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Bow hardening

Man I’m hard on my gear bc I’m usually hard on myself getting in to spots I hunt. That being said my equipment gets drug through some nasty junk along with me. I run a drop away bc it’s more accurate and shoots better IMO. I never really worry about that kind of stuff or sights in brush, just shield my bow as best I can and clean it after each hunt and I really don’t worry. I will say I do get a lot more vines and brush snagged up in my recurves string between the limb and string than I do get jammed up in a compound but neither really bother me. Like these guys mentioned above, real tools that are put to use are meant to have some character on them. I think as long as your not using your bow to push, break brush, or yank through weeds you won’t have anything to worry about.
 
Man I’m hard on my gear bc I’m usually hard on myself getting in to spots I hunt. That being said my equipment gets drug through some nasty junk along with me. I run a drop away bc it’s more accurate and shoots better IMO. I never really worry about that kind of stuff or sights in brush, just shield my bow as best I can and clean it after each hunt and I really don’t worry. I will say I do get a lot more vines and brush snagged up in my recurves string between the limb and string than I do get jammed up in a compound but neither really bother me. Like these guys mentioned above, real tools that are put to use are meant to have some character on them. I think as long as your not using your bow to push, break brush, or yank through weeds you won’t have anything to worry about.

The only rule I follow is "Your bow is NOT a pry bar".
 
@woodsdog2 the Jakt sling looks like a pretty cool concept. Do you have one? I'd be interested to see how much of a show it would be to use one with a full, bow mounted quiver.

Edit: I searched and can't find a video where anyone showcases the sling with their quiver attached.
I do have the jakt sling system and I used it for a season. It worked pretty well and the way I had mine configured (somewhat forward of the quiver attachment point) I don't remember the quiver being an issue but then again, once at hunting height I typically take my quiver off. The magnets in the sling and the attachment magnet are quite strong and the orientation of the magnet and just the sheer weight of the sling itself it is quite stiff and so it isn't floppy. The weight of the sling acts to pull it down out of your way of a shot. Did the magnet work every time? No. Did it work most of the time? Yes. It was convenient to not have to deal with a pull up rope and I slung my compound with full quiver over my back while climbing with generally no issues. Trees with more limbs you have more time maneuvering around as I slung my bow and it was mostly horizontal on my back.
 
My first year bowhunting, I was real green. I'm younger than many here, but still old enough that good info on bowhunting was hard to find at the time. I wasn't rich, but I went all in, dug deep into my pockets, and bought the top bow on the market hoping to maximize my advantages. I babied that thing.

Then, I proceeded to use some cheap pull up string (kite string maybe) which gave out one day while pulling my bow up to my stand. (Not very bright). Probably the bow fell 12-15 ft, and I was sure it was toast.

Upon examination, the cable got caught in the roller guide. Off to the bow shop I went.

The technician inspected the bow, pressed it, and adjusted the cable. Then I took it to the range and shot it, with no shift in POI.

I shot my first archery buck the very next morning. (fingers....I had forgotten my release).

Prior to this, I had been having some consistency issues and had missed cleanly a 150" buck that I shouldn't have. I had been wanting to hold out for that buck, but, with limited time ahead of me I took aim and was overjoyed to take my first archery buck, a small half rack that would have been an 8pt.

It was the first archery buck taken amongst my family and friends, who had been primarily gun hunters. There was alot of excitement over that small buck, and now we are passionate about bowhunting and archery, and smart enough to use a good pull up rope and to carry a backup release.

I learned a ton that virgin year of bowhunting. In particular, that these modern bows are tougher than you'd probably expect, and that kite string is not.

Likely, that bow's fall produced more emotional shock to me than anything. But, whatever happened to the bow that day, many years ago, I haven't had any consistency issues since, with recurrent success on bucks...that don't measure 150".
 
