Archery Equipment

Compound bows are a modern hunting convenience that many bow hunters prefer because of their power, accuracy, and their let off, which allows you to keep your firing stance for a longer period of time than is possible with a recurve bow, because of the low holding weight compared to the draw weight on the string. Very strong archery is possible with a lightweight, convenient, and easy-to-use weapon – as bows such as the Bear Archery Attack Bow prove.

The Bear Archery Attack is one of the strongest bows in the Bear Archery range, and is designed to be a serious and effective hunting weapon, as well as providing fine target shooting possibilities. The riser is riddled with cutouts to keep the bow’s weight as low as possible, and Attack weighs only 4.2 pounds, which is less than some other models and comparable to most medium-weight compound bows, while providing more powerful archery than many of its competitors.

The IBO speed of the Attack ranges from 332 to 340 feet per second, which is quite impressive for a bow of its dimensions. This IBO speed is achieved by the special limbs which Bear Archery fits to its compound bows. These limbs are composed of uncut fibers, rather than laminated fibers, and this allows them to store more energy as well as making them more durable over the long run. The high speed, combined with the bow’s excellent engineering, means that you can fire your arrows accurately and with great force, giving you a good chance of taking down your deer with the first shot.

The grip of this bow is designed to minimize torque, a task it succeeds admirably at despite its slenderness. The ergonomic grip design is a characteristic of Bear Archery bows, and is applied successfully to this model also. Several other factors contribute to making the Attack a very comfortable and practical bow to use. The recoil of the bow is very low, close to zero, because the limb pockets are lined so that the limbs are not actually in contact with the pocket walls.  This not only reduces recoil and vibration, but lessens the sound of the bow when it is released as well. Noise dampeners are also installed to render the weapon even more silent.

Draw length can be adjusted anywhere from 25” to 30” without the use of a bow press, giving you flexibility in your draw and arrow choices. The peak draw weight can be 50 pounds, 60 pounds, or 70 pounds, and there is an 80% let-off that gives you plenty of opportunity to hold your aim for as long as necessary. Despite the draw weight of the bow, the draw is extremely smooth, thanks to the good engineering of the limbs and cams.

The Bear Archery Attack Bow may not be the market’s best compound bow, but it is definitely a strong contender and can hold its own against a plethora of other bows. An archer who makes use of this weapon will find themselves in possession of a bow that is lightweight and maneuverable, has no torque and close to zero recoil or vibration, and whose 80% let-off makes it ideal for holding for relatively long periods of time, as when you are preparing to make the perfect shot. The bow is also made to be durable and long-lasting, so that it can accompany you on the hunt for years to come.

There is something organic and almost poetic in a good recurve bow – despite its technical inferiority to a compound bow, a recurve often seems more like a part of the archer’s hand, arm, and will, an ancient synergy that includes weapon and wielder and has been known by prehistoric hunters stalking bison and deer in the cold steppes of the late Ice Age, Pharaohs scanning the dusty scrub for antelope from their swift, light hunting chariots, medieval English poachers daring the Norman forestry laws to gain a venison dinner, and modern hunters and sportsmen who prefer this type of bow as well.

The Bear Archery Super Kodiak Recurve Bow is a combination of the timeless appeal of this silent, lethal weapon, and modern high-tech materials technology such as fiberglass laminate. The Super Kodiak is a single-piece bow, meaning it cannot be disassembled for transport, and its 60” length may prove to be an inconvenience in some circumstances. The fact that it is one piece has some advantages over take-down bows – it is even quieter than the best-designed take-downs, and there is, for obvious reasons, no chance of torque between the limbs due to poorly-fitting alignment pins.

The Super Kodiak is available in various draw weights and for either the right or left hand. The right-hand bow is available in eight different draw weights, ranging from 30 pounds to 65 pounds in 5-pound increments, while the left-hand bow choices are much more limited. There are only three draw weights for left-hand Super Kodiaks, specifically, 45, 50, and 55 pounds. Due to the laminated hardwoods and well-placed sections of fiberglass reinforcement on the limbs, the bow’s recoil and vibration are extremely low – present, but not very noticeable. “Stacking” – the resistance of the string during the draw – is evenly distributed throughout the draw, giving you an extremely smooth pull that will not distract you from taking aim.

