Thought I would share my first impressions of my new Sheepeater Spirit. I have had the bow a little over 2 weeks now. To be perfectly honest I have not got to shoot the bow as much as I would like due to work. I have gotten to put 250-350 arrows through it and here are my first impressions.
I ordered the bow from Brent (as stated a hundred times before, Brent and Mark ARE great guys) for the purpose of treestand hunting whitetail deer. I loved the thought of this small bow in the tree and all the incresed shot opps with such a short bow. The bow arrived and my first thought when I pulled it from the box is "this is a kids bow". It is TINY. Let me assure you that it is not a kids bow. The energy stored in this thing when strung is amazing. It is fast.
My bow 62@29 with a purple heart riser, osage limbs, and the black belley. I had Brent cut me a shelf into mine and I went with the leather grip instead of Rattan (my choice). It is beautiful bow.
The bow was noisier than expected just barebow. I then added some moleskin on the limbs and cat wiskers to the string and it is now as quiet as any (I am pretty picky about noisy bows). There was no noticable finger pinch at my draw of 28" and the bow was suprisingly very smooth when shot with little hand shock. I bought carbon express heritage arrows to shoot with this bow and the 350's and 250's were too stiff. I have settled on the 150's w/100grain brass insert and 125grain tip cut to 30". They are still giving me a bit of a stiff reaction and my nock point appears to be a bit low still as well. I am allready at about 3/8" above center on that. What is funny is I had some older aluminum 2018's lying around without the brass inserts and 125 grain tip and they match perfectly to this setup. Absoulutely gorgeous arrow flight and bare shafts hit right with fletched. I am not going to give up on the carbons just yet but I really like what I see with the 2018's. The bow is accurate for me out to 30 yards. Which is about normal with other bows I have shot. I only plan on those 10-15 yard chippers from a tree with this bow so long range accuracy was not really a factor when I bought the bow. My groups seem to fall apart once I get out to 40yards (but I am sure it's the indian and not the arrow). Expect to draw about and inch less with this bow, or at least I did. Stringing this bow is harder than any other bow I have shot. No big deal, you'll get used to it. Go with the Rattan grip.
Likes : Size/weight, speed, craftsmanship, noise level, precision (to 30 yards), lack of handshock/smoothness, no noticable finger pinch, cool factor (this bow is a head turner)
Dislikes: leather grip (that was my choice and both Mark and Brent almost begged me to go with the Rattan), stringing is a little harder than most, matching arrows with the shelf cut version seems to be more difficult (which I don't quite understand, I thought the closer the bow is to center cut, the more arrows you would be able to shoot through it, what do I know?)
Bottom line is everything Mark and Brent told me is spot on. I would buy another bow from them tommorow (if my wife would'nt hang me out by my gonads). This bow is going to make an AWESOME treestand bow. I have got a surprise for Mr. Pig Laden come this fall.
Blake McCord
Wow, the only thing I see wrong is arrow spine. I know several guys who have them and they all said they like a real stiff shaft. One guy needs 80-85# spine out of a 58# bow. Those 150s would have to be way weak and ya may be getting an opposite reaction. I shoot the 150s cut to 29"s with only 125 grain head and 50 grain brass insert out of my 54# Arroyo. I would also say you are not at 9gpp. with those arrows. I know a guy who shoots the 350s with 225 up front out of a bow that is the same or darn close to yours. Keep us updated. Glad ya like it and keep us updated. Shawn
Pictures please!
Lee
Sorry, I was at work today and just now had time to post some pics... First time to post pics so hopefully this works.
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u19/brbowhunter/100_0671.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u19/brbowhunter/100_0666.jpg)
More.......
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u19/brbowhunter/100_0665.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u19/brbowhunter/100_0661.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u19/brbowhunter/100_0660.jpg)
Shawn,
That's interesting. The only thing weird with that is the 2018's and 150's spine out pretty close I THINK..... They are the only ones I can get good arrow flight with. I am only drawing 28" with this bow and so I am only pulling 59 or so.... Maybe the other guys have the non shelf cut version... The 150's I am shooting weigh in at 538 grains. That would be around 9.1 grains per pound at 59#'s..... Still tinkering with it and I will figure out what is BEST and let you know...
Blake McCord
is the recoil bad enough for limb savers? nice looking bow
No, the bow has/had very little to zero recoil with or without the limb savers. I guess I just have a fetish with putting them on my bows.... I know they're not real traditional, but I am just weird that way I suppose.....
real nice looking bow dude :thumbsup:
The savers would do you better at the fades. They steal some performance out near the tips like that and ad weight where you don't want it.
