Wolverine Longbow Review

Wolverine Longbow by Pete Ward
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Sometimes we pick up a bow that just seems too “right” to be true.  When I received the Wolverine at the ATBA Jamboree from Abe I knew this was one of those bows as soon as I shot it.  The Wolverine is a little brother to the wonderful shooting Cari-Bow “Peregrine” I reviewed a couple years back. I still treasure the Peregrine and shoot it often.

 The Wolverine is a 58″ reflex / highly deflexed longbow that has all of the great performance and shooting characteristics the Peregrine has, but in a smaller more maneuverable package. This Wolverine is a 2-piece takedown, Diamond series with a beaver tail wrap and rest. The riser is bubinga with ebony, the limbs are bamboo cores (All Wolverines have bamboo) and quilted bubinga veneers under clear glass that are fabulous to look at. This bow has eye candy, and lots of it.

Normally I prefer a small grip on bows, and this one because of the two-piece take down is quite large. Abe had several Wolverines with him at the Jamboree in every size grip you could ask for. To be honest I was a bit disappointed to see the large grip when I received the bow. The grip circumference at the throat is 5″, compared to the Peregrine grip that has a circumference of 4 1/2″. That quickly changed when I first handled it and drew it back. Within minutes I was at the target butt waiting for Pat, my wife to take the first shots from it so I could have my turn. I was able to luck out and pick some arrows that flew great the first time and it became instant love for the bow.

 The large grip is not an issue at all, and I attribute this to the way it aligns your hand to the bows shelf / side plate. Often a large grip on a bow seems to be out of alignment, off center, causing us to struggle and search to find the right hand position in order to shoot it well. This is definitely not the case here. Shooting the Wolverine is as natural as shooting the Peregrine with its much smaller grip. The layout is right, as it should be, but often is not. Now I have to re-think my preference to grip sizes, and I guess it is not the size that matters as much as the position the grip puts your hand in.
 
 The method Abe uses to make the two pieces is a bit different than most two-piece bows I have seen. There are no metal sleeves, hinges etc. The joint is at the bottom of the grip, neatly hidden under the beaver tail wrap. (I looked for the splice joint for a while before I saw Abe take it apart to show a customer the take-down system.) It is a diagonal cut that is fiber glass molded with a key on each side for a perfect alignment every time. I seldom take it apart other than to show the type of joint to someone that is looking at the bow. If you did not know the Wolverine was a take-down you could not tell it was by looking at it, the joint is invisible.

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