BOWHUNTING GEAR

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The following weekend I was out there again in the pinon and juniper when a nice buck stepped clear of a chokecherry bush on which he'd been breakfasting a few yards in front of my blind. Before field-dressing my kill I took a moment to humble myself before nature and wonder at the harsh beauty of her workings, of which I acknowledge being a natural part. No rude rifle crack had shattered the tranquility of the woods, my prey had lived a clean free life and died fair and fast, and I took home a supply of healthful lean meat earned honestly . . . the good old hard way. Yet another good day's bowhunt, though no more memorable than the day a week before when I had spanked a wild deer with my bow.

Which is about all I have to say about why I bowhunt. If you've ever thought you'd rather pursue game with a bow and arrows than with a gun (or not at all), I'd like to offer encouragement and advice—advice based on a quarter century of enjoyed experience. In the following paragraphs I'll try to help you through the most potentially confusing aspect of getting started with bow and arrows—gearing up. Bows PHOTOGRAPHS © MICHAEL SOLURI

Of basic designs in bows there are but three: longbow, recurve and compound. The longbow is a venerable weapon and deadly in the hands of an expert such as past master Howard Hill. But the longbow is a poor choice for the beginner. With an average length of nearly six feet, such a weapon is clumsy under the best of conditions and all but impossible to maneuver in tight quarters, such as a ground blind or tree stand. Longbows also launch arrows at low velocity, which means a high-arcing flight trajectory that works against accuracy. Choosing to hunt with a bow rather than a gun is sufficient handicap in itself; my advice is to perfect your skills before experimenting with this purists' tool.

The recurved bow, also an ancient weapon, is decidedly superior to the longbow in design technology. With its laminated limbs and forward-turned tips, the recurve is capable of delivering substantially more velocity to arrows, and doing so with a foot less length. It's a streamlined, lightweight, reliable weapon and the favorite of many old-line bowhunters. Archery equipment manufacturer Fred Bear, for a prime example, has taken virtually every big-game animal in the accessible world with a recurve. I killed my first deer with a little Ben Pearson recurve back in 1965 and still prefer recurves today.

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