Dryad Epic 13 with Legend ACS-CG

In my previous entry, I had taken a closer look at a ILF longbow with a metal riser.  In my opinion, metal risers are superb for their durability and no-nonsense approach to holding together a pair of limbs.  While I do like a metal riser, I also like wood risers for their wonderful aesthetics and warm feel.  One can really appreciate a wooden riser if out hunting on a cold autumn morning.  While the grip on a metal riser helps insulate the hands, it is noticeably colder than wood.  Additionally, wood has natural dampening characteristics and is usually lighter than metal for a given riser length.

I will be taking a more in-depth look at Dryad's Epic 13 ILF riser paired with a set of extra-long Legend ACS-CG longbow limbs in this entry.

The complete longbow with limb dampers and string silencers

Dryad currently offers wooden ILF risers in three different lengths: 13", 15", and 17".  The riser I am reviewing here is the 13" model and is constructed from onyx actionwood and bubinga with black and white resin accents.  Upon opening the box and picking up the riser for the first time, I noticed it seemed awfully short for a 13" riser compared to the Sky TDX13.  Thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, I grabbed the TDX13 and held it next to the Epic13.  My eyes were not fooling me - the Epic13 is indeed shorter.  Nearly an inch shorter to be exact.  Unless the standards of measurement have changed on me in the recent weeks, there is only one definition of 13" as far as I know, so out came the ruler.

As a general rule, ILF risers are usually measured at the limb bolts with 5" added to that measurement to give the designated riser length.  If the span between the bolts was 8", then +5" to that would give a 13" riser.  The ruler indicated a 8" span between the limb bolts on the Epic13 and an almost 9" span on the TDX13, which would be more of a 14" riser.  I never suspected the TDX13 would be more of a TDX14, but I like having sort of an "oddball" riser length.

With that curiosity sorted out, I turned my attention to the more intricate details of the Epic13.  As stated earlier, the riser is made from onyx actionwood and bubinga with black and white resin accents.  The riser is very attractive looking and sports a matte epoxy finish.  It feels very solid and likely would not exhibit any flex unless one gets into the super heavy draw weights.  The limb bolts are non-locking and have threaded brass collars.  Nice touch from Dryad with those as often times, the non-threaded collars can rattle about and be noisy.  The ILF dovetail is a separate metal piece that sits in a slot cut into the wood and is secured with a screw.  Last bit of metal in the riser are the two AMO sight/quiver bushings I requested Dryad to mount for me.  The riser came with velcro pads on the shelf and side plate.  There are no provisions for inserting a plunger or elevated rest as the shelf is just barely cut past center - this riser is meant to be shot off the shelf.

Riser comes ready to shoot with velcro pads already in place

The Epic 13 has a medium grip which I really like.  Dryad's medium has just the right amount of wrist support for my hand and has a nice slim throat for minimal torque.  The shelf sits just above the webbing between my thumb and index finger, which I particularly like when shooting off the shelf.  I prefer to have the arrow as close to my hand as possible as that I am able to use my bow hand as the pointer towards my target.  While I am mostly a gap aimer, I find I tend to shoot instinctively at distances within 20 yards and being able to "feel" my shot direction with my bow arm helps me hit what I aim at.

Here you can see the two brass AMO sight bushings Dryad custom installed for me

Being a short little 13" riser, this thing is about an inch shorter overall than the Sky TDX13 and has a slightly shorter sight window.  Now I am beginning to understand how some archers may feel when they say the sight window is cramped.  I was still able to get a good view of my target holding the bow vertically, but it is pretty tight in there at 10 yards.  The curved portion at the top of the sight window is where most targets end up for me at my largest gap.  While it can be a bit of an issue, I found it to be beneficial to my aiming with some practice.  I quickly learned where to put the target in that curve to get a nice aiming reference for 10 yards.  Additionally, the way the different colored laminations are revealed on the belly of the sight window proved to be very helpful in using the riser to aim for longer distances.

Whether intentional or not, the markings on the sight window sure help in longer distance aiming!

The limb pads on the Epic risers are of the open pocket design.  Some view this as a negative, but I personally feel open limb pockets make for a slimmer riser and I like to be able to visualize how much room I have to go before bottoming out the limb bolt.  Either way, it really doesn't bother me if the pockets are open or closed so long as the riser works.

A close-up view of how the riser looks with limbs in the pockets

One thing I would have liked to see on the riser is a limb alignment system.  Other wood risers have this feature and while it may not seem like a big deal, it is great to have if you happen to have a favored pair of limbs and one of them is slightly out of alignment.  I do have to say, all of the limbs I have encountered from Dryad have been nice and straight and did not need any alignment.

A view of the limb pad.  Very simple and effective.

I had mentioned Dryad's Legend ACS-CG ILF longbow limbs in the Sky TDX13 review.  A set of extra long limbs are on this riser to give a 60" AMO length longbow.  As can be expected, the limbs provide a nice smooth draw that gains poundage linearly and exhibits no stacking at all out to my 27" draw length.  I made up an endless loop string to fit the bow, let it stretch for a couple days to get all the creep out, and served it up.  I took my first couple shots without any dampening devices on the bow to get a feel for how it shot and to do some bareshaft tuning.  Like most bows without any string silencers, there is a twangy sound as the string dissipates remaining energy once the arrow leaves, but other than that, the bow was pretty quiet.  Once the bareshafts were dialed in, I proceeded to add the dyneema string puffs and stuck on a pair of BowJax limb dampeners.  After those additions, the shot was noticeably quieter than the TDX13 - almost eerily quiet with only a slight thump.  I shot this set up in my home range at about 10 yards and the arrow striking the bag target gave a louder report than the bow on the loose.  That says a lot about the noise deadening characteristics of wood.

I really like this bow a lot.  It is really giving the TDX13 a run for its money.  The limbs are a given - I know I can mount the Legend ACS-CG limbs on pretty much any riser and be assured the resulting longbow will have a smooth draw and spit out an arrow with some serious speed.  I plan to spend more time with this bow at the weekly traditional league I shoot.  Like the TDX13 with ACS-CG limbs, this one is also a contender for hunting and I will eventually narrow down the field of 2014 hunting bows as the season draws nearer.  For now, I'm just going to enjoy shooting this.  If you liked what you saw here, stop by at Dryad's website: www.dryadbows.com and browse their wares.