Bow question

Before kids and job responsibilities took up most of my time, I used to do a lot of bowhunting. I have an older Martin bow (pushing 25 years old now) that I loved to shoot and was pretty proficient with. Well, the bowhunting urge is building again and I am hoping to resume the sport for turkey and whitetails.

I haven’t shot my bow in a few years and know that I would need to get a new string among other things before I can safely shoot it again. My question is, what things should I be concerned with replacing before I shoot it again? I know a lot of folks will tell me to just get a new bow because the technologies have improved the speed, let-off, etc., but I don’t really have the cash for a new bow.

My old Martin still slings heavy aluminum hunting arrows at about 250 fps, which isn’t the fastest, but it was good enough to put venison in the freezer before.

Any insights?

Thanks.

Take it in for a tune up. Have the cams gone over and cleaned and re-lubed. If you need a new string Vapor Trail is in MN and can make you any string length you want. Also go over you limbs look for any cracks or splinters that may be there. If you shoot a drop away make sure that is in good working order and add a little oil if needed. Sould be good to go after that. If you don’t know how to do it yourself I know Donnie Fromm at Oak Ridge Archery in Kasota is close to you and so is Scheel’s in Mankato. Good luck with getting going again. It’s a lot of fun

If your Martin is 25 years old it will kill deer just as good as ever. A couple precautions;
You may have swedged steel cables (not dyneema like modern bows)…You can have a new Fast Flight string made (but not with 8125 or the newest, fastest dyneemas)the limbs/cables will not take the sudden stress (zero stretch).
Try to find a shop with an old guy that remembers the limitations of new technology applied to 25 year old bows
If you switch to carbons your bow will need at least 8-9 grains per inch shaft weight, again due to the limbs and cables not designed for shooting light weight arrows as todays bows are.
Most likely you will only need a new FastFlight bowstring and a shot of lubricant on the axles…besides building those shooting muscles back up.