# Besides longer axle to axle and and a longer brace height, what to look for?



## hunting1 (Jun 11, 2002)

There are many factors most will state such as 40" A2A, 7"+ BH, 65% LO, etc and they are good rules, but it really comes down to what works for you. I have shot a whole bunch and other than 1 bow have always shot fingers. My current bows and favorites are the Mathews Conquest 3 and Hoyt Ultratec. The Hoyt is 75% LO and I can drill tacks on most days. I was suprised and was planning to change mods, but it works. My point is just because it meats the criteria you may not like it. Good luck!


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## big cypress (Jul 31, 2006)

i shoot old bows and have tried several modern bows . ''good'' finger bows i've tried include a merlin supernova and a barnsdale , i didn't care for either although apparently most finger shooters do . i also bought a hoyt protec with cam 1/2 and hated it . i just bought a protec exactly like first except it has wheels instead of cams the difference is astounding . this protec has the best feel of all the bows i've tried . so i like wheels and long a to a , that doesn't mean you will but it's something to consider .


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## bigbob29 (Sep 7, 2009)

i think finding the right bow is a little like a pair of comfortable shoes. Great on yourself but not many people would feel the same. It really is about personal preference and the only way to get that is to try as many bows as you possibly can. The ' right' one should feel just like those shoes , fits just right and comfortable.A 2 A and to a lesser amount brace height are good starting points, as is let off preference, draw lengths and weights and the overall feel of the bow in hand.


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## abaker (Dec 27, 2010)

Unfortunately I am left handed so I can not shoot a lot of bows. I rarely ever see a left handed bow in any shop and most of the bows in shops are short ATA bows anyway. That's why I was wondering if there were things you look for othe than ATA and brace height.


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## Madlaz (Jul 4, 2008)

abaker look in the classifieds under left hand bows lots of bows to choose from just pm the sellers and talk with them


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## damascusdave (Apr 26, 2009)

I was shooting an APA bow at Calgary Archery Centre a while back and shooting it reasonably well off a prong style rest (which is just all wrong for a finger shooter). I got a strange feeling and it made me cant the bow a bit, not only did the arrow not fall of the rest as would be expected, I shot a 10X on the Vegas target I was shooting at twenty yards, right where I was looking. The key for me, shooting anything with fingers, if I want the best accuracy, is to shoot 2 fingers under with a tab. Had I not already bought two other APA bows that week I would have bought that bow, no questions asked.


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

On top of the aforementioned ATA length and brace height, I prefer a deflexed riser that has my hand at least even with the rocker boxes of the limbs or in front of them. I prefer the 65% LO. I prefer wheels for smoothness of draw, but I shoot hard against the wall so valley length is not critical to me. However, with that said, a longer valley is usually inherent to a really smooth wheel and I do like smooth.:teeth:


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## abaker (Dec 27, 2010)

After having to replace my original Browning Accelerator with two different bows, I have not been happy with either of them. I actually considered going to a recurve after buying the second bow because I like shooting fingers and it seemed like the trend was bows becoming shorter. I also like shooting fingers for the simplicity and tradition so why not get even more simple and get a recurve. 

Being left handed, I've never been able to go to a local pro shop which are understandably small and shoot a number of bows (or any for that matter) to see which one I liked. With the large selection of takedown recurves, I can buy a left handed riser and as long as it has ILF limbs, everything else will be the same so maybe it's time to make the switch.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

I think the single cam bows are fine. However the only one I can think of off hand is the Mathews Conquest's I've seen guys shoot lights out with them too. So it boils down to personal preference. Many folks swear by the round wheels. I shot those reasonably well for years and years. I then purchase a pro-tech with the cam and half and shot better with those. A guy told me at Vegas that you will only shoot your best with wheels so I went back to wheels and struggled. My experience has been completely the opposite. When I went back to a cam on the Martin Scepter my scores started to rise again. Frankly I like the hard wall on the Martin Shadow Cat I'm shooting now. So I don't think the valley on a wheel is the panacea a lot of people make it out to be. I'm sure it works OK for some but I would call that anecdotal evidence. So again we're back to how it feels for you. Longer A2A make it easier to release the string when they aren't pinched together. So does the 65% and below let off since more weight on the string tends to pull it out of your fingers more aggressively. My opinion is that if you are pulling with your back muscles and pull through the release then letoff becomes some what less important. Mine is set at 70%. So there personal preference and shooting style makes a big difference.

Mathews Conquest
Hoyt Pro-tech (4000 limbs)
Martin Shadowcat (My preference)
Martin Scepter 

These are all good bows that you will likely not go wrong with. The Conquest and Shadowcat are closer to the modern parallel limb design which in my experience gives you a little less hand shock. Not that that affects accuracy but I find them more enjoyable to shoot when it doesn't feel like it's jumping out of your hand

My 2 cents good luck with your search.


