Hello bow hunters. I introduce myself here http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?28167-Hello-from-Russia-(Saint-Petersburg) As I previously told I am from Russia and I am going to be a bow hunter in near future. You know bow hunting is prohibited in my motherland so not much information about that topic is available. People do bow hunt but there are just a few of them that is why I ask my stupid questions here . In my city there are several bow schools but they are traditional Olympic bow schools and I don’t actually know is it correct to compare sport archery and bow hunting? I mean I could go there to have a shooting practice, but I don’t know is it goes well with hunting. To begin my bow hunting career I need your vise advice. Here is my story: I’ve got a house in the country and three are a lot of boars and elks, boars are more common guest telling you the truth, they are not very big about 60 kg. (100 pound aprox.) The average distance of shooting is 30-40 meters (40 yard) according to my little practice. So as I told before I need to choose a bow. The main problem in my climate is water, it seems to be everywhere, while rambling thought the forest one could easily got wet because of water staying on the leaves, on the grass and so on, rains are also very common so my future bow must be water proof. After it I was thinking a lot about bow type, on one hand traditional bow is more beautiful and not so complicated, I mean it has not so much high technological stuff, such as scopes, releases and others. (I thought about buying Bear Grizzly bow http://www.beararcheryproducts.com/bows/traditional/grizzly , the responses I’ve read were fine). Compound bow as far as I understand is much better for hunting, cause many hunters uses it. But I don’t understand anything about it. A understand the terminology, and understand the speed rates AMO, IBO, but the prices make me nervous they are so different. E.G. http://www.beararcheryproducts.com/bows/compound/encounter and http://www.beararcheryproducts.com/bows/compound/carnage . If I would buy a bow for a 400 dollars will it be good or a have to buy a 900 dollars staff? And the question how durable is the compound bow? For example if I buy Remington 700 rifle, I could easily buy a new stock in case of need for it in almost every shop, and another equipment… and if something will be broken in my compound bow, for example a slide, or handle have I buy a new bow? or it is a silly question and nothin is gonna to be broken in case of propper use. And the last question in which direction you would recommend me to go, traditional bow or compound? Thank you. Dima. Excuse me for my English
Dima, welcome to the forum. You are going to get some really good answers to your questions. I look forward to hearing of your bowhunting adventures once you get out in the woods with a bow!
Dima, Like VS above mentioned, welcome to the forum. I hope we can answer some of your questions and allow me to say, I enjoyed reading your post with the broken English. Knowing very little Spanish, and zero Russian, I can imagine the difficulty. There are no stupid questions.. I wish I had this avenue of learning when I started bowhunting over 30 years ago. It sure takes the learning curve out of it. I had to learn it all through experience and hands on with fellow bowhunters, local shops and magazine. I think that's a very good idea. There is a correlation between sport archery and bow hunting. First and foremost, you need to be able to hit what your aiming at or you'll likely to come home very frustrated and empty handed when it comes to your quarry. Now you certainly can take away life long memories with missing game, however, every once in a while it's certainly nice to sit down at the table and enjoy some very tender and delicious meals from your success. You need to start with practice and becoming proficient with your weapon. It doesn't matter if it's a recurve/longbow or a compound.. you need to be the best you can be with it before heading afield. That's fantastic, I can imagine those Russian boars can be very ornery. From what I've read. Now, when you are referring to elks, is that Red Stag or another species common to our American Elk? That's going to be your responsibility on taking care of your bow. Bows come somewhat, water resistant however, constant wetness can take a toll on equipment regardless of what you choose. Routine maintenance like wiping down your bow, keeping strings waxed and if it's a compound, the axles, limb pockets, rests etc grease/oiled and working properly. I've hunted in rain for more years than I can remember, I've never had equipment failure because of said rain... some rust etc.. but no failures. (all compounds) This distance makes a big factor in determining which bow you decide to choose. Most stick bow (recurve/longbow) shooters won't shoot out to 40 yards but will limit themselves with much closer distances. In fact, for many beginners, I wouldn't recommend shooting 40 yards with a compound either. You couldn't be more right. Traditional equipment is very beautiful not only in the equipment but the practice, the execution and the reward. Beautiful equipment. Compounds I wouldn't necessarily say is better for hunting, it's just different hunting. Sure I can reach out a little further than the standard traditional equipment but it's just my choice in equipment. The real game if you will is to get the animal you are chasing to come within your effective shooting range. To me it doesn't matter which equipment you choose. The percentage of animals is extremely high that are shot from 25 yards and in. If you cannot adequately shoot your equipment, traditional or compound then one shouldn't be hunting with it in the first place. Speed rates, don't be concerned with them in the least, specially for hunting and more so for beginning hunting. The