Howard

I just wanted to say how pleased I am with the performance of this bow.  I had the bow paper
tuned and shooting two inch groupings @ 20 yards with 65 arrows in under an hour.  I made
a less than perfect first shot on this buck and hit it a little far back.  The buck stopped at 50
yards and gave me a second shot at the neck while facing straight away from me and looked
back to see what had just happened.  When he looked back in my direction I threaded an
arrow into the three inch window of his neck at 50 yards.  The arrow flew perfectly!!  This is a
pope & young 9 pointer which is at the taxidermist and is awaiting the required drying time to
be officially scored.  Initial scored put him in the upper mid 130s.  I videoed the buck two
nights before I shot it, then I was videoing two 8 point bucks sparring under my tree when
this guy decided to come in to show who was boss.  Sadly, I had a faulty battery in my video
camera and it went dead before the shot.   
I’ve come across a few non believers with this bow until they hear the story behind this buck.  
It’s quiet and super fast.
Setup:
Draw weight: 74lbs
Draw length: 29 3/8”
Rest: QAD Ultra Hunter
Sight: Toxonics K9 5 pin
Arrow length: 26.5”
Broadhead: 85gr. Spitfire

Thanks for the bow I’ve
been searching for for years.   
Scott P. Piton  (See picture)
Taken by Orland Paz with the Liberty I
Danny's 500 lb Terrorist pig.
name = Jim W.

comments = I saw your Liberty 1 bow today at an archery
dealer in Albany, NY. I have to admit, seeing it for the first
time, I thought it to be a promotional mock-up to show off a
bow press. Yup, Just a mock-up toy...until the dealer took it
down and shot it. I have to say it takes an awful lot to
impress me. I am Impressed. You might want to think about
putting a small video on your web site showing someone
shooting the Liberty 1. Watching his draw and release is
what made me realize, This bow is the next step in the
evolution of bow hunting.
REMOTE_HOST: 70.18.97.176
IA July 2005

Bow Report          Easier to Read Complete Report

By Bill Krenz


Liberty I

Bowhunters have long been fascinated by short, light hunting bows.

By 1995, the average compound length had shrunk to less than forty inches. Today, it seems to be hovering between
thirty-three and thirty-six inches. The three-decade progression to shorter and shorter compound bows is well
established.

What is also well known is the history of indignation and alarm that has sounded as compounds bows have shrunk.
Old-liners, clinging to convention, have routinely condemned every shortening step along the way. I remember when
compound lengths first dipped into the low-forties. That seems long ago now, but back then detractors roared that
such “short” compounds could never be shot accurately. Bowhunters bought those bows and loved them anyway.

The exact same thing happened when compounds plunged with abandon below the forty-inch mark and then the
thirty-five inch mark. The howls of protest and righteous anger sounded loud and clear. “Those bows can’t be
accurate.”

Yet the march continued and bows did go shorter. And deer, bears, elk and more all continued to fall.

I recently tested a radical new compound hunting bow called the Liberty I. Remarkably, the Liberty I measures just
over twenty inches axle to axle. Yes, you read that right––twenty inches! It also weighs a scant 2.3 pounds, making it
the shortest, lightest adult compound bow available at this time. In fact, it’s over a foot shorter and nearly two pounds
lighter than most of today’s compound hunting bows.

Initial reactions to the Liberty I are boringly predictable. I’ve shown my Liberty I sample to a variety of bowhunters. The
first reaction is typically one of disbelief. “Is this for real?” The second reaction is one of unbridled fascination. It’s
hard to get the Liberty I out of their hands. Sometime after that, the old biases pop predictably up. “It can’t shoot all
that well. It’s definitely cool, but isn’t it too short?”

The Liberty I is an amazing bow. It’s space-age, high-tech and unquestionably far out. Its axle-to-axle length is a good
eight inches shorter than the length of my normal hunting arrows. Yet, surprisingly, the Liberty I shoots amazingly well.
I must admit that I was surprised at just how fast and accurate the Liberty I performs. But on top of all that, the Liberty
I is just plain cool.

One friend called it the coolest bow he’d ever shot. That sums up the Liberty I better than more words ever could.


KEY SELLING POINTS

Astonishingly Short
At just 20.5 inches axle-to-axle, the Liberty I is a compound bow venturing off into uncharted but exciting territory.
Think about just how short that is. It’s the length of three dollar bills and two quarters laid end to end. It’s five four-inch
vanes. It’s just a bit taller than a LaCrosse rubber boot. It’s compact with a capital “C.” It’s bold to the point of being
almost electrifying. Hang one up in any archery shop in the country and I guarantee it will be the topic of conversation.

“My intent was to create a very small, lightweight hunting package,” says Howard Winther, the bow’s designer and
manufacturer. “I wanted a bow that I could hook onto my backpack and not even feel it as I hiked along. I was looking
for a bow that would fit into the corner of my car truck and carry anywhere.”

The heart of the Liberty I design is its phantom shoot-through riser. The riser and limb pockets combined only
measure a bit over four inches in height. From profile, it’s almost as if a riser doesn’t exist. When you get behind the
bow to shoot it, however, the true nature of the Liberty I’s riser emerges and a generous 2.5-inch wide shoot-through
gap becomes evident. That gap is artfully curved and ruggedly designed.   

