Backup bow?

[Paul in Idaho]

A few weeks ago during my first practice session of the year, the dropaway rest on my bow stopped dropping. It had been flawless until that day. Long story short, my bow is still in the shop waiting for a warranty repair of the rest. I'm glad this happened early in the year instead of late August, but it has me thinking about getting another bow so I have a fallback option if another equipment failure happens, or my bow gets lost or stolen.

The main thing I'm wondering about is if having different bows would complicate my practice and hunting. My bow is several years old now, and I can't afford to buy 2 new identical ones. What are your thoughts about keeping consistency -- shoot both bows every session, or shoot only the primary and know that if I have to use the backup my comfortable accuracy range will likely be shorter due to the difference and unfamiliarity?

 

[p_ham]

You should be fine doing that. I shoot a 2019 model and a 2009 model. They feel drastically different but it is not a hindrance at all. Just make sure you are practicing good form and follow through. Shop around and let the bow pick you, when you find one that fits magic happens.

 

[JohnCushman]

I bought a PSE Stinger as a backup bow. After a couple of failures that would have been hunt ending without a back up, I'll never not have one. My Stinger feels totally differently than my Epix, but I practice with it at least once a week to remain proficient with it if I need to use it.

 

[Ajax2744]

Backup bow is a great idea. If you can get one that is the same or similar to your regular setup awesome. If not as log as your form works you should be fine on any bow. But it might take a few shots to adjust. Buying a last year's model or good condition used bow works great for backups. I typically buy a new bow every year or so and last year's bow becomes my backup and the previous backup gets sold. I also have a few extra rests, releases, sights, etc because I have had a QAD HDX rest stop working and had to be fixed under warranty and instead of handing my whole bow over I just swapped rests and kept shooting until the rest was fixed.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I tried the back up bow thing by keeping my old bow when I upgraded to a new one. It seemed like a good idea in theory, but a terrible idea in practice for me.

 

[danwolf]

I've met several people that bring a back up hunting, sometimes even their trad bow. So no real consistency going from a compound to a trad. A bowhunting friend of mine thins his backup actually it shoots better than his newer one, but they are both the same model Mission. His bow's were both used so he saved money doing that, also same model, just one is a little more worn in than the other.

Personally I keep allen wrenches and d loop material on me and I have a decent press (Synumn) in my truck and a backup (original) string in my truck. I'm ready for most issues I'll come across and can repair on my own.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

Thanks everyone. I'll start looking for a good option for another bow. I'll also keep practicing my shooting form as soon as I get my bow back. Probably would need some training or hands-on experience in the offseason before I'd be comfortable repairing my bow or swapping out rests or sights.

 

[hardwoods]

I have my old bow as a backup, i still practice quite a bit with it as a worst case scenario. Still seems like a great idea if you are in the middle of a hunt and get in a pickle. Least you have an option to fall back on.

 

[GlockZ]

While i don't keep a spare bow, what i do bring with me on a bow hunt is a few spare items, extra string that's set up already, a portable press, allen key set, some waxed dental floss,( just in case i need emergency repair on the serving), and a Whisker biscuit. I've had a drop away rest fail on me once already, luckily i had the Whisker biscuit with me, so in the end, i lost an hour of hunting.

 

[gouch]

Since I hunt with a recurve, I always carry an extra string. Not much else likely to go wrong. Other than total catastrophic failure in which case I'm probably in the hospital and don't need a bow.

 

[Ruttin79]

I keep a backup bow. I've always had one for the last 15 years or so. Never needed it until last year. I had been shooting just about every day for 4 months getting ready for the elk opener in CO. The night before we left my practice session was a little off. Arrows were inconsistent from further ranges. I chalked it up to just having an off day. The next morning before my cousin arrived and we loaded up to leave I decided to shoot 3 arrows. Told myself make each one count. Well, the first and second weren't great, still inconsistent. I loaded the third, relaxed, drew back and everything started shaking. I pulled my head back from the peep thinking what the heck and BOOM! Top limb snapped off at the pocket!!!! Luckily I had the backup. I was not happy to say the least, but no bow shop could have me up and going that day and we had elk to go hunt. So, I hunted with the backup. both my primary and backup are same draw weight and length. They have the same MBG sight.
I believe in having a backup for sure.

 

[sdkhunter]

On my out of state hunts I always bring a second bow... I've had to use it once (my bow accidentally dropped from a tree while whitetail hunting in Kansas) and a few close calls elk hunting (like slipping on muddy hills slides)... Its just an older bow of mine, don't worry about it being a different model or anything.... Just meant to be a backup - I only shoot it occasionally - just enough to stay comfortable with it...

Kinda hate to admit this but I even ended up hunting with my 'backup' bow last year in WY - on purpose... I was shooting a few weeks before my WY elk trip and I realized I was shooting my backup (Mathews MR6) better than my primary... So I hunted with that and left my RX1 in the case

 

[2rocky]

Cheaper to pack spare parts for your main bow. Another rest, another string, sight pins and bolts. Outside of a limb failure or cracked riser or a dry fired bow, you could deal with 80% of bow issues with just new parts.