I've dry-fired 2 of mine, don't feel bad. One was looking at the bow at full draw making sure everything looked right in a shop just a couple weeks ago, and the string slipped out of my fingers, I caught it a little, but it still made a nasty little noise that I hate to hear. The other time, I was drawing back an arrow that had a crack in it when it started to come apart, I was able to knock the arrow off the string before I semi-dry-fired it. Both bows were just fine, but I felt like a heel over it. And YES, that HOYT, if newer (2006 or newer) is one of the TOUGHEST bows out there, and should be just FINE.