Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide
Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, and now your host,
Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. Welcome to the wire to Hunt Foundations podcast,
Speaker 1: which is brought to you by First Light. Today's episode
Speaker 1: is all about bows, but also the fundamental question of
Speaker 1: whether an upgrade is really necessary for you or not.
Speaker 1: In the not too distant past, I spent a decade
Speaker 1: of my life as the equipment editor for bow Hunter
Speaker 1: Magazine and bow Hunter TV. That gig was pretty amazing
Speaker 1: from the perspective of getting new hunting gear and being
Speaker 1: able to try it out in a wide variety of scenarios.
Speaker 1: It was also an eye opener on many fronts, not
Speaker 1: the least of which was setting up and hunting with
Speaker 1: like six or seven brand new bows every year. As
Speaker 1: you can imagine, that will shape your opinion on bow technology,
Speaker 1: bow fit, and whether it's worth it the upgrade every
Speaker 1: year or every couple of years, or only as often
Speaker 1: as Haley's comments swings through the night sky and signals
Speaker 1: that random cult leaders and their followers should drink the
Speaker 1: poison cool aid and head off to Narnia or wherever
Speaker 1: they go. This episode is all about new boats, whether
Speaker 1: they are actually worth it or not. Before the Rhona
Speaker 1: swept across the globe and change how we all gathered
Speaker 1: together for various events. I did a lot of speaking
Speaker 1: engagements and a lot of outdoor shows. As you can imagine,
Speaker 1: my seminar topics nearly always centered on white tail hunting,
Speaker 1: usually white tail hunting on public land or something similar.
Speaker 1: When you've got an hour to speak, you learn pretty
Speaker 1: quickly that about forty five minutes is a good run
Speaker 1: time and for the actual seminar, because you'll need to
Speaker 1: answer some questions afterwards. Oftentimes fifteen minutes for that isn't
Speaker 1: really enough, but it does give you a glimpse into
Speaker 1: what the crowd is thinking, and when you deal with
Speaker 1: a lot of crowds, you get a pretty good glimpse
Speaker 1: on what the average white tail hunter is actually thinking.
Speaker 1: The questions that come up immediately after a deer seminar,
Speaker 1: they almost always involve gear. People ask, you know, what
Speaker 1: broadhead do you shoot, what's the best decoy, what's the
Speaker 1: best dear scent? And of course the question that comes
Speaker 1: up every single time, what bow do you shoot? Now
Speaker 1: this is a loaded question, my friends, kind of like
Speaker 1: are you a forward or chevy guy? Or what's the
Speaker 1: best bird dog breed? To get? The thing about bows,
Speaker 1: at least modern compound bows is they mostly all look
Speaker 1: the same. They mostly all advertise pretty similar features and
Speaker 1: performance specs. They mostly all carry a similar price tag,
Speaker 1: which would make Fred Bear roll over in his grave.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, though, bow choice, It's highly subjective. Even
Speaker 1: if you had unlimited funds and could buy whatever bow
Speaker 1: you wanted every year, if you were real honest with yourself,
Speaker 1: you'd probably brand hop. What I mean by that is
Speaker 1: you probably wouldn't become a fanboy of anyone brand if
Speaker 1: you could shoot the newly released flagship models set up
Speaker 1: here specs every year. My mother in law, who is
Speaker 1: partially a resident of this planet and partially a resident
Speaker 1: of some alien world that is totally untethered from reality,
Speaker 1: she likes to get hunt. Hell. My whole family is
Speaker 1: obsessed with finding eggets and other cool rocks. We are
Speaker 1: just rock hounds through and through, I guess. And while
Speaker 1: we're walking a lake shore with sore necks, while staring
Speaker 1: at the ground straining to see a hint of reddish
Speaker 1: purplish translucents that might indicate an egg it. My mother
Speaker 1: in law likes to say things like, you know, I
Speaker 1: believe the aggets choose you. Maybe those pockets of water
Speaker 1: or air that formed in magma over a billion years
Speaker 1: ago and then filled in with silica and other minerals,
Speaker 1: one layer at a time to eventually form these cool
Speaker 1: rocks with concentric lines like topographic maps, and then took
Speaker 1: a wild ride along the rise and follow the dinosaurs,
Speaker 1: and then much later beneath the crushing weight of the
Speaker 1: glaciers as they crawled their way down from Canada, only
Speaker 1: to eventually melt and recede, leaving us with thousands of
Speaker 1: lakes in a landscape greatly altered. Maybe they're just there
Speaker 1: for us to find, and once in a while we do,
Speaker 1: and that's just cool. They don't pick us. We picked them,
Speaker 1: just like we do with our bows. Yet I get
Speaker 1: where Mrs fruit Loop is coming from, because when you
Speaker 1: shoot a lot of bows, it does feel like one
Speaker 1: model will choose you. This is where the bow buying
Speaker 1: process gets interesting. Since I don't know you, I'll give
Speaker 1: you my preferences of the bows that tend to choose me.
