What Bow do you shoot

Well, after about 15 years out of bowhunting, I am finally doing what I should have done several years ago and getting back into it. To treat myself, I picked up a 2012 Martin Bengal Pro. So far, I am really liking the bow and can't wait for the season to get here.
 
Hoyt RAIDER INTRUDER from 1990's
Going to try to shoot it soon to see if my shoulder will tolerate it.
It's sorta old but so am I. If shoulder says "OK" it stays
 
I hunt a right hand 2011 Bowtech Destroyer 350 and a left hand 2010 Mathews Monster, both in 70lb. My Destroyer is my deer, coyote, and 3D bow, while I use the Mathews for turkeys and hogs (longer, heavier arrows. Bullheads for turkeys, so the shaft had to get outside my riser).
 
Originally Posted By: VarminterrorI hunt a right hand 2011 Bowtech Destroyer 350 and a left hand 2010 Mathews Monster,

Do you shoot them eqaully well ?
All the years I've been in the archery business I've never seen this.
 
Originally Posted By: doaOriginally Posted By: VarminterrorI hunt a right hand 2011 Bowtech Destroyer 350 and a left hand 2010 Mathews Monster,

Do you shoot them eqaully well ?
All the years I've been in the archery business I've never seen this.

I'm still a little slower with the left hand bow, but I'd say I shoot them both "very well" for a bowhunter. I don't shoot competitively much anymore other than the occasional 3D match, but I'll drop 5-20pins a night out of both bows on 2 or 3 nights a week (10yrd range in my basement) after a good workout.

Backstory, because you'll all enjoy this:

Someone owed a friend of mine some money, so he took the Mathews against the debt. He offered it to me for sale (this would have been back in January), knowing I shoot firearms, throw a football, etc etc ambidexterously. I had just bought my Destroyer, so I wasn't looking for another bow, BUT I figured since we had it, I'd go ahead and try shooting it...


Second shot I took with it:
StringSlap.jpg


What it looked like 2 days later....
2dayslater.jpg


So at that point, I put it down, and didn't touch it until the fear of ripping my skin off went away. For whatever reason, at first it felt like my bow was too far away from me, so obviously I was sticking my arm out into it trying to get closer to my bow.

After a week or so, I picked it back up and got myself comfortable with the bow. Here is a pic of my 3rd group I'd ever shot left handed, at 10yrds, complete with a ruined arrow:
BrokenArrow.jpg


Give me a break, I was using a bunch of my junk arrows in case I threw one into the wall (punches a hole in the dry wall, and crushes the insert and point into the carbon on the brick on the outside, been there, done that, spackle is cheap, arrows aint).

I was hitting high and left, but they were going where I needed them, and it's been rolling really well since then.
HighLefts.jpg


After a month or so of not finding a buyer, I told him I'd take the bow in trade against some free hotel nights that I had earned at work so he and his wife could take a little vacation. So I ended up with a Mathews Monster, QAD Ultra HD rest, and HHA OL-5019 trigger sight, for free (Figure around $1200-1500 new price).

I can do most things with either hand. I probably should have been a lefty all those years ago, since my left eye is my dominant eye, but I've practiced both ways so much now, I'm pretty well interchangable. I shot my buck this year left handed (on accident) before I even realized I was holding the rifle left handed, 250yrds out of a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun .45-70.

Your response is pretty common when I tell people I shoot either hand. One of my buddies says I need to put up a youtube video with one continuous cut, shoot one right handed into the 10ring, then switch bows and break the arrow left handed, but I haven't quite mastered the intentional robinhood switching bows yet... Video to come when it happens!
 
Over the years, when I'm shooting "good" right handed, I usually end up with a narrow "string tickle" just at brace on my left wrist, maybe a 1/2" to 1" wide welt. It never hits hard, and it generally only happens when I'm shooting really well, so I don't mind it (kinda gets a callous up after a long season). It's always kind of a lingering warning like my bow is telling me not to play too close to the edge, so I'm always pretty wary of string slap, even after 20yrs of slinging sticks. Every practice I mount my bow, heel the heck out of it, then sort of twist my bow arm elbow in and out once to remind myself where it needs to ride, then go on shooting.

But that's right handed...

Apparently that muscle memory did not translate to my left hand for my first few shots! The lefty bow has bitten me twice in the 8mos I've been shooting it, but I've also broken a lot of arrows with it, and taken a couple decent turk's, so I figure the juice is worth the squeeze.
 
Shooting a Hoyt Alpha Burner. This thing rocks. I've got the #70 bow and the limbs maxed out, should be a little over #70 draw. Its at the shop right now getting new strings.

I was shooting a #60 Hoyt Magnatec before. A great bow, quiet and accurate, but for me 50 yards was max range.

The Alpha Burner's first pin can be used from close enough to pet the animal to 3" low at 40 yards. Then its got a 50, 60, 70 and 80 yard pin. I can make good shots at 80 but with that practice I can hit large apples at 60 yards. Love it, its been gone for 24 hours now and Im itching to get it back with new strings!!!
 
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mathews ovation took me years to get to shoot it as well as i did my old ben person.
finally went to a relese and tightened it up.
 
Two longbows: A Bama Bow 57# and a Big River 60#. Love my longbows. Been through a bunch of them over 20 years of shooting them, Howard Hills, Jerry Hills, Martins, others. I used to shoot 80# but my shoulder won't take that anymore. 57# shoots all the way through them, so I guess I haven't really lost much.
smile.gif


The Bama Bow is the first one I've ever had made just the way I wanted it, and I'm super-pleased with it. The Big River is my backup, and it shoots and feels very similar, so I can switch if I need to or just want to carry a different bow some days.
 
No black widows? Gee , I love my black widow recurves and the long bow too. Sad to say I do not even own one now. Have had a few though.
Daryl P.
 
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