# Questions about shooting a "men's" bow



## pottergreg (Mar 20, 2015)

No problem at all. The Mathews bow will be a little heavier than a "Woman's " bow, but it is a great bow, heavier bows are more accurate,Great idea. Look on AT classifieds for a set of 50 pound limbs, someone might trade you for your limbs. My wife shoots a Hoyt Carbon Spyder Turbo which is not marketed as a women's bow, Hoyt makes great bows for all sizes, her draw length is only 25" so she has less options than you. I am guessing your draw length is around 28". 45 pounds is plenty to shoot awesome speeds with the right arrows for hunting and 3D. Look for something like Gold Tip ultralight or Velocity arrows and you will get excellent speed for 3D. There really is no difference unless you get into pink paint lol. PS I can no longer beat her at 3D lol, have fun and enjoy!


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## bowtech2006 (Apr 1, 2006)

My wife shoots mostly "men" bows. She's a 27" draw so they all pretty much fit her. She has had, general, admiral, d350, cpxl360 franken, elite spirit and Eva shocky. 

She hated the draw cycle of her 2016 elite spirit compared to her current cpxl360 and Eva bow. She will be shooting the Eva this year tho. She says the performance setting on Eva bow is better then the spirit and the Eva will shoot faster at 42lbs then the spirit did at 51 lbs same arrow. 

So go for it with the chill and shoot all the bows you can while saving up


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Thanks so much for the tips, info and reassurance, guys! I am taking notes. My draw length seems to be about 27" when I do the 'wingspan divided by 2.5' equation, so I'm happy about a bigger bow now especially as I look at some recent pictures where I'm shooting with a bent elbow with my little beginner bow. No good.

Great to know not everyone is crazy about the Elite Spirit, while loving the Eva Shockey instead...I might have to try the latter eventually as well!


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## chiefjason (Mar 22, 2016)

Yeah, try both if you can. My daughter shot the Shockey, Carbon Rose, and Spirit head to head. She liked the draw cycle of the spirit better but she was at 40 lbs. The Shockey is faster with a more aggressive came. The Spirit is a bit slower, less aggressive, but she can shoot the lights out with it. Went from 5-6 in Women's bowhunter 3D to 2nd places with a win in the mix. She's 14 too. She loves it. But if you can deal with a more aggressive cam you will get more speed.


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## lilpooh31 (Nov 15, 2013)

If you like the way the Chill R feels shoot it! I shoot a Hoyt Faktor (not marketed as a women's bow). You don't have a short draw length, you are not as limited. Go shoot as many bows as you can before you decide.


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## turkeygirl (Aug 13, 2006)

I shoot a Mathews Halon, 26" DL, 52 lbs-ish. Never shot a women's specific bow. I just shoot what fits and feels good.


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Thanks all! Really starting to look forward to shooting some different bows and not feeling limited to just a few models. Turkeygirl, great to hear you've got a Halon and it's treating you well...for some reason the men's Mathews bows look scary to me but I'm about to put my big girl pants on and go try them out here


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## Witchy1 (Jul 10, 2006)

Go for it! With your draw length, you have tons of options!


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## Jdez (Jan 16, 2015)

turkeygirl said:


> Never shot a women's specific bow. I just shoot what fits and feels good.


Where is the like button? Do we have a like button here? Yes! Shoot whatever fits and feel right, not just whatever you are told you should like. Amen Turkeygirl.


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## goofy2788 (Aug 14, 2005)

Ok first a foremost let a man chime in on this. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MAN OR WOMEN'S BOW!!! With that said if you can get the bow to fit you, it's your bow. Doesn't matter make or model. My wife and I currently (and have for at least 5 years) shoot the same make and model bow. The only difference is I'm an inch and a half longer draw and pull 7lbs more then her. Never let anyone tell you a bow isn't made for a woman, it may not be made in an individuals draw length or a poundage they can't pull but a bow has not and never will be designed to be shot by a specific gender. 

Set that Chill R up and have fun with it.


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## bow up (Sep 2, 2010)

As stated above I feel there is no such thing as a "ladies" or "man" specific bow. If you find a bow that YOU like in your specs by all means shoot that bow. I'm with Turkeygirl, I shoot a Halon now because "I" like the bow. The ChillR is a great bow if that's what you want. Good luck and let us know what you decide.


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Thanks so much guys, we sold my beginner bow quickly, are getting new limbs for the Chill R and it should be all set up and ready next week! I'm really excited! Doing my push-ups and weights in the meantime so this bigger bow doesn't get the better of me, lol.


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## XForce Girl (Feb 14, 2008)

Don't underestimate yourself. 
You'll probably find that a heavier bow will hold so much better and you'll probably shoot better too. For me a heavier bow causes me to engage my back muscles more, resulting in a much steadier hold. 
Some put too much emphasis on the physical weight of the bow, when you use the right from muscles you won't even notice the extra weight.


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## Ringlight (May 5, 2015)

Don't think about bows in terms of sex. If a bow fits you, you can draw it to anchor, hold and release smoothly, it's your bow. If possible, get one with replaceable limbs so you can change up or down as best suits your style of archery.
Good luck.


