A few years ago, I made the switch from a 34" ATA bow to a 28" ATA. My thoughts were that a more compact bow would better suit my hunting style (backpack, spot-in-stalk, etc.). But after shooting my shorter ATA bow, the Mathews VXR 28, I quickly learned that my accuracy had diminished severely. I thought that over time I'd learn how to control it better, but after a couple years I finally had enough and woke up one random morning and drove to my local bow shop. My mind was set on a Mathews TRX 34, a bow with a 34" ATA and 6.5" brace height. The only problem was that my bow shop didn't have one in stock. They only had a TRX 36" with 60# limbs and a TRX 38 G2 with 70# limbs. I really wanted to go with the 34 due to me thinking a 36 was too long for my hunting style, but I also wanted to shoot as much draw weight as possible. So I gave the 38 a test drive and found that the bow didn't seem as long as it did on paper and therefore, I bought it. It wasn't until I already told the shop owner that I'd take it that I realized that it had a 7" brace height and my stomach immediately sank. I thought I had screwed up as this bow wouldn't be capable of producing enough energy for western big game hunting.
After having it setup and testing the new arrows that I wanted to use, I ran the numbers and found that I had PLENTY of energy to kill anything that calls North America home (+/- 67 ft/lbs). This was a relief, but I still wasn't sold on whether I had made a good decision or not, especially when you drop close to 2 grand on a bare bow. So I just prayed about it and left it in God's hands. A couple of months later Rokslide's Cold Bow Challenge came around and I thought that this was a good opportunity to put this thing to the test. I practiced up and the more I practiced, the more my confidence grew. In a short few weeks, my MER (Maximum Effective Range) went from 60 yards to 100 yards and I'll be real and tell you that I'm by no means what I'd consider a great shot.
Once the Cold Bow Challenge rolled around, I called my MER 100 yards with a 8" vital zone. I went 4 for 5 inside the 8" square and 3 of those were within a "Block" target's 6x7 hexagon and the 1 that was outside the 8” block, only missed by a couple inches. I was very pleased with the results, God had answered my prayers, and feel I now have the ultimate hunting bow. Now, the only thing left to do is to actually put an animal down with it. I'll follow up on this thread after the upcoming season and give ya'll my feed back.
After having it setup and testing the new arrows that I wanted to use, I ran the numbers and found that I had PLENTY of energy to kill anything that calls North America home (+/- 67 ft/lbs). This was a relief, but I still wasn't sold on whether I had made a good decision or not, especially when you drop close to 2 grand on a bare bow. So I just prayed about it and left it in God's hands. A couple of months later Rokslide's Cold Bow Challenge came around and I thought that this was a good opportunity to put this thing to the test. I practiced up and the more I practiced, the more my confidence grew. In a short few weeks, my MER (Maximum Effective Range) went from 60 yards to 100 yards and I'll be real and tell you that I'm by no means what I'd consider a great shot.
Once the Cold Bow Challenge rolled around, I called my MER 100 yards with a 8" vital zone. I went 4 for 5 inside the 8" square and 3 of those were within a "Block" target's 6x7 hexagon and the 1 that was outside the 8” block, only missed by a couple inches. I was very pleased with the results, God had answered my prayers, and feel I now have the ultimate hunting bow. Now, the only thing left to do is to actually put an animal down with it. I'll follow up on this thread after the upcoming season and give ya'll my feed back.
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