 Brenda Valentine
Brenda Valentine, the "First Lady of Hunting," is an award winning author, photographer, lecturer, and television and video personality. An accomplished hunter with a genuine love for nature, she is proficient with all ltypes of firearms and especially favors bowhunting and muzzle-loading. Valentine believes in using only the best; that's why she has joined Parker Compound Bows as an industry spokesperson, equipment consultant, and good-will ambassador.
Speed Is A Good Thing BUT It Ain't Everything!
By Brenda Valentine
www.brendavalentine.com
It seems to me that far too many bowhunters are measuring the value of their archery equipment by only one factor___ speed. My years of shooting and hunting experience have convinced me that speed alone is a poor barometer of how enjoyable and accurately a bow will shoot or how successful your hunting will be. In fact, I place speed several notches down the list of things I value most when choosing a bow to be my hunting partner.
Older and Hopefully Wiser
I've not always viewed blistering speed as I do now. During the late 1980's and early 1990's, years that I competed in all of the National 3-D circuits, I allowed a chronograph to rule my mood, confidence, and choices of equipment. I went to every extreme to gain even the smallest increment of fps. Too much draw weight, too light arrows, too long draw length are all common tactics for squeezing just a few more feet out of an otherwise decent set-up. It took a while but I eventually figured out that excessive draw weight led to archery maladies such as target panic, shoulder injuries, rushed shots and ultimately a lot of missed bulls eyes. The ultra light arrows often flew erratically and magnified every flaw in my shooting form. The extra inch of draw length gained me about 10 feet per second in speed and a long list of shooting problems. Bruised arms, unstable anchor points, string interference, and scattergun groups were only a few of the issues I dealt with from as overextended draw.
Who's To Blame?
Blame for the misconception of speed as the most important quality of a bow can be placed on many shoulders. It is an easy advertising angle since a speed number seems to be a tangible yardstick for the unknowledgable bow customer. Often speed is sold as a substitute for a rangefinder... no bow is that fast. Too many archers allow the quoted speed of others to sway their decisions without realizing that speed is relative and depends on many individual personal factors. Sometimes inexperienced shoppers feel that comparison shopping by the advertised FPS gives them at least a small air of knowledge. Actually this makes about as much sense as buying a new vehicle by the one has the highest number posted on the speedometer. Thankfully, most vehicle owners are smart enough to also factor in such things as comfort, safety, sticker price, reliability, overall quality, value, and warranty etc. Perhaps the archery industry would be wise to spend more advertising dollars on educating budding bowhunters on the REAL features that matter most when choosing a new bow rather than the continual claim of producing the fastest at any cost. Perhaps more disappointed bowhunters would do well to realize that fast doesn't necessarily mean accurate.
A Better Criteria.
Due to kinetic energy needs, I still want as much manageable speed as possible on a bowhunting set-up but I no longer allow a chronograph to dictate my choice of equipment. Bow assessment begins the instant I wrap my fingers around the grip for the first time. Is the grip settling comfortably in my hand? Does the bow feel balanced with no added accessories? Is it unecessarily heavy or fatiguing when held in an extended arm? I know from the first draw if it is a smooth sweet pull back old familiar anchor points without a lot of undue struggle and stress. But the real clincher for picking a sure winner is when I let loose a few arrows. A bow that is quiet __ has little recoil__ vibration __hand shock and one that always seems to put arrows in a reasonable size group even when I don't always execute the perfect shot, is the one that I want in my hunting arsenal. One more often overlooked but immensely important issue for me, is a tough bow with guts. A wimpy bow that is delicatly wired for speed only is hardly the one that will stand up to the normal rigors of serious life in the outdoors. A bow is more than a tool, it is a hunting partner and must therefore be able to uphold its part of the job. Of course unforeseen equipment accidents do occur in the real world and when they do I'm thankful for a company that honors their warranty in addition to realizing how important hunting season is and puts a rush on service during this time.
If bowhunting experience has taught me anything perhaps it is that I far prefer punched tags and a freezer full of meat to a string of fast misses, flubbed opportunities and the same old tired excuses we've all heard from speed freaks. Like I said, "speed is a good thing__ but it is far from being everything when it comes to successful bowhunting."
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