My standing joke is that after getting a new (to me anyway) truck the first thing I do is drive it down the narrowest 2 track I can find so I get that concern out of the way right off the bat.
Ugh you guys are killing me. When I get a "new to me" truck, there is no way I'm gonna go down a road purposely to scratch it up!!! I think that would put me in the looney bin!! I worry about it all. My brother in law chides me..... "you ever gonna get that four wheeler dirty?" Well I do plow snow with it and haul firewood in it often but yeah, it looks pretty new as I'll take a whole afternoon to clean it up after wood and deer season. I must say I do wood to heat my home and sometimes things are gonna get dirty and nicked and damaged but man I do really try to take care of my stuff. Right now I'm OCDing about my chainsaw chains as typically I quick sharpen them after every cut so they're ready to roll the next time somebody asks me if I want some firewood. It kills me they're setting in my garage with not touched up chains!! I have a problem. Anyway, I have plenty of closet queens and maybe this belongs in the "no shame thread." I will say last deer season I got hung up a bit one sticking and I had to step on my scoped .243 at the base of the tree (my fault and I panicked a bit) anyway, I was all concerned the scope would be off etc. I almost left the hunt and went to the range to check my zero ( I actually had to step on the scope and receiver the way things worked out by chance or fate) and I started getting frustrated. Then I sat there and thought about it a minute, took the bolt out of the receiver. Held the gun against a tree as stable as possible and focused the bore on a rock about 40 yards away and the crosshairs were right on it. Later on in the season I shot my second buck with that gun with no problems. My point is that the gear we use is pretty tough and durable. I probably worry too much about stupid things.
 
Ugh you guys are killing me. When I get a "new to me" truck, there is no way I'm gonna go down a road purposely to scratch it up!!! I think that would put me in the looney bin!! I worry about it all. My brother in law chides me..... "you ever gonna get that four wheeler dirty?" Well I do plow snow with it and haul firewood in it often but yeah, it looks pretty new as I'll take a whole afternoon to clean it up after wood and deer season. I must say I do wood to heat my home and sometimes things are gonna get dirty and nicked and damaged but man I do really try to take care of my stuff. Right now I'm OCDing about my chainsaw chains as typically I quick sharpen them after every cut so they're ready to roll the next time somebody asks me if I want some firewood. It kills me they're setting in my garage with not touched up chains!! I have a problem. Anyway, I have plenty of closet queens and maybe this belongs in the "no shame thread." I will say last deer season I got hung up a bit one sticking and I had to step on my scoped .243 at the base of the tree (my fault and I panicked a bit) anyway, I was all concerned the scope would be off etc. I almost left the hunt and went to the range to check my zero ( I actually had to step on the scope and receiver the way things worked out by chance or fate) and I started getting frustrated. Then I sat there and thought about it a minute, took the bolt out of the receiver. Held the gun against a tree as stable as possible and focused the bore on a rock about 40 yards away and the crosshairs were right on it. Later on in the season I shot my second buck with that gun with no problems. My point is that the gear we use is pretty tough and durable. I probably worry too much about stupid things.

That must have been tough to bear. Sounds like you run nice stuff for everything to hold up.

I missed a nice 8pt due to scope shift after a fall. I now run a 1 piece qd scope mount from ERATAC on a rail on my mtn bolt gun. It adds weight I don't want, but it is a tank and, if I fall, I can take the scope off and switch to irons or secondary optics to stay in the game.

The one piece of bow gear that has failed on me is a drop away. QAD before ever taking it to the field, and a Ripcord after probably 10 years of use developed a sluggish drop. I still got a nice buck despite that rest issue popping up during a hunt, but was maybe a bit lucky. I think moisture must have found its way into the housing.

Ripcord took care of me, but it's a mechanical devise on a mechanical devise, so yea, the possibility of issues multiplies. Nevertheless, I don't worry about it.

Other than that scope, all my bunting failures have been on me.

My uncle had a shotgun shell fail to fire at a nice buck. Sometimes, it's just not your day.
 
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That must have been tough to bear. Sounds like you run nice stuff for everything to hold up.

I missed a nice 8pt due to scope shift after a fall. I now run a 1 piece qd scope mount from ERATAC on a rail on my mtn bolt gun. It adds weight I don't want, but it is a tank and, if I fall, I can take the scope off and switch to irons or secondary optics to stay in the game.

The one piece of bow gear that has failed on me is a drop away. QAD before ever taking it to the field, and a Ripcord after probably 10 years of use developed a sluggish drop. I still got a nice buck despite that rest issue popping up during a hunt, but was maybe a bit lucky. I think moisture must have found its way into the housing.

Ripcord took care of me, but it's a mechanical devise on a mechanical devise, so yea, the possibility of issues multiplies. Nevertheless, I don't worry about it.

Other than that scope, all my bunting failures have been on me.

My uncle had a shotgun shell fail to fire at a nice buck. Sometimes, it's just not your day.
Sometimes the cords strech on those drop away rests and you have to readjust them to be sure. I just saw a trick if you twang the cable a few times and your launcher arm moves, it needs tightening just enough to keep it from moving when you twang it. You don't want to reef on it but just make sure it is tight enough so when you twang or "flib" it, the launcher arm will not move.
 
