Let off

[jerseyhunter]

When buying a new Bow is there any advantage or disadvantage of having 65 or 80% let off. Any thoughts on this matter? I never shot one with 80%.

[Mattiac]

The higher the let-off the easier it is to torque the string, or effect it at draw. This can make you less accurate. higher let-off usually gives the bow a more noticeable "bump" at the end, because you are going from peak weight to nearly nothing. (Not all bows have a draw cycle like that, but when they do, I find it more difficult to hunt with them) I prefer a smooth draw. Normally a higher let-off will have a shorter valley, leaving less room for creep. You may also lose some speed, but from what Ive seen and heard, the speed loss is so minimal its not even worth considering.

High let-off does have its advantages though, you can hold steady for longer. (So this can help you acheive greater accuracy, possibly cancelling out the effects mentioned above) As you can imagine this would prove very valuable in a hunting situation.

If it were me, I would go with the 65% let-off, but thats just me.

If you can, shoot some different bows with different let-offs, and take home the one that feels best in your hands. Anytime you're looking to get a new bow, you should try out as many as you can get your hands on. You may not like 80% let-off, or you may love it. But only YOU will be able to know for sure.

Good luck on the search for a new bow, and have a good one---Matt

[jerseyhunter]

Thanks matt, I have a bow in mind. In fact you might be familiar with it's name. Mathews

[Cougar Mag]

Myself, I will not shoot a bow with more than 65% letoff, I just don't feel comfy with more. I have noticed that many of the new bows feature a very short valley in 65% letoff mode, at first I thought it was my imagination but found this to be true. One advantage to that though is it sure helps keep you from creeping.

[needabow]

I can make a comment on this, having recently bought a bow...

All I can say from test-firing several different bows at the pro shop, in both 65% and 80% letoff is that IT DEPENDS. Some of the bows had me creeping back at 80% letoff and some were just fine. I think if you could see the draw weight versus distance curves for each bow at 65% and 80% letoff you would be able to tell from the graph which bows would be best for you. Seems that the higher FPS rating a bow has, the steeper (and shorter) the curve from full weight to holding weight is (and therefore the shorter the valley). Correct me if I am wrong there please

I ended up buying a bowtech tomkat, and this bow feels really good with 80% letoff. Should I change my mind, I can swap out the module and tweak the post setting on the cam to get 65% letoff with about 30 seconds of work using their handy chart.

[burniegoeasily]

I have older bows that have 50 and 60 % let off and my newer bows have up to 75% let off. Im use to the older bows, so it doesnt bother me, but you can tell a big difference between holding 50% as opposed to 75%.