How long do you keep a bow for?

[MartinTracer]

My present bow is a 2004 Martin, no change in the near future

[Tosi]

Kinda like a wife,, "you never Know",,, Just turned over a few bows to 2013s' and hope to keep theses for a long time, but you really never know...

[TEN RING]

the longest I have had the same bow is about 2 years

[alex]

Life long - if possible. I think it's kind of useless to change a bow each year. This summer i took my MOAB which wasn't shot for about 10 months and after a few shots i was able to make a good group from 20 to 60 yards. I'm used to the bow and know it well, so what's the point of taking a new one? And the last 2 years the specs don't change at all.

[bob cooly]

2010 Diamond Iceman
2011 Onza
See no need to get rid of anything. What I want is one of everything. Just passed a killer deal on a Alien Z, alwayz looking for the perfect deal, I think I jest missed it.
Every archer needs 4 bows, a target bow, long ata hunter, short treestand hunter, and a classic longbow or recurve. Oh just send me one of everthing 50lb drawweight, 29" draw.

[Mike G]

It seems I keep bows longer now than I used to. Actually I should say I use them longer now, not that I get rid of them, but keep them as back ups or set up the old ones for specific uses.
My oldest is my Damon & Howatt recurve that I have set up for carp shooting. 45#@28" draw. I bought it when I was a young man in the early 70's. I like a recurve for this because I feel I can shoot quicker when a shot presents itself. Fingers and instintive sighting.
My self made longbow is a 60" long hickory with deer leg sinew and rattlesnake skin backing with a 60# pull @28", 6 1/2" brace and flemish twist string. This bow I've used for rabbits and other small game and just fun shooting. I really have no idea why I have never taken it out deer hunting. I guess it's just I know I'll have that opportunity at a very large buck at 35yrds which is out of my effective range with this bow on larger game. I've owned it for about 20yrs.
I still have my 1996 Martin Prowler with Z-cams. This is just a meat axe of a bow. Seems to be indestructable and I always keep it around as a back up. I have shot more game with this bow than any other I have ever owned and have never had any problems with it. It even still has the Martin lock mount prong style rest I bought with it.
With compound bows I always say: "When technology advances where I can see a very good reason to get into a new bow I'll buy the next one." In the beginning of compounds this was very often. For the last 5 years when the limbs started getting more and more parrallel and the brace hieghts were getting longer while the speeds remained somewhat constant I kept thinking maybe next year. I just couldn't ever decide on what bow and which company to go with. Last year I seriously started to look and I finally made up my mind to switch back to Martin. Then came the big decision ... which one? I decided on the Cougar FC with the Fury xt cams. The bow felt great in my hands, I liked the draw cycle and with no extras the bow feels smooth and steady, quiet at release. The price was the deal cincher. I wanted to reduce my draw wieght.I am not getting any younger So I got it with the 60#limbs. With the adjustability of this cam by just dialing it in, it's just remarkable.
I am replacing a 2001 Bowtech Black Night 2. Set up 70#, 28" draw, 65% let off, it has a 6 1/2"brace, arrows wiegh 405grains. My hunting setup shoots 280fps through the crono. I am not getting rid of the Bowtech because even though I keep getting told it's loud and too aggressive of a cam with a low brace hieght and hard to shoot; I can drive tacks with it! Just think what I'll be able to do with this Martin Cougar!