[Kennedy]

I have been out of target archery for a long time. Are the short bows and high let-off good for consistant and forgiving performance? Are the good target shooters using a soft cam or type of modified round wheel. I am from the school that says that you need at least 40in. A to A. Does this still hold true. What I need is a crash course on Target Archery!
Thanks... John

 

[kcarcherguy]

Long limbs and long ATA length will get you more brace height. The more brace height, the better if you want a forgiving rig. A mild cam is a good compromise between speed and a wheel, and can serve you well in indoor, field, and 3D.

Here's all you need.....:wink:

 

[NockKnock]

target bows

Good for you, get back in the game. You could get 101 answers to that question, so what you will really get is opinions. so I will simply give you mine.

Generally speaking all bows made these days are of high quality and you would have to go out of your way to find a bad one, as for A-A, I generally advise people to base there A-A on their draw length, for instance if you have a short draw maybe 26-27 inches I would suggest possably an A-A of about 34" and you may go a little shorter if it feels good. A draw length of 29-31 I would suggest 34-37 Inch bows, but if you are a finger release shooter I would suggest at least a 37" bow for a longer draw. As for cams and wheels,I think just about any eccentric these days are extreemly accurate, I have seen Vegas won with a Mathews camo bow, and have had as much success with cam & 1/2 wheels or equivelant as anything else. For a target bow I would just avoid bows with a lot of reflex in the handle and find one with a deflex design which would be slower or a modest reflex which would be reasonbly fast but very accurate.

The days of long A-A is no longer necessary and round wheels for accuracy simply isn't true anymore.

I hope this helps in you search.

 

[nuts&bolts]

I have been out of target archery for a long time. Are the short bows and high let-off good for consistant and forgiving performance? Are the good target shooters using a soft cam or type of modified round wheel. I am from the school that says that you need at least 40in. A to A. Does this still hold true. What I need is a crash course on Target Archery!
Thanks... John

Hello John:

There is a new category of parallel limb bows now.
Long riser with short limbs,
that are practically at 90 degrees to the riser.

You get zero forward jump
and a very generous brace height.

IBO speeds are at 300 fps+

(70 lb draw weight and a 350 grain arrow)

 

[strcpy]

One thing to do is see what the majority of top shooters (not necessarily all pros) are shooting. Notice the word "majority", you can find any single or small group that shoots something strange. Of course, they can get away with things us mere mortal can not, but even then they tend to shoot what is around the "best" combination of factors.

Whatever I say will get an argument (even if 100% of them shot the same bow it would *still* start an argument) - just look around at what they are shooting in the type of archery you are interested and make your own decision. It's hard to go totally wrong in todays market, long/short or hard/soft cams. Nearly all are shooters.

 

[Ausie]

Dave Barnsdale Archery custom bows Dave makes the best and to your specs
Cheers
Peter

 

[metalarcher]

Target:

You want a long ATA and large BH. Typically Hoyt Protec & Elites, Bowtech Old Glory & Cons., Mathews Apex, and there are several Martins that fit this. I cannot remember exactly and others can fill you in better on the Martins.. I do not know about some of the other brands, although I am sure they have great long ata bows as well.

ATA helps more than with just BH. A short bow can have a big BH. ATA provides more stability, less string angle, etc.

Unless you are shooting 3-d and long distances, speed is not that important, BUT, many big ata bows are fast as well… That is why the Bowtech Constitution is getting very popular with 3-d in my area. (Just one example)

Hunting:

The ability to move in the woods, and up on a stand tends to move you to shorter ata bows. Speed is pretty important, for several reasons. Again, shorter ATA bows are designed to have higher speeds right now.

If you do both there are great cross over bows… Bowtech OG, Hoyt Protec with the right limbs… Some of the Martins.. etc.

Now, I am not an expert… and I have not won any major event… I only hunt locally… However, I have read a lot from experts and discussed this with great shooters where I shoot. I have seen the trend to longer ATA bows in my area. I have called Hoyt and Bowtech and posed the question of a short person and a long ATA bow as I was getting a lot of this and that myself.. When asked directly about target shooting: “If a long ATA is good for a man… Doesn’t it also hold for a short person or a woman?” When pressed, they all say that, yes, a long ATA would be better no matter what stature you are. I also know from experience with my daughter, my wife, and myself.. ALL of us shoot more consistently, better spots, with a longer ATA bow… We proved it to ourselves.

So I am a BIG long ATA fan… for target/hunting… I use an Old Glory and a Q2XL, for target I just got a Constitution..

Why then are many short and small stature people pushed to shorter ATA?

1. Draw length.. typically long ata bows have bigger minimum DL’s (Exception, the Cons. goes very low as do some other long ata bows)
2. Longer ata bows, typically come in higher draw weights… (Again, there are exceptions in Hoyt , Martin, etc.)
3. Bow weight: Larger ata bows are typically heavier..

SO, long story short:

You need to weigh all the parameters and decide for your self.. I know my daughter, who wants to shoot competition spots, and is 5’ 7” has just went to a ’05 Old Glory.. We almost put her into a Constitution. The only downside is the lowest draw weight was 40 to 50.. and her last bow was set at 38.

My opinion

 

[niceguy]

In my opinion there are four things that make a good target bow.

Deflex riser
High brace height
Long ATA (38 inches +)
Heavy mass weight and stiff riser.

Regards