Speaker 1: They're almost always built with a very smooth draw cycle
Speaker 1: a really solid back wall. They almost always measure about
Speaker 1: thirty to thirty three inches between axles and are not
Speaker 1: engineered for and foremost to generate blistering aerospeeds. They're usually
Speaker 1: engineered for that great intangible that is shootability, where accuracy
Speaker 1: and comfort are king. I'm a white tailed guy, mostly
Speaker 1: as most of you are. So chasing high readings on
Speaker 1: a chronograph. It's not really my thing. I don't care
Speaker 1: how fast my bows are ever, or I'll put it
Speaker 1: that in another way. I guess the bows that are
Speaker 1: out there right now, hell, that have been built in
Speaker 1: the last decade, they're all plenty fast. If they're well tuned,
Speaker 1: they will put two holes in the biggest bucks, provided
Speaker 1: you hold your pin where you're supposed to, and you
Speaker 1: shoot decent arrows tipped with decent broadheads. I was only
Speaker 1: going to brush over this speed thing, but I just
Speaker 1: can't do it. I won't do it. It seems I've
Speaker 1: triggered myself, so here it goes. Sometimes scratch that. Oftentimes,
Speaker 1: to get those sexy ibo speeds that manufacturers can advertise,
Speaker 1: they've got to build bows in a certain way. They
Speaker 1: tend to shorten the brace high which is the link
Speaker 1: between the throat of the grip and the string. The
Speaker 1: shorter of the brace height, the more time your arrow
Speaker 1: spends on the string getting pushed down range. There's also
Speaker 1: a cam component to the whole thing, with what you'll
Speaker 1: here described as aggressive cams. All this means for most
Speaker 1: of us is that the bow will be more likely
Speaker 1: to make that scary jump on you while you're aiming,
Speaker 1: but not when you're ready to shoot. We all know
Speaker 1: that butt pucker moment when you're calmly trying to float
Speaker 1: your pin across the target, or worse, waiting for a
Speaker 1: buck to step into your shooting lane, and then your
Speaker 1: bow starts to go and your shoulder has to get
Speaker 1: involved real quick. There's nothing that will take your mind
Speaker 1: right out of the shot process faster, and that's something
Speaker 1: that sticks with you. You don't forget that moment or
Speaker 1: that feeling, and it will sit like a little devil
Speaker 1: whispering in your ear whenever you draw, and especially when
Speaker 1: you draw and have to hold for longer than it
Speaker 1: usually takes you to get through your shot sequence. Personally,
Speaker 1: there are enough tiny fallen angels whispering in my ear.
Speaker 1: I don't need anymore Now, the good thing about boat
Speaker 1: designs and the end years behind them is that they've
Speaker 1: gotten way better since about like two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: when we really decided speed was the end all to
Speaker 1: our bow needs. Bows today can achieve pretty impressive speeds
Speaker 1: without ripping your shoulders out or making it miserable to
Speaker 1: tune them. But there seems to be a sweet spot
Speaker 1: aerospeeds that falls well below the marketing speak, but it's
Speaker 1: still plenty high enough to do his job. I guess
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the biggest word of caution here is
Speaker 1: understand what's going on. If a manufacturer is really touting
Speaker 1: the speed aspect of the bow you're interested in, make
Speaker 1: sure to shoot that bow set up to your specs
Speaker 1: plenty before you swipe your credit card. Now, at this
Speaker 1: point it's probably prudent to talk about what makes a
Speaker 1: bow comfortable for you, not just what I like. But
Speaker 1: as I said earlier, we are strangers. So the best
Speaker 1: way to figure it out is to do what you
Speaker 1: can to shoot some different models. If you have a
Speaker 1: good relationship with a pro shop and they'll set up
Speaker 1: some bows for you, that's a huge plus. Use your release,
Speaker 1: the release you use hunting and shoot them with your
Speaker 1: eyes open, and then shoot them blank bail style at
Speaker 1: close range with your eyes closed. Ask yourself, how does
Speaker 1: it feel. Do you like the way the draw cycle
Speaker 1: feels as it rolls into the valley and eventually hits
Speaker 1: full draw. Is it a little squishy at full draw
Speaker 1: or is it rock solid? How does the grip feel?
