I think a bigger problem for new archers is they only want a high end set up and that's a lot of cash to drop. What we need is more celebrity hunters to promote bows the average person can afford. Unfortunately that will not happen. It's all about the endorsement. Hunting has gotten tougher cost wise as well and it's a combination that will keep shrinking the ranks. More people and less available land.

very well stated . I bought my daughter a lower priced PSE and it is a very good bow.

Bow hunting is still affordable for the common hunter as long as you don't get caught up in the BIG NAME new stuff. The only thing that's cost a fortune in my set-up is the Easton FMJ arrows.

I think my Bowtech Assassin was around $700 out the shop fully rigged, arrows, and release.

My first bow I got two weeks ago was a diamond edge sb. It's a really good bow and less than $400. It fits pretty much everyone. I am ordering another diamond...this time left handed.

The big price tags on some bows would scare a lot of people away. I too don't think there are enough ambassadors for these value bows. It's the same for guns. People brag about there $1000 scopes and 3k custom made rifles. I bought a savage axis new for $130. 30-6, shots about a 1.1 moa at 100 yards. I'm not shooting 300+ anyhow, so that's good to me.

I've tried and tried to find a bow I like better and cannot find one yet. it helps i'm left-handed and my options are limited.

its not for any other reason than I like my iceman better that I haven't upgraded

yup I grabbed a like new blacked out carbon knight for $400 set up fully.... really like it! Still hard to not go to my Black Ice every time I got hunt ha

I guess I'm bucking the trend. I just bought my first compound bow (Mathews No Cam HTR) after hunting with a longbow and crossbow. Looking forward to getting it out in the field.

I'm seeing more and more people going back to recurve's.

Still have my old Ben Pearson recurve from 1960. Nostalgia but dependable.

I got into serious bow hunting and 3D archery shooting back in the eighties when bow manufacturers where starting to spring up and competition for speed first started to rise.
I started with a wheel bow and then a cam bow and competed against guys that were sponsored and did pretty well beating them with my cheap Martin Lynx.
It got to where it seemed the faster and faster and noisier and noisier bows were the way to go and also they began to get more and more expensive.
Back then you could compete with a $300 setup easily, but that didn't last long, and I got frustrated as I couldn't see mortgaging the house just to keep up.
It didn't last long, but I used to love beating those sponsored archers with their newest on the market speed bows, and see them pout as I accepted the first place trophy.
As for hunting I found that my cheap old slow quiet bow got the job done time and time again.
I still believe slow, quiet, and close is better, and I've hunted for years with my old bow than never let me down.
I've gotten older and less able to draw a heavy compound so I'm now back to a more traditional style using a recurve bow.
The kill isn't as important to me now, but the thrill of the hunt and getting close is what drives me now.
I've always felt that with all the advances there would come a day when they (manufacturers) would hit that wall, where they out price themselves with the research and developement costs skyrocketing and people just saying enough is enough.
People still take deer with stick and string that have been around long before those fast bows, and they will continue to be around long after they are gone.

If you pick up any hunting magazine, or watch any hunting show, you will see, and be told that you need the latest camo, the latest and best hunting bow, rifle, scope, bino's, and side by side in order to be a successful hunter.
Most of the time it's right here on the forum!

I could care less what a celebrity endorses. Most of the people I see on T.V are shooting Savages, Ruger Americans, etc.....low end bargin rifles I would never shoot. I don't keep up with bow celebrities and although I like the advances in technology I don't see a need to purchase a new bow every other year.

I went and shot a Mathews Helon the other day.....bad arse bow, fast, easy to shoot, but it was $1500 set up. My diamond iceman is about 20 fps slower but just as easy to shoot....I've got about $600 into it and its worth maybe half that to another shooter. so in my mind, its not worth $1200 to me to upgrade over 20 fps.

Now some day, it may be. it was a great bow. up until when I shot it, I had not found another bow I liked better than my iceman, which Is what kept me from upgrading.

I'll shoot my iceman for another season or two and then re-evaluate

I hunted for many, many years with a Bear whitetail hunterII, killed prolly 30 deer with it. Then I upgraded to a Hoyt rebel and killed 5 or 6 deer, I then upgraded to a parker spitfire and shot a lot of hogs and no deer. Last year I used my Christmas bonus (shh don't tell my wife!)to buy a new (to me) PSE Stinger, and I cannot wait for bow season.

For me, and this has changed over the years as my discretionary income has increased, trading up often is as much about being able to get rid of your old bow at a decent return as it is having the new bow.

Theres also the factor that the kind of hunter coming into the scene is not use to working for something for the most part even see it with my age group also.... they see it and think heck yeah thats cool im gona do that... then realize that is much harder than most think once they dont get a deer the first season...then pick the rifle back up and start whining about how there shouldn't be an early bow season...


Easy way to tell true archery is if your still sitting in that tree come November with a stick and string

It's a lot different trying to draw that new bow with a living, breathing animal all wired up with it's nerves on full flight mode.
Those targets on the range don't move!....Who woulda thought?
How long they stay with it usually goes along with how much they've invested, monetary and time practicing.
Even with the fastest and most expensive bow, it's still the Indian behind the bow!

I'll tell you a good way to stick with archery. Go looking for a new deer lease and find a good bow only lease. I may not get the big deer every year but I put a couple in the freezer most years.

I wish there was more of these

I would like to have the new/improved toys, but then couldn't afford some of other bad habits I have. I do have 2 bows and taken care of they will always be able to shoot better than I am capible of. I have a Ice Man I bought off member here and a Carbon Knight off Ebay that was low mileage and cheap. They should do me for awhile so no spending on my behalf.

Good combo! I got the black ice right before the ice man and just got a carbon knight also... hard for me to put down the black ice most of the time

I love my Mathews Z7 Magnum and Monster MR6. Its time to start stretching them strings again...

I did not read the entire thread so maybe this has been mentioned. I was talking to the guy at my local archery store the other day and he thinks the oil downturn, especially in Houston, has hurt his business a lot.

Where archery seems to be gaining in popularity is in primitive archery.
Longbows, self bows, and recurves.
Maybe is has to do with the survivalist craze, or just people wanting to get back to the basics of cutting down a tree, and splitting the log into bow staves, and carving out a bow by hand.
Making arrows and flint knapping is also gaining in interest.
Youtube is full of it if you care to check.
It's interesting, but I still use carbon arrows and Zwickey steel broadheads with my recurve.

I'm predicting you're going to end up with the Mathews sooner than that.

Lol nog, confession time.


I mentioned it to my wife and she went and bought it for me while I was out of town on monday



I like the Halon. It's a slick set up. Killed two hogs with it last nite