I worry more about my string getting snagged and fraying than any other part of the compound bow. I’m tough on my bows and carry it through palm hawks and tons of thick thorny hardwoods, marsh grass ect…. I use a whisker biscuit so it’s not a concern. Cams are gonna do what they do, that’s why they have bow techs at the bow shop. As long as my string don’t break and shatter my carbon bow the rest is not a concern
 
Why a whisker biscuit? What’s wrong with your current rest?
I got the same question from the pro shop and for me, KISS. Yes, a drop-away increases accuracy but I'm looking for MODH (minute of deer heart). For that, one less thing to worry about the better. I also like how it completely holds your arrow compared to the drop-away forks which can allow the arrow to move slightly.

Back to the OP, I'm like you until the first scratch. Like my first Jeep, I babied it until the first door scratch. After that, "screw it, I bought it to do a job". There is however a difference between use and abuse.
 
I got the same question from the pro shop and for me, KISS. Yes, a drop-away increases accuracy but I'm looking for MODH (minute of deer heart). For that, one less thing to worry about the better. I also like how it completely holds your arrow compared to the drop-away forks which can allow the arrow to move slightly.

Back to the OP, I'm like you until the first scratch. Like my first Jeep, I babied it until the first door scratch. After that, "screw it, I bought it to do a job". There is however a difference between use and abuse.
As hard as I can be on things, I agree completely
 
Its almost what value YOU place on an item subconsciously or consciously. I am very careful with my main bow, but my back up has been put to the test and work just as fine. But I feel like part of it is my mind always reminding me 'this cost you $400!' or 'you got this on ebay for $80'. I feel people would do the same with a traditional bow. It would hurt less scratching up a Samick Sage then a 50 year old Bear I assume, both are tools and get the job done. But one should inherently get treated better based on value, at least subconsciously to most people.

But then again, when my daughter scratch her knee running, I ACE bandage it and use a whole box of first aid kit, tell her to go lay down while I'll bring her cookies and milk. BUT when my son busted his mouth into the GriGri rappelling because he try to go down too fast, I told him to walk it off. Not saying I have a favorite or one is more valuable then the other, totally not saying that at all......
 
Its almost what value YOU place on an item subconsciously or consciously. I am very careful with my main bow, but my back up has been put to the test and work just as fine. But I feel like part of it is my mind always reminding me 'this cost you $400!' or 'you got this on ebay for $80'. I feel people would do the same with a traditional bow. It would hurt less scratching up a Samick Sage then a 50 year old Bear I assume, both are tools and get the job done. But one should inherently get treated better based on value, at least subconsciously to most people.

But then again, when my daughter scratch her knee running, I ACE bandage it and use a whole box of first aid kit, tell her to go lay down while I'll bring her cookies and milk. BUT when my son busted his mouth into the GriGri rappelling because he try to go down too fast, I told him to walk it off. Not saying I have a favorite or one is more valuable then the other, totally not saying that at all......
My dad always asked me does it hurt? I say yea.. he says good maybe next time you’ll be smarter. Ever since I fell out of a wooden ladder stand when I was young, that was his go to line.
Now I have two kids, I tell them the same thing. Like if you’re gonna be dumb you better be tough (that goes for my 9y/o son and my 13 y/o daughter- can’t have her being too soft)
 
Its almost what value YOU place on an item subconsciously or consciously. I am very careful with my main bow, but my back up has been put to the test and work just as fine. But I feel like part of it is my mind always reminding me 'this cost you $400!' or 'you got this on ebay for $80'. I feel people would do the same with a traditional bow. It would hurt less scratching up a Samick Sage then a 50 year old Bear I assume, both are tools and get the job done. But one should inherently get treated better based on value, at least subconsciously to most people.

But then again, when my daughter scratch her knee running, I ACE bandage it and use a whole box of first aid kit, tell her to go lay down while I'll bring her cookies and milk. BUT when my son busted his mouth into the GriGri rappelling because he try to go down too fast, I told him to walk it off. Not saying I have a favorite or one is more valuable then the other, totally not saying that at all......
Isn't that funny how we assign those roles to our kids? I've three daughters and besides the colors of things they like, they seem to like doing about everything a boy will do. I was so proud of my middle daughter this year she ran modified track and the coach asked her if she'd do hurdles. She did them and on one of her first races she was coming in second in the 200M hurdles and on the very last hurdle she caught it with her rear foot and down she went. I was mortified.... but she got right back up and said I"m ok and kept running to finish the race. She was last in that race but first in toughness. IT told me, things will be ok. Stop worrying all the time. I think we have to find a happy medium with our gear too. I like the simplicity of the WB rests but I feel like I should switch to feathers if I went to them. I like the zingers and they seem too be too stiff for a WB style rest. I did shoot my heavy arrows with a NAP full capture rest a few times and everything seemed to hold up fine.
 
