# Martin Mountaineer ML-14 Longbow



## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Forgot to mention that I found the Mountaineer listed in Martin's 2004 catalog, so they were made at least until then. I'm thinking the first one I saw would've been around 1995, but I can't be any more specific than that. Does anyone know the actual production years of this bow?


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## Pushbutton2 (Sep 1, 2013)

How do you know it's a Mountaineer?
I've got a Martin it's a 70# longbow.....


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## j.conner (Nov 12, 2009)

I have one of those! Hand shock is (to my taste) pretty bad and 60# is way too much for me. Would love to find one more like 40#. Too bad they do not make them any more.


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Pushbutton2 said:


> How do you know it's a Mountaineer?
> I've got a Martin it's a 70# longbow.....


Good question, because they sure aren't marked as such. Martin longbows appear to be identified with an ML number, which I'm assuming to reference "Martin Longbow." The Mountaineer is identified by the ML-14 seen in the writing on the belly just below the grip, as shown below. I can't call out any of the other model numbers, but I seem to recall their Stick model is an ML-10. Mountaineers went up to 70# but I've never seen one of them. That'd be a real bruiser on both ends!












j.conner said:


> I have one of those! Hand shock is (to my taste) pretty bad and 60# is way too much for me. Would love to find one more like 40#. Too bad they do not make them any more.


They do have a terrible reputation for hand shock. I tend to shoot heavier arrows anyway, and that almost always help to minimize shock. Keeping the brace height up seems to help, as well. My bow must've been brand new like it was listed based on the amount of string stretch I got during yesterday's shoot. It went from 7" yesterday morning to around 6-1/8" when I checked it early today. I twisted the string to get it back to 7" and it seemed to have held after today's trip afield. I shot it 130 times this morning and had a blast, but I've got quite a bit of tuning to do. Took a bundle of mixed arrows along hoping to find something that flew decently and of them all, an Easton 2016 XX75 seemed to be about the most consistent. Unfortunately, this particular arrow was fletched with 3" vanes and I'm sure that didn't help one bit. On the plus side, this arrow was not slapping the strike plate like the 2117's I tried yesterday. I'm anxious to see how the POC arrows perform, but would like to have a good aluminum and carbon option on deck.


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

These came in the mail today and to say they made a significant difference would be quite the understatement. WOW! I only shot about thirty times in the basement (12 yards) but POI was quite a bit right of where I was hitting and the arrows appear to be bending around the shelf nicely. Grouping was much tighter, as well. It will probably be the weekend before I can get these outdoors and at longer ranges, but I have very high expectations.


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## Keeshond (Sep 13, 2016)

I've shot several over the years. Maybe the worst longbow I ever shot. Slow and very bad handshock. Yet some people like this. LOL


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Keeshond said:


> I've shot several over the years. Maybe the worst longbow I ever shot. Slow and very bad handshock. Yet some people like this. LOL


Yeah, I'm a little bit...er..."different" like that...

:lol:


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## Keeshond (Sep 13, 2016)

ghost, not knocking your fun. We like what we like. In the end it's about fun. But, man, you need an intervention. LOL


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Work kept me from doing much shooting this past week, aside from some close range basement stuff in the evenings. I completely blew off going to the range yesterday and went deer hunting instead! The stand I hunted had the opportunity for some longer shots and since there was a chance of rain throughout the day, I took my Hoyt Ultratec. Good thing I did, because it rained heavily throughout the morning and off and on through the afternoon. Feathers would've been a poor choice, had a shot actually presented itself. The deer didn't cooperate but I still had a great hunt. Ever hear an owl snoring? There was one sleeping in a tree about twenty yards behind me and periodically fell into making a sound I can only describe as owl snoring. I enjoyed that immensely. Did hear one very distinct deer grunt in the thicket across the way, but it never showed itself. Here's a random pic from my stand because everyone likes pictures, right?











Anyway, I hit the range just after daybreak this morning. Only saw about fifteen deer grazing along the access road. Where was all this activity yesterday when I could've done something with it?











This is the range at Tom Sawyer Park where I frequently shoot. The target butts are almost completely shot out and numerous emails to parks department hasn't spurred any effort to upgrade them, but that's what we have to work with. 