faster isn't necessarily the better. Today's bows far exceed days of yesterday and there were plenty of game taking with bows of yesterday. Again, it's all about the ability of the archer, not the bow in the hand. AMO or IBO is just an industry standard to tag a bow with a particular speed with a particular set of standards.. if you want to know exactly what they are, ask again and I will explain that further. Again, excellent equipment and today, there is so much fantastic equipment you can almost never go wrong. Between Bear, BowTech, Diamond, Hoyt, Mathews, High Country, Elite etc.. etc.. the is a bow for everyone and a bow in everyone's price range. Don't negate buying used either. Many times you can find a high end bow with all the equipment available before spending the same money on a brand new bow with no additional equipment on it. Compounds are very durable depending on the user, however, things happen. I've dropped a bow out of my treestand, shot them out of my hand on pavement, heard others stepping on them, running them over with vehicles etc... it really depends on your own responsibility. Under normal wear, baring no accidents, compounds can last your years and years etc without fail. One thing to consider with a compound is, if you have a problem, is it warranted and can you, in Russia use that warranty. Will you have a dealer to take it to or mail it to ect.. I've become self proficient with my equipment, I have a full pro shop in my basement for me and my friends. There is nothing I can't do with my equipment as far as repair and maint but it's taken me a lot of years and $ to buy the equipment to do so. When I need warranty work, I use a local dealer but with my affiliation with BowTech, I'm fortune enough to make a direct call and get sent what I need. That's rare. So, with compounds, warranty work, self sufficiency, dealers and routine maint.. is that something you can handle? Being a very avid compound enthusiast, I'd recommend you start with Traditional equipment and practice. It will be very rewarding for you and many of us, including me started there. And I know many of my friends that have gone back to traditional equipment for the satisfaction. It's a great way to introduce yourself to bowhunting and like you mentioned, far less complicated. It does however take considerably much more practice to be as proficient but that in itself is rewarding and time well spent... I hope I touched on some of your questions. Hopefully others will step forward and introduce themselves and elaborate where I may have missed. I look forward to your follow up questions and any others you may have. Plus, regardless of equipment, I hope you stick around and allow us to follow your journey into archery and bowhunting, particularly with photographs from Russia and it's game.
Dima, welcome to the forum. I think Rob did a great job answering your questions. I am new to archery and bowhunting as well. Last season was my first season and this season has been tough but, very enjoyable. You will find the guys on this forum to be very helpful. I am glad I found this forum. It has helped me progress years past where i could have by myself. I too look forward to hearing about your experiences with archery and bowhunting. Knowing you are from a country that does not have many bow hunters and you are wanting to do it is priceless. Good luck with all your bowhunting adventures.
Rob thank you very much for such a detailed answer! You wrote that you had enjoyed reading my post with the broken English; I would like to say that this is very high grade, because you are a native speaker, and I am really happy that it was not complicated task to read my text. I was worrying a lot about it, I thought it would be difficult for native to understand a foreigner. I hope soon I would improve my English skills to speak fluent. Here is the links of Russian hunting forum to clarify my potential game. This is not my game, just from my climate zone: The boar, http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/75/91608.html and the elk http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/75/171227.html you can go thought the topic: http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/75/171227-2.html http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/75/171227-3.html Thank you for the advice to go to the sport school, because I thought that the way they shoot is different from hunting; they use very clumsy bows with big stabilizations and shoot from the ground unlike hunters doing it from the treestand. The main aim is to be a proficient and skilful archer. What do you think is it possible to cope with this problem if I buy the bow in one month then I get closer to the subject, and do my training one or two time a week, before summer? About the distance I thought about my previous shotgun experience, the boars I want to hunt used to dig up the potatoes on my friend’s field he shoot even without leaving his house, usually he does it staying on the poach, they get so close but regular shooting make them very nervous and this autumn he saw them just twice. But in the forest I saw many traces of them: sheet and laid grass. The same with elks but not so often. Thank you for the advices about bows and their firms. In Russia I could get almost any bow it is just a question of time, the dealers told, it is not a problem, I have a Bear, BowTech, Diamond, Hoyt, Mathews dealers. Personally I like Bear bow, don’t know why, may be because of charisma or something else, the main thing that all this companies do good equipment as you told, and it is impossible to buy a bad bow no matter what firm I’ll choose. Thank you very much for such a full and informative answer. Hope this summer I will be able to show the photos of my game got with bow. Here is my native city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg Dima.
