Greetings and salutations! New to compound bow archery and just wanted to share with all of you my entrance into this hobby. My brother in law took me to his range and I tried our shooting for the first time with his rig. He's shooting a Hoyt CRX 32. Very nice bow, but it was drawn way too heavy for me so I really couldn't enjoy it. Last night, I decided to visit my local shop and built a bow that, from the looks and feel of it, I'm going to be very happy with. I picked up a Mathews Z7 Xtreme Tactical. Its a 28.5 with a draw weight of 55 pounds. Also picked up a stabilizer, peep, sight, sling, release, rest, arrows, and finally a bag. The purchase of the bow comes with several lessons and a few hours of range time. I know I could have purchased an entry level bow from ****s Sporting Goods, but I learned my lesson from golf. I spent more money on upgrading my golf equipment when I could have just purchased the right clubs the first time that I could have grown into. Thanks for reading!
I hope you find as much joy in compound bow archery as the rest of us have. Have you experienced traditional archery previously. I enjoy plinking and bowfishing with a recurve though the shooting style required is quite different.
Other than the occasional archery in physical education, no. When I tried it out with my brother in law this past Monday, I enjoyed it. Its so much cheaper than golf and can be done all year round. And with a range near me and near my brother in law's, we can enjoy it together whenever we get together. In addition, my father in law is also into it. And I'll definitely be encouraging him to come with me to the range. That scores points with the wife.
Since this is specific to Equipment Reviews, I would like to add my .02 on the Mathews Z7 Xtreme Tactical. Besides being a beautiful compound bow, I love how it feels in my hand and the single cam system on this bow makes it so much easier to pull back on the bow. Its super quiet with virtually no vibration coming back at me after a release. I'll post an update after a take a number of shots with it.
I have another thread running "popular hunting myths" and I'm gonna add your comment, "archery is cheaper than golf..." (just teasing) If you stop NOW it will be cheaper but soon enough you'll have no trouble finding things you 'just gotta have this one more thing'. My wife used to complain about how much I spend on archery... until she bought a bow, which coincidentally cost more than mine. But it was well worth it to get to spend time hunting, target shooting, etc. together. And far less frustrating. Welcome to the world of compound bow shooting! We're happy to have you. You've got some good gear there that will serve you well for years to come. Now you can start looking for your local 3D or IBO tournaments and really put that Z7 into action.
To quote a pair of friends of mine AMEN Brother!! I learned that the hard way with a Mission X3.....Now with my Quest Bow I'm loving life, only if I had a great release I would be king!
I finally picked up my bow and shot for a half hour. I wish I had more time to get my sight adjusted because I seemed to be missing to the right of my targets. However, I kept my groups very tight, so I was very encouraged. I love my bow. I definitely need a bow sling that more to my liking. The camo just doesn't fit with the rest of the black/carbon fiber theme of the bow. I'll be hitting up the range tomorrow before the Conference championships and hopefully have a chance to get things adjusted.
Good luck with it and welcome to the world of compound bows. Do you plan on hunting or are you more target oriented??
More target oriented at this time. I wouldn't mind, as I get better and more comfortable, to go hunting with it. I think that would be a great experience.
Hmm, I hope the short ATA doesn't effect your distance shooting. I have heard that bow is difficult to stay accurate at farther distances. Archery is a great sport. You will enjoy it. I am not a golf guy. I use to like to hit the par three's every now and then but, just lost interest.
Here's a lesson I had to learn the hard way. If you are a right-handed shooter and are pushing all of your shots to the right it might be your form, not your sight adjustment. If you grip the bow tightly, like a fist, the tendency is to torque the bow and send your shots to the right. Your bow's wrist strap will hold the weight of your bow and the 'V' between your thumb and forefinger will hold it in place as you draw back. Try to keep your other fingers loose,,, I usually try to hold the bow with my thumb and forefinger (like making an 'OK' sign and let the other fingers hang down loosely. Also if you try to flatten your hand some, palm down, this will both force you to hold with less fingers and will naturally push your elbow out, thus preventing that painful smack of the string against your forearm. If your form is good then ignore this post (and the knucklehead who posted it) and just move the pins a little to the right.
You most likely make a very good point. I definitely appreciate the advice. I can recall that I was holding that grip a little too tight.
If the sling is holding the weight, I assume that sling needs to be somewhat snug around your wrist, right?
The wrist sling only needs to be tight enough to keep your hand on the grip after the shot. The more loose the better if you ask me. It's more of a mental check, letting your brain know you won't drop your rig. The bow will just sit there after you shoot without you grasping for it. It just allows you to shoot a relaxed grip and let the bow do it's thing while you finish up your follow through, post-shot.
I was gonna say that the wrist sling is like your underwear... just there to give you a little comfort that things won't flop around when you let go and if you hold it too tightly bad things will happen, like things bending to the right. But... Stikman said it better. "Stikman, the eloquent archer" Preach, brother.
I golf and hunt lol, i bought two new pairs of clubs last summer and now just ordered a new bow. I seem to have a problem with spending alot of money on my hobbies haha
I don't want to start a new thread to ask a simple question, so I'll just ask in there and hope for answers via bumpage. When I practice my stance and drawing the bow and finally have my anchor point secure, my nose is not touching the string. However, my peep is in line with the sight and I can lock into the first pin. Should my nose be touching the string as an anchor point or is that optional? With a short ATA on the Tactical, is that even possible?
Congrats, and welcome!! BTW. You might as well get a second job, your going to need a LOT of cool stuff in the next year or so!! ANd yes, you will NEED it!