Speaker 1: Is it bulky or slim which do you prefer? If
Speaker 1: it is bulky and you don't like that, can you
Speaker 1: take off the grip plates to make it slimmer. Now
Speaker 1: I'm not an Olympic caliber shooter, so take this for
Speaker 1: what it's worth. But I am pretty picky about grips.
Speaker 1: The slimmer the better for me. I don't want to
Speaker 1: make tons of hand contact with my grip. Ever, I
Speaker 1: don't want anything sticky or well grippy on my grip.
Speaker 1: To me, that part of the bow should touch just
Speaker 1: a little bit of my hand during the actual execution
Speaker 1: of the shot. And that applies to backyard shooting sessions
Speaker 1: and the rare times when I've got a hundred fifty
Speaker 1: buck walking on a trail by my stand. When you
Speaker 1: shoot some different bows, you start to get a feel
Speaker 1: for the draw cycle too, and for the grip. You'll
Speaker 1: see what dead in hand really means, but only if
Speaker 1: you shoot a bow that is truly dead in hand
Speaker 1: against one that isn't. This is one of those things
Speaker 1: that is easiest to get by experiencing it, and it matters.
Speaker 1: Some of the bows out there seemed to almost aim
Speaker 1: themselves and hold themselves on target, which is a pretty
Speaker 1: amazing thing. And this is what I want. I want
Speaker 1: to enjoy drawing and holding my bow and feel like
Speaker 1: it settles in so that my pin goes where it's
Speaker 1: supposed to. I don't know the magic behind the designs
Speaker 1: of those bows, but I know when I get my
Speaker 1: hands on one, it's no different from I don't shotguns
Speaker 1: in my experience. If you hand me pretty much any shotgun,
Speaker 1: I can probably wing shoot okay with it, but some
Speaker 1: just jive with me. I've got a little weather b
Speaker 1: O'Ryan over under twenty gauge that was mostly supposed to
Speaker 1: be a grouse and woodcock gun, but over the years
Speaker 1: has been with me for ducks and roosters and prairie
Speaker 1: chickens and quail and even a few turkeys, just because
Speaker 1: I love the feel of it and I shoot it
Speaker 1: so well, comes to the shoulder quickly, settles in nicely,
Speaker 1: and it's balanced just right. I'm sure your listeners who
Speaker 1: are heavy into guns can relate, whether it is a
Speaker 1: shotgun of your own or maybe your favorite deer rifle.
Speaker 1: The thing is that little twenty gage wouldn't cut it
Speaker 1: for everyone. There are plenty of people out there who
Speaker 1: would not shoot it that well and wouldn't appreciate the
Speaker 1: field because it didn't work for them the way it
Speaker 1: works for me. They need to find their own gun,
Speaker 1: just like we need to find our own bows. Your
Speaker 1: process it's definitely gonna be different than mine. Hell, maybe
Speaker 1: you love speed bows. Maybe you want to use one
Speaker 1: pin for every shot from five yards to fifty, or
Speaker 1: maybe you hate having big pin gaps, so you want
Speaker 1: blistering speeds and it's your number one priority. Or maybe
Speaker 1: you want comfort, but you have a different definition than
Speaker 1: I do. Either way, if you're even remotely into sitting
Speaker 1: a new rig, do yourself a favor. Forget your brand loyalty.
Speaker 1: Oh scratch that tamp down your brand loyalty. Cover up
Speaker 1: that white tattoo on your shoulder, Scratch that Matthew's decal
Speaker 1: off your truck. Do whatever, do whatever you have to
Speaker 1: do to be somewhat objective, because here's the thing. The
Speaker 1: best bow for you right now might not be made
Speaker 1: by the company that made your last best bow. And
Speaker 1: I'm not saying brand loyalty isn't important, especially if you're
Speaker 1: concerned with customer service issues and some of the extras
Speaker 1: that go into making a big purchase like this. So
Speaker 1: I'm not advocating a switch just for the sake of it.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, be open to the reality that a
Speaker 1: switch might be a good thing for you. And my
Speaker 1: time at bohn R magazine taught me that every bow
Speaker 1: manufacturer out there has the potential to make an amazing bow,
Speaker 1: but from year to year, the field might change, or
Speaker 1: the focus of the flagship design might change. That means
Speaker 1: the bow brand that I absolutely love last year just
Speaker 1: might not do it for me this year. This has
Speaker 1: happened to me a lot, and it has opened my eyes.
Speaker 1: Individual models matter, from brand to brand, and from year
Speaker 1: to year. It's easy to get caught up in the
Speaker 1: fanboy mentality, but maybe not the best idea all of
Speaker 1: the time. And of course, through this whole rambling nonsense,
Speaker 1: the same thing keeps bubbling to the surface. You gotta
Speaker 1: do some work to find out what works for you.