Very nice looking bow and so far everyone has said they are little flamethrowers.
Blake,
Dont give up on those carbons, they fly like darts out of my Sheepeater. I PMed you too, but just a note on stringing, we recommend Selway Stringers with the deep boots that cover the whole static tip. It makes stringing no more difficult than any other recurve bow. Blake, thanks for the order, nice to meet you, come see us in Montana.
Brent
QuoteOriginally posted by Shawn Leonard:
Wow, the only thing I see wrong is arrow spine. I know several guys who have them and they all said they like a real stiff shaft. One guy needs 80-85# spine out of a 58# bow.
No disrespect is intended to those archers but I'd lay a dime to a donut hole that they went the wrong direction in their spine choices. I had no problem getting dandy flight out of a Sheepeater when I shot one with woods spined right at drawweight. Sometimes it seems like 11 out of ten archers are shooting overspined arrows. When in doubt everyone goes up..... which works out okay with bows cut well past center but sucks with bows that aren't centershot. Sometimes things straighten up when you get way overspined-probably due to the tail of the arrow whacking the bow at an opportune time and degree as it leaves the bow. I'd encourage those guys to go back and try 5 pounds UNDER.
Shawn; Ho do you like your Arroyo and what length is it ??
Treeman, I'll take your dime bud!
I do have a little knowledge about this stuff and I went from underspine and worked my way up to #80!
At "five under",it was a good thing my target was soft, my bareshaft was hitting sideways.
I might be a lot more picky about arrow flight than most. I'll get it where I want it,it's almost there now. Where it is now,I'd say 95% would be than happy with.
Personally,IMHO most people I see shoot have terrible arrow flight. Just my experience........
Blake, Nice bow bud!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Thanks Curt, Pete, Brent.
I guess I'll give those stiff arrows another shot. I'll find the right combo and let you guys know what works best for me......
Blake
Curt -- too funny
Blake -- did you put the limb savers on from the get go? I would move them or take them off and tune from there...as David said, you have them in a spot that will steal a bunch of energy...IMO, a spot that might make it harder to tune bow/arrows.
My guess would be a light 250 or heavy 350, if you are truely getting 29, then work those 350's out.
Good looking bow...enjoy!
Guru, Okay-you can have the dime-I like donut holes anyway. Arrow matching can get strange. (But I think the arrow contact you posted pics of in the other thread was indicative of overspined arrows.) Peace and perfect flight to you.
Serg, I PM'ed ya!! I love it! Treeman, Curt and I will each grab a nickel and than I will take your donut holes too!! I know Curt and I know how he shoots and tunes and I know a thing or two about arrow spine. I agree with what Curt says 100%. I see now that those limb Savers could be hurting him big time, ecsp. where they are placed. Shawn
ttt.
Things need livening up around here. Lets argue some more.
You guys need to quit screwin'up Brent's bows with great wads of leather wrapped arould the grip and trying to shoot half of an 8 wt fly rod butt for an arrow. :knothead: ;)
about the grip, why do you guys not like the leather?
Been away a few days...glad I caught this thread. Glad you got your bow and are liking it. I love mine too and shoot it really well also. Gonna be a fun Turkey hunting partner starting this week.
Kojac...cant speak for others but I love my leather grip. I have cold hands and almost always wear knit gloves. I like the traction of leather. I also folded my leather at top and bottom 1/4 inch to make a little locator lip and rolled on two little rubber sleeves (road bicycle tubing) to bulk it up a little. I couldnt be happier. The rattan does a nice job of rounding out and filling out the handle and also is unique and eye catching. If I lived in a warmer climate I'd have opted for the rattan but my darn hands get cold too easy.
No argueing just stating fact about some arrow questions. Great bows for sure. Grips ya ought to see what Guru is doing to his, making it more of a medium wrist. Shawn
QuoteGrips ya ought to see what Guru is doing to his, making it more of a medium wrist. Shawn [/QB]
Sacriledge. I'm appalled by the atrocities. I bet that leather is pigskin-We can just call Curt's grip the "Abomination of Desolation". :p
Your arrow facts and my arrow facts differ. That is okay... but I find it odd that Curt is smearing paint/dye on his arrow rest? Maybe--just maybe you guys haven't really got it all doped out yet. :saywhat: