The Right Bow For The Right Situation

From East to West: Finding the Right Bow for Your Exact Situation

When buying a new car, you take it for a spin, making sure it's the right fit for you. Archers must do the same when deciding on a bow. With decisions like how it hits your face, the draw length, and even which color, buying a bow certainly can feel like there are as considerations as a new car, too.

Frame weight, stiff riser, poundage, let-off, speed, camo patterns are only a few of the considerations. It's critical you think through your environment, too. Are you hunting or competing in tournaments? Maybe both. Will you be shooting uphill, downhill or in windy conditions? Do you hunt eastern or western style? Cold or hot temps? All of the above?

It’s amazing what a difference the motivations and combinations of conditions can make in what goes into the design of creating the right bows to fit the right situations. 

One of the things I’ve learned is you want the best of both worlds: fast and smooth. It can be hard to find both. You can get smooth, but they’re slow. If you find a bow that’s fast, they can be hard to shoot.

Dennis recommends getting away from peer pressure when shooting a bow. "I’ve had guys say, 'man, I have been shooting brand X for 10 plus years, I don’t want to try something else',” he said.

These same people will eventually reluctantly agree to try shooting a few other bows only to find that the brand they’ve shot for a decade actually was not the best fit.

Dennis and the Obsession team recommend a few things to keep in mind for choosing the right bow for you:

Eastern Hunters
When hunting from a blind or a compact stand, as many eastern hunters do, it’s important to find a bow that’s compact. Moving around in a tight blind or stand means you’re going to be up against a wall, quite literally. The last thing you want to do is spook your buck or turkey by clanging on a blind pole or getting tangled in your bag. A shorter axle to axle, say in the 30” range, helps solve for this problem.

Western Hunters
In the backcountry, weight matters. We’re talking ounces, not pounds. If you’re going to push yourself to your limits, you need a bow that can do the same. That means being tough, but it’s also being as lightweight as possible. If you’ve exerted yourself for days, picking up a heavy bow is going to be harder than it was back home shooting in the comfort of your home range. “Go-time” is not when you want to find out your bow is too heavy. Another factor in the Western Hunter’s bow setup should be the let off for those long standoffs with the monster bull of your dreams.

Design
Tricking out your bow’s string colors can be fun, but it’s important to think through the utility of your bow. Pick the pattern that’s going to work with your landscape. If you’re primarily a blind hunter, you want a dark bow and strings to blend in, because your bow is going to be the closest point in to the light. A light colored or bright pattern in that scenario is going to stand out like a disco ball at daybreak. Look for brands that can help you conceal. Obsession offers 40+ different variations of colors to ensure your target never saw you coming.

Overall Tips
Team Obsession recommends choosing a bow based on what you need, not the brand name. Think about the bow’s design and any sacrifices that may be made along the way. Choose a bow with a weak let off, for example, can significantly sacrifice your speed. Also think through your shot scenarios—are you shooting long range or close? This should drive some of your decision making around not only your bow, but your arrow setup.

At the end of the day, it comes down to one thing: Your bow should work with your desired hunting style, not against it. As a hunter, you never know when that big buck is coming by. You might have to wait. And wait some more. And even more. If you’re in that scenario, you need a bow you’re comfortable with.

Where to Start
Before walking into an archery shop, consider what you need in a bow. Trust a friend’s recommendation, but also think for yourself. Do your own homework to find the right bow for you. Your new bow is going to be your obsession if you choose wisely. Find a bow that fits your needs.

Start your bow research by building your own bow at Obsession’s new website.

The 2019 Obsession Lineup
For 2019, the Obsession team spent countless hours adding new benefits to its bows. This included an all-new cam system designed to optimize overall performance, plus, a rotating modular so draw lengths can be easily adjusted without a bow press. The new OB TRAX 3-Track Cam system produces 90% let off and simple tuning for competitive shooters and hunters alike.

Archers around the world want silent speed, smooth draw characteristics and the ability to adjust on the fly, which is what this new line of bows delivers.

FX30 | $999

It’s dirty and it’s 30. This bow is an eastern hunter’s dream. Shorter, lighter and faster. At 30” axle-to-axle, the FX30 is designed with the stand and hunting blind in mind. The OB TRAX Cam supports let-off up to 85%, combined with a super light frame, the FX30 generates speeds up to 360 FPS.

Lawless | $999

This is the fastest bow in the market, delivering up to 370 feet per second. Plus, the OB TRAX cam system makes the Lawless an incredibly smooth speed bow.

Turmoil RZ | $699

Built to turn the tables, Obsession Bows’ Turmoil RZ was designed to rattle the standard of all compound bows in its category. Smooth and speed has met its match at a price point that can’t be beat.

Build Your Dream Bow Now

Check out the entire line.

Sponsored by Obsession Bows. Obsession Bows is owned and operated by Arcus Hunting who has leading brands in the hunting and outdoors category. Arcus Hunting owns and operates, Tink’s, Dead Down Wind, Obsession Bows, Ramcat, Trophy Taker and Rack One brands. For more information visit Arcus Hunting.