Amazingly Light
By almost totally eliminating the length and mass of a conventional compound bow riser, the Liberty I is rendered
astonishingly short and amazingly light in weight. On my scale, the Liberty I weighed just 2.3 pounds. Blend 20.5
inches in length with 2.3 pounds and you have a compound bow that carries like no full-power compound bow you
have ever picked up. Strap it onto your daypack (or maybe even put it inside a bigger pack), hook it to your belt or
just carry it in your hand. The Liberty I rides like it’s not there.   

Balanced Split-Cam Design
Perfectly complementing the bow’s shoot-through riser design is its split cam design. In effect, each skeletonized cam
is over an inch wide. That extra width creates a balanced  spread between the bow’s two sets of cables that is over
1.5 inches wide at the bow’s center. An arrow is nocked and shot between those sets of metal cable, as well as
between the bow’s limbs and through the bow’s riser. It’s a riser-limb-eccentric system with excellent balance.   

Erogometric Angled Cushion Grip
To keep the inside cable set from hitting your bow arm, The Liberty I features a well-shaped grip that’s angled at a
pleasing twenty-nine degrees. That angle moves your bow arm out, as well as comfortably positioning your bow hand.
I shot the Liberty I without an armguard and never experienced a problem.

Surprising Performance
The Liberty I sports an aggressive eccentric system that delivers surprising arrow speed. See the Real Performance
chart. Because of its ultra-short length, string angle at full draw is acute with the Liberty I.  That means that a D-loop
is a must and a special peep is also needed. I used a camo cord D-Loop tied in place and an index-finger caliper
release with excellent results. I also used a tethered peep sight designed specifically for the Liberty I and available
from Liberty Archery. That special peep sight is available in three hole-sizes.

Because of the nature of the bow, Liberty Archery suggests that a total-containment arrow rest or a total-containment
drop-away rest be used with the Liberty I. I used a standard Whisker Biscuit arrow rest and it worked perfectly. Built
into the front of my sample Liberty I was a Vital Bow Gear three-pin fiber optic sight. It’s a light, tough sight that works
like a charm with the Liberty I. A bowquiver-mounting bracket is also cleverly integrated into the bow’s diminutive riser.

The acute full-draw string angle took a bit of getting used to as it related to my usual anchor point, but in short order I
was drilling softball-sized groups at 40 yards on a windy day. The Liberty I shoots.    

CLOSING THE SALE

This ultra-short, ultra-light hunting bow really is cool, and I’d present it to customers just that way. The Liberty I
measures an ultra-short 20.5 inches axle to axle and weighs just a bit over two pounds. Hand it to most customers
and they’ll immediately recognize the handling and carrying benefits. It’s also a bow that shoots with surprising speed
and accuracy.

Congratulations on making one hell of a bow. Early this fall a friend of mine ordered his Liberty 1. When he got it he
asked me to set it up for him and try it out. I usually keep up to date with current technology and was shooting a Bow
Tech just purchased in 06. He wanted me to let him know if it was up to snuff with my Bow Tech. At first I looked at it
and thought it's cute but didn't expect much from it. I figured you'd have to give up a lot in order to make a bow that
small and light. I WAS MISTAKEN. The first shot out of the Liberty 1 was all I needed to start wanting one. There were
two friends with me at the time and none of us could believe how quick and quite the bow was. I took turns shooting
the same arrows from my bow and then from the Liberty1. The Liberty one was consistently quiter and faster than
mine with no more hand shock and that was without a stabilizer on it.
That was all it took. After giving my buddy his bow back I started on a mission to get a local shop to become a dealer.
After a couple of weeks it happened and I ordered mine. I recieved it the week before PA whitetail archery season
started so the race was on to get comfortable enough with it to responsibly take it into the woods. After a couple of
days, 50 or so shots, 2 busted arrow shafts and countless vanes being destroyed by stacking shots on top of them I
felt I could comfortably hunt with it. I was consistently smacking arrows at 20 yards, putting them in a snuff can at 30,
and in 4-5" groups at 50.
After hunting around my job schedule I took time off and worked around my hunting schedule. It paid off! I passed up
4 or 5 different bucks waiting for a shot at one of three that I had been watching. On Nov 3rd it happened. One of the
three picked up the scent trail I left and followed it all too well right to my stand. He stood directly under the tree and
sniffed the climbing stick when his rack hit it made a nice "tink!!" it scared the hell out of him and he bolted out to 15
yards then slowed to a walk. He was moving straight away so I couldn't get a shot. He walked to 20, then to 25. he
had no intention of stopping or giving me a shot so at 25 yards I grunted. He stopped at 30 yards and looked over his
left shoulder. Already at full draw, from when he startled himself and ran, I saw a window behind his left rib and hit the
release. The arrow entered right right where the 30 yard pin was aimed for and exitted his right shoulder. He ran less
than 80 yards and dropped. He is my widest spread buck to date. His inside spread is 21" and he is a 10 point. He
hasn't been scored yet but I'm guessing right around 140. His dressed weight was over 200 lbs. He is quite a trophy
and I'm glad I had the Liberty 1 to take him with.
Check out the pics I've included.
Thanks again for a GREAT bow.

Kevin Miller
Russellton, PA
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