Speaker 1: And bow choice is important because that is the tool
Speaker 1: that we use to send sharp sticks through the air
Speaker 1: and hopefully deliver a merciful death to deer another game,
Speaker 1: a quick five to ten second death that results in
Speaker 1: no suffering and short, super sweet blood trails. That matters
Speaker 1: a lot. It also brings us around to the original question,
Speaker 1: the whole point of this podcast, which is do you
Speaker 1: really need a new bowl? Probably not, but that depends
Speaker 1: on how much you like your current rig. If you're
Speaker 1: in the market for a new one, is it just
Speaker 1: because you can't stand not spending an extra so or
Speaker 1: is it because you're not that happy with your current bow?
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you could be shooting better? What's
Speaker 1: your confidence level like at every range, but especially the
Speaker 1: far end of what you consider your effective range? That's important.
Speaker 1: Have you had some tuning issues that you just don't
Speaker 1: feel are fully resolved, or once they are resolved, keep
Speaker 1: coming back around after another couple hundred shots. Do you
Speaker 1: think your bow is too slow or too loud? Or
Speaker 1: did you shoot next to a buddy you as the
Speaker 1: latest and greatest and get just a bit jealous. Has
Speaker 1: it been one year or ten since you bought your
Speaker 1: last bow. These are all questions worth asking yourself, but
Speaker 1: I think the most important is are you enjoying shooting
Speaker 1: your current bow? Because if you have fun, it's usually
Speaker 1: because the bow is comfortable and it puts the arrows
Speaker 1: where they're supposed to go. Enjoyment matters in a few
Speaker 1: different other ways. To first off, if you're having fun,
Speaker 1: it means the bow is working the way you'd like
Speaker 1: it to. It also means that you probably shoot more,
Speaker 1: which is huge. If you're not enjoying shooting your bow
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, but usually because you're not as accurate
Speaker 1: with it as you'd like to be, then that's a
Speaker 1: red flag. There's something going on. That might be a
Speaker 1: simple tuning fix, or it might mean it's time to
Speaker 1: go shopping. Maybe you've gone a little stale in your
Speaker 1: practice regimen because you know your current bow is good
Speaker 1: at twenty thirty maybe forty yards, but you'd like to
Speaker 1: stretch that out and do some long distance shooting. Now
Speaker 1: this is a topic for a different podcast, but I
Speaker 1: think practicing at extended ranges it's mooe importante, Mi amigoes.
Speaker 1: Not only is it fun, but it's telling. It will
Speaker 1: highlight shooting form issues, tuning problems, and has the potential
Speaker 1: to give you loads of confidence, which is worth a lot.
Speaker 1: It'll make shooting sessions more enjoyable and helps to turn
Speaker 1: those close shots that you'll actually take on deer into
Speaker 1: much easier propositions. If you can shoot a paper plate
Speaker 1: group at I don't know, eighty yards, you don't have
Speaker 1: much of a reason to miss a white tail's vital
Speaker 1: at twenty. It feels that way too if you happen
Speaker 1: to practice a lot of extended ranges, so maybe a
Speaker 1: new bow would open up that world to you. Anyway,
Speaker 1: you've got a lot to think about, but also a
Speaker 1: lot of time. If you're kicking around the idea of
Speaker 1: a new bow, this is a great time of year
Speaker 1: to start your research. It's a great time to head
Speaker 1: to the pro shop to gauge how serious you really are.
Speaker 1: It might lead to new purchase or make you realize
Speaker 1: you're good enough with your current rig. Either way, if
Speaker 1: you've got to itch to explore the possibility, scratch it now,
Speaker 1: well before the serious summertime practice sessions kick off and
Speaker 1: your local pro shop turns into a madhouse with the
Speaker 1: chaos of the preseason, and be sure to tune in
Speaker 1: next week as I shift gears to a topic that
Speaker 1: every one of us has devoted some thought too over
Speaker 1: the years, buying deer ground. Even if you think you
Speaker 1: could never afford a single acre of recreational property, I
Speaker 1: think you should give it a listen because that was
Speaker 1: the camp I was in for a long time before
Speaker 1: I got out of it without going totally broke, which
Speaker 1: is what I'm going to talk about next week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it for this week, my friends. I'm Tony Peterson
Speaker 1: and this has been the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast,
Speaker 1: which is brought to you by First Light. As I always,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening and for all of
Speaker 1: your support. If this episode didn't quite give you the
Speaker 1: white tail fix you're hoping for, head on over to
Speaker 1: the wire to Hunt YouTube channel to check out our
Speaker 1: weekly how to videos and give the Meat Eater dot
Speaker 1: com slash wired a look to browse our vast library
Speaker 1: or white tailed articles