The importance of properly matching arrows to a particular bow cannot be overstated. The Mountaineer has given me a stark reminder of this fact. Perhaps it's just this bow's design and construction, or maybe things get seriously loud and abrupt up around the sixty pound mark. I don't know. Whatever the case, this bow does not appreciate an ill-fitted arrow and will not hesitate to let you know about it. The very first thing I noticed upon loosing one of the big 23/64" POC arrows this morning was how utterly silent the bow was. Like, spooky silent! I guess that silence wasn't as pronounced shooting in my unfinished basement but outdoors the absence of sound was striking. Today dawned cool and damp, a typical autumn morning in Kentucky, and these conditions may have somehow contributed to the deadening of sound. With improperly spined arrows, the bow was quite loud both in the twang of the string and the crack of arrows striking the riser, but that's all gone now. I could see just a hint of wobble in the fletchings up close but they soon straightened out and sailed flawlessly down range. Grouping was good but as can be expected, got sketchier as range increased. I use paper plates for targets, as consistently landing arrows on one will give a good idea as to one's potential effective range on a whitetail. I was averaging somewhere around 1.5-2 out of three arrows on the plate out to forty yards, but 25 yards seems to be a solid effective hunting range with this setup. That is based on field points, though. I'll be fitting up some broadheads later today and see where that takes me.

Holding sixty pounds at full draw was a serious challenge at first, but I'm already getting used to it. I wasn't expecting it to be this difficult as I shoot up to a 90# warbow (had a 115# but it developed a hinge and eventually broke the lower limb), but the warbows are a whole different animal. I notice that my form is becoming more solid with this bow, as it doesn't seem to be very forgiving of form errors. When I do my part, the Martin is proving more than capable of doing its. These 23/64" arrows are big, and remind me of the livery arrows we shoot from the warbows. After shooting the little carbon broomstraws all summer in 3D tournaments, these shafts feel like small logs in hand! I'm getting really good penetration on the targets, which is no doubt a function of the arrow's mass. As Keeshond pointed out earlier, this is NOT a fast bow but it has no problem throwing these heavy shafts on a good workable trajectory. I'm beginning to see this setup riding along on our elk hunt next fall...


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## Keeshond (Sep 13, 2016)

Nice photos. I like the blue feathered wooden arrows too. Very nice.


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Rose City does make some beautiful arrows, but they're pricey. These would've been about $160 delivered (Hunter Elites), but I scored them off eBay for fifty bucks total. :thumbs_up


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

I mounted four vintage Razorheads, confirmed flight, then set about sharpening them last night. Pretty sure this will do, as I finally had to krazy glue this cut together to stop the bleeding. Scalpel sharp? Check.











Headed out well before daylight this morning to a WMA about forty miles south of the house. I knew of several areas there where deer funnel into natural creek crossings and thought I'd have a sit at one of these. It's quite a crap shoot choosing between these crossings because I've never pinned down any indication of which crossing they'll use on any given. Just pick one and see. This pic shows a dry section of the creek bed on my way out, not where I was actually hunting. Beginning to see a little color in those leaves!











One of the middle crossings features a nicely undercut bank with overhanging brush that I've hidden in before. It makes a shadowy pocket with plenty of clearance for shooting a longbow and is only about ten yards from where the deer cross. I got into place about thirty minutes before legal shooting light, got things situated, and began listening. The forest was mostly quiet and there was only a faint breeze against my face. The minutes dragged by as the mosquitos found areas I'd missed with repellant, but go time finally came! It was great to be back in the woods with a heavy longbow and seeing one of those old Razorheads mounted to a POC shaft did my heart some much-needed good. Compared to a compound, the Mountaineer is light as a feather and a wonderful bow for slipping along creek beds like this or most any type of ground hunting. I saw multiple squirrels, and one chipmunk that came close to running over my boot, but the deer never came. Some mornings are just like that, but maybe it will all come together next time...


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## Pushbutton2 (Sep 1, 2013)




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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Well, I've seen a 70# Mountaineer now! Looks like a beautiful bow, and quite a bit darker than mine. Is that the original finish?

I went to the range this morning and took three bows. The Mountaineer, a 48# Wing Chapparal, and a newly purchased mid-70's Bear Super Kodiak (60#). I fired a hundred shots from the Wing to get warmed up, then two hundred through the new Super K (WOW!!!), and then began shooting the Mountaineer. Going from the Super K right into the Mountaineer was a stunning experience, to say the least. The opportunity to shoot these two bows side by side, both drawing 60#, highlighted the stark difference between the two. Although much slower, the Mountaineer seemed more forgiving of form errors and I seemed to shoot more accurately with the longbow, although I have been working with it quite a bit over the past few weeks. This morning was the first time I've ever shot a Super K, so I was expecting a bit of the ol' learning curve to come into play. I loosed a total of five hundred shots, a hundred from the Wing and two hundred each from the SK and Mountaineer, and am pleased with how my strength is rebuilding. Following are some photos from today's outing...

