Why do you???

Use the equipment you use?  Did someone suggest it?  Did you see it on TV?  Did someone give it to you?  What is the reason you shoot what you shoot.
 
Bow:  I have shot Bear, PSE and Hoyt over the years and I love the speed, quiet and let off of my Hoyt better than any bow I have had.  I know there are faster, quieter and maybe even ones that break over quicker...but this one does me just fine.
 
Arrows:  I shoot Gold Tip 5575 in black.  They are a good quality arrow, I have few "flyers" in a brand new dozen and have the heft to take any animal in North America.  I used to shoot Easton and still have a few laying around that I use for flinging at critters in the back yard occasionally.
 
Broadhead:  Muzzy 3 Blade 100gr.  "Bad to the Bone" nuff said!  Tried 'em and loved 'em from day 1.  They have never let me down!
 
So why do you????

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

That's a good question. I had to thnik about this one for a minute.
I shoot my Alpine Silverado because I fell in love with Alpine back in the early 90's. They seem to fit me better than most. I feel comfortable and confident with one in my hand.  I also shoot Gold tip 5575's. I bought a set of them after a friend recommended them to me about 3 or 4 years ago. Before that  I shot aluminums, XX75's. I was chasing primarily elk in those days and liked the aluminums better out of personel preference. Now that I chase whitetail and turkeys I like the carbons for speed and accuracy. I also build my arrows out of blanks now. I too still have the occasional "flinger" arrow that just won't hit consistently. It's easy to pick out and cull. I use Rage 3-bladers where I can. Haven't let me down yet. If they ever do I'll probably go to a G5 or Muzzy, I'll try those two just because of all the good reviews they get on the forums and T.V. shows.
 
I'm not above trying anything new, if it works better than my original I'll probably change over. But I have to have a need for something new first. I like the setup I have and wouldn't change anything. The only thing I'm going to give a try is some fixed blade broadheads for when  I hunt states that don't allow mechanicals.

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

I have shot PSE bows for over 25 years and the reason I do is that my first bow was a xmas present from my father and it just happened to be a PSE.  Over the years I have tried other brands but have remained loyal to the PSE brand since IMO it is a quality product that is comfortable for me.
 
I use Carbon Force X-weave arrows currently, same as the bow I have tried other brands but have found the X-weaves to be the best on the market.
 
I currently use Steelforce broadheads, I started out using mechanical heads, but had many more failures with them than sucess.  I was introduced to the Stellforce brand by a friend of mine and have been sold on them ever since.

Todd Segner 
PSE Field Staff, TRU Ball Releases Shooting Staff,
HIPS Targets Pro Staff, Any Budget Outdoors Writer,
Rage Broadheads Pro Staff, On Target2 Shooting Staff

for years, I was behind the curve
I shot a smooth round wheel bow that peaked out about 200fps - even at 75#
I used a flipper/plunger rest
I shot fairly heavy aluminum arrows
I used fingers
I saw no reason to ever change - regardless of what others were saying

then, I shot a Mathews Switchback - and I thought, "Nice, but too expensive."
a year or so later, I shot a Drenalin - and thought, "Still nice, but still too expensive."
then, I thought, "If I build a utility trailer, and sell it, I'll have enough to buy one" - so I did, and I've now been shooting a Drenalin for a couple of years.

When I first got into archery the only people that had computers was NASA, on the Apollo moon missions. For many years it was more of a backyard game like horseshoes. I knew nothing and had no idea how to learn. My first bow was a Jennings double pully, wood riser, but shot good. I paid $125 at a pawn shop. Had a few others that never worked out. Expensive lessons buying bows.
My PSE I have now is 4yrs old, I spent about $1,100 the way it is set up. It works good for me. It is a stalking bow. Biscuit rest, bright Black Gold sight, string peep, kisser, string & bow stabilizers, Alpine quiver, carbon arrows, Spitfire b-heads. 60# bow set at 55#. I didn't add the last accressory I had in Alaska,... S&W 500. Another $1,100.
I think the way I approch archery is a little different than many,(but not all), IT"S ALL ABOUT GETTING CLOSE. Most of my kills are 15yds or less. The farthest was a 4x4 at 25yds. I don't need super fast or long shots. I like flat shooting and pratical for stalking.
SD

