Since '92... things have evolved - A LOT!

[WaSouthpaw]

An interest in bow hunting has been rekindled in me.  Back in "the day" I hunted with a Martin Lynx 65 lb 29" draw 50% let off. It was a 205 FPS bow with a 540gr arrow. 
Browsing around the web and I am seeing that XX75 arrows are no longer being produced in the size my old Martin was tuned for.
I am trying to figure out what spine carbon arrow would be an appropriate choice if I decide to stick with my old bow.
I used to hunt with 125gr Thunderhead broad heads - at least those are still in production. I'm figuring I will have switch to 100gr BH's if I switch to carbon arrows and continue to use my old Martin Lynx.
Anyways I am looking for some objective advise, i.e. continue to use the old bow and switch to carbon arrows or leave it hanging in the garage and begin the search for a modern bow.
Looking at the new bows out there I am seeing ratings as high as 340 FPS.  That is crazy fast. Is that with a 540gr arrow or did the IBO standard change to a lighter arrow weight?

Thanks, Don
Arlington, WA

[coachcw]

consider the distances that you will be shooting . If your going to stretch your shots out to the fifty yard mark it would make sense to upgrade . for instance we put a 390 grain arrow through a bow tech insanity at 60 lbs and 28 inches it pushed it 301 fps . that's just blazing . be carful with ibo speeds often bows slow down quickly when legal hunting arrow are shot . the difference in the new set ups in my mind are about five yards either side of your yardage guess . It can be the difference in a clean kill or a wounded animal  If you decide to stick with your lincon logs I still have a bunch of xx75 sluper slams in 2419 if you need some . 

[cmiller85]

If your comfortable with your old bow I don't see any reason not to stick with it. There are some awesome new technologies out now, however, and the difference you'll see in a new bow vs. a 21 year old bow would be substantial.

Personally, I don't see much of an advantage to the latest and greatest over a 5 year old bow which would sell at a bargain in comparison to the latest and greatest.

As far as the blazing fast IBO speeds; you're not going to get that fast and be legal in Washington because a heavier arrow weight is required that what are used to calculate IBO. You'll need at least 6 grains per pound, but, obviously you'll clear that easily with a 540 grain setup.

[D-Rock425]

IBO now uses 5 grains per pound of draw what.  I think its normally 70# and 29" draw is the standard.

[724wd]

what xx75's aren't being produced anymore?     I'm a 2215 guy myself.  459 grains of fury!   

[WaSouthpaw]

The arrows are 28.5" 2213's with a 125gr tip and feather fletch not vanes. the arrows weigh in at about 500 grs as memory serves me. Using a spectra string.
The main reason I am using feathers was because of contact with the riser and stability problems when using 4" vanes.
Looking at trying one of the new fangled whisker rests and the smaller vanes. The concern is that going lighter in arrow weight is beyond that which the limbs on the old Martin will withstand.
Thanks, Don

[huntnphool]

If your comfortable with your old bow I don't see any reason not to stick with it. There are some awesome new technologies out now, however, and the difference you'll see in a new bow vs. a 21 year old bow would be substantial.

I would imagine a new bow would be close to half the weight of that old bow as well, and if you hike a lot that would be a factor in the decision if it were me.

[WaSouthpaw]

I still have my carry sling for the old boat anchor... 

[huntnphool]

I still have my carry sling for the old boat anchor... 

I still have a VCR too.

[buckfvr]

2213s are of minimal spine for 60lb draw 28.5 shaft with an 85gr broadhead..........your arrow setup may have contributed to your riser contact problems.  If you want to stay with the old bow, Id change over to 2413s and go with 100gr broadheads.

[WaSouthpaw]

Thanks for the heads up.

I brought the bow in to work with today. Think I will head over to the Knock Pt at lunch and see what options they have for me.

I pretty much figure I was over doing it with the draw weight and arrow spine "as is."

Might have to wait until after Christmas to haul a new bow home... 

[huntnphool]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,142016.msg1884281.html#msg1884281

[WaSouthpaw]

Nice bow - but... REF: my alias WASouthpaw.

It looks like a RH bow to me. 

Thanks, Don

[724wd]

The arrows are 28.5" 2213's with a 125gr tip and feather fletch not vanes. the arrows weigh in at about 500 grs as memory serves me.

http://www.eastonarchery.com/arrows/alloy-xx75-camo-hunter/0/2

2213's are still available.  i also use feathers (4 inch left helical), mainly for their broadhead steering and forgiveness.  are you building your own arrows, or buying made-to-order (MTO)?  if you're buying MTO, you can get them from lancaster.  easton's site has a shaft selector on it...  http://eastonarchery.com/store/shaft_selector/  play around and have fun!   

