MIbowhunter84

Today I made the cardinal sin of pulling my bow back with my fingers without an arrow cocked. My fingers accidentally slipped and dry fired my bow. I'm freaking out that I have ruined my year old bow. Can anyone please tell me if they have done this and if Mathews bows can handle a dry fire? Outside of the obvious that I will be replacing my strings and getting the bow inspected by a professional. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you.

hunters_life

Sorry about your bad luck there MIbowhunter84. Inspect your limb tips both at the cam positions and pocket positions. If your limbs are coated with a paint or film then you may not be able to see any stress damage with the naked eye. Use a magnifying glass. Pay extra close attention to your axle holes and limb bolt holes and the surrounding area. I almost lost an eye a number of years ago when a bow blew up on me. I still have a pretty good little scar in my scalp where the limb tagged me. A compound bow can be quite dangerous to the user.

bronko22000

Well you're doing the right things by getting new strings and cables and having it looked at by your bow shop. And Hunter'slife is right about checking the axle holes. That's where you're likely to have damage.
I had a Martin Firecat that I had just had my shop replace new strings and cables. After setting it up using my measurements I had at home I nocked an arrow, drew and released at the target and what a heck of a racket. The new Winner's string literally blew up. My upper limb suffered a sever crack which Martin replaced with a new set.