Gary Gray, Rapid City,SD hrd.rock.miner@frontier.com, NRA, NAHC LM

I shoot the one I have now because I was sent a 100.00 discount coupon from Gander Mountain one time and my wife suggested that I go and get a new bow. The coupon was for the Tech Hunter Extreme bows. I did some research on them and found they were made by BowTech and looked at reviews for their bows. Myself, like whitetail was a through and through PSE fan and have uswd their bows for 20+ yrs. I went to Gander and tried a couple of the Bowtech bows and just loved the way it felt, how smooth it was and the quick and quietness of it had me sold.  It delivers my arrows spot on everytime and the price was right where I was looking to spend. I like the Mathews also but was not ready to bite off a grand for the set-up. I had an older Q2 and did not like the way the cams rolled over. Sold it for 300 bucks.  LOL  I now own both a TechHunter Extreme and  Diamond "Rock", both of which are made by the same co. 

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Forgot to include...
 
Trophy Taker fall away rest.
 
Cobra 3 pin sight and an old pendulum sight that came with the bow.

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

I started with a bear whitetail that I bought used from that I bought a PSE Nova and shot that for years in fact I still have it
I now use
 
A Diamond by Bowteck at 64 Lbs The reason why is I wanted to get a new bow and went to the local pro shop I tried out  a few bows and this bow seemed to just fit me I thought I wanted a Matthews but It just felt better with this bow. 
 
The rest is for the most part just a straight up bow I use a WB for the rest I have heard good and bad about them but I like hanging in a tree and not worrying about my arrow falling off the rest.  For my sights they are Dead Nuts by Copper Johns again simple but they work good for me.  It also has a 8 inch Doini-er stabilizer on it  Arrows are Gold Tip 5575 with G5 Broad Heads
for a release I use a tru-fire.
 
Again this is not a real high tech bow but its good to 40 to 45  yards and thats about all I would want to try but  it flys flat and at 301 fps so it does have a bit of speed and its not bad at all with noise  
     

My first bow was a Browning Xcellerator that my Grandfather bought for me at the age of 14.  That bow was one of the best gifts I have ever received in my entire life, even to this day.
 
After outgrowing that bow I bought several Browning bows over the course of 5 years.  I can't exactly remember how many bows I went through, but it was quite a few.  Not trying to bad mouth that brand of bow, but several of them were just plain lemons.  I drew the line when the top limb of one of the bows -- the Xcellerator Plus Model -- split down the middle while I was at full draw!!  If that limb would have broken sideways I probably wouldn't be here today.  I would have caught it right between the eyes. 
 
I then purchased an Xi Legend Magnum XL -- Myles Keller signature bow.  I shot that for a few years and when Xi went out of business I bought a Hoyt Stratus Plus.  That was the first split limb bow that I owned.
 
I had the Hoyt -- Stratus Plus -- for over a year and one day noticed that one of the top limbs had a tiny splinter.  I took the bow back to the dealer and the dealership sent the bow back to Hoyt for repair.  In less than 7 days I had the bow back in my possession with four brand new, factory-installed limbs on it, and it didn't cost me a penny!  So with that type of service which brand do you think I went with on my newest bow?  You guessed it, Hoyt! 
 
I now shoot a Hoyt Vectrix XL set at 78 pounds with a drop away arrow rest, G5 Hunter 1/4-inch peep sight, Doinker A-bomb stabilizer, Black Gold Flash point 4-pin sight, Hoyt 6 arrow, two-piece quiver and a Carter Quickie 2 release.  I shoot 2317 XX78s fletched with 3, 5-inch Gateway feathers (one white cock feather and two gray barred turkey feathers) with a 3-bladed G5 STRIKER broadhead.  For me this has been the most accurate rig I have ever shot. 
 