[WaSouthpaw]

I 40+ yrs experience as a reloader - so naturally I prefer to build my own arrows too. I have all the gear needed.
Thanks, I really appreciate everyone's input. Don

[DRobnsn]

Have you shot any of the newer bows yet? I'm talking stuff made in the last 5 or so years.

[WaSouthpaw]

Have you shot any of the newer bows yet? I'm talking stuff made in the last 5 or so years.

No I have not. To be honest I'm afraid of what it will cost me if I do... 

Today at Lunch I dropped my old Martin off with Bob at the Nock Pt for a new string, a whisker biscuit rest, new composite arrows with 100gr tips, all tuned to match the bow.
Fingers crossed it will go well.
One of the initial responses I got today inquired about my maximum effective range. Answer is it once was 50 yds max. Now that I'm 20yrs older, I'm having the bow set for 55lbs, I am thinking 40 yds is more realistic.
I will post a report with chronograph info once I get it home.

Thank you for the assistance guys.
Don Arlington, WA.

[WaSouthpaw]

I have received several tips on Bows that are for sale.
As my alias states I am left handed.
At this time I am going to work with my LH Martin Lynx.
Thank you guys. Don

[RadSav]

2213s are of minimal spine for 60lb draw 28.5 shaft with an 85gr broadhead..........your arrow setup may have contributed to your riser contact problems.  If you want to stay with the old bow, Id change over to 2413s and go with 100gr broadheads.

For an early 90's Lynx of 60# and 28.5" shaft the 2213 was fine.  I shot them beautifully out of 68# and 27.5" length with 28.5" draw length.  Modern strings and higher preload limbs make it a bad combination for todays bows though. Would call for a 45-50# draw weight to match that shaft these days. 2213 is still available and is still one of the more popular aluminum shaft sizes country wide.

Your biggest advantage in going to a more modern bow is in the newer bows ability to stay tuned.  Also the quietness of the newer bows.  Speed doesn't mean much if you are using a rangefinder.  But you should get more second shot opportunities with the modern bows.  Animals will still hear the shot, but I've found they don't react quite as offensively to it as they did with the old rattle traps.

I remember my first late elk hunt in the Winston.  A herd of elk were running down the elk creek drainage.  From up on the road I could hear every hunter they ran past by the noise of the bows going off.  Sadly not one drop of blood fell in that drainage that day after hearing at least a dozen shots go off   Two days later a cow fell to the wife's 25" 2013 arrow from her 50# Jennings and a day later a spike fell to a 26.5" 2115 from my 70# Hoyt.  Neither animal much complained about the noise or the speed.

[WaSouthpaw]

Yup, I went to the Easton web site and immediately noticed they did not have a selection for round wheels, only high energy cams.  I am going to upgrade to carbon arrows that do not bend so easy.   
Thanks, Don

[724wd]

Yup, I went to the Easton web site and immediately noticed they did not have a selection for round wheels, only high energy cams.  I am going to upgrade to carbon arrows that do not bend so easy.   
Thanks, Don

if you go to the shaft selector i linked, for round wheels, choose 'Soft Cam"  the picture is of a round wheel.  you don't HAVE to switch to carbon.  aluminum worked for you before and it still will! 

[WaSouthpaw]

Have you shot any of the newer bows yet? I'm talking stuff made in the last 5 or so years.

No I have not. To be honest I'm afraid of what it will cost me if I do... Don

Last night a buddy and I had to kill a couple hours while our wives attended a mandatory attendance Christmas Party with hosted by their boss. So we killed a couple hours at Cabela's.
You guys are right about the new bows, I tried out a PSE Brute on their indoor range. WOW! very nice. I can't believe I am actually considering selling my most recent acquisition a Sako LH bolt action rifle in 243 Win. 

Don

[DRobnsn]

Have you shot any of the newer bows yet? I'm talking stuff made in the last 5 or so years.

No I have not. To be honest I'm afraid of what it will cost me if I do... Don

Last night a buddy and I had to kill a couple hours while our wives attended a mandatory attendance Christmas Party with hosted by their boss. So we killed a couple hours at Cabela's.
You guys are right about the new bows, I tried out a PSE Brute on their indoor range. WOW! very nice. I can't believe I am actually considering selling my most recent acquisition a Sako LH bolt action rifle in 243 Win. 

