Poke me in the eye and kick me in the shins!!

[Howard Mee]

I need to vent and share these frustrations with people who understand what I’ve been through.
#coldbowchallenge was my tipping point.

I spent ALL summer in 2019 trying to figure out why my bow wasn’t grouping tight. My primary suspect was my release. Groups got better, but never great.

This year, after MISSING my target at 50 yards, I went full wolverine mode. With the help of the local archery shop, we determined that my arrows were underspined. It also became apparent that I was subconsciously relaxing my bow arm on the shot. I also added a stabilizer. Things got better.

I noticed on longer yardages, My head had a tendency to “sink back”. I ordered a gadget and fixed that problem.

I finally, started to get really tight groups again when my release started to fail. I fired off a few arrows mid draw. I punched myself in the lips. I lost and broke some arrows. I bought a new release and went to replace some arrows.
The arrows are now discontinued. I quickly ordered 2 dozen from eBay.
Now, after an entire summer of drama, I’m rolling into season with a set up that’s drilling dots from 80 yard and under. *sigh*

Who can relate?


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[Howard Mee]

Shot my skin off and had to use Coban for 1/2 the summer.

Warranty replaced a pin on my sight.
Bought an extra archery target.
Ordered new broad heads.

The struggle never ends


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[Fatcamp]

My only problem has been a Qwikee quiver that has broken 3 times. Tight spot on the way.

Transitioned to a new bow too. I'm sure it won't last.

 

[InteriorAKPopsicle]

I got a new bow, had to get new strings. Twice my setup has overnight been off by inches (finally figured that out). Never used a sliding/adjustable sight and lost an arrow realizing I’d sighted it in on the wrong side. Bought a fletchings kit, ruined said kit trying to reflection my arrows. Also switched releases. I’m good out to 60 and have 44 days till my Archery Dall Sheep Hunt... I’m getting nervous I won’t be shooting out as far as I wanted by them. (Shooting 100 so I could hunt 70 and in)


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[Rob5589]

I was recently having all kinds of inconsistencies and thought it was my peep sliding. I probably tied and retied that thing 10 times. I finally realized it was actually my release. It was changing position on my wrist just enough to change my anchor point which in turn would "move" my peep. Now I cinch it down tight and am shooting great. But, I have decided to go all in with a hand held after the season is over to avoid that mess again.

 

[Billy Goat]

Lucky all you did was busy your lips. I know of two people who have knocked teeth out. I try to purposely draw with my elbow out from my body so if something let's go it might not be a direct hit to this million dollar smile I got. I think it's a lot harder on your shoulder tho.

Archery is humbling, as soon as you think you have it figured out you realize you don't.

 

[ZDR]

Decided I needed a larger peep but it seemed easier to just slightly enlarge it with a drill bit. Proceeded to nick my string and cut 4 or so strands. Dang shaky hands...$o off to the $hop for new $trings.

 

[Bubblehide]

Okay, I am 1st in line to poke you in the eye (which one?) and kick you in the shins.









Okay, I am only kidding. I think we all have been there at one point in time, maybe more than once. I am glad to hear you got it figured out.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Ugh, I can relate. The kicker for me always seems to be that, no matter how responsible you are in getting your bow finely tuned early in the year, problems rear their ugly head right before the season opens. The pro shop workers shake their head as you come trudging through the door and lump you into the same category as the guys who just started shooting their bows for the year in late August.

 

[Brendan]

And this is why I have 3 bows, backup strings, press, Synunm packable press, draw board, bow vice, arrow saw, fletching jig, chrono, two draw weight scales, spine tester, spinner and squaring device, 8 different releases, 3-4 different types of arrows, a sight and rest for every bow plus a spare,10 different broadhead types to test with, 5 different diameters of serving thread, different loop material, a bag full of different diameter peeps sights, bow levels, and the list goes on...

Yes it can be a pain, but you get to a point where you're pretty confident you can figure anything out fast!

 

[BeaverHunter]

I’d just be happy I was drilling dots out to 80 yards no matter how I got to that point. Impressive.

 

[5MilesBack]

Heck, my bow blew up on me in 2018, so I rebuilt it. Then it blew up on me again in 2019 when a new d-loop broke while the bow was on the draw board. I rebuilt it again, and then discovered that the top limb bolt had stripped out the riser as well. Fixed that with a helicoil. After all that I still didn't have as many issues as you had going, but I can relate your last sentence about hitting dots from 80 and in.

 

[raptor16]

Hey, at least you're dialed in now.

 

[Hoot]

My season starts in 16 days, and I just decided to completely overhaul my system (thanks to an unexpected elk tag someone turned in) so I started with a fresh dozen fmj injexions...

Insert/collar epoxy should be set up tomorrow and I can start bare shafting. I figure by the end of the week I can have my arrows built and grouped (indexed) Broadhead tuned and a sight tape dialed in.

I even said I was done tinkering a couple weeks ago, maybe it’s not a good idea to have your own workshop?

 

[Billy Goat]

Decided I needed a larger peep but it seemed easier to just slightly enlarge it with a drill bit. Proceeded to nick my string and cut 4 or so strands. Dang shaky hands...$o off to the $hop for new $trings.

Did that once before. Been a while, if doing that spin that bit by hand.

 

[paxamus]

This summer went similar
Got new arrows- grouped for crap and lost a few
Got another new set of arrows- grouped great but my inserts kept pulling out (listened to the guy at company who made the arrows). After finally getting inserts to not pull out (72 hour epoxy) they were flying great.
But the Archery Gremlin showed up and BAM!! Inserts started bending when they hit targets!! I was so mad- ended up with the Easton Pro Comp Hunters 4mm 250 spine and I’m happy- but I have spent too much on arrows this summer!!


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[Page Master]

Decided I needed a larger peep but it seemed easier to just slightly enlarge it with a drill bit. Proceeded to nick my string and cut 4 or so strands. Dang shaky hands...$o off to the $hop for new $trings.

I did that this year, 2 weeks after brand new customs.

It is amazing the grief we put ourselves through, isn't it? It seems the struggle of the recurve is found in the skill before the tool. The struggle of finding the capable precision with the compound lies in the experience and knowledge of the tool.

6 blown up bows, 3 others traded and 2 new ones in my garage that finally felt right in my hand and did what my hands and eyes told them to do. 2 years of constant pain and struggle to get where I am a confident shooter.

I think we can all empathize with you on this.

 

[Scrappy]

I am so grateful I have a bow that is so easy to tune. Just kinda eyeball everything and it's happy.

 

[Beendare]

Under spined....there is no reason to do this with todays modern shoot through risers.

Even the pros push the envelope on this. It works for targets/perfect form but once you screw in a BH all bets are off.

A bowhunter can shoot an over spined arrow and its a more durable easily tuned setup.

_

 

[Beendare]

I moved away from those critical setups years ago....to a heavier arrow with stiffer spine.

It gives me a forgiving setup, thats easy to tune.....saves a lot of grief.