Home > Bow Reviews > Herb Meland "Butler Flipper Stick 61#@28"

Herb Meland "Butler Flipper Stick 61#@28"

Reviewed By Steve, 2 November 2009

This was the very first American Longbow I bought, having shot with an English Longbow for over 10 years I wanted to try something different, I wasn't ready to go all the way over to a recurve so after doing a little homework and discovering that Herb Meland was a very respected bowyer and his bows highly prized I set about looking for one.

In actual fact Herb sells his bows under the Pronghorn name and a new 3pc retails at $625, the 1pc is available for $600 and both will be built to your specification and choice of woods.

I considered new but looked about to see if I could find a second hand one, as it happened I was offered the "Flipper Stick". Before Herb set up on his own he worked for a chap named Butler and produced this bow to his design, later when set up for himself the bow became the "Pronghorn".

This particular bow came from a fellow who had used it to hunt Elk and he sent along with it photos of some Elk he had taken with it.

It also came with 2 sets of limbs 61# & 57# along with a dozen of the most beautiful custom arrows I had ever seen, footed in hard wood and crested to match the bow, simply stunning. In Red Elm with clear glass the limbs are "trapped" (trapezoid) and there is some reflex/deflex which makes it an advanced longbow or hybrid

The bow shot hard, harder than anything I had used before, there is very little handshock almost to the point where you would say there was none, the grip is typical low wrist "longbow" grip and the draw is smooth and power comes on early, at full draw this bow spits them out.

I must mention that in the heavier weights Pronghorn bows really come into their own, of all the bows I have ever shot this particular one shoots as smooth, fast and hard as anything I have shot since.

Herb has a reputation for quality and performance, each one is hand crafted by himself and he doesn't send it out until he is happy, Sam Fadala rates him as amongst the best and I certainly have no qualms about shooting his bows. In a poll of bowyers in the states he was voted by them as bowyer of the year some years ago.

I used this bow a little while ago during a publicity stunt I was asked to do for Friends of the Earth on the London Embankment, they had arranged a target with the governments new proposed 3% emissions reduction - I was to "hit the target" in front of news crews and journalists from all over the world - before I could shoot however there were the publicity shots and for almost an hour I was asked to draw, hold and pose with the bow whilst the photographers took their pictures. As you can imagine by the time came to perform the shot my arm was hanging off - still, I looked good on the TV news that night and in the press the next day -  "Oh yes...of course I made the shots"

Rating
Features & Design
Advanced Reflex/Deflex design improves cast and performance
Performance
This is a high performance longbow, expect performance close to recurve speeds
Value for Money
At just $625 for a 3pc bow this represents astounding performance at a budget price
Overall
I couldn't bring myself to give this less, for the price of almost any modern high performance Longbow or Recurve you can buy 2 Pronghorns - INCREDIBLE!!

 

 

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Steve Nicholson and Andy Gilfrin, are real archers interested in the best archery suppliers have to offer. In our search for the very best bow, arrows and equipment we have shot, used and worn pretty much everything on offer.

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Essential Details
What : Herb Meland "Butler Flipper Stick 61#@28" Price : $625

 

 

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