Isn't that funny how we assign those roles to our kids? I've three daughters and besides the colors of things they like, they seem to like doing about everything a boy will do. I was so proud of my middle daughter this year she ran modified track and the coach asked her if she'd do hurdles. She did them and on one of her first races she was coming in second in the 200M hurdles and on the very last hurdle she caught it with her rear foot and down she went. I was mortified.... but she got right back up and said I"m ok and kept running to finish the race. She was last in that race but first in toughness. IT told me, things will be ok. Stop worrying all the time. I think we have to find a happy medium with our gear too. I like the simplicity of the WB rests but I feel like I should switch to feathers if I went to them. I like the zingers and they seem too be too stiff for a WB style rest. I did shoot my heavy arrows with a NAP full capture rest a few times and everything seemed to hold up fine.

Yeah, everything will be fine. I try to treat all my kids the same way. It's hard sometime to tell myself that its not because they are girls or boys, its the fact that my son is 7 and my girls are 3,2,1. He's at the age where I feel he comprehend why things failed or actually remember lessons from failure. Wife and I argue a lot because she think I'm treating them differently based on gender, that's I'm harder on my son. To be honest, maybe? I might be doing it so subconsciously that I'm denying it to myself. I just feel that I am treating them differently based on age. I don't see the logic of being just as hard on by girls as I am on my son because he is a smart boy who can actually understand reason when I explain to him why he failed at certain things, or that I expect certain things from him that I dont currently expect from the girls. My 3 year old STILL fall all the time wearing mommy's fancy shoes that are too big for her, no matter how many time we tell her this.

Oh yeah bows, my expectation from a hunting bow is accuracy to 30ish yards with some ruggedness in it. So I wouldn't worry about babying it.
 
I was hunting with a guy who not only shot but who made longbows as his main source of income. Cool dude, but we spent the weekend giving each other the typical "bent stick vs training wheels" crap talk in fun.

He were hunting by boat and at one point he went to hop ashore and tossed his longbow and pack on the bank and looked at me to say, "Can't do that with your bow, can you?"

Sure I can. I yeeted that puppy right next to his!

Bows (and crossbows) are tougher than people give them credit for. I generally just loc tite all the screws on the rest, sight, and cam and roll with it. I don't usually intentionally abuse one, but I don't baby them either.

Of course, I do scratch witness marks into parts that could move and I regularly check the timing marks and the lean of the cams. Takes less than 30 seconds to give a bow a quick lookover to make sure everything is hunky dory before a hunt
 
Thanks for helping me through this yall. Think I'll go loctite all the bolts, scratch witness marks into the riser, and toss this puppy off the deck two or three times. :tearsofjoy:

Seriously though, I appreciate the reminder that these are tools. It's a very centering idea.
 
An alternative to loc tite is simple bow string wax on your threaded parts. I've never liked the melding of steel and aluminum where oxidation will occur and just as I do with my broadheads and field tips into my arrow inserts, I also put a dab of Bohning's bow string wax on all of the threaded bolts that go into my bow, sight screws, quiver screws, stabilizer bolt etc. Keeps the threads tight but doesn't lock them up. If you're going to use loctite be sure to use the blue stuff that breaks away. Also, with the wax, you can snug tight things up and it will stay together well without having to reef on the threads. Steel screws into softer aluminum risers always should be just a bit tighter than snug. You can easily strip the threads in your riser if you really reef it down. Finally, another great reason to shoot a heavier arrow as well. More of the bow's potential or stored energy will go into that heavier arrow setup instead of throughout the limbs, riser and cables/strings of your bow. Things will loosen up less and rattle less.
 
Thanks for helping me through this yall. Think I'll go loctite all the bolts, scratch witness marks into the riser, and toss this puppy off the deck two or three times. :tearsofjoy:

Seriously though, I appreciate the reminder that these are tools. It's a very centering idea.
I do loctite or rocksett my bolts, I also put small marks with a paint pen at my sight and drop away settings so I can see if they’ve moved.
 
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