BeltedMag

I have always heard that the longer a bow is axle to axle the more forgiving and accurate it is. From my experiences this has pretty much been true. The most accurate bow i ever owned was a 41 inch Martin Firecat. My 36 inch PSE doenst shoot nearly as accurately. Hopefully i will be buying a new bow this fall. Im at that point in my bowhunting life that i dont care about speed, i just want something accurate, forgiving, and easy to shoot. My next bow will max out at 60 pounds, im tired of pulled 70 plus. So far i have it narrowed down to two bows, the Mathews Ovation and the Bowtech Independence, both are 40 inches with a 7-8 inch brace height. The problem is i also like several of the 33 and 34 inch bows i looked at. So how much diffrence will 6 or 7 inches make on accuracy? I have heard that with todays parrellel limb bows axle to axle doesnt matter as much since the riser is really long and the liimbs are parrallel. Is this true? Will a 33-34 inch bow shoot as accurately as a 40? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Dave

zak123

I really doubt that the shorter the bow the less accurate. It has to do with the specs of the bow. If you shoot a bow with a brace height of 6", and you shoot a bow with a brace height of 8 3/4", the one with 8 3/4" will be more forgiving. This does not mean more accurate though. I may be wrong on this. You may be better off waiting for a second opinion.

You should go test shoot some of the 33" bows and see how you like them. You may not like them as much as a 40" bow.

And whatever you do, pick the Bowtech!

ewolf

I would always go with a 38"+ ATA length bow. Other things attribute to accuracy. Such as brace height, and a deflexed riser. I shoot a 41" Hoyt Protec. I think long ATA length is important. The pros don't shoot those short speed demon bows for 3D. There is a reason for that.

Medic167

I know that A to A is what some tote as the most important to accuracy. Others say brace height. I shot a longer bow and now shoot a shorter one. I think the shorter one is more accurate. I shot a bow with an 8" brace and now shoot one with a 7" brace. I think my new bow is more accurate. Having said that, I shot a 6" brace bow with a relatively long (36") A to A. I could not shoot that bow for crap. So the longer A to A could not overcome the short brace height. I am less concerned with A to A as I am brace. Just my opinion.

SA Techie

I dont agree with Zak, more brace height does not mean more forgiveness in all instances. BM, if ure looking to buy a new bow I would suggest looking at the Allegiance. Its probably the most versatile bow in Bowtechs current line-up and the reviews are awesome.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/2005-Bo...ess-rating.htm

BGfisher

I would not recommend any particular bow. It's the wrong thing to do.

ATA, brace height, amount of reflex---none one of these in and of themselves makes a bow more accurate. It's more a combination of all of them, plus drawlength. It doesn't matter what any of the other ones are. If you have a long drawlength then you have to make compromises in all those factors. It all has to fall together.

It's no secret that the longer tha ATA, higher the brace, and less reflex the more accuracy POTENTIAL a bow has in the hands of a shooter. And the more FORGIVENESS potential the bow has.

ewolf said it in a short manner. The best shooters are looking for accuracy. That's why they shoot longer ATA, higher brace, etc. And also needed to be considered is what is accuracy? It's different for different people. Pie plates at 20 yards is plenty good for those who don't know and don't want to know what accuracy is. Then you get idiots like me that can shoot less than 2" groups on a good day and still don't consider this the greatest. So you have to define in your own mind what accuracy means to you.

I will say this. Get you a 32" bow with a 7" brace height, that weighs about 3lbs and you will never see how accurately you could shoot. I have one of each. One is 32" with a 9 3/8" brace. The other is 38" with a 6 1/2" brace. Both bows weigh in excess of 5 1/2 lbs. The longer one is more accurate in my hands even with the short brace, somewhat because my draw is only 27".

newman1

Hey BG, what bows specifically are you talking about?Maybe the fact that the longer ata bow has less reflex makes it more forgiving,than the shorter ata bow with less brace height..Just an observation.Maybe i am wrong.

BGfisher

The longer bow is a Martin Slayr. It has about 3 1/4" of reflex, thus the short brace height. The other one is my new hunting bow, a ShadowCat SE with the Nitrous X system on it. The reflex on this one is about 3/4", but it has a brace height of 9 3/8".

Because of the longer ATA and being heavy (it been referred to as an I-beam with wheels) the SlayR still shoots more consistently (I hate the word accurate) than the Cat, although I shoot about 3" groups at 40 yards regularly with the Cat. It's not in the rest as both have drop-aways on them. Both have 12" stabilizers. Same cams and same drawlength.

I've been shooting these compound bows for over 30 years and been able to figure things out a little. Especially since my favorite part of archery is tearing these thing down, and tweaking them till there is nothing left to get out of them.

Sniper151

The longer ata bows are usually deflex. This increases the brace height substantially. The longer ata will also be much easier and smoother to draw. A shooter with a long draw length will appreciate the greater ata.

nodog

If you were to take a poll here using the comments already made on this subject. I think you would conclude that it really doesn't matter. Most everyone here, shooting many different bows, are very accurate. At least that's the way I read it.

As far as my own abilities go using both a longer ata and brace I can honestly say, I haven't had to look for an arrow for a long time.