I think you all will understand and sympathize with me here.
I have a little bass pond on my ranch stocked with bass, catfish, and perch as well as half a dozen grass carp. Two or three of the grass carp weigh around 20 lbs and probably need to be removed and replaced with younger, smaller fish. I decided that it would be wimpy of me to just get a 22 or 17 or 223 or whatever and shoot them. It wouldn't really be sporting and they HAVE been good fish for several years so i decided to buy a bow fishing kit and shoot with an arrow. But I don't have a bow, and I decided I couldn't use a compound bow since that would be too unsporting as well. I decided I had to have a recurve bow to make it real fair because 1) I don't have a recurve bow and 2) it seemed like it would be fun to shoot them with a bow. I started this project about the first of May/end of April and finally got a bow on the way yesterday. I know, I've been right on it.
So, after deciding I needed this recurve bow, I went to Gander Mountain in Amarillo to buy a bow and fishing kit for it. I'd need some other arrows and stuff since I wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn with any bow, but I wasn't worried too much about that. I mean, c'mon! This is an adventure, right? Anyway, Gander didn't have squat in the recurve area so I just started hunting online, but most of the cheaper rigs I could find new were about $150 give or take a bit. I was sort of surprised and decided I didn't really wanna blow that kind of money on a bow and reel I'll likely only use to kill two or three fish. Of course I started hitting Ebay hunting for a good deal on a used bow. Oh yeah. Did I tell you I'm a lefty and left eye dominant but have shot every bow, rifle, pistol, and shotgun right handed since the day I was born? Yeah, I decided to add another level of difficulty. Add to that, that I'm not a real strong guy and was a little worried that I would only be able to pull back about a 40-45 lb bow at first. Lefty 45 lb bows for cheap ain't real common. Well, they're not uncommon, but I also wanted something somewhat new. I didn't want a 50 year old bow that might explode on me the first time I drew it back. So I searched and hunted ebay most of the summer.
Meanwhile, I also start casually reading forums on traditional hunting and looking at some high end custom bows. I sort of became fascinated with them. I mean, these are real works of art in form and function. They're beautiful. I wanted one, but they can cost over $1000 for JUST THE BOW and I was chicken to spend $150 for a for a bow, reel, and arrow. Anyway, the obsession escalated.
Quick note. I quit adding to my gun collection several years ago. I can hunt anywhere in the world short of Africa with the arsenal I currently have. It takes over an hour to load every magazine for just my 1911's. I have at least 6 shot guns. What I do now is if I want to buy a gun, I have to sell a gun. Usually what I end up doing is keeping the firearm in the same caliber but buying a significantly nicer weapons and optics. Example: I sold a Colt Officers 45ACP 1911 and bought a custom hand made D & L Sports 1911. $650 pistol to a $4000+ pistol. I didn't really need to but I wanted too and fortunately I am able to occationally afford a splurge like that. So what does this have to do with a bow? Well, you can probably guess what I did after I saw these custom hand made bows.
So yesturday I ordered a left handed Robertson Stykbows 43 lb Fatal Styk Z, glove, arrows, and arm brace. Total cost? $1400+ and I still don't have a stinking fishing reel for it.
I have a little bass pond on my ranch stocked with bass, catfish, and perch as well as half a dozen grass carp. Two or three of the grass carp weigh around 20 lbs and probably need to be removed and replaced with younger, smaller fish. I decided that it would be wimpy of me to just get a 22 or 17 or 223 or whatever and shoot them. It wouldn't really be sporting and they HAVE been good fish for several years so i decided to buy a bow fishing kit and shoot with an arrow. But I don't have a bow, and I decided I couldn't use a compound bow since that would be too unsporting as well. I decided I had to have a recurve bow to make it real fair because 1) I don't have a recurve bow and 2) it seemed like it would be fun to shoot them with a bow. I started this project about the first of May/end of April and finally got a bow on the way yesterday. I know, I've been right on it.
So, after deciding I needed this recurve bow, I went to Gander Mountain in Amarillo to buy a bow and fishing kit for it. I'd need some other arrows and stuff since I wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn with any bow, but I wasn't worried too much about that. I mean, c'mon! This is an adventure, right? Anyway, Gander didn't have squat in the recurve area so I just started hunting online, but most of the cheaper rigs I could find new were about $150 give or take a bit. I was sort of surprised and decided I didn't really wanna blow that kind of money on a bow and reel I'll likely only use to kill two or three fish. Of course I started hitting Ebay hunting for a good deal on a used bow. Oh yeah. Did I tell you I'm a lefty and left eye dominant but have shot every bow, rifle, pistol, and shotgun right handed since the day I was born? Yeah, I decided to add another level of difficulty. Add to that, that I'm not a real strong guy and was a little worried that I would only be able to pull back about a 40-45 lb bow at first. Lefty 45 lb bows for cheap ain't real common. Well, they're not uncommon, but I also wanted something somewhat new. I didn't want a 50 year old bow that might explode on me the first time I drew it back. So I searched and hunted ebay most of the summer.
Meanwhile, I also start casually reading forums on traditional hunting and looking at some high end custom bows. I sort of became fascinated with them. I mean, these are real works of art in form and function. They're beautiful. I wanted one, but they can cost over $1000 for JUST THE BOW and I was chicken to spend $150 for a for a bow, reel, and arrow. Anyway, the obsession escalated.
Quick note. I quit adding to my gun collection several years ago. I can hunt anywhere in the world short of Africa with the arsenal I currently have. It takes over an hour to load every magazine for just my 1911's. I have at least 6 shot guns. What I do now is if I want to buy a gun, I have to sell a gun. Usually what I end up doing is keeping the firearm in the same caliber but buying a significantly nicer weapons and optics. Example: I sold a Colt Officers 45ACP 1911 and bought a custom hand made D & L Sports 1911. $650 pistol to a $4000+ pistol. I didn't really need to but I wanted too and fortunately I am able to occationally afford a splurge like that. So what does this have to do with a bow? Well, you can probably guess what I did after I saw these custom hand made bows.
So yesturday I ordered a left handed Robertson Stykbows 43 lb Fatal Styk Z, glove, arrows, and arm brace. Total cost? $1400+ and I still don't have a stinking fishing reel for it.
