From: shawn@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Shawn Boyd)
Subject: Thanks and comments regarding Oneida purchase
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin; Austin, Texas
Date: 2 Sep 92 06:55:42 CDT
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu


Well folks, I broke down and did it.  I ordered an Oneida (bow) from
Cabela's.  First off, let me say that those people run a high quality
organization.  I am a big, long-time fan of BDW, but this time
Cabela's won.  OK, enough said about that.

I am posting to thank all of you who responded to my inquiry
concerning Oneida's new compound, and to ask for a little help.  I was
assured by several people that the Strike Eagle and Aero-Force are
quality weapons, and that complaints about them being cranky and hard
to tune are exagerated.  I'm still very fond of Golden Eagles and
Martins, but I'm going to switch horses, hopefully not too much in
mid-stream.  It's awfully close to hunting season to be doing this,
but I felt compelled ahead and do it.  Well, actually I just happened
to have a little bit of spare cash on hand.  Lots of people told me
that these are fine bows, so I'm not too worried about the choice, but
it's gonna be a horse race to get the little debbil tuned up in time
for any hunting.

I chose the Aero-Force over the Strike Eagle on the advice of one of
the people in Cabela's archery department.  He hunts elk.  He owns
both.  Both bows are the same price.  He told me that the Aero-Force
(what a gawdy name for a bow) was the better buy.

The bow isn't here yet, and it's already late to be starting up on
tuning, so I could use some hints from those who are familiar with the
bow on how to do a quality job when I tune it up.  Here are the
details...

I shoot a thirty inch 2512 (Camo Hunter Super Light) off a fork rest.
I use a peep and pins to hunt, four pins (cross hairs, actually) set
at 10-20 (my current bow shoots pretty flat) 30, 40 and 50 yards.  I
do use a bow quiver, but am not married to it.  I use a Trophy Hunter
bearing release on the draw arm side with nock rings set one above and
two below the arrow on the string.  I'm not sure it's relevant to the
question, but in case it is, when I shoot at animals, I use a 115
grain Muzzy as my lead (preferred) broadhead, but I also carry (and
like) a set of 145 grain Bear Razorheads (with the bleeder blade in)
and a set of 125 grain Delta Snuffers.  Conversationally I'll add that
these are less well balanced than Muzzy's, but you can sharpen them
without replacing the blades.  I use a 12 oz. stabilizer on the front.
No extender.  I have to keep it pretty nubby so I can crawl around
through the cactus and mesquite down in South Texas.  By the way, when
I say crawl, I mean it.  This bow will have to crawl with me too, so
that's a consideration in deciding what kind of tackle I end up
putting on it.

I don't recall how heavy my inserts are, but if it's a factor in any
answers I might get back, let me know, and I'll pull one out and weigh
it.  I use three 5 inch, high profile turkey feathers on the back (no
wobbles!) but I might have to change all that with this new bow.  I
fletch with a right helical Arizona jig, which puts very little twist
in the feathers.  Of course, with a fork rest, I launch cock vane
down.  No paradox.  None.  None that I can measure anyway.  I'm also
thinking about buying a new fletching jig.  I like the Bitzenberger
(sp?) a lot, but am somewhat concerned about the amount of helical it
puts on the fletching.  Like I said, I rig to shoot-through, and I'm
not sure how much opening up my forks on the rest is going change
things.  I'll just have to try that and see.  If it makes any
difference, I serve with stranded cotton off a cheap little aluminum
jig.  I've been thinking about changing to mono-fil.  Any opinions?

The Oneida I sent off for is a 60-80 pound draw weight bow with a
28-30 inch draw length.  I am planning to set the weight at about 78
pounds (I'm drawing 80 right now and find it a bit much) but that can
change when it's time to tune.  I'll be doing the coarse tuning on an
outdoor range at varying yardages, and paper tuning on an indoor
range.  At this point I don't really have any specific questions, but
I do have some general questions.

1) Are there any particular eccentricities concerning the bow that I should
   be aware of?  I am particularly interested in knowing how these sorts of 
   things will affect the performance of the bow both when I'm tuning and
   practicing as well as how they might affect performance when I'm in the 
   field and want to shoot to kill.

2) Are there any performance issues which might affect my tackle?  For
   instance, I'm pretty sure the bow does fine with a fork rest and a
   release style of shooting, but what about those high profile
   fletches?  I think those may have to go.  Brush by is a big no-no
   for me, and I really don't know how big the window cutout on the
   Aero-Force is.  Cable guard design also gets to be part
   of this picture too.

3) I'd also like to hear about any short cuts that Oneida owners have to share,
   both the ones that will actually save time, and any that might be dangerous 
   or a waste of time.

Ooops.  I guess I actually do have some specific questions.  What the
devil is a K-cam?  Apparently that's one of the differences between an
Aero-Force and a Strike Eagle.  Also, what the heck is a "Duo-Track
timing system?" (Sounds like advertising horse pucky to me.)  I
should've asked when I called Cabela's the last time, but I got
interrupted, and had to cut the call short.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.  I hope everybody out there
has a great season!

Shawn Boyd
Austin, Texas