Here's something fun to talk about. Older compound bows that are still relevant to use or hold a special place in your bow collection. Usually when classic archery equipment is discussed, it's traditional bows that come to mind but I was wondering about compounds. It's highly dependent upon opinion given how fast they evolve. My bow is older, but I don't consider it to be a classic. What old bow, if you saw it in a pawn shop, would tempt you and why. Did it have a special design that you liked that has gone away? Was it your first bow? Was it a model that seemingly everyone had back in the day? For me, I would be tempted to grab a Jennings Buckmaster. I just like the looks of the split limbs that have a recurve bend to them. Last year at a 3d shoot, I got grouped with a guy using an old Browning wheel compound. He shot aluminum arrows with fingers off a flipper rest. I thought it was a pretty cool setup. I wish I had gotten the model of his bow.
I remember I had an old martin warthog. it had wood laminated limbs. yes on a compound! I had a Jennings gale force that was awesome. but I liked my martin speedfire superlite the best. even better then this mission I shoot today. but who could ever forget the bear whitetail II with all those strings and cables going everywhere.
My dads first compound was an early 80s Darton that also had wood laminated limbs. I was actually going to grab it off him last year and turn it into a bow fishing set up but he had sold it at garage sale. For me it would be an Oneida Screaming Eagle. Just really hard to find LH models at a decent price
My dad had an old Bear that he bought while in the army approximately 45 years ago. The riser and limbs are a single piece of laminated wood with the wheels attached to to the limb tips via a bracket. The limbs don't split at the tip and the cables are steel. My brother took it, cleaned it up, put on a new string, drilled holes for a sight and quiver and hunted with it this past season.
My dad had a Browning Nomad! I got to shoot it and that's what got me started. I think he still has it actually !
I still have an old wood browning buckmark in a case out in the garage, I pull it out and shoot it from time to time.
One day I will buy another Whisper Creek Archery innovator Pro or Stealth LX via ebay. Still see them from time to time and still drawing lots of attention. Heavy, not super fast, but easy to draw, shoot and the most accurate bows I have ever shot. Before their time. The Stealth LX set the bench mark for those under 30" ATA bows we see today. (IMHO)
I dumped all my old crap bows years ago. There wasn't a bow made pre 2005 that can compare to most of the bows in the last 6-8 years. I don't get attached to objects or tools so I dump what I am not using.
I've got my first bow, a Bear Whitetail Hunter, hanging on the wall beside the rack of the first deer I ever shot -- a small (really small) 5-pointer. It's cool to see where we as bowhunters came from, and a cool momento. It's neat to compare and contrast that bow with the modern pieces of machinery I've got hanging in my archery room around the corner. Besides, it would cost more to ship it to someone than it's worth, so there's no point in selling it. The only other bow I've got that's along the lines of what you mentioned is my 2008 Bowtech Allegiance... it's still a super bow, but the main reason I keep it is because it was dipped especially for me at the factory in a one-off color (Skyline Apparition) including the stabilizer and quiver. It's not a "production" bow, so I won't sell it.
I have 3 older compounds that one of these days I may get fixed and hopefully they still may shoot. One is an old Jennings Twinstar, 2 wheeler, with split wood limbs. Shot my first deer with a bow with that one about 1975 ? Then I have an old Astro 2 wheeler, with wood split limbs, that one shoots beautiful the last time I used it, about 1987. I wonder if they are still safe to shoot ? with the wood limbs ? One of them needs new steel cables since the lead swedge on the end of the cable literally rotted away !!! I also have an old PSE Citation target bow, 4 wheeler !!!!!!! I may have to pay someone to get rid if that one !!
