I guess I have the same philosophy on bows as classic cars. I appreciate the perfection and beauty of the "trailer queens," but I don't want anything I can't have fun with! I'd be too paranoid about scratching up those high dollar jobs, but I sure appreciate one when I see it.

I like both beauty and performance but performance/shootablilty is by far what I care the most about. I've been through a lot of bows over the years some were absolutely gorgeous but I couldn't shoot them as good as others. My tried and true bow I have always come back to is a balance of both worlds I think. It's an ironwood black widow SA and I have to say I beat the living crap out of that bow haha. It's simple and pretty but I'm not afraid to beat it. Actually sending it to black widow soon to have em refinish it because it looks like I drug it behind my truck but she's still as solid as ever 

 I've owned numerous bows down through the years but never go to far from my Martin bows. And I know that they are a production bows but they just always seem to fit me just right and give me the performance that I always look for in a bow. My dad, who has been bow hunting since the 1950's, always said a few things that stuck with me over the years, "one bow might fit ones hands but not the other persons hands", "not all cheap bows are bad, not all expensive bows are good". And I get it that a bow handmade and done up with rare exotic woods are a thing of beauty, a true work of art but for me, beauty and art don't always put the arrow where I want it. And besides, there's a point to where a bow is so beautiful that I don't want to take it out in the elements. I hunt hard in all kinds of weather conditions. So for me, first in foremost, a bow must fit before I can decide if it's functional for my needs. With that being said, everyone is different because I have my share of custom made beauty's that I could not shoot worth damn but the guy that sold them to are always busting nocks! Take my father for example, I've seen him do more things with a old Browning and Herters bow than one could think. LOL.
  Thanks for reading and I hope that I didn't go to far off the subject.   JMG

I have gone that way when I bought my first magnesium risered takedown in 1970.  Currently two of my eight bows are not good looking and I would have never have bought them long go, but they are functional.

However, I believe bows are like dogs where you always want to sit the porch with one and not be embarrassed.  Like bows that are works of art with lots of fancy woods. 

I wonder how the dogs feel 

Quote from: The Whittler on May 28, 2019, 08:45:29 PM
I wonder how the dogs feel 

When I miss the dove and ducks I'm pretty sure they are embarrassed. [emoji2]

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

My dog won't hunt, she is getting very old, buts she is loyal, does everything she can to be the best dog she can be.  I don't give a damn what other people may think of my dog.  I also don't care if other people don't think that I am a fashion statement or if my lawn is prepared for a Better Homes and Garden photo shoot.  If archers were not trying meet with current fashion expectations, it would be very bad for the custom bow business.  Nothing wrong with pretty if that is your thing, nothing wrong with with plain old reliable and functional if that is your thing.

The more the grass grows, the more you gotta mow.  Ain't nobody got time for that.[emoji1]

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

My neighbor brought me his Bingham kit high school project bow some years back.  He did a really terrible job in every possible way with it, he borrowed it to someone, they got in a wrestling match with it and it came back in three pieces.  I glued it all back together, I  put a bit of serving over the splices, reduced and reworked the entire bow so even he could shoot it.  i think a couple of years back, his willy wanked out on him, now he mows his lawn three times a week, trims every weed, picks up every loose leaf, washes his drive way, his house, his cars, his gutters and his roof.  His shingles have more foot traffic than most sidewalks.  What he really should have done is got into bowhunting, bought himself a couple of really fancy bows, quit drinking canned Bud Light and diet Mountain Dew and eating cheap hotdogs.  He almost gags when he sees us eating deer meat.  One time his son was complaining about being starving hungry, I offered him a burger on the Weber grill, (from a young doe), I offered the same to his dad.  Your basic bacon cheese burger with grill onions, grilled bacon, mustard, catsup and a pickle.  They both sat on the ground hiding from his wife.  They made moaning sounds while they stuffed the large burgers down.  His wife had made microwave chicken bits for noon lunch and they were too full to eat it.  She has hated me worse ever since.  Then sometimes later the son asked why is it that Larry's burgers are always way better than the frozen Sam's Club ones that they eat.  His dad backed him up on that, they had eaten a number of them by then.  I told them what they had been eating. The dad almost threw up and the son said, "HA, I knew there was a reason."
   If a new bow gets you eating more venison burgers, you need a new bow.

Yum Yum pavan! Makin me hungry.

Love me a pretty bow.  I have owned probably 30 different longbows. Some tricked out. Some plain.  If I am paying for a custom, I usually just go all out and get it tricked out.  Why not!?  I love the artistry and look of antler limb tips/overlays and what not.