Further convenience is added by the Super Kodiak’s low weight. The bow weighs only 2 pounds, and a dual-purpose arrow rest and sight window cut out of the riser, allowing you to rest your arrow on this rather than on your hand, and get a clean sight at your target as well. The bow comes with a Fast Flight string fitted – this string has very little stretch, so that the energy transmitted through it to the arrow will be lessened as little as possible by string flex. This allows the bow to drive its arrow faster than it could with a more elastic string.

Shooting a recurve bow is somewhat different from using a compound bow, of course, and there are several accessories which will make your shooting experience more pleasant. Protecting your bow-hand forearm with a bracer of some kind is a prudent step, since the string will inevitably strike it at some time with the same force that it is imparting to the arrow – and a thin string with 65 pounds of force behind it is painful and possibly injurious if it strikes the unprotected arm. A glove for your drawing hand is another help, and you should remember to store your recurve bow unstrung, since keeping it strung constantly will gradually erode its effectiveness by stressing and stretching its materials.

The IBO speed is roughly 200 feet per second while using the Fast Flight string, which is quite low by compound bow standards but a decent speed for a recurve bow. You will need to practice quite a bit to achieve the shots you want to make, since there is an element of art as well as science in firing a recurve bow, but you will also feel a special satisfaction that comes from gaining skill with this ancient but timeless weapon. The Bear Archery Super Kodiak is not merely a toy or a whimsical throwback to the past – it is a fully functional hunting weapon that is able to take game as large as polar bears and Cape buffalo, and which can therefore easily handle the white-tailed deer or elk of the civilized American woods.

Archery is one of the oldest human hunting methods, sports, and means of waging war, and sending a nearly silent, feathered shaft speeding from your string to strike home into the target still provides a timeless sense of satisfaction to many. Although perhaps not as immediately powerful as a gun, a bow has several interesting traits of its own, including the quietness of its use, the sense of skilled precision you gain from learning and using it correctly, and the simple fun of using an ingenious muscle-powered missile weapon with a long history and a good deal of style.

The modern archer has the choice of many bows to pick from, whether they are planning to shoot at inanimate targets or use the weapon for actual deer hunting. Both traditional bows and compound bows abound in the contemporary market, and one good example of a compound bow is found in the Browning Verado Ready-to-Shoot Compound Bow. This bow offers a 60 to 70 pound draw weight, as well as a handful of other interesting features.

The Verado is, indeed, ready to shoot out of the box as its name suggests, although you can also opt for the bow only or field ready package options. This intricate system of struts, strings, and wheels is a maneuverable bow, with its axle-to-axle length of 32 inches, and is lightened by a slimline riser to make it even easier to handle. The overall weight is 4.5 pounds.

The draw weight of 60 to 70 pounds is lessened by the let off of 80 percent, meaning that at this point (48 to 56 pounds, depending on the specific draw weight), the holding weight will begin to lessen, allowing you to hold the bow drawn and take your time aiming. Draw length is 27 inches to 30 inches, since its cams provide 3” of draw adjustment. The cams also allow you to vary the let off from 80% down to 65%, without needing to use a bow press to do so. The Verado’s IBO speed rating is 313 feet per second.

A number of other useful features round out the Verado compound bow. The color of the bow is mossy oak, and the grip is genuine wood for a smooth, pleasant hold on the riser. A hush kit is installed, and users do indeed report that the Verado is a much quieter bow than many equivalent compound bows, increasing your chances of getting off your shot without spooking your prey. A string stopper is included, and the string comes with an installed nocking loop.

The Verado compound bow comes with four accessories as well, including three types of sight – a fiber optic sight, a peep sight, and bow sight – and an arrow rest. These accessories extend the usefulness of the bow even more, and give you plenty of options to help with your aiming.

Lightweight, maneuverable, powerful, and very quiet, the Browning Verado is a very well-designed, practical bow for the 70 pound draw weight range. The adjustability of several key metrics – such as the draw and the let off – without specialized tools like a bow press makes this compound bow even more versatile, both at home and in the field. Whether you are sending your shafts into simple targets or are aiming for an antlered trophy for your wall (and venison for your freezer), the Verado has something to offer you.

In this era of compound bows, with their ultra-lightweight perforated risers, 80% let off, easily-adjusted cams, and other mechanical features, there are still those who prefer a traditional, recurve bow – a flexible arc of layered materials (wood and fiberglass, usually) with a string attached, without cams, rests, or any of the other fancy flourishes of the modern mechanical bow. Although harder to use, since holding weight is very high (meaning it is necessary to draw and loose the arrow quickly, rather than holding your aim steadily for a longer period of time), recurve bows appeal to some sensibilities more than the industrial-age precision of compound bows.

Although they employ modern materials, and make use of modern mathematical analysis and engineering in their design, recurve bows have a timeless feel that is lacking in the wheel-and-pulley system of the compound bow. Recurve bows can be quite elegant in appearance, and although their performance is below that of their mechanical kindred, they are still very effective and can be used for either target shooting or hunting with a good chance of success.

A good example of a well-made recurve bow is to be found in the Groves Magnum II, a recurve bow made out of a maple core with layers of fiberglass laminated around it, and sold in lengths of 56 inches, 60 inches, or 62 inches. The Magnum II has been engineered to provide very good performance for a recurve bow, and even if it is not quite as fast as the compound models (some of which are over 100 feet per second faster), it is still able to hold its own for speed against most other recurve bows on the market today.

Since it is a recurve and not a compound, the Groves is a large bow, and will require plenty of space to use properly. Standing and kneeling shots are both possible, but you will need to take care not to foul the limbs or string in nearby branches when taking your shot, especially if you are accustomed to the much more compact dimensions of compound bows. The limbs are 1 7/8” wide close to the hand grip – which is itself rather stout, though not uncomfortably so – and are 3/16” thick at the midpoint. The tip of each limb is strengthened with a supplementary layer of fiberglass and wood. There is a 6” sighting slot in the handle section of the bow.

The Magnum II is a two-piece take-down bow, with limbs that can be separated in order to transport or store the weapon in a more manageable form. The joint is very sturdy, however, and there will be no problems with the limbs’ seating when they are connected – the fit is very solid and gives much the same performance as a one-piece bow. A 3/8” bolt does the actual holding together of the two pieces, but there is also a pair of alignment pins to remove any chance of torque between the sections while drawing.

The Groves Magnum II has a 60 pound draw weight and a 30” draw length, but it is the high flexibility of the limbs that gives the bow its high speed. The arrow rests on a ¾” arrow shelf, and the bow is designed to allow you to use an array of different arrow spines without difficulty. This flexibility will be especially appreciated by those who prefer over-spined arrows, since they can be fired without the need to flex.

The speed achieved by the Magnum II is very good for a recurve bow – which, again, is due to the high flexibility of the limbs. The bow can shoot a 300-grain arrow with a speed of 250 feet per second, while it fires a 540-grain arrow at 212 feet per second. This places it among the fastest recurve bows on the market, and, together with its strength and accuracy, make it a good choice for sportsmen of all kinds who want a more traditional form of bow with some skillful modern engineering.

Most people with limited experience with outdoor sports are probably unfamiliar with bowfishing, and may well not even be aware that it is possible to fish with a bow and arrow instead of a fishing pole or a net. Bowfishing is an ancient art in some parts of the world, however, and enough people enjoy it as a form of recreation in the contemporary world for bow-making companies to produce bows specifically for this type of fishing.

Many special considerations apply to bowfishing, which can be carried out from a platform, a boat, or while actually standing in shallow water. Unfletched arrows are typically used, since the presence of fletching can cause arrows to swerve unpredictably in the water, and bowfishing is carried out at extremely close ranges in any case. Most bowfishing arrows are fiberglass and quite heavy, although aluminum and other substances are also used. These arrows are often connected to a reel with a spool of fishing line, since there needs to be some way to easily retrieve fish that you have hit with a shot from the surface.