Don

 UH OH.... now you did it! 

[RadSav]

I can't believe I am actually considering selling my most recent acquisition a Sako LH bolt action rifle in 243 Win. 

Man!  With the performance of todays value priced bows from PSE, Mission, Bear and Diamond you should be able to get into one without needing to get rid of such a wonderful gun.  Check out Sportsman's Warehouse after January 1st.  They usually have last year model bows greatly reduced.  Should be able to afford to have both.

[mossback91]

Don't Sell the gun!!!   Bows will be dropping price like no other right now!! Time for them to dump the old models to bring in the new! My brother inlaw picked up that brute for right around $200 the other day!!!! Decent bow to start with especially for that price!!

[RadSav]

Don't Sell the gun!!!  

I sold my Sako varmint gun 25 years ago.  I'm still kicking myself for that.

[WARHORSE]

My ol man  had a martin lynx. killed a lot of deer and elk with it. gamegetter 2018. lol the bow was 20 years old when it killed its last elk. Dad sent it to Martin and they replaced the cables and string, sent back a letter with the bow saying looks like you have taken very good care of the bow hope you get another 20 years out of it    no charge for the work done.    for that reason alone my next may be a martin.

[buckfvr]

2213s are of minimal spine for 60lb draw 28.5 shaft with an 85gr broadhead..........your arrow setup may have contributed to your riser contact problems.  If you want to stay with the old bow, Id change over to 2413s and go with 100gr broadheads.

For an early 90's Lynx of 60# and 28.5" shaft the 2213 was fine.  I shot them beautifully out of 68# and 27.5" length with 28.5" draw length.  Modern strings and higher preload limbs make it a bad combination for todays bows though. Would call for a 45-50# draw weight to match that shaft these days. 2213 is still available and is still one of the more popular aluminum shaft sizes country wide.

Your biggest advantage in going to a more modern bow is in the newer bows ability to stay tuned.  Also the quietness of the newer bows.  Speed doesn't mean much if you are using a rangefinder.  But you should get more second shot opportunities with the modern bows.  Animals will still hear the shot, but I've found they don't react quite as offensively to it as they did with the old rattle traps.

I remember my first late elk hunt in the Winston.  A herd of elk were running down the elk creek drainage.  From up on the road I could hear every hunter they ran past by the noise of the bows going off.  Sadly not one drop of blood fell in that drainage that day after hearing at least a dozen shots go off   Two days later a cow fell to the wife's 25" 2013 arrow from her 50# Jennings and a day later a spike fell to a 26.5" 2115 from my 70# Hoyt.  Neither animal much complained about the noise or the speed.

Except that he said 65lb draw with a 125 broadhead......And plus back then, unless he was shooting an overdraw, at 29in draw, his shafts may have been 30"+

[RadSav]

Ooops! Where is that spank the behind emoticon when you need it?

Even before cut out risers I would draw my broadhead all the way to the back of the riser.  With a 29" draw length that would have put me somewhere in the neighborhood of 28.25-28.5" arrow length.  Not sure how many did that other than me though.

[WaSouthpaw]

I took a tape measure to the 2213 arrows, they are 28.5". I did have a pseudo overdraw rest set up with the 29" draw. It was an improvised setup of questionable safety. The bow weighed in at 63lbs at the Nock Pt. It had the old fashioned round wheels and it's IBO rating was sub 210 FPS with a 30" draw, 540 grs arrow at 60lbs. I suspect it is because of the low fps and feather fletch that I got away with the underspined arrows.

All of that is water under the bridge. Not going back there.

I will be picking up the bow his week from the shop and I will begin to get re-acquainted with my old friend. I look forward to the flight of the arrow(s).

Once again thank you for the objective input, I respect it all.

Thanks! Don

[WaSouthpaw]

My ol man  had a martin lynx. killed a lot of deer and elk with it. gamegetter 2018. lol the bow was 20 years old when it killed its last elk. Dad sent it to Martin and they replaced the cables and string, sent back a letter with the bow saying looks like you have taken very good care of the bow hope you get another 20 years out of it    no charge for the work done.    for that reason alone my next may be a martin.

That's a cool story! I hope that as Martin re-organizes and moves forward under new ownership that they will be true to what made that company a great one.
I just read the obituary of Gail Martin in Bowhunter magazine. As I looked at those old pictures I reminded of the man who sold me my very first bow in 1981, his name was Glenn St Charles.