The reason I shoot this particular set-up is because I 100 percent believe in each and every one of the components that make up the overall rig. 
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve       

steve, my first bow was a Browning Xcellerator, also!
I still have that bow, but I haven't shot it forever.
I plan to use it as a carp bow one of these days - it's got a smooth draw, and it's easy to shoot!

orduckhunter:
 
I sold that bow to get a new bow and I regret that decision to this day since my Grandfather bought it for me.  Ahh... Young and dumb as they say.
 
And, you're right the original Xcellerator was a smooth shooting bow.  It's just too bad that I outgrew the draw length.
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

Going Hog hunting in 2 weeks. My wife finally said she would like to go and shoot one(Cuzz their Ugly). Her bow is old and a PSE wheel bowand pulls at about 45-46 lbs. Gold tip 400 carbon arrows. I want her to be sucecssfull but am starting to wory about the penitration abliities of her 2 blade Rocket steelhead broadheads. Are these sufficient for her bow or would a fixed 2 blade be better. Starting to stress!

The first 40" mule deer I see .... Closest too the road!
This year - First 50 inch Shiras Moose I see ..... Clossest to the road!

I started out with a bowtech(had issuse with the bow mech) trahed it andwent to an AR (pse) liked it lot but was never truly confotrable with it then picked up a Hoyt and fell in love I have shot many different modles but still have and keep going back to my Trykon( personal feel truly like the bow).
Trophy taker shakey hunter tryed muzzy zereffect couldn't get the quiver to fit with balance that I liked on with that rest, I had an orgianl trophy taker on the AR so went back to the brand.
shoot Extreem rt 900 like the brightness and at time about only one on market with the extra fiber to be able to shoot in lower light.
Gold tip 7595 like the gold tips tryed easton had issues with breaking and price
tryed Muzzy 3 blade and 4 blade couldn't get good groups tryed rage and rocky mountain snypers good heads just didn't what to shoot at elk(when lived in colorado) I wanted one broadhead tryed G5 Monotech with some pusshing from a friend been hooked ever since.

I bought my bow for nostalgic reasons.  When I was just starting out, my uncle bought a Ted Nugent Gonzo Safari by Martin and I thought he was the coolest.  He got me into hunting so I had to have the equipment he had.  Well, I had a chance to buy the same bow from my cousin and I had shot it a few times and knew it fit me perfectly, so for $50 I bought it.  I still love that bow and I don't see a time in the near future where I will be buying anything else.  As for the arrows, I went to a proshop and got some advice from them and then tried a bunch of different broadheads until I settled on the G5 Montecs since they shot so well from my particular setup. 
 
Now I tend to just go the proshop first and ask questions and try different things, but I'm pretty set on the fact that what I'm shooting is right for me. 

I have a Mathews Q2 set at 60 pounds. I think the guy who had it said he ordered either 80 or 85% let off for it (which was on it when I bought it) so it is great for a bad shoulder like mine. 5575 Terminator arrows with 125 grain wasp mechanicals. Added a trophy taker fall away rest and a Impact Archery 3 pin sight. Works good for me and not a lot of money invested so it is my choice. 

my family is my life
Willie

I'm still shooting my Mathews MQ-32. I got it from a pro shop I had passed many times heading upstate to my ex-girlfriends house years ago. Finally stopped in one day to shoot a "techno hunt" with my old set-up. The owner suggested "trading up" as my bow was kinda long in the tooth. She & her husband shot Mathews bows both as hunting & comp bows. So, I bought the MQ and haven't looked back. I shoot Bemans now, started with Goldtips. Bemans seem to shoot better for me. I use NAP Thunderhead 100's since I began bowhunting.