The PSE Barracuda Compound Bowfishing Bow is a compound bow designed specifically for this interesting archery sport. It is of a typical size for a compound bow, with an axle to axle length of 31.5” and a brace height of 6.5”. It can use any draw length up to 30”, and features a consistent, smooth draw weight for snap shooting when a fish is in your sights. It comes with two fishing arrows, and includes a bowfishing reel with a line so that you can pull in your catch easily and efficiently.

The bow is very light, which is important for shooting fish while bowfishing, since quick adjustments of aim and a steady stance are both likely to be needed at different times. The Barracuda is finished with a startling, vivid aqua color which is intended to be “aquatic camouflage” or “Aquacamo.” Recoil is very low and there are both right hand and left hand models available.

The PSE Barracuda is a good choice both for veteran bowfishers and those who want to start in on the sport of bowfishing. Its light weight, built-in line reel, and ability to handle snap shots all make it good for hunting fish. The aquatic camouflage may not actually help to conceal you from your finned quarry, but it will at least leave you in no doubt what this bow is meant for, and may even be the catalyst for some interesting fish stories.

Loosing an arrow from the string to speed away and strike into its mark – whether that mark is a large Styrofoam target or the buck whose antlers you are planning to use to decorate the wall of your den – has a special flair and satisfaction. This is true whether the string is attached to a traditional longbow, or is stretched between the cams of a modern compound bow. Nevertheless, having a bow that includes many of the modern conveniences – various types of sights, a good let off to give you a comfortable holding weight, quietness, and accuracy – makes archery especially palatable as a sport or hunting form, and increases your chances of success both on the practice range and the field.

The PSE Brute LT Ready-to-Shoot Bow is another of the many excellent, lightweight, very effective and powerful compound bows that the contemporary archer can choose from when equipping themselves for competition or hunting. Two different draw weights are available – one model offers a draw weight of 50 to 60 pounds, and the other provides a 60 to 70 pound draw weight – meaning that you can choose the strength of bow that is best suited to your physique and archery style.

The Brute, despite its name, is a very lightweight bow, weighing in at a mere 4 pounds thanks to its extremely low-mass riser. The light weight, of course, helps you hold a steady aim and helps to keep your hand and arm immobile when you are preparing to make an important shot. The bow is also quick to shoot and you will be able to comfortably fire several arrows in quick succession if desired – a task that is made easier by the installed backstop, which suppresses vibration from firing practically to nil. The bow also includes a hush kit (factory installed for your convenience) that renders operation nearly silent – an important consideration when the perfect buck is standing only 15 yards from your position, and you need to draw and fire without alerting him before the shot.

Archers who have used the PSE Brute report that drawing is smooth, and this effect is increased by the let off of 80%, which can be adjusted by you anywhere down to 65%. Accuracy of the bow – a highly important consideration for hunters and target shooters alike – is excellent, with the ability to shoot arrow groupings of 4” to 6” with the bow as it comes from the factory, and 2” to 4” groupings with casual adjustments, at a range of 40 yards.

The riser includes a slender grip with low torque which makes shooting with the bow quite comfortable. The cam system, like that on other modern bows, allows bow press-free adjustment of up to 3” of draw length, from 27” to 30”. There are multiple holes for mounting sights, allowing the archer to choose exactly where they would prefer to attach their favorite sight. The bow comes with the included Mongoose peep sight mounted, although this has a tendency to fall out after several shots (but is easily remounted thereafter).

The kit also includes an Aries sight with a light, a quiver, an arrow rest, and a nocking loop. With the Ready-to-Shoot option described here, the nocking loop will already be installed on the string when the PSE Brute arrives.  The IBO Speed is slightly less than that of bows such as the Browning Verado, but is still robust at 308 feet per second.

A lightweight, silent, and deadly compound bow with many convenient features, the PSE Brute is an accurate weapon for target shooting and white tail deer hunting alike. Flexible and adjustable thanks to its engineering, and featuring a slender low-torque grip that makes shooting exceptionally pleasant, the Brute is an easy-to-use bow that can be literally fired straight out of the box – and which, with a few minor adjustments, offers a truly standout archery performance.