True Confessions

[Captainkirk]

I hate to even bring this up. For years now, my second-hand Grizzly (45# @ 28) has been my "go-to bow", hands down. Sure, I have a few neat and unique bows in my small collection like the Tamerlanes, K-Hunter, Samick Sage and my hand-built Elk Seeker (thanks to Tradman and Elkman here!) So it surprises and somewhat perplexes me to discover my eBay pawn shop find Kodiak Magnum seems to out-shoot them all in my hands.
In fact, I bought the K-Hunter on the recommendation of a professional archery coach from another forum who told me "Stay away from short bows like the K-Mag. You will shoot worse and less consistently with a short bow and will experience stacking, excess noise and inconsistent grouping" I listened and bought the K-Hunter. While it is a beautiful bow in very good condition, easy to draw and shoot, I can't out-shoot the little green firecracker with it. Now, maybe that has to do with the fact that I really suck sometimes, but I did a shootout last week with the K-Mag and K-Hunter and the little green snot machine cleaned the clock of "Ol' Stretch", and it did it to the Grizzly Stick tonight. I would like to say that my coach friend was right, and in all fairness he has probably forgotten more than I ever knew about archery, but it didn't work out that way.

The moral of the story?
1) What works for you may not work for me and vice versa.
2) There are many rules in trad archery. Rules were meant to be broken.
3) Don't be afraid to experiment, try new things and put your own ideas to the test.
4) Listen to advice of others but don't take anything as gospel.

[Graps]

I'm the same way with my Old K-Mag, but I also chalk it up to the fact that I have shot that bow for 45 years.
So in all fairness to my other bows, they haven't had a chance.
The only other bow in my herd that can compete with that Old K-Mag is my Flatline Bows Cardiac Arrest.

[Grizzly]

Nice group there.

I'm that way with a Browning Safari I, 40# or 43# @ 54" I was using the 43#er when I started around a 3d with a compounder on a slow day there. He really didn't want to shoot with me, i could tell. I stayed with him on the first target with a 10 and beat him on the next target which was a moving deer on a cable. Now I had his attention and by the end of the coarse he paid me a really nice compliment. I enjoy those 54" bows and they fit me and perform very well for me. Even shot a Robin Hood with Dad's old 40#

But, I still shoot other bows more accurately and consistently - sometimes and under some conditions. I certainly wouldn't expect the short bow to beat a target bow on a field coarse. But, who knows, in some hands it could. Alot of it may have to do with which bow grabs your attention, feels good, makes you happy and gets you to focus better.

You hear alot of guys say a "new" bow does that. So, they keep buying new bows???

[stumper]

I think in general longer bows can be easier. But wood is an imperfect medium and you can have two identical bows that do not shoot the same. Sounds like you have found a bow with a spell on it. I’d be interested to see if you shoot as well with all k mags. Or just that particular one.

[White Falcon]

I sold all my custom bows and now shoot all old bows, browning, bears, and K-Mag. I do like my Samick Red Stag. They shoot better!

[Shadowhntr]

I've tended to stay away from short bows, largely because I've always felt they lacked the smoothness of draw, and with the sharper string angle produced more finger pinch. Not to say they cant be shot good, it's more a comfort thing. With me and my poorer release, the added finger pressure does seem to pronounce my flaw. I tend to shoot best with a 58"-62" bow and 60" has been optimal. I'd love to try a K Mag one of these days, but I'd lay odds it's very similar to my 52" Wing Hunter.

[Graps]

That's why there is more than one flavor of ice-cream.
I think it could have to do with a persons own body mechanics, or just what you have gotten used to.
Like me, I started out with that 52" and shot it most of my life. I struggle with the longer bows because I get them bumping obstacles while I'm trying to shoot.

[Grizzly]

Yup, bumping obstacles. When I got back into bow hunting, instead of grabbing my 52" Ben Pearson, which I was not very confident with anymore, I grabbed an old 1978 Jennings compound, kneeled down in the driveway, canted it and watched it fly into many pieces when the lower wheel hit the driveway, dislodged a c clip, which freed up the lower wheel axle, which slacked up the strings suddenly, which removed tension on the limbs and it all flew apart in my hands and is still like that somewhere in the basement. That one was even signed by Jennings, now under some camo paint.

[Captainkirk]

Well, I was feeling a bit remiss about my statement "...my eBay pawn shop find Kodiak Magnum seems to out-shoot them all in my hands," when I really hadn't given the Elk Seeker a fair chance. I only put a dozen or so arrows though "Zippy" due to the higher draw weight, and since I went and opened my big mouth about my K-Mag being the best shooter of the bunch, I figured I'd better back it up by comparing it to something else.
Rather than the same ol' same ol' comparo with the K-Mag, I chose a more similar bow to the Elk Seeker...the Kodiak Hunter. At 45# @ 28" and 60 AMO this was pretty close to the Elk Seeker's 56 @ 30" and 66 AMO. I was guessing that shooting nearly every day for the last couple months should have me in better condition than the last time I tried it in the spring.
So, did it shoot better than the KH, Cap'n, you're asking?
Does an elk, um...use the restroom facilities in the woods?
Not only did it smoke the KH, but it smoked everything else I own by a considerable margin!
In an effort to earn his mantle, Zippy kept trying his darndest to shove 3 arrows into one hole and almost every group had at least two shafts looking like they were Siamese twins. I was rather surprised to find I had any feathers or nocks left at the end of my shooting session. The obvious comparison to heat-seeking missiles can't be avoided. In fact, if I were an elk, I'd be kicking a hunter out of his tree stand and climbing up there myself to hide.
I shot Zippy for the better part of an hour...and I'm paying for it a little already in my right shoulder. But man, what a bow! I guess this is the first real custom I ever shot, or owned for that matter. I only hope I can shoot it enough to stay in tune and build up the shoulder and back muscles more than my fleet of 45#'ers will allow me to.
I will tell you this much...Elkman can build one heckuva bow!

[stumper]

Good to hear. Been eyeing his bows for a while now. If only money grew on trees.