[fabsroman]

No need to get so defensive. I will gladly say that you have more knowledge about bow hunting than I do and that you have been bow hunting many more hours than I have. I will also admit that you have many more hours in bow practice than I do. However, with as many hours as you practicing, I could probably give you a run for your money with my PSE, just as you can give me a run for my money at the skeet range with your Benelli SBE while I am shooting a $3,000 skeet o/u. I will also agree that Matthews spends a ton of money on advertising, but does that necessarily mean they have a crappy bow or that the cost of a single Matthews bow is that much more than a Parker bow because of the advertising? Any company that sells a bunch of whatever it produces can afford to spend a lot more money on R&D and marketing. If Matthews earns 10x more money than Parker, it can spend 10x more money on R&D. It can also spend 10x more on marketing. Even by spending that 10x more in R&D and marketing, a single Matthews bow would have the same percentage of marketing and R&D cost in it as a Parker bow. Now, if Matthews and Parker produce the same number of models of bows, whose bows would be better based upon the amount of money spent on R&D. Again, these are all hypotheticals, and there are a ton of other variables out there (e.g., maybe Einstein works for Parker because he cannot stand Matthews). Of course, this also assumes that a company doesn't get lazy and rest on its laurels.

I was just pointing out the fallacy in your advertising analysis and your competition shooters choice of bows analysis. I don't need much experience with a bow to know that your analysis was flawed. I think I would still pick a Matthews over any other bow when I am in the market for a new bow. Problem with buying a new bow is that I can't shoot a bow 1,000 times before I buy it. I would love to test out a bunch of bows before deciding on any single one. Hell, I wish I could test out a rifle's accuracy before actually purchasing it. Shotguns are mostly a fit thing, but point of impact could also be an issue.

I love Krieghoff's program where they will let you shoot one of their shotguns for something like a month before you have to decide on buying it. Granted, it is a shotgun that costs well above $5,000, and you have to pay a slight rental fee, maybe a couple hundred dollars to cover shipping and handling, but when we are talking about that kind of money it is well worth it.

Is there a place where a person can rent a bow and try it out? Could I go to a range and rent several of the Matthews bows, the Parker bows, and whatever other bows I wanted to try. At the clays range I shoot at, they rent out some Beretta guns, granted, they aren't the most expensive ones, but they are in the $3,000 range. I rented one before I decided to drop $2,900 on my first one. That $3.50 rental was well worth it.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference. I hate Browning guns, but others swear by them. You love Parker, but others swear by Matthews. I doubt I would swear by PSE because I haven't used my bow enough, but it has done the job for me when I have needed it. As far as rifles go, I love Ruger because I own two that are pretty good. I am thinking about getting a .25-06 and actually took a look at the new Savage because of an ad I read and to keep an open mind. Well, it felt like crap to me so I am still leaning toward Ruger. Boy would I love to shoot both models before buying either. I'd like to shoot the Sako and Tikka too. If the Savage is more accurate, I could buy a new stock for it and have half the problem solved. Then again, my reason for buying the Savage would have been because it already had a bedding block in it and I would save some money because I wouldn't have to buy a new stock. Buying equipment, while fun most of the time, requires a lot of thinking.

Your bow experience is duly noted regarding Parker, but it isn't the only opinion out there and you know what they say about opinions.

As far as your reference to me whimpering when drawing my bow, I don't think I have ever whimpered while drawing my bow. Yes, when I haven't practiced it is rather tough for me to draw the bow easily, but I never go hunting without the adequate amount of practice before hunting season. Making fun of me about my ability to shoot my bow without practice would be like me making fun of your sticker shock/whimpering when you saw how much a Benelli SBE costs new. Of course, I was nice enough to refer you to somebody that was selling his SBE for well below market value and I was also nice enough to let you shoot my SBE before you decided on buying one. It would also be like me making fun of your wing shooting ability the first time I met you. To this day, I can remember the first time I goose hunted with you and watched you try to shoot a wounded goose that was getting up right in front of you and flying directly away. I watched you miss it a couple of times and I watched it fly away. When you got back to the blind I gave you some advice on how to shoot that bird (e.g., come up underneath it, swing through it, and pull the trigger when you have it covered up, all the time not stopping your swing).

No need for name calling. If you can't handle a good debate in a good manner, don't jump in. Then again, I have a lot of practice since debating is my profession. Don't shoot me the next time we are out hunting. LOL