When buying a new bow....

[mag30079]

When you go to the bow shop and try out a bunch of bows what character or quality's decide your purchase?
Speed, sound, handle vibration, forgiveness, let off, or just think it looks cool, like we've all done on a purchase or two.
 
I don't have the fastest bow (310fps) but I went with a good combination. Quiet and handle vibration were big ones for me.

[RNC]

For me its how much sound does the bow make, forgiveness and a small handle. Speed is the least important factor for me. todays bows are faster then any previous bow ever made. But you know what dad and his buddies started with stick bows and cedar shaft arrows and they still got deer way back when.

[bckklr]

sound,vibration,weight,brace height,comfort are all a few of the things that i considered when purchasing a new bow & ya speed but i agree with mag its last, anything made 2day is faster than the old indian bow i started out with

[GTOHunter]

I went to our local Archery Shop and shot several different bows that they had,when I bought my new Jennings Bow I liked it because of the way it felt in my hands,the way it shot and it was afforable! [;)]

[ARROWSMITH]

GTO hit on the head "MONEY" what can you afford first.  Then I would look for bows in that price range and try to find the longest axel to axel length and the highest bace height. (If you plan on shooting longer distances I would stay away from the solocam bows they do tend to be quieter but it is my experience that they tend to loose accuracy with distance) Then go to the big bow shop or superstore and shoot those bows.(If they won't let you shoot take your buisness elsewhere and make it known to them why your leaving.) Find out which ones are quieter and feel best to you and buy it. If they can't or won't set it up for you or they want to charge a ton of money to do it, skip the set up and take it to a small shop owner like me that will set it up for little or no money and allow you to shoot it before you leave to make sure its right.

[Highlander Archery]

Fit and Forgiveness

[danesdad]

Shootability,forgiveness, low noise level, cost, and speed...in that order.

[mag30079]

ORIGINAL: ARROWSMITH

GTO hit on the head "MONEY" what can you afford first.  Then I would look for bows in that price range and try to find the longest axel to axel length and the highest bace height. (If you plan on shooting longer distances I would stay away from the solocam bows they do tend to be quieter but it is my experience that they tend to loose accuracy with distance) Then go to the big bow shop or superstore and shoot those bows.(If they won't let you shoot take your buisness elsewhere and make it known to them why your leaving.) Find out which ones are quieter and feel best to you and buy it. If they can't or won't set it up for you or they want to charge a ton of money to do it, skip the set up and take it to a small shop owner like me that will set it up for little or no money and allow you to shoot it before you leave to make sure its right.

 
Money aside, I know what I like I just wondered what other looked for. Your right that longer bows axle to axle are generally quieter, and more brace height more forgiving.

[hunter480]

I`ve heard people say that you need to let the bow pick you......which makes sense.
 
I like speed, only for the fact that, the flatter the bow shoots, the leass I have to worry about judging distance. Past that, it`s all about quiet, and accuracy.
 
It`s nearly hard to go wrong with any bow today-they`re all great.

[SyracuseBowhunter]

With my last bow, I went for quietness, less hand shock, smooth draw (I have a partially torn rotator cuff), and shorter bow length (I always hunt from a tree stand and practice from a tree stand as well) because I prefer the manuverability of a shorter bow in a treestand.  I ended up buying a Justice by Liberty and it is the smoothest shooting bow I have owned so far.  Shot a buck opening day of bow season last year at 20 yards and it never flinched before the arrow passed through and came out the other side.  It went 30 yards and piled up.