Stick with the old or go new?
- Thread starter MTHunter1321
- Start date
JohnCushman
Well-known member
I'd put strings and a tune up on an old bow and keep it for a back up. As far as a whisker biscuit, if you have the slightest bit of helical on your fletchings, they will rip after a while of going through it. Today's technology is so awesome, you can get incredible performance out of a mid priced modern bow.
The answer to your question about noticing a difference in a 10+ year bow is yes. I will say that the jumps in speed are reaching their limitations unless they start doing something very radical in design. The changes in compound bows over the last 5 years have been minor and are based on comfort, noise, draw cycles while keeping up speed. I personally just purchased a new bow this past weekend. My other bow is 5 years old. I am not brand loyal but I tend to support companies that support my personal views. I am not going to name drop bow brands here, but to make my decision I shot several models from several different manufactures. There was one particular manufacture that I eliminated based on personal dealings back when I was a archery shop owner. I shot so many bows and traveled to several different dealers before making my decision. Truthfully if you blindfolded me and gave me each bow I could not tell you which one was which. I started nit picking them based on what I believed could be durability issues in the back country and even that was tough. At the end of the day I went with the one I had ruled out because of the personal dealings that I had with their dealer rep! Guess what I am saying is go shoot them, take what others say as personal opinion, don't let anyone pressure you into buying something, and have fun doing it. I would suggest doing the same thing on accessories. I tend to look at durability and simplicity which in my opinion = reliability.
I think this has been pointed out a lot but be patient and look at used bows. I have been wanting a carbon bow for a few years for the late season hunts in Ohio. I went to my archery shop and got new strings put on my older aluminum bow. When I went to pick it up there was a Carbon Defiant for $650 that looked flawless but was being sold as "used". I bought it and got a new sight and rest for well under what that bow cost new. I also registered it as the original buyer never did. He apparently only put 30 arrows through it and decided to sell
I made a similar jump last year upgrading from an old Mathews sq2 to a hoyt carbon defiant. I was in the same situation where I needed new strings, arrows, etc... and decided to just bite the bullet. I shot the latest and greatest but settled on a carbon bow that I liked that was a few years older so I got it for a great price. Be sure and shop around online if you decide to go the newer route. They pump out new bows so fast now that the bows just a few years ago become very affordable and will offer you a pretty significant upgrade in features from a bow 12 yrs old imo.
