[amoroque]

For this range report I wanted to compare the penetration of a compound bow vs. the recurve.
I purchased a new target so that if I hit any worn or damaged areas on the target it wouldnt give me a false reading.
I have shot the Mathews LX compound for almost 4 years now and absolutely love this bow. It has almost become an extension of my arm.
Yesterday was the first day I shot the Martin Jaguar, however, it seems to be a great bow. It is very different from the compound in that it has no sights.....almost like shooting from the hip with a pistol. My shooting buddy also enjoyed shooting the bow. He has a bigger draw length than i do, so I believe the Martin Jaguar would be a good choice for all archers capable of a 50lb draw.

[amoroque]

This first picture is of the new target. For the purpose of this test, the target was positioned at 20 yards.

[amoroque]

This is showing the length of the arrows. I used all of the same Easton arrows with the same fletchings, points and nocks.

[amoroque]

First up I shot the Mathews at the target. Please excuse the bad grouping and the beer belly. LOL

[amoroque]

As you can see from the meaurements below the compound penetrated the target at approximately 13 inches.

[amoroque]

Next up was the Martin. I used the same arrows and the same distance. Being the first time I shot this bow, I was not exactly dialed in, however, I was very happy to hit the target with all 3 shots.

[amoroque]

As you can see from the pictures below the penetration of the recurve was approxiomately 7.25 to 7.5 inches.

[amoroque]

20 yard conclusion:

By no means do I feel that I am or would be comfortable using this bow (recurve) for hunting at this point. I feel that hunting with this would require lots of practice, at varying distances. I have always had pride in knowing that I would not shoot an animal with firearm or bow without knowing it would result in an instant and humane kill.

The Mathews has been field tested and the Mathews bow will deliver a force that would send an arrow entirely through an Elk or Mule Deer.

The Martin Jaguar has less penetrating power, however, at 20 yards I feel that it does have enough penetrating power to kill a big game animal such as a whitetail deer, mule deer or elk at 20 yards. Given that the density of this target is much greater than that of an animal, even a penetration of a big game animal at 7 inches would definitely impact vital organs (heart and lungs) and result in a kill.

I would also like to test this on 30 and 40 yard increments in the near future. More to come!

[Dillinger]

Really excellent report, and I believe this is the first of a bow.

Thank you for taking the time to write up and show us the results.

+1

JD

[stalkingbear]

Excellent test! I shoot a Mathews Switchback XT due to my bad shoulders. I'm sure you'll learn to shoot instinctive as you practice. I want to make my own longbow from scratch someday.