What did I do wrong?

[james243]

I bought a bear kodiak back in July and have put about 1000+ arrows through it and Friday while shooting some new arrows through it bare shaft it blew up as I was coming back to anchor. I was getting really confident with it out to 20 yards or so and I did take a rabbit with it earlier in the week. I was doing the bare shaft because I was trying to figure out if I needed to adjust the nock point. I couldn't get it not to shoot nock high. Maybe the bottom limb giving out? There was no damage to the bow before. I bought it as a blemished from Fred bear pro shop here in Gainesville and plan to take it back by there this week.

 

[Dennis]

Sorry for you some bows break. Not your fault. They should make it good. By the way don't worry about nock high when bare shafting it's common. If it bothers you after you get new bow paper tune a flechted shaft it will go away.

 

[james243]

Thanks. When I first got it I was only drawing it to maybe 27" but after a couple weeks I realized that I wasn't opening up my shoulders. Then I worked up to drawing about 29.5" with better form. I suppose less draw length might have delayed or avoided the failure. It was shooting a 30" 2315 with 175 grain points at 168fps and giving me much better feelings than shooting my other bear (with training wheels). However I must say that becoming steady holding 50+ lbs at full draw has really improved my steadiness with the high let off compound. Hopefully I can get another kodiak back within the next two weeks before our season starts. Otherwise I may resort to shooting the 2315 aluminums with the zwickey Eskimo from my compound. The extra weight makes it much quieter.

 

[John Cooper]

Bear should make it right, it happens I built a new recurve under the guidance of Gene Sanders and the top limb blew on it about a month after it was built, it was a takedown so all I had to do was build a new limb. You didn't over draw it at 29.5. Probably a bad glue line or something like that.

 

[Todd Cook]

It broke at the fadeout; probably a dry spot or bad glue joint. You didn't do anything wrong.

 

[NCHillbilly]

It broke at the fadeout; probably a dry spot or bad glue joint. You didn't do anything wrong.

This, or somebody strung it wrong a lot of times.

 

[Longbeard1975]

My all time favorite Bear recurve was the 1955-1956 Kodiaks. I’ve had several they all ended up breaking, but they were all over 50 years old. A new bow breaking like that is poor craftsmanship. They don’t make anything like they used to.
I hunt/shoot only H Hill longbows now they are built to last a lifetime.

 

[strothershwacker]

If ye was in Georgia that rabbit would be out of season.

 

[devolve]

If ye was in Georgia that rabbit would be out of season.

I bought it as a blemished from Fred bear pro shop here in Gainesville

Year round in FL strothershwacker

 

[strothershwacker]

Goodness! Fried rabbit year round!! So that's why all em Yankees are moving to Florida.

 

[devolve]

Goodness! Fried rabbit year round!! So that's why all em Yankees are moving to Florida.

When I lived down there I would go down the St Johns river and hunt the big rabbits on all the islands. Good times

 

[james243]

I picked up the replacement this afternoon. I have and always will use a stringer. I only use it to bend the bow enough to nestle the string onto the nock and make sure it's settled into the grooves before letting the limbs load the string. I have my fingers crossed that I can get a couple decades out of this bow. I'm pretty cheap and I do everything I can to make my stuff last. I even reuse fletchings if they get knocked off and are in whole condition, just sand them a little and re-glue.

By the way, even though we can hunt rabbit year round I try to do it mostly in months with a "R". This one was a couple days early but it eats the same. I think the hide will end up riding on the new string on the replacement.

 

[devolve]

I picked up the replacement this afternoon. I have and always will use a stringer. I only use it to bend the bow enough to nestle the string onto the nock and make sure it's settled into the grooves before letting the limbs load the string. I have my fingers crossed that I can get a couple decades out of this bow. I'm pretty cheap and I do everything I can to make my stuff last. I even reuse fletchings if they get knocked off and are in whole condition, just sand them a little and re-glue.

By the way, even though we can hunt rabbit year round I try to do it mostly in months with a "R". This one was a couple days early but it eats the same. I think the hide will end up riding on the new string on the replacement.

Good deal man! I hope you get many decades out of this one. I have a 1980’s grizzly that still shoots great

 

[Silver Mallard]

Glad they took care of you. I have an old Kodiak hunter that I retired before ever getting her to the woods. she developed stress cracks on the outside face of the limbs. It makes me even more nervous to shoot after seeing yours popped in half. Enjoy the new bow!

 

[james243]

The blemish on the original bow I bought looked like little cracks across the limbs on the back. I was told the application of paint was too thick and the paint cracked. The break was not were those "cracks" were. They were about 1/3 the length of the limbs past the fade out of the riser.

Glad they took care of you. I have an old Kodiak hunter that I retired before ever getting her to the woods. she developed stress cracks on the outside face of the limbs. It makes me even more nervous to shoot after seeing yours popped in half. Enjoy the new bow!

 

[John Cooper]

Glad to hear they made it right!! I figured they would.