The only real upside to foam is weather resistance. It's also only really "fast" when coupled with something light like carbon. As mentioned before, it wouldn't really benefit an ASL at all. If you want light and fast I'd go with walnut and bamboo.

@Orion how do you figure that a feather touching reduces draw length?

I think a bunch of y'all are overlooking one of the major design features of the ELB. It uses heartwood and sapwood. They have different characteristics of compression and tension resistance, so the design used both. It was fast to produce and durable. Many composite bows blew up. All natural horsebows and laminates fail at a much higher rate than a D sectioned bow even now.

Brown Bear from the ground with a longbow would be mine. Probably closely followed by Caribou.

I rarely use high visibility combinations anymore and definitely not any fluorescent when hunting. I stick with white nocks and I can see them pretty easily. For a long time I used fluorescent colors. A few years ago I was ground hunting and used a bow quiver instead of the cat quiver I normally go to when transitioning to the ground. A group of 6 does came out and started working straight to me. The lead doe locked up at 50 yards staring right at me. I had a ghillie on and hadn't moved at all. She just stood there locked on my position. I kept thinking "what the hell is she staring at?" She eventually walked wide of me into a thicket and pulling the others with her into cover that would be an impossible shot. After they passed I looked down at the bright wad of feathers that was the only visual cue for her to spot. They may not see many colors, but they can see a bright mass that usually isn't in their hallway from the bedroom to the kitchen. The brightest I will go now is sun gold or yellow, nothing chartreuse or fluorescent. I won't run those colors while in a tree stand either.

The only time I appreciate a hood while hunting is for the added protection from the weather to make it comfortably through a quick downpour or mild rain. Other than that, the loss of peripheral vision is the reason why I won't wear one. The only way I found to make one functional while shooting is to wear a short brimmed beanie so the hood moves with my head. I usually just wear a beanie and a neck gaiter to cover my face, so the hood doesn't work with that combo. Hoods can be nice, but I never utilize one constantly.

@Tradlongbow (Fl) I think some good points have been made. You could leave the barebow class alone and make the other classes and overall champion require broadheads.

@Clovis6 (PA) it was only a matter of time before the 5 pound "longbows" started to make shoots look into equipment rules more closely. I'm not sure about the wording on the shelf rules though. I get no rests or center cut, but it almost seems worded to no shelves at all.

@pitbullman4111 I don't know any either, but I'm sure you can go back and find out. There were more than a few.

@thebowhunter87 I said something about it because it gets away from being a bowhunter championship. How can someone be the ultimate bowhunter champion shooting a barebow rig that you wouldn't hunt with? I'm not worried about buckles and never have been. I'm probably one of the few that doesn't run to social media as soon as I win something. I don't like buckle chasing or the people that do it. Barebow started with buckle chasers and now they spread to other divisions now that barebow has more than 20 shooters in the country. There are plenty of shoots that cater to those guys and that mentality. Why complain about the rules not benefiting your style? I don't care who shoots what. It was just a departure from being a bowhunter championship.

I really don't get why people are complaining about this. It's always been the bowhunter championship. When I said something against the barebows being used, there were tons of excuses including "I hunt with this rig". Well, now it's time to show it.

@Newell38 I remember him delivering that bow at the pre-spring. If I had the spare funds it would be mine. I have a 70" take down he built before the sleeve system. It has the old Robertson hardware. 70" is by far the best for my knuckle dragging length.

Did he build that one for you?