It is with gratitude that I pack up the Kestrel and send her home, thanks again Steve for your generous offer and the chance to shoot this fine bow and stack it up against my bows.  Thanks also to Mike for his kind words and suggestions.

Ubet !! Glad to help out, and glad you enjoyed shooting her !

Kestrel is winging her way home.  I think that with weight closer to 62-63# she would have held her ground against the heavier weight bows she challenged.  Physical weight she was probably the lightest.  The long working limb helped.  It was indeed a very pleasant experience shooting the Kestrel. 

MOAB, Big River 21st Century clone, and WHC Kestrel all performed well.  As I sit back and analyze the experience several points have come to the front.  All bows were shot with 635-713 grain hunting weight arrows.  This gives a real functional analysis of the bows.  The Kestrel had the lightest physical weight and poundage(60.2#) of the group tested.  The light weight of the bow was no detriment to feel or performance.  The beaver tail grip was comfortable and solid in hand.  The Big River was second in physical weight, but heaviest in poundage(66.2#).  Naturally, this bow shot the quickest of the group with all arrows tested; aluminum, parallel Cedar and tapered footed Cedar shafts.  The grip is a more traditional dished longbow style, but very comfortable.  The MOAB was physically the heaviest weight bow with mid-range poundage(63#).  The grip was extremely comfortable and probably the largest of all bows tested, it fills my hand well.  All three bows are 60" and very easy to point.  None of the bows had noticeable hand shock, with all arrows at or exceeding the 10 gpp mark.  In a nut shell, all these bows performed excellently and since the WHS Kestrel is the only one still in production, that is a plus.  Accuracy of the group was comparable, and I was able to shoot 4-6 arrow groups of 4-5" out to about 20 yards, which is the maximum distance available for me to shoot in my yard.  At 13-15 I recorded many three arrow groups with feathers touching.  The Kestrel excelled in all categories; looks, feel, workmanship and performance.