Multiple bows?

[Bowhunter50]

I have a primary bow and my old bow that I kept as a back up to keep in the truck in case something bad happens to my primary. I shoot my back up every now and then to make sure I’m somewhat proficient with it.

 

[butcherboy]

1 for everything which is practicing for hunting season and then hunting season. 3d shoots count as practicing for hunting season.

 

[rideold]

I'm in the 2 bow crowd with the second being the older bow for a backup. I shoot my main bow (V3) the most and the backup (Triax) enough to keep familiar. Different sights between the bows and that seems to be the biggest hurdle for me. I don't like to muck around too much with the bows and spend my time working on my form.

 

[2Stamp]

I usually have 1-2 compounds. And the past few years a few trad bows. Just picked up a new compound (Mach 30). Working as an archery tech the past 5 years it's too temping to get a new bow every year.
I usually favor the new bow in the house more than the old one. But I float between compound one day and trad the next.

 

[Zac]

I tried to having two once and it screwed me. I work around 60 hours a week, and there just wasn't time to get both of them going. I ended up with a less than ideal setup. Of course that was the year that I had the biggest public land muley I have ever seen at 40 yards.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

I shot 1 compound bow for 7 years... then needed to tinker. Maybe a mid-life crisis? Now I have 3 compounds and 5 recurves... working on selling a few to re-simplify.

 

[ddowning]

If you are focused on shooting solely for hunting, you should shoot 1 bow. Set it up the way you will hunt. If you have time to shoot a lot, set up a second bow exactly the same, but at a lighter draw weight that you can shoot more arrows through.

If you just like archery, you will shoot a lot and can probably pick up anything and shoot it. You will probably have an indoor bow, a field bow, a 3d bow, a hunting bow, and maybe a backup to one or all of those.

Shooting one set-up will make you the most familiar with that, but pumping out 100+ arrows a day 6 to 7 days a week with an 80+# DW (or even 70# depending on your strength) is going to wear on some things (joints.)

 

[jimh406]

Unless you have zero target panic or shooting issues, shooting multiple bows and making changes is a hindrance. It's hard to keep good control if you aren't sure your bow is doing what you expect. Multiple bows when you aren't sure about the setup can cause you to anticipate the shot ie target panic.

That being said, when I shot competitively at a national level, I always had at least two target bows and at least two 3 D bows. Granted, I was sponsored, and literally could build a bow, tune it, and win the local 3D tournaments on the weekend.

That being said, I think everyone needs a backup bow, release, arrows, sights, etc no matter if you hunt, shoot targets, or shoot 3D. They don't have to be identical, but something that you have confidence in would be very helpful if you have an unexpected failure/breakage, or just to confirm it's the bow and not you.

 

[Decker]

I shoot 4 different bows. Biggest thing is having grip consistency. So three of my bows are from the same brand. Two are exactly the same and the third is basically same grip. I have a bow set up for whitetail/turkey, western big game, and then target shooting/3d. The last bow is a back up bow. I shoot them all very consistently. The one I do get the most variations is the 4th bow, The back up bow. This is not of the same brand as the other 3.
The whitetail bow and my western bow are set up exactly the same rest, sights, and stabilizers. Everything is the same but the arrows. So when I switch it’s not a change. I usually take my both bows with me to have a back up bow when traveling. If something happens I can just grab the other and go.

You can shoot multiple bow. Your never gonna be a consistent as the bow you shoot most often. The more factors your eliminate the less variance you will have between them.

 

[Drswoll69]

How many of you guys shoot multiple bows? I shoot and tinker a lot. Spent all winter shooting indoor and tweaking my Reckoning 35 target bow. Got to where I was able to shoot a 300/45x 5 spot BHFS and average high 290’s. Transitioned to our local 3d events with the same bow and started playing with vtac-23’s and x cutter arrows. Also, when I started shooting indoor with a thumb button I set my draw at 30” from 29-1/2” and it made a huge difference in pin float. 2024 Cold Bow Challenge comes and I break out the Solution and decide to go from index to thumb button, 29-1/2” to 30” draw and change arrows from gold tip hunter pro 300’s at 490gr to Victory RIP TKO 250’s at 445gr the week before the challenge. Got an ok broadhead tune done and did the challenge. At the same time I got the recurve out to knock the rust off that for the challenge. I am constantly tinkering and testing things trying to improve. Anyone else constantly changing their set up and tweaking things? Not sure where I was going with this. The CBC got me wondering if shooting multiple bows helps or hurts in the long run.

Hunting set up and 3D set up

 

[Beendare]

The old saying applies here….Beware the man with one gun

My shooting goes way downhill when I’m going back and forth from my recurve, compound and carp bow- all a little bit different.

 

[NXTZ]

I sold my backup/secondary bow this fall, it was too different from my primary bow, and going back and forth just felt like chasing my tail. A couple months ago, my primary/only bow tried to self destruct at a 3D shoot-I decided that 1 bow wasn’t gonna cut it, and took the opportunity to upgrade. I got the old bow fixed up, and am fortunate enough to have multiple accessories so I’ll have that set up with nearly identical sights.
Hope I won’t need it this fall, but glad I have a backup.