I would say that for hunting, a 6 to 8 inch stab is about as long as is tolerable by most people. A hunting length stab doesn't add much "wand" effect like an 18 to 30 incher does for target applications. Generally hunting length stabilizers add weight and help to cancel out unwanted vibration and noise more that help accuracy. I've forgot to screw on my stabilizer on my hunting bow a few times before I started shooting and noticed no difference in accuracy but there was something "missing". Only to finally get curious enough to look over my bow to discover there was no stab!!![&o]