When most people start shooting archery they usually learn on an old hand-me-down or an entry-level bows. What both of these types have in common is that they are usually round wheel bows. There’s nothing wrong with that in my book. Trust me, you can be just as accurate with a cheap bow as you can with an expensive one. It all comes down to the archer. If you stick with archery long enough though, chances are you’re going to want to upgrade to a bow with all the bells and whistles. This can be a drastic change depending on what you buy. My own upgrade experience was not a pretty one!
I’ve shot a PSE Nova for the past five years with little complaint. The round wheels made it easy to draw, and once I changed the strings and cables to a low-stretch type it was pretty accurate. It had enough power to take down a mule deer last season, and I’ve robin-hooded a fair share of arrows with it.
As faithful as my old bow had been I must admit that I had a wandering eye. When Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year it didn’t take me too long to tell him I wanted a new bow. Faster. Quieter. More powerful. I wanted the latest and the greatest. Lucky for me Santa had an idea what I was going to ask for and had been saving money.
Although I had a particular bow in mind I did want to do some comparison-shopping. I found out rather quickly that my choices were somewhat limited with a 25" draw length. I also found out that the bow manufacturers don’t measure minimum draw length exactly the same. Some of the bows that were advertised to go as low as 25" were still a little too long for me. Several of the bows that did fit me were either round cam or they had a low brace height. Not quite what I was looking for. The bow I finally chose was the Bowtech Justice. When I pulled it back at the archery shop it felt a little funny, but I assumed that it was just because I wasn’t used to it.
Once I got the bow home I found there were some issues I hadn’t expected. Due to the difference in cam design I had to drop my usual draw weight from 55 pounds to 50 pounds. Over the next few days I strained several muscles in my back from pulling the bow back and then letting down in an attempt to set up my exact draw length. Once my muscles healed I took the bow out to the range for the first time. First shot was awkward. Second shot went into space and I bloodied the knuckles on my bow hand. I had creeped forward with my draw hand ever so slightly and the cam jerked my draw arm forward at record speed. Not something you have to worry about on a wheelie. This happened several more times over the next few weeks. It got to the point where I didn’t even want to look at the new bow.
Finally I got tired of seeing the bow sit in the corner and decided to make this bow work for me. The best thing I did was getting rid of the string loop. By shooting directly off the string I was able to lengthen the draw some and gain a tiny bit more valley on the cam. This made it easier to get a nice solid anchor behind my jawbone so I didn’t creep as easy. Once I got past the creeping problem the bow was a whole lot nicer to shoot. Aside from the short valley, the bow does have a solid back wall to draw to, is quiet and with its long brace height is very forgiving. My arrows are flying at 230 fps. That’s an improvement over my old bow at 195 fps.
I had thought that buying a newer, better, improved bow would be so much fun. Unfortunately for me I was unprepared for the difference between a round cam and a speed cam. After a little practice and a few modifications I’m happy with my new bow. In the beginning I wasn’t so sure! If you are thinking about upgrading your bow try as many different models as you can before you buy. Above all don’t wait until the month before hunting season to purchase one. Give yourself plenty of time to work out any issues that may arise from shooting something new.
