whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

I'm looking for another bow, but I have a short draw length of 26 in. Most bows are suited for longer draw lengths, and seem to be more efficient and smooth with draw lengths of 29 to 30 inches and true ibo speeds.my switchback has Ibo of 315 fps @ 30 inches at 70 lbs ,at 26 inches at 62 lbs my Ibo is around 225 fps. much slower, I would like to find a bow suited for a short draw length, which is smooth, forgiving,little or no hand shock,with some speed(more than 250 fps) and ez to tune bh, am I asking for to much? or is there a bow out there that fits this bill, please any suggustions

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

Bowtech Equalizer

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

yeah blakeman I have the same problem. I was contemplating the Switchback XT until I came across the bowtech equalizer. Now I'm torn between the two.

Check out the equalizer.

I too have a 26" draw length and am looking very seriously at this bow. The guy at the bowshop said his son was getting 281fps with a 26.5 inch draw @ 62lbs

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

WOW that doesn't sound right at all.

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

he`s either lying or he`s shooting a 180 grain arrow - My black knight is the fastest production bow ever made,and I highly doubt it would even do that at that draw length with an ibo arrow(5-grains per pound)

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

yea....guys with 29-30 inch draws might get 280 with 65 pounds depending on the bow..... with ahunting arrow its almost impossible....i say no wayyy to [email protected]

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

my guess is its gonna be a long time before you ever find a bow that gets 250 @26.....why are you so worried about speed??? its overrated!

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

Thanks for your help guy's I shot a equalizer today at sportsman warehouse. I used my easton axis 400 about 375g or so , the equalizer at 62lbs and 26.5 length with my arrow with a wisker bisquit its chrono was 265 fps at 20 shots, give or take a fps + or -

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

I was wrong about the equalizer.I checked,and the equalizer has an IBO speed of 300-308 @ 27 1/2 not 30 like most bows,so that would definately be one of the best short draw bows I`ve seen

RE: whats the best bow for a short draw length shooter
 

blakeman,

I've been reading this post with a little humor in the back of my mind. First let me say that in your original post you say your bow is IBO at 225 fps as you shoot it. Then later you said you shoot a 375gr arrow at 62#. This is not to IBO specs. I know what IBO specs are and you can do the math doing a little bit of change and to get your bows speed at IBO specs (for your draw) you'd have to shoot a 310 gr arrow. If you did you'd probably notice a 15-20 fps gain, but only if you have nothing on the string.

Now discuss stuff on the string. Anything and everything on the string is just like adding weight to the arrow, something people don't consider when they talk about shooting 5gr/lb. A peep with a tube aligner slows things down about 8 fps. Kisser button another 3-4 fps. Brass nockset---4 fps for each one. String loop accounts for a couple. String silencers a couple. Depending on what all is on the string it can easily slow the bow down 20 fps, and this is very common with most hunting setups.

Even the material the string is made of and how many strands affects velocity. Some materials such as BCY8125 are faster than some others. Even reducing the length of center serving helps.

I'll give you some real world figures from my own bows and chrongraph. 2004 Martin SlayR (IBO rated at 325 fps). Set at 27" draw and 53# (no typo) shooting 5 gr/lb the bow was shooting 299fps. Shooting 6 gr/lb (my hunting arrows) it was shooting 284 fps. These speeds were recorded on three different chrono's so they are real.

There are a lot of tricks to gaining speed, but you really have to have a chronograph and be willing to spend a lot of time experimenting to find it. And realize that 3-4 fps here and there, paying attention to details, can mount up to 20 fps real quick.

Just for one example, at your draw and weight you could easily be shooting a Gold Tip Ultralite 500 and drop 100 gr of arrow weight. This alone would amount to between 20 and 30 fps.

Here again you have to decide what you want. A heavier arrow will assuredly make the bow more quiet and it's more toward the realm of a hunting bow. But you can go somewhere in the middle for a nice compromise.

Alpha says that speed is over rated and to a point he is correct, but it does depend on the application. And if speed wasn't an issue then we wouldn't have a need for aggressive cams. We could save ourselves a lot of wear and tear and just shoot roundwheels. So IMO speed is an issue. 90% of the people buying bows are looking for more speed, smoother draw, or just new technology. Thing is they aren't necessarily going to get more speed until they learn how.