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Long range compound bow

Of the bows I've had, the ones I've shot the best were actually the older, heavier, longer ones. They're simply more forgiving, maybe even more so for a guy who doesn't practice as much as he should.:rolleyes:

There are amazing bows out there these days, as shown in the above video, and it's hard to believe that the technology could get any better. Most of us have older bows which once served us well, laying on a shelf unused. jd
 
I’ve shot competitively and bow hunted for about 25 years. Since the late 90’s I’ve always had at least 2 Mathews bows...one for target and one for hunting. PSE makes some fine bows, along with Hoyt and Elite and Prime. However if you ever need a replacement part on a Mathews, they will have it. At the Vegas tournament it is nice to shoot all the different bows...While the tech may be similar, you should try a bunch to see what you like. And you should try more than just Hoyts...you may be shocked at how much less hand shock and how smooth some of the new bows really are.

MQ1 (And yes...I still have my 1998 Mathews MQ1)
 
Bows have come a ways in 17 years.
My purchase last year was an APA Viper. Set for 50lb draw weight. Still 5 fps faster than my old bow at 70 lb draw.

My daughter has an Infinite Edge at 35 lb draw, 31 length.
She was able to pull back a 50 lb draw weight APA Mamba.
 
Donny what was that guys name that won the bucket of money at the Warren and Sweat shoot? He is the guy to talk to about long range with a bow. 5$ got you 5 shoots at a 1 inch orange dot on an elk target at an unknown distance. I shot it with a 65yd pin holding the bottom of the pin guard on the elks back and my arrow hit the dirt 25yds in front of the elk. After he won the pot the winner told me it was 117yds. I think more important than bow is long range tuning and really good arrows. There is almost as much to making good arrows as there is to making match ammo. Tuning bow , making good arrows, estimating yardage those are my best guess at a good long range bow shot. But ask Donny he is better at it than I.
 
Sawcarver, let me try and answer your questions more directly.

What should I be looking for in a bow, sight, rest type of stuff that will help me shoot longer farther and more accurate.

  1. the most important part of archery accuracy is your form, and your bow fit. All of the current top of the line bows are capable of crazy good accuracy. You should go to a reputable pro-shop and try a number of different bows that are set-up to fit you before you decide which bow you like best. Don’t shoot 70lbs and think you are doing yourself and your quarry a favor...you will perform better and more accurate to shoot a lower weight. 50-60lbs is plenty to kill deer.
  2. for hunting, I find it hard to beat a simple 3-5 pin fiber-optic sight. No batteries to go bad, fairly drop proof, and with modern sights, if you can’t see your pins it is likely past shooting time.
  3. for rests, it is hard to beat some of the new drop-away rests. They are a little more to maintain, but have a number of advantages in keeping the arrow in place, and ensuring no arrow contact at the shot. If you shoot alot of arrows, they hold up better long term than a Whisker Biscuit, which is probably the most simple and fool-proof hunting rest there is. The Biscuit is not sexy, but properly set up is quiet and damn near fool-proof for hunting situations.
MQ1
 
Compound???....we don't need no stinking compounds!!!!!heart shots.JPG Favorite bows.JPG

seriously, why not get him a stick bow and go traditional??? It's more fun, more rewarding, easier and less tweaking and wrenching on the bow. "all ya gotta do" is practice....a lot!!!
If you must go compound then I would suggest you look at the Hoyt Carbon Matrix line of bows {know as the "spaghetti" bows}. They are very smooth and forgiving and are lightweight. Not too many compounds are very light and easy for a kid to hold steady.
You shoot a compound like a benchrest rifle, you shoot a stick bow "instinctive", kinda like throwing a can in the trash, just look and throw. Traditional bows are way more suited to hunting.
 
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Look for a new leftover model that’s a year or two old, it’s new and they should throw a few hundred off the top. You never know what your getting with a used one coulda been dry fired. If your getting one for him I’d look for a model that offers draw length pegs on the cam rather then mods because you’ll be buying a set every year as he grows. Someone said go into a pro shop and get setup, that’s a roll of the dice as well there are some great ones out there but there are just as many bad ones. I personally like Mathews and PSE but it’s kinda like picking a hat out, it has to fit you, so you have to go shoot them to see what you like. Side note a guy I know is the lead tech in a bow shop and he says by far he works on more Bowtechs than any others because there’s always something wrong with them. Good luck!
 
Adam, MSINC above is definitely right about traditional archery when it comes to bowfishing. Gotta take your son out for that for sure. Lots of action and super fun. Supposed to be a bunch of em up there in Michigan. Chuck hunting with a compound is supposed to be really fun too though I never tried it when I lived back east a long time ago.

I had an older Mathews years ago that I set up for prairie dog shooting. Just used std. pins out to about 80 yds. and it was sweet even with older aluminums I used to shoot. Haven't kept up much with the newer compound models though. Prairie dog shooting with a compound bow is about as fun as hunting (shooting actually) gets IMO.
 
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I will say this about the Elite bows. Their warranty is unequaled by any other company out there. A buddy and I were on a hunt in Ohio. The hunt hadn't even started when he cut thru one of his timing cables( string actually) with a broadhead. The bow essentially blew up from just touching the string with a razor sharp broadhead. One call to Elite and they overnight delivered him a new bow exactly like he had. All we had to do was remove sights, rest and quiver and replace them on the new bow and resight. This took 25 minutes total. He missed one evenings hunt. Any other bow and he'd be out of business unless he bought another if available on location. In our case, nobody would have had his left-handed Elite bow in stock. I always bring a back up bow so no issue but that's very good piece of mind. He simply had to send that bow back after his hunt and get his bow repaired.
 
Pawnee Bill said:
What is "Long Range" for a bow? 300 yards?
Click to expand...
For me it's 100 yards( vertical bow). I think it's different for everyone. I've never heard of a 300 yard bow shot. Never looked on YouTube so maybe it's not unheard of. Most of today's bows can make the range even tho it's a true rainbow trajectory. Much like a 2000 yard rifle shot. Only difference is accuracy is far tougher to aquire at that kind of range(300 yards) with a bow. 100 yards it's fairly easy to hit a 12" target.
 
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