Archery trends?

[Thermodude]

How do you feel about todays archery trends? Are we headed in the right direction? A few years ago I took about 3 years out of my career to test the waters with a new job that at the time I thought would be a nice change of pace...............boy was I wrong!! I took the position of manager of a big box sporting goods store!! Durring this learning experiance in my life , some of the views that I had concerning various aspects of hunting and achery went thrrough some drastic changes. Its just my opinon but Im not sure that we are going in the right direction..........................whats your points of view?

[Tosi]

Do you really need a direction,, other than letting the sight and threads do their own thing base on the personality of all considered. Theirs a lot of experience and wisdom with many that actively help others with just about anything from Martin equipment, hunting to just life in general. Being a Martin owner and leader of my own bandwagon, I can say that I enjoy the folks & personality that makes up this sight. Just surf AT and see how stuck up a lot of there crap is. Wow! Don't let them know that you shoot a Martin and love the product. I love archery and get my kicks just play around with my bows in my man room "Garage". I think a lot of the folks that read and write on this sigh, or from the same cloth. I always look at the new question posited; this may give me a fix and or better my knowledge on some specific issue. As you, my view have changed over the years too. Being in the military for well over 20 years I stopped hunting. Wanted no part of the outdoors and sleeping in the woods. I changed since I'v retired. Can't wait to get out there now. That's my input and have been wrong before. Good question.

[bfisher]

Dude,

I can see where your're coming from and to a point I agree. Hunting in general is getting more technical with younger people rallying around the technical changes. Many are young enough that they can't comprehend where us old guys have been and the changes we have seen. Some for the better and some not so good. Archery and bowhunting is right up there, too, with probably more technical advancements than with guns. Where some are wrong though is that they think bows have change drastically from one year to the next when that is far from the truth.

I like to use my 40 years of compound shooting to tell many that since the early 70's compound bows haven't really changed all that much. Back then a bow consisted of a riser, two limbs, some wheels (cams), and cables and string. They are still that way today. Sure they've had many technical changes, but the mechanics are still the same. I love being labeled an old fogie.

As much as I enjoyed those old days when my eyes and body could shoot so much better there no denying that life evolves, archery evolves, hunting evolves. Us old guys just have to keep an open mind and evolve with it. I don't particularly agree with some of what's going on in the archery industry (ultra short bows), but I'm not one to dictate otherwise to the younger people. No sense in alienating them. Besides, it keeps the mind healthy learning new stuff all the time.

[wscywabbit]

Good post! There are too many opinions on gear and hunting regs and right and wrong right now to count. Electronics, no electronics; mechanicals, no mechanicals; crossbow, no crossbow; etc.

Even with all the advances in archery it still comes down to the archer; moral values, shot placement and conservation. Do I take a crappy shot because I can, or do I wait for the right shot? I've been hunting since I was little, and was always taught that unless there's a chance at a one-shot-kill, not to take the shot. Now sometimes crap happens and a good opportunity is poorly executed. Then you have to do your due diligence, find the injured animal and put it out of its misery.

I know hunters that do not have the same moral compass I do, they don't practice, they take pot shots, hunter safety goes out the window, and I don't hunt with them. I believe it comes around to training; many hunters these days did not grow up with it. They got into it late in life and never had to hunt for food, its about the trophy or the experience.

Now off the soap box, what does that have to do with trends you might ask? Marketing is driving bows that are smaller, lighter, faster, better that IMO are designed to appeal to those types of people that want instant gratification and can have one pin out to 40 yards and not learn how to judge distance or the nuances of the bow. They want to be able to pick up and shoot with minimal learning curve or work.

Now don't get me wrong, the advances in archery technology have been awesome. Especially in terms of bow efficiency, quietness and vibration. Archery has come a long way in the last decade alone. Mostly for the better. Just my two cents

[NuttyNative]

wscywabbit, bfisher, and Tosi all have good points.

Different slant on things. I think the trends are set by overexposed, sponsored, semi rich pro hunters. Who do what the sponsors tell them to. In my opinion, that is slowly killing the average backwoods hunter. The pros buy up as much huntable land as possible to "manage" the animals. Which in turn leads to alot of private property, high dollar (to the pro that owns it) hunts that are not available to the working man. There are several shows dedicated to this, Whitetail Properties comes to mind.

