Got my bow today! (Pics)

[smj]

That is a nice looking bow indeed, the bowyer did a grand job of it for you!

Question - I have often thought of building up the grip like this one to try to get a more custom fit to the hand... However, I also worried about maybe building something that would result in unexpected torque on the bow during a shot. Hence, I have always kept mine thinner and fairly rounded. So - when I see this bow of yours, I have to ask the question, how does it fit the hand? Was this a custom fit to a drawing you sent in, or a standard grip built by this builder all the time? Do you think it helps to counter torgue, or does it seem more neutral? Thanks!

[snoodslapper]

I haven't gotten to shoot it yet, but, the theory is that it reduces torque. Of the reviews I've read about this bow is that it does this effectively, but more than that it creates a bed for the shooter to hold the bow the same way every time, which, when shooting trad, means consistency from shot to shot and is very important. I did sent him a tracing of my hand and he requested several photos because of the abnormality of my thumb. Most of the folks that have shot these bows, from reading on the other forums, say they were not expecting the thumbrest to be a help but rather a hinderance. Mr. Toelke makes the rest very "non-invasive" and gentle. The bow fits my hand perfectly. I would say it feels much better than the some of the more expensive custom bows out there that put finger grooves in the front of the riser, which I personally do NOT like at all.

[smj]

Thank you for the reply! This has been my thought for some time on built up grips... When I first started to shoot, back in the 60's, there were a lot of target bows around that had a grip built up for the thumb to rest on. The guys my dad shot with all had bows that had been built to a hand pattern - but I was to little to really understand it all at the time! Anyway, it seems like this type of grip has always just been a target bow style, I've always wondered how it'd work on a hunting bow.

Once you get out there and shoot it a few times, if you'd not mind, drop us a review!

Thanks again - stevej