JJHACK
New member
I was a fairly strict bow hunter for about 15 plus years from the late 70's to almost 1990. I dislocated my right elbow in the late 80's and could not shoot my bow for about 2 years after that. Then I gradually got back into it but had serious problems with what is commonly called "tennis elbow". I saw several sports medicine doctors and other specialists but they all pretty much said the same thing. My elbow was not likely ever gonna work the same again without some corrective surgery which was still a gamble for a 100% fix.
I was a finger shooter back then as almost everyone was before trigger release's were invented, or commonly used. However a very good friend of mine in SE Alaska, a bear hunting guide is friends with the fella's from Mathews archery. They have been hunting with him for bears several times now. On my last visit with him while guiding a few hunters he suggested I shoot this new Mathews bow he had, I explained that I could no longer shoot because of my elbow. He said there was no stress on my elbow with a release. Hmmm I never shot with one of those fancy trigger gizmo's and did not much trust that it could hold the string between those little jaws!
Well he and I are about the same size so the draw length was close. I have odd long arms though for my height though. I shot that bow about 20 times after not having shot a bow in about 12-14 years. Never hurt my elbow or even began to stress it. I was stunned to say the least. Not only that but at 30 yards I was grouping with his equipment good enough to go out and hunt right then .......that day!
Well I came home and the thought of getting my bow out and shooting with a trigger release was burning in my mind. I bought a trigger release and shot my bow for quite a while on and off over the last year. However I could never shoot with my own equipment as well as I did with Davids stuff.
Well I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a nice setup much like Davids and I am now shooting like I never had 12 years off from Archery! I am stunned at the way this new Archery equipment works today. It's like I went into a time machine and came out in the future.
I picked up my Bow on Friday and shot at the pro shop with a local expert who helped set things right for me and figure out what I needed. He had me shooting at 10 yards and watched my form and was very critical of everything as I re-learned to shoot a bow again. As I sit here right now typing this I envy his knowledge and patience with me to re-learn this "sport".
When I left that shop after a couple hours of shooting education I had to shoot at different targets for each shot at 20 yards so I would not shoot the fletching or knocks off my arrows. Today I finalized all my pins and now have one for each ten yards from 20 to 50 yards. At 20 yards it's just to easy and I'm sure I could hit a quarter sized target 50% of the time or more!
At 30 yards it's a much more challanging range. Shooting at playing cards I'm sinking 4 of five arrows on avearge. 40 yards is a bit more of a gamble where I'm grouping about 8" or so when I really concentrate. 50 is not a good range for me but I have made a few great shots, and a few that were horrible!
I think what is funny about this whole experience is that I feel like I'm shooting a "kiddie bow" this thing is so tiny it's almost embarrasing to take out and hunt with. It's the smallest hunting functional bow I think I have ever seen. 39" longest length. I think the Axel to Axel is 35". However it's so smooth and scary quiet. I'm very impressed with the qualtiy of this Mathews Legacy bow. Right now I'm only shooting 60 pounds but will try to work it up to 65 for hunting season. I'll have to see how the elbow holds out for me. So far so good.
There is no doubt that I could hunt very successfully to 30 yards with only a couple days practice. However George at the pro shop deserves most of that credit. While sitting and watching me he was able to solve things I did not even know where problems at the time. I think that's another good feature of the Mathews line. They only sell through selected dealers which have the skills to set them up right for the buyer.
Anyhow the new archery equipment today has easliy added 10 yards or 25% to my comfortable shooting range. The longest shot I ever made in my life was 38 yards on a mtn lion. That was back in the mid 80's. It was also a VERY long shot for me then. Today I'm better at 40 yards then I was at 30 back then. The compsite arrows and trigger release with the parrallel limb technology has really changed the way Bow hunting works!
I was a finger shooter back then as almost everyone was before trigger release's were invented, or commonly used. However a very good friend of mine in SE Alaska, a bear hunting guide is friends with the fella's from Mathews archery. They have been hunting with him for bears several times now. On my last visit with him while guiding a few hunters he suggested I shoot this new Mathews bow he had, I explained that I could no longer shoot because of my elbow. He said there was no stress on my elbow with a release. Hmmm I never shot with one of those fancy trigger gizmo's and did not much trust that it could hold the string between those little jaws!
Well he and I are about the same size so the draw length was close. I have odd long arms though for my height though. I shot that bow about 20 times after not having shot a bow in about 12-14 years. Never hurt my elbow or even began to stress it. I was stunned to say the least. Not only that but at 30 yards I was grouping with his equipment good enough to go out and hunt right then .......that day!
Well I came home and the thought of getting my bow out and shooting with a trigger release was burning in my mind. I bought a trigger release and shot my bow for quite a while on and off over the last year. However I could never shoot with my own equipment as well as I did with Davids stuff.
Well I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a nice setup much like Davids and I am now shooting like I never had 12 years off from Archery! I am stunned at the way this new Archery equipment works today. It's like I went into a time machine and came out in the future.
I picked up my Bow on Friday and shot at the pro shop with a local expert who helped set things right for me and figure out what I needed. He had me shooting at 10 yards and watched my form and was very critical of everything as I re-learned to shoot a bow again. As I sit here right now typing this I envy his knowledge and patience with me to re-learn this "sport".
When I left that shop after a couple hours of shooting education I had to shoot at different targets for each shot at 20 yards so I would not shoot the fletching or knocks off my arrows. Today I finalized all my pins and now have one for each ten yards from 20 to 50 yards. At 20 yards it's just to easy and I'm sure I could hit a quarter sized target 50% of the time or more!
At 30 yards it's a much more challanging range. Shooting at playing cards I'm sinking 4 of five arrows on avearge. 40 yards is a bit more of a gamble where I'm grouping about 8" or so when I really concentrate. 50 is not a good range for me but I have made a few great shots, and a few that were horrible!
I think what is funny about this whole experience is that I feel like I'm shooting a "kiddie bow" this thing is so tiny it's almost embarrasing to take out and hunt with. It's the smallest hunting functional bow I think I have ever seen. 39" longest length. I think the Axel to Axel is 35". However it's so smooth and scary quiet. I'm very impressed with the qualtiy of this Mathews Legacy bow. Right now I'm only shooting 60 pounds but will try to work it up to 65 for hunting season. I'll have to see how the elbow holds out for me. So far so good.
There is no doubt that I could hunt very successfully to 30 yards with only a couple days practice. However George at the pro shop deserves most of that credit. While sitting and watching me he was able to solve things I did not even know where problems at the time. I think that's another good feature of the Mathews line. They only sell through selected dealers which have the skills to set them up right for the buyer.
Anyhow the new archery equipment today has easliy added 10 yards or 25% to my comfortable shooting range. The longest shot I ever made in my life was 38 yards on a mtn lion. That was back in the mid 80's. It was also a VERY long shot for me then. Today I'm better at 40 yards then I was at 30 back then. The compsite arrows and trigger release with the parrallel limb technology has really changed the way Bow hunting works!