The pro's also dictate what changes are made to the equipment more than the average user. Some good, some not so good. I'm sure there are a handful of real hunters that submit alterations and new ideas that do get used by the manufactures on new designs, but my money say's it's less than 4%. My first bow was an 82 or 83 Oneida Screaming Eagle so to go from that to the Carbon Element, Destroyer, Anarchy, Seeker 365, and a host of others the improvements are awesome and so advanced. But on the same hand those old Oneida's still get the job done, just slower than todays bows.

[Thermodude]

Thanks for the opinions guys, every reply touched on my own opinions. Dont get me wrong I love all the new bows and year after year I look forward to what comes out next. I think for me its just how archery and bowhunting has become so commercial. Every new product has some so called pro's name on it and it comes with a new wordrobe of custom camo. I droped the Outdoor channel a few years ago for alot of reasons but final straw for me was when a couple of brothers.........who I wont name, turned bowhunting into a spectator sport complete with teams and a scoring system. Call me silly but as a young hunter I was taught to repsect the animal and no matter how you look at it death is a somber thing, its not a high five moment! Back in my 20's I got involved in competion turkey calling, I did well and it wasnt long that I had a sponser and was on a prostaff. I did this for over 18 years and I enjoyed it..................it took me all over the country and I met people that I had admired all my life. I spent alot of time at sports shows and calling contests and over time you could really see things changing.....................then the video cam really became the big thing. Over night we had more pro's than timeslots on the outdoor channel. If you had the money and sponsers you were on your way. Ill get down off my soapbox now................felt good to vent. I know progress is going to happen and its not all bad...............just gets frustrating at times. Im not the same hunter or archer I was way back when, I like to think that my values are stronger...............one thing is for sure, I cant wait to see the 2013 Martins!!!

[bfisher]

2013? Well, we can't keep it from happening, but I'm going to venture a guess and say my shooter bow for 2013 might just be a Gail Martin Signature Recurve. I think sometimes we have to take a step backwards to move forward. Maybe put some real fun back into my shooting.

[Thermodude]

2013? Well, we can't keep it from happening, but I'm going to venture a guess and say my shooter bow for 2013 might just be a Gail Martin Signature Recurve. I think sometimes we have to take a step backwards to move forward. Maybe put some real fun back into my shooting.

Very good call!!!

[Lung Buster]

I have to say you guys have made some really good points! I have been archery hunting since i was 9 years old over twenty years and there is no better feeling to me than being in that tree smack dab in the middle of the rut and fooling that buck you have been chasing all season into coming within 20 yards and drawing my bow back and making that perfect shot and knowing that deer is going to expire in a minimal amount of time! That to me is part of heaven. The problem that i see with people is that they bow hunt now because Michael Waddell says its the cool thing to do and go buy my gear! Those are some of the same people who know they have a Mathews but have no idea which one or whats on it! There are people out there hunting because it is cool and have no respect for the animals they are wounding and to me that is ashame. I practice shooting all year long but there are alot of people who dont shoot til a week before the season and dont shoot again til they are hunt ing. I guess what i am saying is that marketing could be changed a little. Read reviews for broadheads, listen to these tv shows and they alot of them say made a bad shot but these rages are so good that we got the animal any way now you have people in the woods taking any old shot they can get and not the right or proper one!

[Tosi]

WOW! This is why I come back and back and back to this sight. You all show an talk the values of the sport, and should be respected for that. I've see allot of nasty in my years, but to think that you can go out and hunt and respect the sport of archery is not everyone's corner stone anymore (may be due to being over publicized). A good example is last year on a Bull Elk hunt in N. Az I had this monster (380 Class) just looking at me on the other side of a tree. I elected not to take the shot due foliage and branches that possible could have affected the shot. Not less than a few days later this young hunter with all the bells and whistle from one of the big 3, I think he's in his mid 30's takes a 109 yard shot. Hit the same bull in the back leg, and then hit him in the hip. The bull ran along a fence and the arrow in the hip was slapping a fence line, the arrow cut into the few major veins in the back and he went down after about 5hrs and several hunters looking for him. So I went out and looked at were this hunter said he so call shot from and found the blood trail. It seemed to me that yes it was over a 100 yard shot, but it was from a road over a road. "Now" that's not the story the hunter and his Bimbo Buddy told. So there ya go. The hunter did express his successes and boost about his new toy from one of the big 3. So this is why I come back and enjoy the sight. I really wanted to give the hunter a kiwi injection from my ten and a half. But I'm Kinder and Gentler now.