Kaya khan bow good for hunting?? First post, nice to meet everyone! (Page 1 of 2)

So I picked up my Kaya Khan, and it is beautiful! Lightweight, and clean. 55# draw at 28", but I draw 29" so its probably 2 pounds or so more. I love the lines, and basically its a beautiful hybrid of a tradition korean horsebow, with a small shelf cutout for 3 finger draw which it does very nicely. Smooth draw, and POWERFUL... This baby was flinging 340gr carbon arrows with authority. Wouldn't think twice about its penetration capabilities up to 20 yards or more, as that is the only distance I have had the chance to shoot. It does not draw beyond 28-29 inches, it starts to stack a little after that. This bow wasn't meant for thumbring as you wouldn't be able to shoot it unless you got an opposite hand model, and I don't think the Bowyer ever meant this to be used with thumbring, ever. Which is fine with me for this design. It wasn't meant for thumbring draw, but I love the fact that Kaya has produced this model. It gives you the best of both worlds, in a small package. All the andvantages of the Korean Horse bow design, yes easy to shoot for those familiar to 3 finger draw or want to get into traditional shooting.

Unstrung as it came from Korea. Was thinking how am I going to bend this?

Small Logo on bottom limb. Nice touch.

Bow, strung up for the first time. Was kinda tricky because the limb kept slipping in my top hand as I wasn't used to it, but once you get the position down, you push and bend the limbs, its kinda unnerving I think, if you haven't handled these bows, because it is so slender I was amazed at how much flex the limbs could take, so smoothly.

The grip. Its a nice thin piece of suede leather covering the handle. Its very nice, but will wear out with use, which is expected. I have big hands so I am going to put a rubber grip on it and see how it feels and shoots. If its ugly I am going to take it off, so Traditionalists, don't hate.

Micarta on the ends of the limbs. I love the fact that they used black canvas micarta. Its barely noticeable, but a nice touch. This stuff is indestructible. Its canvas layers overlapped with epoxy so it is super tough and will never break. This gives the khan bow extra durability when traveling through the bush and stand up to a bit more abuse than normal while still maintaining the lines of the limb tips. Modern technology hidden on this still faithful to traditional lines, gem.

Put some beaver fur silencers on the ends, wow... gives it a real "hunter" finishing touch, and just is beautiful. I don't want to put it down!

I've only shot this once so far, have been busy.. But this thing packs a punch is all I will say. I was really not expecting this type of bow to be so fast, and strong for its relatively light weight. I feel like I have a small wand in my hand until I'm ready to shoot, and this bow does its job and looks fantastic doing it from the side. It bends and feels very natural in the hand. The inherent korean horn bow design is something of amazement to me in my limited experience with traditional archery.

Have ordered a KTB so will do a review on that soon. Thanks for all the info and for this forum! Please share your experiences and post pics and stories! Thanks!

It doesn't just say speed this thing is a beast!! It is a hard hitting bow! Make no bones about it... They were not playing games when they designed this, anybody that has picked it up didn't want to put it down. I had about 6 guys try it out today at my local and they all loved it... I tried their long bows and that was cool too... But they all loved my khan and wanted to know who/what/where/how.... Oh yeah, I mentioned there was a little hand shock, that was the first time I shot it, today I shot it again, no hand shock. Think the beaver silencers helped a lot as there was no noise at all, and so did my release/form..Much better today...

Wow great video! I have seen this before thanks for the link... Yeah I didn't notice before but this is a kaya khan in the video he took that deer with... It's perfect for ground blinds because it's compact..

I saw the video a couple more times and saw that it looks like a Khan? This guy shoots off of 3 fingers. The arrow completely penetrated that buck with no problem. Just amazing. Some long bows and recurves I've seen couldn't penetrate like that. Heavy arrows and close range = penetration

I have seen some compoundbow videos, and i think Khan/KTB(?) penetrated similar way, so there is a lot of energy...

So i can easy take KTB (when i get it ) for hunting, my longbow stay on wall decoration...

And if he shoots 3 fingers, what is draw lenght? It is only 50# bow! Very amazing.

Has anyone gone the extra mile and took the time to measure the peak draw weight of the Khan from 28" to 31" or even at 32"?

Warbow, I checked again, and I was wrong it does not have an arrow shelf. I thought I saw one there, but the bow was shiny on the limbs like the khan, and he changed the grip so it looked like the khan... He does reply on the bottom of his video that it is the Kaya KTB bow, so you are correct. He must have done some customizing to his Kaya bow as well. Thanks for the heads up.

Warbow, I wasn't aware there was an older model.... That explains it!
The KTB is a great beginners bow with the starting price, but the quality and smoothness doesn't compare with my Hwarang, not even in the same zip code... Hence beginners bow.

Still figuring out how I'm gonna dress this baby up.... I have a sugakji (male thumbring) and it totally helps the draw, but still swells my thumb at the joint after a session, I guess I have to build up those calluses...  I would not want to be poked in the eye by a korean archer, they can probably break bricks with their thumbs, I have broken wooden boards with my fingertips, but that was a long time ago..

I see that in korea when they shoot they shoot in a line, with a few minutes in between each shot, I'm shooting at a rate of about 18 arrows each minute, one after another, Haha... maybe thats why. When I rest for a few mins, the pressure goes away again... I notice that at 20 yards, with the fuller draw it is just a powerhouse, this bow was meant for long distance hits, and it shows.. at the shorter distances it just goes through my bag target like a hot knife through butter... I have to get a heavier target, as I had a few go through my morrel bag target into my backstop (shed), LOL!

I will say that the center serving did come apart, and I have to re-serve the string, but other than that, its been smooth sailing.

I have to mention that the hwarang although its a heavier  poundage draw feels lighter at full draw than the Kaya KTB..

Warbow, there was a horn version of the hwarang? First time I heard.. Will take a look at the grozer, I just want to feel what the old school Korean horn bow feels like, I'm surrounded by my fellow archers that shoot olympic to my left, compound bow hunters and competitors to my right, and a few traditonal recurve and long bow guys mixed in, talk about a melting pot! These guys don't even know what a stick bow looks like let alone shot one, and I'm here looking for the "truth" and having a lot of fun with archery lately practicing the different disciplines... Especially traditional.. It's very humbling...

Okay folks, I sent a message to Randy and got a reply.  He has a 26" draw and uses the three-finger draw!  Imagine a big dude like Eugen who has a draw of at least 33" and able to pull 90+# - we are talking about a clean pass through!!!

Kaya have also announced horn bellied KTB with birch bark backing, so it seems they have followed suit with 'Hwarang' (SMG).
The SMG version KTB also incorporates bamboo in the limb. There is another that uses maple but by a different bowyer.

Regarding power curve:

It rises steeply from 29" to 32". Poundage also rises steeply.

eg:
Kaya KTB .... 35 @ 29"...... 45 @ 32"
'Hwarang' (SMG) KTB .... 42 @ 29".......55 @ 32"

My friends, if you want to draw to 35" you must look at Jang-Gung, slightly longer bow which draws to 35".