ricky racer
Well-Known Member
Maybe I'm just getting lazy in my old age. I used to enjoy carrying my traditional bows with me as I walked out to my hunting locations. It felt like a feather in my hands and the graceful wood handle was warm to the touch, but alas due to some shoulder issues that come with older age, last year I switched to a compound bow. I'm really happy with the compound, it shoots good but it feels like I'm carrying a brick with me as I head to the woods to hunt.
Last year, my first year in 30 years of hunting with a compound bow, I got kind of a rude awakening carrying that bow out. I purchased a sling to carry the weight of the bow over my shoulder and that worked good until I had my backpack on which I wear every time I hunt. With the backpack on I could never find a comfortable way to sing the bow and wear the backpack. I knew there had to be a better way that would no add to the weight of the bow and not be another piece of gear I need to contend with when I get to my stand.
What I came up with has worked really well for me, is really simple to make and adds nearly no weight to the bow and carries the bows weight on the backpack shoulder straps where it's hardly noticed at all. I'm using a 3/4" wide piece of nylon webbing with a loop at one end of the strap and a male side release buckle at the other end. On the bow I attached a female side release buckle to a short piece of the same 3/4" webbing to receive the male buckle end. To secure it to the bow I folded over the strap making it a double thickness and simply heated up a nail and melted a hole through the webbing just big enough to slip a #10-24 truss head screw through. Just above the bow shelf was an unused tapped hole for mounting the bow sights so I attached the strap and buckle to it. The strap that attaches to the backpack straps is girth hitched around the backpack shoulder straps. The bow hangs with a slight bias with the lower half of the bow tilted down at about a 30 degree angle. The buckle doesn't come close to interfering with my arrows and makes no noise when shooting. When I get to my hunting location, all I have to do is pinch the side release buckle and the bow pops free.
When carrying the bow I simply lift the bow by the handle enough to level it out which is probably just a few ounces of felt weight. It's not a big deal to do besides I'd need to hold the bow anyway to keep it from swinging around when walking. This really makes carrying the bow a breeze and I don't even notice the weight of the bow since the bulk of its weight is suspended from my backpack through the shoulder straps. The pictures I took aren't the greatest but it gives you some idea of what I've got going on. Maybe this would be something that would work for you guys as well.
Last year, my first year in 30 years of hunting with a compound bow, I got kind of a rude awakening carrying that bow out. I purchased a sling to carry the weight of the bow over my shoulder and that worked good until I had my backpack on which I wear every time I hunt. With the backpack on I could never find a comfortable way to sing the bow and wear the backpack. I knew there had to be a better way that would no add to the weight of the bow and not be another piece of gear I need to contend with when I get to my stand.
What I came up with has worked really well for me, is really simple to make and adds nearly no weight to the bow and carries the bows weight on the backpack shoulder straps where it's hardly noticed at all. I'm using a 3/4" wide piece of nylon webbing with a loop at one end of the strap and a male side release buckle at the other end. On the bow I attached a female side release buckle to a short piece of the same 3/4" webbing to receive the male buckle end. To secure it to the bow I folded over the strap making it a double thickness and simply heated up a nail and melted a hole through the webbing just big enough to slip a #10-24 truss head screw through. Just above the bow shelf was an unused tapped hole for mounting the bow sights so I attached the strap and buckle to it. The strap that attaches to the backpack straps is girth hitched around the backpack shoulder straps. The bow hangs with a slight bias with the lower half of the bow tilted down at about a 30 degree angle. The buckle doesn't come close to interfering with my arrows and makes no noise when shooting. When I get to my hunting location, all I have to do is pinch the side release buckle and the bow pops free.
When carrying the bow I simply lift the bow by the handle enough to level it out which is probably just a few ounces of felt weight. It's not a big deal to do besides I'd need to hold the bow anyway to keep it from swinging around when walking. This really makes carrying the bow a breeze and I don't even notice the weight of the bow since the bulk of its weight is suspended from my backpack through the shoulder straps. The pictures I took aren't the greatest but it gives you some idea of what I've got going on. Maybe this would be something that would work for you guys as well.
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