Well I purchased a Trophy Taker Shakey Hunter and set it up on a Darton Maverick. My first impression of the rest is that it is VERY rugged and solid. It seems indestructible but only time will tell on that. Setting it up was by no means easy and if you don't have a portable bow press or access to a press it could be very difficult to get the cord through the cable. I decided to set it up so that it lifts the arrow in the last 2" of draw so there is minimal contact. There are 2 schools of thought on this and I go with the less contact the better on this one. If you wanted to have the arrow ride the rest a little longer the supplied bungy would do the trick. I used the nylon cord suplied. It is similiar to the ropes D-loops are made out of. I simply tied knots to secure the cord at the rest and the cable. It took about three draws of my bow to get the rest rising exactly like I wanted it.

This rest was VERY simple to tune...I am shooting Easton Epic Carbon Aeros 340 out of my 74# Maverick at 29". I just eyeballed what I know to be centershot on this bow and set the arrow so it was perfectly level at full draw, again just eyeballed. The large headed Allen screws that make the vertical and horizontal adjustments are MUCH nicer than on say a Bodoodle...if you strip these out you're doing something VERY wrong.

Then I shot it through paper. Bullet holes from 3 feet to 30 yards. Tuning was super easy and was producing the best groups I've shot from this bow...under 3" at 40 yards. I tried different hand placements that I know on this bow has produced torqueing and saw that this rest solved some of this problem. It seemed to be very forgiving of poor form especially compared to a Whisker Bisquit (the only real downfall to the Whisker Bisquit that I can see)

Silencing the rest was fairly easy. Fleece on the arm and I used the supplied fleece "cradle" for the shelf. I also took a piece of Sims insulator wrap and glued it to the riser where the arm contacted it. There is no sound on the shot....much quieter than my Bodoodle Pro-lite and equally as quiet as my Whisker Bisquit.

One thing that I'm working on is the arrow capture system on the shelf. I'm playing with shaping some dense foam for a cradle but one thing is certain...the supplied cradle is not effective for what I think makes an effective arrow cradle. My rule of thumb is laying the bow completely on the side with out the arrow leaving the capture system and the arrow capture system can't interfer with arrow flight. This is actually tougher to do than I thought but I'm sure it can be accomplished and once it is this will be a fantastic hunting rest.

The one thing that has scared me off about drop-aways is the linkage system. Well once I go this rest shooting, I took the bow by the linkage cord and shook the bow very violently and would shoot it (honestly I shook this bow very hard. I'm 6'1" and 220lbs and I was shaking this bow as hard as I could by the cord...it's the only way I could bring myself to trust the linkage)I did this about a dozen times and after every "shake" it put an arrow inside a 1" circle at 20 yards. It had no effect on accuracy. I made sure the cord was served very tightly into the cable and think this helped a bunch. I can honestly say the force I was putting into the "shake" is MUCH more than this bow will ever see in the field. This test made me a believer.

I'm getting some "skinny" carbons here in the next day or so and will be fletching them with 5" RADICALLY helical feathers. I can't wait!! Skinny carbons and BIG fletchings are the reason that I went to this rest! And it should fit the bill like a charm!

Anyone figured out an arrow capture system that works??? Let me know and I hope you enjoy the report.

"What we do in this life echos an eternity"

Edited by - CG on 01/31/2003 13:19:54

I'm considering trying this rest also.Some of the target guys I talk to are pretty high on it.I'm wondering since the arrow rests on the cradle or riser and you have it set to pick up the last 2 " of draw do you think the broadhead blades would catch on the riser if using it as an overdraw?

Thanks
CB

WHACKEM N STACKEM

Yeah, that could definately be a concern but you could adjust it so it picked up before the blades caught the front of the riser. I overdraw about 1" so mine picks-up plenty quick enough but, again, there is a lot of adjustability as far as when the arrow is picked up by adjusting the length of the cord or using the stretch cord.

"What we do in this life echos an eternity"

Sounds interesting, I really appreciate the shake test. For me too, one of the things that concern me about drop aways is that the linkage is one more thing that can go wrong. Thanks for the report.

I want to go with the Trophy Taker, but I am having a hard time deciding which version. A lot of people I know like the original, but I like the looks of the Shakey. Does anyone have anything to say that might help me decide? Thanks

Bill Davis

The Shakey will be more forgiving about picking up the arrow. If the arrow is on the shelf it will pick it up.

"What we do in this life echos an eternity"

Been shooting this rest for year or more with no promblems.
It took 17 years for rest to change me and this rest works and works well, pros shooting indoor are using and thats good enough for me. Simply works for me. I use it on indoor, 3d and hunting rigg. I perfer pringinal arm with solid cord with fast drop down. Tuning is snap.

As far as the arrow capture issue, I would try the tip that is (or was) on their video. I tried this and it seemed to work very well, but I never got a chance to hunt with my Trophy Taker. I used pieces of old arrows like it said on the video, using arrows that are slightly larger than the ones you will be using, or wrap the same size arrows with just a little tape. Cover the arrow pieces and the space between them with moleskin or camo fleece or similar material. Leave a space in between the arrow pieces that allows your arrow to just softly snap between the two silenced arrow pieces. If the gap is right, the arrow will stay there pretty reliably. On mine, the arrow would slide back on the draw, and naturally pull up from between the two arrow pieces before the rest arm would pick the arrow up into the firing position. The rest was absolutely silent on the draw and the shot when I put a small piece of moleskin on the shelf for the rest to fall on at the shot.

Avoid the inevitable until it is absolutely unavoidable!

I love mine. Honestly, the cord is secured so tightly to the serving I don't think it could come off. What impressed me the most was how quite it was. Again, I love it. I'm shooting goldtips with 100gr points using 5inch fletching, and I'm absolutely stroking the bullseye.

Hunt the thickets

Well I think I found a great trick with the arrow capture system. I cut the top off one of those foam practice golfballs (the yellow ones) They are made of a pretty dense foam (should be pretty durable)and glued it to the top of my shelf and cut a groove in it slightly wider and slightly deeper than the arrow shaft. I'm using the old Easton PC "skinny carbons" so cutting it deeper for regular ICS arrows might not be possible but it should still hold the arrow VERY securely. I can turn the bow completely on it's side (actually quite a little further than that) and the arrow stays secure and is silent on the draw. Just thought I'd pass that on.....Just fletched up some of those skinny arrows with 4 vanes and they fly GREAT.....I LOVE THIS REST!!!!

"What we do in this life echos an eternity"