I think the feeling changes with each time I shoot any bow. As a bow maker, I’d like to tell you it’s all about finding that one bow, but there is no such thing as the Holy Grail bow. A good archer can take any old stick and learn to shoot it. Some bows may fit your style better than others, but it’s the shooter, not the bow.

All this talk about a "it" bow made me want to shoot mine. I haven't shot mine for awhile. The reason I like it is because the shelf is close to my hand, it's smooth drawing, it's quiet, it shoots really nice, and I like the camo finish. Even though I have numerous bows my factory camo 1984 Bear Kodiak Takedown is by far my favorite.

What seems like "it" today, probably won't be "it" tomorrow.

Sometimes your it bow changes, and sometimes it don't.

60" Pronghorn 1 piece. I had never shot a longbow I really liked or a bow less than 62" I really liked. Belongs to a buddy and I was amazed at how nice it shot.

Been a lot of bows that have come and gone since then including building my own.

Currently using a Pronghorn takedown that is darn close to "it".

At the 2018 tradfest. Big jim thunderchild. 58" 39#. I shot it 3 times that weekend and was a idiot for not buying it on spot.

Now truth be told I have 40 bows. I just picked up a Tamerlane a few weeks ago it's 70 amo bow made around 1970 does not have the grove for the premier sight just the Match 1 rest. I love this bow I have committed to using it to work on my form and the more I shoot it the better I get. It is now my top bow.

Shot it, bought it, can't see myself selling it. 19" TradTech Titan III.

I’m pretty sure I just did tonight. I got a Caribow Amisk in trade. I shot it about 20 X tonight. All I can say is WOW. This might be IT.

I just finished making up a dozen new cedars and was shooting them from a dual shelf recurve. I was pretty much spraying them around the target.

Then I went back to an old skinny Penthalon carbon arrow and simply could not miss the target.Could not miss!

Turns out I actually had the " It" bow all along but it needed the "It" arrow to make it so.

SD

Yes, I had "IT" a Bob Lee 3 piece 58" 51# a regular arrow buster,and desided I needed a heavier bow, that was 26 years ago and a lot of bows ago.

Those original SKY Archery td's were/are "IT".

for me I have shot it and own it

a Northern Mist American- best shooting and I can just hit with it bow

fits my little fat paws perfectly

I haven't believed for quite a while now that "it" existed for me. Mostly due to the fact that I haven't owned a bow to date that I couldn't tune and then work with without shooting it accurately, and I've owned a butt-load of bows. I agree some feel better than others and some I'm able to "master" quicker than others.

Well, the improbable just happened, and I got floored by a recent acquisition. It's a 60" Bear Kodiak, 60@28, produced between 89-95 (according to one on this site who knows) and it is on the verge of supplanting my satori as my hunting bow. Smooth, quiet, great cast, etc. I can't put the damn thing down!

My son has "it" and won't sell "it" to me.

oz

Good thread. 1/2miledrag that's a nice bow.

A 1967 1/2 KH that's 52# is my "it".

it. seems to change for me all the time. if i spend some time with a bow i get the feel for it and i get good (as I can get) with it. but my rocky miller deathmaster seems to be super forgiving for me even though its shorter than i like. my cranebrake i can always just seem to pick up without practicing with it and hit whatever i want as well. i think there are more than one it for me...

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here