Interesting article F&S this month bow tests

[Lefty-Canuck]

Basically asking a few questions and performed tests.... Here is a brief synopsis below.

1) does brace height really affect forgiveness?

Finding....NO with the speed of todays bows it is leas of a factor but longer BH made for better draw cycles

2) does a short bow hamper field accuracy?

Finding....NO not at hunting ranges (30-40 yards)

3) is a single small sight pin more accurate?

Finding....YES but larger pins are easier to see in low light

4) does a fall away rest outshoot a whisker biscuit?

Finding.... NO but you will lose 3-6 fps

5) does a short stabilizer really add stability?

Finding.... It depends on the bow setup

6) does too long a draw length hurt your shooting?

Finding....YES and it will likely hurt your arm more too!

7) does price of the bow affect accuracy?

Finding....NO a bow choice is based on the individual expensive does not equal accurate

8) does removing a bows grip improve accuracy?

Finding.... Unequivocally YES!

Some interesting things and a good article to read.

LC

[normanrd]

Good stuff! #2 kinda surprises me. i used to hunt with a short bow, and I found a short bow is easier to cant, and I really had to pay attention to the bubble, which was easily forgotten in the heat of the moment!

[sakogreywolf]

Point #8 brought a smile to my face. The first bow I bought was a Prairie Fire from ABC Archery and it had a FAT grip on it. That was the thing back then. It was a great bow for it's day and I had a lot of fun hunting with it.

[normanrd]

Since my start in archery I have always chosen a bow with a relatively narrow grip. The fat grips never did appeal to me. Luckily! Lol. I need all the help I can get!:)

[LA_bowhunter]

#4 is a bit of a surprise to me but I would have to understand the test to draw my own conclusion. I use to have Whisker biscuits on my kids bows and I have seen the WB deteriorate over time and get less and less accurate as the bristols weakened, something I have never seen with a drop away.

[BigRackLover]

Where is the original article?

[L.O.S.T.Arrow]

:D Great stuff...keeping in mind results will differ from shooter to shooter on some points...
Point #4 ..With a slight tweak speed can be the same...but being equal thats correct...
#8 ..for some the results are oppisite..

good job...

Neil

[Lefty-Canuck]

Where is the original article?

Field and Steam this month

LC

[Tabers Best]

There is more detail to each point. Past 40 accuruacy is better as well with a drop away.

Quick spins are more accurate than Blazers. Especially past 40 yards.

etc..

Went back to pick up the mag today but sold out in Taber already.

[H380]

I read the article and was also surprised at a number of their findings .. pleasantly on most accounts .

[Zuludog]

There's a thread going on AT right now arguing all these points. If there is one thing that we can agree on it is that we can't agree on anything. Lol:)

[CNP]

Basically asking a few questions and performed tests.... Here is a brief synopsis below.

1) does brace height really affect forgiveness?

Finding....NO with the speed of todays bows it is leas of a factor but longer BH made for better draw cycles

2) does a short bow hamper field accuracy?

Finding....NO not at hunting ranges (30-40 yards)

3) is a single small sight pin more accurate?

Finding....YES but larger pins are easier to see in low light

4) does a fall away rest outshoot a whisker biscuit?

Finding.... NO but you will lose 3-6 fps

5) does a short stabilizer really add stability?

Finding.... It depends on the bow setup

6) does too long a draw length hurt your shooting?

Finding....YES and it will likely hurt your arm more too!

7) does price of the bow affect accuracy?

Finding....NO a bow choice is based on the individual expensive does not equal accurate

8) does removing a bows grip improve accuracy?

Finding.... Unequivocally YES!

Some interesting things and a good article to read.

LC

1) that might be the only one I disagree with. If your form isn't good, if your grip isn't good...... accuracy will fall off because a shorter BH magnifies torque. I don't know why they include speed as an influencing factor? Today's bows aren't any faster than bows of fifteen years ago. I had a Black Knight short BH IBO'd at 350 fps. The draw cycle was brutal and I was not as consistent with accuracy shooting that bow.

8) I used to remove grips from risers before the skinny grips became vogue. Shooting a bow with a fat grip and a short brace height is not a good combination.....so how is it again that a short BH does not affect forgiveness?

[Tabers Best]

If I remember from quickly flipping through the mag last week, it said something like 6 inches is all the brace height you need with the modern bows.

[normanrd]

1) that might be the only one I disagree with. If your form isn't good, if your grip isn't good...... accuracy will fall off because a shorter BH magnifies torque. I don't know why they include speed as an influencing factor? Today's bows aren't any faster than bows of fifteen years ago. I had a Black Knight short BH IBO'd at 350 fps. The draw cycle was brutal and I was not as consistent with accuracy shooting that bow.

8) I used to remove grips from risers before the skinny grips became vogue. Shooting a bow with a fat grip and a short brace height is not a good combination.....so how is it again that a short BH does not affect forgiveness?

I think they say that since everything happens so fast with today's bows that the relative time the string has to affect the arrow is very minimal. They did mention that 6" is about he lowest they found at least semi-forgiving.