A nice group at twenty yards:










Opening up a bit at twenty six:










The participants all in a row:


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## Pushbutton2 (Sep 1, 2013)




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## Pushbutton2 (Sep 1, 2013)

ghostdncr said:


> Well, I've seen a 70# Mountaineer now! Looks like a beautiful bow, and quite a bit darker than mine. Is that the original finish?
> 
> I went to the range this morning and took three bows. The Mountaineer, a 48# Wing Chapparal, and a newly purchased mid-70's Bear Super Kodiak (60#). I fired a hundred shots from the Wing to get warmed up, then two hundred through the new Super K (WOW!!!), and then began shooting the Mountaineer. Going from the Super K right into the Mountaineer was a stunning experience, to say the least. The opportunity to shoot these two bows side by side, both drawing 60#, highlighted the stark difference between the two. Although much slower, the Mountaineer seemed more forgiving of form errors and I seemed to shoot more accurately with the longbow, although I have been working with it quite a bit over the past few weeks. This morning was the first time I've ever shot a Super K, so I was expecting a bit of the ol' learning curve to come into play. I loosed a total of five hundred shots, a hundred from the Wing and two hundred each from the SK and Mountaineer, and am pleased with how my strength is rebuilding. Following are some photos from today's outing...
> 
> ...


500 Shots! Wowser
That's an impressive number


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## ghostdncr (Jul 18, 2016)

Pushbutton2 said:


> 500 Shots! Wowser
> That's an impressive number


Yeah, I really like that darker finish! :thumbs_up

While I would never recommend anyone else do it this way, the "powerlifting" method produces good results for me. The real trick seems to be developing an awareness of how one's connective tissue is developing and focus on that, as opposed to looking at just raw muscle strength. Muscle tissue is relatively easy for most people to grow. You overwork it, cause micro tears in the tissue and as it heals, it reinforces itself. Your muscles get bigger and are capable of doing more work, right? Muscles heal quickly, too. A matter of days in the context I'm talking about. Connective tissue injuries seem to take much, much longer and in many cases, will sideline one from archery altogether. I'm sore throughout my upper body this morning, but mildly. It feels like the aftermath of a good day at the gym and nothing a little stretching and some ibuprofen won't take care of.

I have a friend who shoots a 32# Black Widow and has for years. I doubt he could even bring a 50# bow to full draw, but that light weight bow brings him joy. He only wants to stand in the back yard and shoot some arrows at his little foam cube. I get my kicks throwing big, heavy arrows (up to a quarter pound!) at a target 180 yards distant. A lightweight bow isn't gonna cut it on that playing field.

An interesting phenomenon noticed yesterday that I forgot to mention in my earlier post is that the Super K seemed easier to shoot well with a glove, whereas the Martin performed much better when shot with a tab. Any ideas as to what would likely cause that effect? AMO length on the SK is 60" and 68" on the Mountaineer, which is the most obvious variable to me.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

ghostdncr said:


> Forgot to mention that I found the Mountaineer listed in Martin's 2004 catalog, so they were made at least until then. I'm thinking the first one I saw would've been around 1995, but I can't be any more specific than that. Does anyone know the actual production years of this bow?


I've had one of these bows for 20 years. Heavy arrows and heavy string silencers seem to help with the hand shock issues quite effectively. Lighter arrows for me could give me a headache in 15 minutes. Mine stacks horribly and isn't all that pleasant to shoot as opposed to my other martins, but it takes a damn beating and keeps on running.... Not my favorite bow, but it is a definitely basic bow that I still like to shoot and take hunting.

Aloha... Tom


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## LawtonOkChuck (10 mo ago)

ghostdncr said:


> Yeah, I really like that darker finish! :thumbs_up
> 
> While I would never recommend anyone else do it this way, the "powerlifting" method produces good results for me. The real trick seems to be developing an awareness of how one's connective tissue is developing and focus on that, as opposed to looking at just raw muscle strength. Muscle tissue is relatively easy for most people to grow. You overwork it, cause micro tears in the tissue and as it heals, it reinforces itself. Your muscles get bigger and are capable of doing more work, right? Muscles heal quickly, too. A matter of days in the context I'm talking about. Connective tissue injuries seem to take much, much longer and in many cases, will sideline one from archery altogether. I'm sore throughout my upper body this morning, but mildly. It feels like the aftermath of a good day at the gym and nothing a little stretching and some ibuprofen won't take care of.
> 
> ...


I saw this thread, and I don't know if you still watch it, but, I bought a 65# Mountaineer I believe in the 90s and it had terrible hand shock, unless I used 2317s or 2219s. Eventually I checked the tiller and found it to be different between bow limbs. I sanded on the belly of one limb until they matched and the hand shock got considerably better. Unfortunately, after 2 hand surgeries and one shoulder surgery, I can no longer shoot it.


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