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah that's kind of why I put "men's" in quotation marks because I've been thinking "well really, how different can it be other than bow weight/height/slapping some pink on it?" I don't have to worry THAT much about weight/height because I'm fairly tall and...well...let's just say I like my meat and potatoes. A stiff wind isn't going to blow me away. Also I'm not crazy about having a bunch of pink doodles on my bow so that's not a feature I was looking for.

Since I'm going with my hubby's old Chill R, we went ahead and decided to also get the 85% rock mods for it since we're switching out limbs anyway. One thing I do know is that I want a solid back wall, and I hear the rock mods help with both that and the holding weight. It just needs to hurry up and be done so I can try it!


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## loveha (Mar 11, 2014)

No such thing as a man bow. Just bows made to look pretty for women. Yes some the draw curves are a little softer on some of them. Regardless of that, if a female finds another bow comfortable to shoot and fits them, then good for them.
So I say if the bow can get changed to something you can pull and a DL that fits, go with it.


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## CASBOWCHICK (Jun 4, 2013)

Be sure to check out the Ben Pearson X-Out and also the Xpedition Archery line-up of bows, and also the Moxie Angel and Moxie Fearce.


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## murphytk (Oct 23, 2013)

I have a Elite spirit I will trade you for your chill r


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

I honestly feel the only difference between so called men's and women's bows is color. Bows have a wide range of draw weights and lengths available. I know some very short draw men who can't pull more than 50 pounds due to injuries.

I used to use the Chill R as my go to hunting bow. I loved that bow. I sold it to my best friend, also a woman, who has a 26 draw and we both were pulling 54 pounds on it.

Regardless of the bow you choose, make sure it FITS you - length and weight.


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Thanks Dusty! Loving feedback from a woman who's shot the Chill R, since that's what I'm going with after trying out several different ones. I'm still waiting on the correct limbs and the rock mods to come from Mathews...so impatient right now because I'm dying to get shooting. I'll post a picture when it's all set up!


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

Yeah, definitely put the rock mods on it. I shot mine without the rock mods, but my friend wanted those so we added them. I only sold mine because she really wanted it and I could replace it with the Chill X. She's been shooting 3D with it and plans to hunt with it this fall. She's been winning women's bow hunter class and will win the SOY for Texas with it. You will really like that bow. Smooth, light, fast, and most important - deadly accurate.

----
Funny part - I have a 28" DL and I'm 5'6" tall. She's 5'3" tall and has a 26.5" draw. Her husband is 6'2" tall and has a 27" draw. I call him TRex. He struggles to pull her Chill R.


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## muddypinkboots (Sep 14, 2012)

Just wanted to say thanks to all for the input...we finally picked up my Chill R last night and I'm so happy! Very impressed by how much smoother it is than my old bow and it actually has the oomph to make good groups at 40 yards (LOL I shouldn't be surprised by that but my old bow was so sad). Couldn't believe how easy it was to pull 40 lbs, actually too easy, so we'll be turning it up soon. Just a few weeks to get used to it before we go up north for a Rinehart shoot hubby and I love to do together.

There's not much on the bow right now, couple of Trophy Ridge leftovers for the rest and sight temporarily, but I'll be adding a stabilizer and other stuff as I get used to the bow.









So thanks again for all the advice, I really appreciate it!


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## huntaddict70 (Feb 25, 2016)

muddypinkboots said:


> Just wanted to say thanks to all for the input...we finally picked up my Chill R last night and I'm so happy! Very impressed by how much smoother it is than my old bow and it actually has the oomph to make good groups at 40 yards (LOL I shouldn't be surprised by that but my old bow was so sad). Couldn't believe how easy it was to pull 40 lbs, actually too easy, so we'll be turning it up soon. Just a few weeks to get used to it before we go up north for a Rinehart shoot hubby and I love to do together.
> 
> There's not much on the bow right now, couple of Trophy Ridge leftovers for the rest and sight temporarily, but I'll be adding a stabilizer and other stuff as I get used to the bow.
> 
> ...


Very nice bow and great read. I read everything and was fun to read start to finish product. Sounds like you and your husband have a great time together with the bow shooting. Keep shooting straight and never forget how blessed yell are. Good luck


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## Sheila (Mar 7, 2016)

You'll be fine with it. My Bows have been a Hoyt ultra Elite 45lbs, Elite Pure 50lbs, Pearson Marksman50lbs, C4 60lb, none where "womens bows". I started around 45-50 lb now I'm pulling 58. My draw as is 27 1/2. You'll build up the more you shoot. And the poundage is the only difference between bows, besides color. The only reason they make the distinction, I think, is for selling purposes. Actually it was hard to find a womens bow long enough for me. So like I said you'll be fine.


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## bow up (Sep 2, 2010)

muddypinkboots said:


> Just wanted to say thanks to all for the input...we finally picked up my Chill R last night and I'm so happy! Very impressed by how much smoother it is than my old bow and it actually has the oomph to make good groups at 40 yards (LOL I shouldn't be surprised by that but my old bow was so sad). Couldn't believe how easy it was to pull 40 lbs, actually too easy, so we'll be turning it up soon. Just a few weeks to get used to it before we go up north for a Rinehart shoot hubby and I love to do together.
> 
> There's not much on the bow right now, couple of Trophy Ridge leftovers for the rest and sight temporarily, but I'll be adding a stabilizer and other stuff as I get used to the bow.
> 
> ...



It is a great bow; glad you have it set up the way you want. Go enjoy it


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