I posted this elsewhere but thought it would be a good read here too.thanks for reading throughout my days as a professional guide in Alaska I have been fortunate enough to talk with many bow hunters and see all sorts of setups for all sizes of game from a deer to a Kodiak brown bear. The over whelming majority of bow hunters I’ve come across share* a common issue when setting up for the hunt and that is how to and the issues associated with tuning to get a true broad head flight.* Now I’m not here to say one system is better than the other nor am I looking to brand bash as I think bows are an individual choice and most companies offer great bow. What am looking to do here share my experience with something most bow hunters would never consider and explain why I chose this bow for my adventures.. * My bow of choice is an OK archery DST38 Absolute. It’s a 37 ½ “axle to axle, 315 ibo, brace height 7 ½”. The DST stands for double shoot through, meaning shoot through riser and shoot through cables. So why this choice? Let look at all the bows on the market*today. Every company in one way or another is trying to solve tuning issues from cam lean, from timing cams to get a level nock travel, to a smooth cam with sufficient speed for casting a hunting arrow to a true center shot bow for trueness of arrow flight. So with the dst38 every one of these issues have been addressed and addressed exceedingly well and although it is marketed as a target bow I am here to say it is missing its calling as a great hunting bow.* * So let’s break it down a bit and how the OK solves some inherit problems archers face . First the cam lean, with the four cables you are able to individually twist each cable. So with this advantage you can lay an arrow along the string and adjust cables as needed to achieve zero cam lean, all without the need for a press. Next level nock travel. What is it. Well I am no expert but in simple terms when the arrow is nocked on standard bows it is not centered between the axles so when fired forces are greater on one side or another and it effects arrow flight greatly.. The OK solution is simple, have a bow with the ability to nock an arrow centered between the axles so cams can be exactly timed for a true arrow flight.. * Again the cables come into play here for exact timing.* You can simply without the need of a press twist cables to achieve exact timing.* ** So some of the other key features I really like. OK is a no nonsense company. They don’t seem to try to hype their speed numbers. Although its 315 ibo I was actually able to achieve this with moderately light weighted arrows at 68 pounds, more than enough for any animal in north America.* Grip is a personal preference so won’t go there.* Axle to axle length is a bit longer then some newer tree stand bows but honestly longer bows are typically more accurate especially for us open country hunters. They are also nice for long draw archers for less string angle.. The cam smoothness is another feature, OK achieves a good speed with one of the smoothest cams made, the cam comes in three sizes to be even smoother but you do lose speed with the larger cams(just a few fps per cam size I am told). With a bad shoulder from guiding I have found for the first time in years I am able to hunt with a 68 pound bow simply cause of cam design and smoothness factor. The bow is extremely light weight out of the box, reason being they use a better grade of aluminum. That is nice for the long trips in or putting weight where you want it.* The quality on OK bows is also second to none I have never seen a bow with a fit and finish like OK. You can also order in many colors including black for hunting.. * * * Another well thought out feature that I really like is the limb stops. Once again OK put their own little twist or lack of (pun intended) on it. Instead of the stops hitting the top of the limbs where we could possible have some flex they designed their stops to hit the heel of the limb making them simply rock solid. I've also used a caliper to micro tune cam timing to a thousandth of an inch. * There always has to be a down side but does there? The biggest complaint or question I come across is how to load an arrow with those cables. I have found that with very little practice it is a very simple process to load from the front of the riser. I slide the arrow nock end first through the riser and cables and hold it with my bow grip hand and then simply grab the nock and nock it. I was able to achieve this on a half of run across the tundra this year while stalking a caribou.. * So what does all this mean? Well to me this bow has become one of the simplest tuning and accurate bows I have*
