Me thinks you need to fill them in with Tru-oil and hunt on.
Character, thats what they are! from hunts gone by in the field. Sick in bed later on and cannot make it to the woods, look at the scratches and remember how they happend, Memories! Good ole Bows all have them.:)

One hunter once told me that the first thing he does with a new bow is get it out into some thick brush to scratch it up. Then he can stop worrying about it. (btw, He has some REALLY nice looking and expensive bows, but they’re for hunting first and foremost.)

That is why I dont like to spend that much money on them, pretty recurves are nice but practical ones are better!

Take a string and tie it to the upper limb of the bow. Take the other end of the string and tie it to your ankle. Now walk through the woods, If it’s a shooter KEEP IT! Otherwise get rid of it! Those nicks are called character.

Seriously for my bows I’ve used a little dab of polyurathane on nicks. I was told clear nail polish is good for touch ups as well. Surface scratches I don’t worry so much about, usually a couple of weeks before hunting season and right afterwards I give my hunting bow a good go over with Butchers Wax. Protects the wood and keeps moisture out.

I know your pain too well! Use thin set super glue…it will seal and protect if the blemish is down to the wood. If its just a surface scratch then chalk it up as charecter and keep hunting…you can always send it in later and have it re-finished.

I scratched up my new recurve yesterday. I had pushed a lil to hard and gone a lil to far. Almost 10 miles I guess with climbing 3000 ft in elevation. Got to fatigued with all the steep drops and climbs ended up falling down a 30ft embankment less that a half mile from the trail head. Think Ill keep these scratches to remind myself to be more careful and plan my hunt a lil better. It was a kinda seat of my pants hunt just wondering around. Had a blast though got some good pictures.

I have a longbow, built for me by John Dodge back in the early eighties. With that bow I took my first big game animal, a caribou, my second a moose, and had a shot on a Dall’s sheep. During the hunt for the sheep, I somehow kicked up a BIG boulder. This thing was bigger than me by far. I fell to my butt and watched as the boulder bounced OVER me. Yep, it bounced up and over me and continued down the mountain. I put a nick in that bow’s upper limb when I slipped and it brings back memeories of that hunt in the Brooks Range of Alaska with John every time I look at it.

Side note: I just reworked the grip on that bow and I’m heading into the field tomorrow morning for the opening day of deer season here in Indiana.

I’m OK with that ‘flaw’ in my bow…

Blessings! todd

Wow I bet you are! Great story and very lucky one at that. Good luck deer hunting

I like scratches, they are character marks and should be worn with honor. Even when I buy used bows I will let some nicks and scratches on them when cleaning them up; it’s an integral part of that bow’s history. There is nothing so sterile as a brand new, never shot bow…it may be pretty, but it has no character until it gets a few scars. Just like us.

I think you should start worrying about more important things and get your psyche in order 8^).