All the features and materials that go into making modern compound bows can be overwhelming. However, you don’t need to memorize each specification to be a successful bowhunter. A solid, yet brief, understanding of each bow material will have you moving in the right direction. (Photo by Haynes Shelton)
July 30, 2024
By Jace Bauserman
I know my way around a bow. For the past 20 years, I have set up and tuned my rigs; and during that time, I have set up, restrung and repaired countless other compound bows for friends and family.
I don’t tell you this to brag — many reading this do the same and likely do it better. I tell you to paint a picture. When you do your bow work, you learn a lot about the ins and outs of different compounds and develop ideas about which bows would work best for different hunting situations.
A western bowhunter turned whitetail geek, I have some thoughts about what makes the ultimate whitetail bow. Let’s dive in.
The Good News My average shot distance on mule deer and pronghorn over the past 20 years is 47.5 yards. My average distance on whitetails is 18 yards. You may ask, why does this matter?
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I have killed plenty of whitetails with a budget-friendly bow outfitted with a fixed three-pin sight and a rest that didn’t drop out of the way of a speeding arrow. And my stabilizer was a fat, 4-inch build that did nothing more than soak up bow noise and post-shot hand shock.
Regardless of what other archers may tell you, the author says the best thing whitetail bowhunters can do is to select a bow they’re comfortable with. Using equipment that works for you and that you’re comfortable with will make you more confident in the deer woods. (Photo courtesy of Jace Bauserman) When crawling across the sage-dappled plains in pursuit of western game, my bow is always a top-tier flagship; my sight is a three-pin moveable, and my rest is a drop-away with toolless micro-adjust tunability. I run a front and back bar stabilizer system that helps my bow sit in hand like a well-trained retriever, and my arrows are micro-diameter toothpicks that cut the western wind like butter.
When bowhunting whitetails, I believe you can go the budget-bow and budget-accessory route. If you’re an excellent whitetail bowhunter and can put yourself in the right stand at the right time of year, you’ll kill as many big-racked bucks as the guy shooting a vertical rig decked out with all the bells and whistles. That’s just some food for thought.
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Aluminum Riser There are three primary riser materials, and aluminum is the most popular. Both flagship and budget bows can sport aluminum risers. The most significant advantage of aluminum is that every bow manufacturer worth its salt has been making bows with aluminum risers for quite some time, and they have perfected the art.
Aluminum riser bows are highly durable. They can handle the abuse that comes with pulling a bow 20 feet up a tree and lowering it down, dropping it into a creek with a rocky bottom or falling on your backpack with your bow lashed to it. The riser can also handle the excessive energy transferred when the shot breaks.
Bows with aluminum risers are highly accurate, balance well at full draw, and will serve the needs of any whitetail bowhunter. A bow with an aluminum riser typically costs less than a carbon-riser bow.
The most significant drawbacks to an aluminum riser are weight and how it traps the cold and transfers it to your bow hand. Bow weight is a matter of personal preference, and even though most of my whitetail treks are on public ground, I don’t get caught up in trying to make my bow light as a feather. And while it isn’t fun pulling off your glove and gripping a freezing riser, this factor alone isn’t enough to make me feel like a carbon-riser bow, which is much warmer to the touch, is an absolute necessity for whitetail hunting.
Carbon Riser I love carbon-riser bows, and when I get my hands on any of Hoyt’s carbon builds, it’s hard for me to put them down. The main drawback of a carbon -riser bow is the cost, and I dub it the only drawback if your goal is to create a super-heavy bow, in which case aluminum is your best budget bet. A flagship carbon bow will typically have a price tag of $400 to $500 more than an aluminum-riser flagship.
For the whitetail hunter looking to also pursue other big game, the author recommends trying out a carbon-riser bow. The reduced weight, hand warmth and tunability carbon provides is hard to beat. (Photos by Haynes Shelton) Carbon risers are bulletproof, and if you’re looking to create a bow that works as well in the western mountains as it does from a Midwest hardwood, carbon is a great option. The riser is warmer to the touch, and thanks to hollow carbon tubes, weight is reduced and strength is boosted. Carbon-riser bows are extremely easy to tune, accurate and forgiving.
Magnesium Riser Raw magnesium is cheaper than aluminum but gives the shooter an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, and there are multiple budget-friendly bows with magnesium riser designs.
While early magnesium-riser bow builds were known for their lack of durability, that issue has been remedied. I have shot some great magnesium-riser bows; my favorite is Hoyt’s Torrex. Not only does this bow pound and promise supreme accuracy, but you can’t hurt it. Magnesium is a lighter metal than aluminum, which is where many of the early problems with durability arose from, but this bow is as rigid as they come.
Magnesium is not a corrosion -resistant metal and is highly soluble in water, and it reacts with water at room temperature. However, exterior coatings have solved this issue.
If you want to save a few pennies and get into an excellent bow build, there is nothing wrong with modern-day magnesium-riser bows.
What To Consider I kicked the article off this way, and this is how I will conclude it: match your bow rig to your bowhunting needs.
For instance, if you have zero plans of hunting the West and plan to only bowhunt whitetails, going the budget-bow route is fine. This is also true for accessories. Many of today’s budget bows have flagship technologies and features that would have been dubbed “flagship” only a few years ago.
For whitetail hunters, there are pros and cons to bows made from each type of material. The author says that your budget, where you hunt and the species you target other than whitetails are all factors to consider when choosing a bow material. (Photo courtesy of Jace Bauserman) If you’re a whitetail bowhunter who wants to be a competitive 3-D archer with your hunting bow, I recommend a top-end aluminum bow or a carbon model. I would tell you the same if you plan to expand your bowhunting opportunities west of the Mississippi. Shots on western game are typically further than traditional whitetail shots.
Regarding what bow brand to choose, my only advice is: do you. By that, I mean go to a few pro shops and shoot as many bows as possible. Bowhunting is all about confidence, and when you find a vertical rig that is a joy to shoot and makes you feel like you’re going to be able to run carbon through lungs regularly, that is the bow you need to go with.
Your buddy may shoot a 34-inch axle-to-axle that he swears by, but you may shoot it and feel the bow is long, cumbersome and hard for you to shoot from a tree stand or ground blind. You may find you drive tacks with a bow that has a 29-inch axle-to-axle length and that it feels better in hand. It’s essential to purchase a compound that you shoot well, not one that is branded with a specific name.