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## dmccullough59 (Aug 13, 2010)

My dad shoots recurves. He wanted to start using a compound for some extra speed and penitration. Any compund that did not have parrallel limbs he could shoot. He liked less let off because it felt more like a recurve. Here is a list of some of the bows he liked.

1 PSE shark
2 PSE money maker
3 Reflex Caribou(if you can find it)
4 I shoot an older hoyt with fingers for bowfishing


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## fingers (May 27, 2002)

Between 1980 and 1990 Hoyt really came through for us finger shooters. The whole thing of speed got in the way due to the 3D circuit. Understanding that, you can look at some of the configurations of bows and wheel/cams to see what produced what scores. The Caribou II(Reflex) is a bow that borrowed on old reliable technology and actually married some of it in an incredibily accurate hunting bow. That wheel was horded by those who were in the know back in the day. Then they brought it out again in the Caribou and it now is recognised by a few for what it really is. There are little improvements to be made that will deliver better performance over that bow, regardless of finish.


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## loneviking (Dec 23, 2010)

Keep an eye out on E-Bay and the local pawn shops for some of the older PSE bows. I'm coming back to archery after about thirty years, grew up shooting a stick bow with fingers. Lucked out and found a PSE Carroll Marauder/Hunter, 40" A2A, 7" brace height and 60-80 lb pull with Vector cams. Really smooth shooting bow and very easy to shoot with fingers. A couple of other things that effect fingers is the type of glove and the string. I'm using a glove with the hair on the fingers and the hair helps hold the string when pulling back, and then allows the string to slide off going forward. String wise, I've found that some string material can have a sticky, rough sort of feel that helps you get a grip on the string when pulling back. For strings like this you'll have to find a custom string maker.


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

loneviking said:


> Keep an eye out on E-Bay and the local pawn shops for some of the older PSE bows. I'm coming back to archery after about thirty years, grew up shooting a stick bow with fingers. Lucked out and found a PSE Carroll Marauder/Hunter, 40" A2A, 7" brace height and 60-80 lb pull with Vector cams. Really smooth shooting bow and very easy to shoot with fingers. A couple of other things that effect fingers is the type of glove and the string. I'm using a glove with the hair on the fingers and the hair helps hold the string when pulling back, and then allows the string to slide off going forward. *String wise, I've found that some string material can have a sticky, rough sort of feel that helps you get a grip on the string when pulling back.* For strings like this you'll have to find a custom string maker.


Not to jack the thread...but,
I have found that one of the new serving materials has made an improved difference in my shooting,read that as an improvement in scores.
The serving in question is "Halo". I used regular ol' monofilament for years and did not think that could be improved upon, well, I was wrong.
The Halo seem a little slicker, maintains its shape(important for a stringwalker) and wears reasonably well. The only question so far about wear seems to be how well or long it will hold up in the nock area. I shoot a great deal...2000-2500 arrows a month, right now it looks like a re-serve about every two months. That might not sound too bad to some, but being the superstitious, set in my ways, not liking to change anything much, that is somewhat traumatic for me. And gosh a'mighty help me if I have to change a string...which happens about twice a year!


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## e-manhunt (Sep 14, 2004)

abaker said:


> Unfortunately I am left handed so I can not shoot a lot of bows. I rarely ever see a left handed bow in any shop and most of the bows in shops are short ATA bows anyway. That's why I was wondering if there were things you look for othe than ATA and brace height.


that is exactly my problem. the best I can do is draw a right handed bow -lefty just to gt a vague idea of how it feels. Otherwise i think the guys here have already hit most of the points on a finger bow.


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## loneviking (Dec 23, 2010)

e-manhunt said:


> that is exactly my problem. the best I can do is draw a right handed bow -lefty just to gt a vague idea of how it feels. Otherwise i think the guys here have already hit most of the points on a finger bow.


I don't see why you can't shoot that right handed bow left handed, especially if you're left eye dominant. I've done it for years. Put the arrow on the left side of the riser and let it fly!


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

loneviking said:


> I don't see why you can't shoot that right handed bow left handed, especially if you're left eye dominant. I've done it for years. Put the arrow on the left side of the riser and let it fly!


You ever tried drawing one Hoyt's right-hand bows left-handed...that bridge gets seriously in the way!


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## Tailhook (Nov 4, 2010)

The right left may work. I was at the local Pawn shop (not good for bows but, great for old guitars) and the young AF Reservist who worked there wanted to show me his bow and I wanted to see if these old muscles could pull it (couldn't). I picked it up and it was a left hande PSE. The owner is right handed, has shot a deer with it, and it serves him well. No one ever told him it was a left handed bow. 
I just picked up a second Browning Xcelerator on EBay. I have a couple of sets of limbs one 50-70 with almost no use though not pretty since they were covered in camotape. I have yet to get to the sticker on the second set (camo paint). If you still have a LH riser, I would be happy to find them a home. I am converting the first riser to ILF. BTW, before moving to non wheel/cam bows, I shot an Oneida LFM, very smooth and nice finger shooter.


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