[Stinky Coyote]

Better take that one with grain of salt....did they have any data on difference of long ata vs short and long brace vs short when shot with crap form from a freezing cold hunter bent over in tree stand or one who grips the bow at the shot on a called in elk etc. ????? The long ata and long brace will keep u in kill zone when u eff up in real world...the short hot rod stuff will have u miss by a foot for same mistake. Oh boy, I sense a lot of omen and mr5 sales coming up....way to go f&s, not your finest write up by sounds of it. Stop the madness or do what many of us do...buy in....blow cash on hotrods then finally come back to reality and hunt with hunt safe bows. Oh and u lose 1-3 fps thru bisquit...u got too tight a bisquit if losing more than 3 fps...wrong size, hello! My test I lost 2 fps on modern set up with blazers.

Oh and goes way deeper than that, long tall people need more brace height and ata than short people with stubby draw lengths, there is a relationship of brace to draw length and what may be safe 6" for a guy with 27" draw lengths a total hotrod for a guy with 30" draw. The relationship goes further too, includes ata and weight....ie a short guy with 26.5" draw may actually shoot much better with a bow that isn't 40" ata with 8" brace and weighs 5 lbs before accessories...there is a relationship to body, one needs to get in that range.

Tall lanky guys should shoot tall lanky bows and short stocky guys will likely shoot short stocky bows just as good. Think about the relationship there...u shoot a 30" true draw length...u think a 30" ata bow with a 6" brace is good for u????? U fell for marketing hype and or just plain misled.....IMO.

[normanrd]

Just trying to explain what the article says dude, not saying it is what I thought. If you took the time to read it, you would see that they are only trying to give perspective to a few questions that a lot of archers think about. Everyone has their own ideas though.

[Stinky Coyote]

Lol, I surrender, just wanted any readers of this thread to not be misled, I was pretty confident u weren't of the opinion rather just stating the points, we r good, drinking coffee now not corona's ;)

I was back talking field n stream...not u.:love0025:

[H380]

Just trying to explain what the article says dude, not saying it is what I thought. If you took the time to read it, you would see that they are only trying to give perspective to a few questions that a lot of archers think about. Everyone has their own ideas though. Correct you are , doesn't make everyone else wrong by stating their own opinion ..

[normanrd]

Lol, I surrender, just wanted any readers of this thread to not be misled, I was pretty confident u weren't of the opinion rather just stating the points, we r good, drinking coffee now not corona's ;)

I was back talking field n stream...not u.:love0025:

Right on, sorry for the confusion. Have a good one,

Norm

[L.O.S.T.Arrow]

#4 is a bit of a surprise to me but I would have to understand the test to draw my own conclusion. I use to have Whisker biscuits on my kids bows and I have seen the WB deteriorate over time and get less and less accurate as the bristols weakened, something I have never seen with a drop away.

:D Keeping in mind the only wear item of the WB ..is the biscuit that yes can/will wear with bows that are not tuned as well as one may want ...as with youngsters bows as arrow are too long, incorrect spine etc.

However for under 20.00 the biscuit insert itself can be replaced and takes seconds...

I replace mine once a year around this time before hunting season whether it needs it or not...I have personally seen countless drop aways seize, breakdown, lose timing, bad bearings, timing cords let loose etc...as we work with a lot of them also...all issues that effect accuracy drastically...

They both [WB and dropawys such as the QAD] are hands down the best hunting rests out there...

I persoannly shoot as well or better with the WB and beeen to the mountains, artic circle , desert, etc and prefer the KISS Syndrom [Keep it Simple Stupid] for less to go wrong...

as our buddy "Murphy" likes hunting also...lol


Its a matter of peferance and what works for the shooter...

I believe that the test was done with both and accuracy shot was equal which is totally possible all things being equal..
JMHO
Neil

[L.O.S.T.Arrow]

:D I am sure we here can all agree that these tests was done by several individual shooters and since each of us are different many or all the results would vary...

For example...I totally dissagre personally with their findings on...

#1...For myself I dont shoot bows under 7" BH well at all due to phyisical build and form...

#2.. Again personally I dont like "super shorts" and am not as accurate with bows shorter than 30" [ Although 30" used to be a super Short lol ]

#3..Compared to 6 smaller sight pins?..so one pin is more accurate?? this one doesnt make sence other than the size benefits..

#4..I agree...except can /do make up that 3-6 FPS speed loss

#5..Tricky question are they talking 2 foot stabs...or a 3" hunting...My findings are that shorter hunting stabs do help shooters hold pin on target more stable...whereas longer heavy hunting stabs make shooters drop bow arm...and again varies from shooter to shooter...

#6.. 100% agree..on the other hand so will a too short draw...however I find too long of draw the biggest culprit...15-20 years ago at very least 75% of the shooters were too long or short...everyone was a 29" draw ...lol

#7..Another tricky question...I dissagree with this one...put a straight limb, plastic cam, rod cable slide against a paralell limb, aircraft aluninim precise Cam, roller guard etc against each other on a Hooter Shooter [ Mecanical bow shooter ] and shoot a 300 arrow test...I know what will be the answer...

Im thinking this shooter could shoot a 250.00 bow as accurate as a 1000.00 bow for a couple rounds all things being equal.

#8 Is so totally wrong as an overall statement..removing the grip ..changes bow grip for shooter drastically...for one it lenthens draw lentgh...on a thicker grip 3/8 inch draw...a 3/8 longer draw would raise havoic with myself, pre-release, cam wanting to roll over, arm slap...many other issues...

Again this is only my findings and although some points are what I find general other point are myself specific...as I believe are the original points to the testers..

still interesting as Lefty pointed out

JMHO
Neil