Tell me about the Parker 34 bow

[Virginiashadow]

I have the same bow my dad bought me 7 years ago. It is time I get a new bow with some let-off! My bow now is an old Bear Archery with like 50% let-off or less. I have researched some bows and have come to like the Parker 34....I don't like the idea of a mini-bow like the 31 but maybe the 34 which seems like it would be a little more forgiving. Could you all tell me if you have heard of anyone with this bow or something similar? Thanks a bunch.

vashadow

[WT Kevorkian]

I have a UL 31, my buddy has the UL 31, my brother has the UL 34, and another friend just bought the Phoenix 34, I set up all of them and everybody loves them. If you've got specific questions fire away, but you can't go wrong with the parker. Before buying I shot hoyt, mathews and parker and had owned two brownings, I liked the parker the best out of all of them, its short, lightweight, fast, and quiet. what else could you want in a bow??

[Virginiashadow]

Thanks WT---I want a bow with an easier draw, more let-off, quiet, and fast...is that too much to ask I think I will go down in the spring and shoot one around to see how it feels. I am really excited about buying a new bow, every one of my friends has a lightning fast, quiet bow......but I think I have learned alot of good things with my crappy bow....when to draw, learn to shoot 30 yards or less, really pay attention to the deers body language b/c my bow isn't that fast and I don't want a high hit b/c of a string jumper...etc. WT....if I think up any questions I will let them rip---thanks alot

vashadow

[WT Kevorkian]

Hey, one more thing, I see you're from virginia, Parker is made in Mint Spring Virginia, so you could have parts, i.e. string or cables in a matter of a day probably. Plus if I were them and you bought something else, I'd run you outta town and call you a yankee. lol By the way if you look in their 2005 catalog,, I'm in it. Talk to you later

[Virginiashadow]

"Plus if I were them and you bought something else, I'd run you outta town and call you a yankee"

Yeah, I live about 10 minutes west of Manassas, Virginia. I think I will try one of those bows out...anything has to be better than the bow I have now! I will save my old bow for someone else who wants to try out bowhunting.

vashadow

[Parker Bows Marketing]

If you are looking for a bow with an easier drawing motion,check out the Phoenix EZ-Draw 34.
Same fantastic features of the Phoenix design partnered with our EZ-Draw Cam - feels like you are drawing back 10 pounds less weight. Very smooth.

Vicky

[Virginiashadow]

Thanks Parkers, I will do that. I am forever evolving in bowhunting because I have learned so much in the last 4 years. I am hunting in thicker habit with smaller hunting features that are causing me to see deer at 10-15 yards. I need a quiet/easy draw so I can "sucker-punch" those deer!

vashadow

[Kusko]

I bought a Parker Phoenix 34 last summer and I love it. It is fast and quiet. I was surprised how smooth these new bows are. I used it recently to harvest this bull moose during a draw hunt in Fort Richardson, Alaska.

[Virginiashadow]

Thanks for the response Kusko...good looking animal. I am thinking of the EZ Draw 33.....I want to try some of them out.

vashadow

[fabsroman]

VA,

Have you looked at Mathews at all? They might be a little more expensive than the Parker bow, but I am not sure. If I had it to do over again, which I might in a couple of years, I would have gone with a Mathews from the beginning. Then again, I guess a Parker bow is pretty good.

[Virginiashadow]

Matthews ad Hoyts seem to be out of my price range, plus I like being a little different, so I am gonna go with a local company in Parker.

vashadow

[WT Kevorkian]

Mathews spends a tremendous amount of money on advertising and sponsorships. I think you'd be surprised to know how many of the people shooting competively actually paid for their bow, I bet its not as many as you think, because Mathews puts them in their hands because they want the publicity. It doesn't take many commercials, competition wins, etc etc to convince someone who doesn't know much about a bow that Mathews must be the best. I'm not saying they don't have some good bows, but how much of your money goes towards the bow and how much for the name??? Alot of that money you pay for a mathews goes towards marketing expense. Most Expensive does not equal the best. Money was not a factor when 3 of us bought new bows 3 years ago, if the one we wanted was 1,000 dollars it wouldn't of made one bit of difference. We could have bought Mathews over Parkers for about $100 dollars more. There were a few factors that led to picking the Parker, they are close by being in Virginia, the quality of the bow was exceptional as far as fit and finish, the weight of the bow was extremely light and is probably still one of the lightest in the world today, to change draw lengths cost about $12 as compared to $60 or $70 dollars on the Mathews, speed was not a factor for me but the Parker was faster or equal to the Legacy which was the top cat Mathews at the time, the Parker was alot shorter than the Legacy as well, it was 80% let off with ability to make it 65% for not much money if you wanted. Overall the Parker had the features I wanted, haviing bowhunted for 12 years, and having shot all the top end bows on the market at the time, I can't say I've ever held a finer killing machine.

[fast*eddie]

My son has been shooting the Parker Force Multiplier for a few years and loves it. I want to try out the Extreme Hunter Mag Package and so son suggested I try the Extreme E-Z draw . There was a write up in "On Target" ( Oct/Nov 2004) and Bob Humphrey tested the Phoenix 34 Outfitter. It got an excellent rating and would have been higher if it came with a stabilizer , which it doesn't need.

[WT Kevorkian]

I've been considering picking up a force multiplier on ebay to set up for target shooting. Does your son shoot competively?? How does he have it set up,,, sight,, draw weight etc. etc. I haven't known anyone with the force multiplier and I didn't see it in the 2005 catalog so I was wondering why, and have shyed away from buying one. Tell me more

[fabsroman]

WT,

There are a couple of flaws regarding your analysis on the cost of a Mathews bow consisting of a ton of advertising. Now, I am not saying that you are wrong, I am just saying that you have no facts to back it up. Sure, Mathews does a lot of advertising, but how many bows do they sell in comparison to Parker. What is their advertising expense compared to a percentage of sales dollars? That is what you have to look at to figure out how much you are paying in advertising for a bow. Parker could have a higher percentage of sales dollars going to advertising, but not as big an advertising budget as Mathews because they don't sell nearly as many bows (i.e., they don't have the income to support a huge advertising campaign). Give me the financial statements of both companies and then we can do a somewhat more informed analysis of which bow's price consists of a higher percentage of advertising dollars.