Welcome to the forum Dima!! This forum has been extremely helpful to me, as I'm sure it will to you too. Looking forward to following your progress and reading of your adventures in hunting. Hope to see some pictures of the game you take. Best of luck sir
Here is some pictures from my country side I goona hunt. I made them last Winter. and this is the summer variant hunters at rest. Thanks to all!
And I've got one more question, if I for example will buy a Bear bow or Hoyt, or some other brend for 400-500 dollars, will it be as good and durable as bow for 1000? Because I don't want to waste money and at the same time want to get good bow, for long usage. Because the russian local dealers told that the the most expensive is the best As far as I understand and as Rob said: "here is so much fantastic equipment you can almost never go wrong" they told me lie Thanks Dima.
You're very welcome. I'm hoping some of these other very well informed and experienced guys will jump in and aid in your journey as well. And I did enjoy the read because I can imagine how difficult it must be to not only learn English but redneck bowhunting English. LOL ... Now the bold words within your quote are corrections and hopefully it's just an aid in our learning, not a insult to your grammar. I'll have to Google the game animals, for some reason my computer wouldn't download the whole pages and show me the pictures. That's all right though, I'll Google the game animals. I know that style of shooting will be different than that of which you will be hunting, particularly instinctive shooting with a traditional bow however, they will teach you consistency, redundancy, repetitiveness and discipline. All very fundamental skills of shooting a bow. In a book I once read, ZEN in Archery, they teach potential archers by allowing them to pull a bow, not shoot but pull a bow for approximately a full year, after which they allow them to shoot, not at a target but in the dark so as teach them release, nothing more and that's years.. finally when they are ready, they actually get to aim and shoot at a target... they are taught the fundamentals of drawing, anchoring and releasing long before they are allowed to aim... we do something similar and that's call blank bailing... Blank Bailing is getting up real close to the target so as to not miss... you draw, anchor and release with your eyes close to work on consistency, similar to the ZEN teaching of archery. I can imagine they would get nervous. It's a learned trait... setting up on them in the woods is an excellent idea, even on game trails that lead from the potato fields. Perhaps they are still visiting the crops in the night light many animals that get pressure. Again, you're welcome. That's great that you have a variety of dealers (firms) in your homeland. That makes choosing the right bow, particularly if you shoot as many as possible a fun journey. There is NOTHING wrong with Bear.. my first bow was a bear 30 years ago. Since I've shot as many brands as possible each and every year to make sure that I carry the very best with me, for me each season. You've linked your post to some very impressive Bear bows. You won't go wrong with any of them. Just because I shoot a BowTech or this site is sponsored by Mathews doesn't mean that either bow is right for you. You need to make that educated decision on your own. Very cool, again, welcome to the forum, I hope your stay here is an exciting and fulfilled one. We look forward to your adventures, journey and times afield. Yes, a $400-500 dollar bow is as durable as a bow for $1000.. many times it's simply the material going into the bow, the time, precision etc.. for a bow that's going to be used as a high technical competitive bow as well as hunting, perhaps one can justify spending the extra money but if hunting is strictly your only concern, an animal is just as dead out of a less expensive bow in the hands of a competent archer. The trick is being the best you can be with your weapon of choice.
Thank you Rob her is a list of my potential game with links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_Deer And thank you for the corrections! Dima.
I actually got your pictures to load after I went back and looked. I thought the "elk" looked like a moose to me... and the boars, I can imagine they get pretty big and are excellent table fare. The corrections, LOL, just thought they may aid you in the future... I certainly make errors myself and I'm suppose to know English.
Welcome http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm Read Also, How much time do you have to learn shooting? Traditional = more time to become efficient. My opinion! Compound = less time to become efficient. My opinion! I believe compound bow technology, efficiency and popularity is because of the releases. The release aides are definetly a must! Quality is important! Good Luck!
"I can imagine they get pretty big and are excellent table fare". yes they are "I believe compound bow technology, efficiency and popularity is because of the releases" so it is impossible to shoot compound bow without release? thanks for the article.
