Dairy King

Im getting an all custom Black Eagle with a brace hieght of 5 and I think 3/8 inches, yes 5 3/8. Whats your take on brace height and forgiveness? Do you think its much of an issue as much as people make it out to be?

IL Rancher

I wonder about this sometimes. A longdraw archer of say 31 inches shooting a bow with a 7 inch brace has that arrow on the string for a 24 inch powerstroke. While a 28 inch draw guy shootig a 6 inch brace has it on for just 22 inches. I really don't know if this means anything but I do know I shoot one bow with a 29ish inch draw (actual measured and a brace of 7.25) and another with a 28.25ish inch draw (again, actual measurement and with a 6.25-6.5 brace) and I notice no difference in how forgiving they are compared to each other. Actually I shoot the lower brace bow better. Go figure.

Now, I would think if you had two bows, both equal draw lenghts with one at 5 inches and the other at 8 inches of brace you are going to see a difference... I do know the bow that slapped my arm the worse was an Old Glory being shot at 1.5 inches more draw than I was used to. That sucker got me almost every time because I could not account for how long the arrow was on the string. I think any bow at 30.5 would have got me..

wv singleshot

The longer the bow is axel to axel and the brace heigth is imporant in the forgivness of the bow. 7in min.brace heigth and 36 axel to axel is my limit. yours may be different.

Cougar Mag

DK, as you know I shot Oneida bows for many years. Although that is quite a short brace height, it will not affect you so much as it would with a regular compound bow. Even non-Oneida shooters acknowledge that Oneida bows have always been one of the smoothest shooting bows going. The only thing I would really worry about is getting snapped in the wrist. It won't be as forgiving though as a Black Eagle with a longer brace height

long_round_tip

I guess it has a bit to do with how good you are. If your an intermediate shooter like myself, i stick with brace height over 6.5". My current bow is 7.25". I feel a longer brace height adds a bit more forgiveness to a bow.

IL Rancher

I should have mentioned that the lower brace height bow is a Black Eagle ESC but I pretty much assumed DK knew that was the bow I was talking about. The Oneida's kind of throw all the rules out really and you are probably best served comparing them to each other instead of other compound bows. They are often referred to as easy shooting bows and they all have pretty low braces (Although there are limbs that will give you 7-7.5 brace as well). I suppose Axel to Axel means something on them too but I have never had anyone measure it since they are always measued tip to tip. But when you draw an Oneida back those tips get pretty low. I will have to measure tip of power limb to power limb once to see how it that pans out.

DK, I shoot at an indoor range but they never have the heat on when I am there so i shoot what I wear as I walk in the door.. Two fleece Jackets over a flannel shirt (These are my work clothes at times) and I haven't got the jacket yet with the sub 6.5 brace. The one day it was hot and I shot in a T-shirt, 60 shots, I didn't smack my arm either and I have been known to do that with other bows from time to time

Straightarrow

High brace heights are most useful for a hunter that has to wear heavy jackets and take shots at odd angles. I qualify, so I never use a brace height less than 7.5". My preference is over 8". In the heat of the moment, many hunters don't even realize the string hit their jacket on the shot, which caused them to miss. They sit there and try to figure out what happened. It's best to test each brace height during practice, while wearing your heaviest hunting clothes and turning as far to your left as you can to take some shots. You will quickly find out what you can get away with and what you can't.

ijimmy

I like a brace between 6 1/2 inches an 7 1/4 inches , my draw is 28 inches . I think its related to draw . shorter draw getting away with a shorter brace . axil to axil is more important to me . I like a bow between 36 and 40/41 inches axil length , 5 3/8s is definatly a short brace , if your draw length is 29 inches or more I could see it giveing you problems

Champlain Islander

I agree with straightarrow about hitting your coat with a short brace height bow. Here in the north bow season is usually pretty chilly and a coat or coveralls is usually needed. I shoot an older Mathews Ulta Max and it has about a 6 1/2" BH. I wear an arm guard to compress my cloths to eliminate the possibility of hitting my coat sleeve. Shooting in warm weather at the range and or 3D good form and mechanics usually will make a short brace height a non issue. All in all I would get a long brace height on my next bow.

nodog

You will be limited in your flecthing-rest clearance. A 5" feather will not work a 4" maybe but doubt it. A 5" vane will be in the rest a 4" might be. this might cause unwanted noise when the bow is drawn. If you use a w.b. you will have to load the arrow pull it back some and stuff it in the rest. I would like to here how it affects your accuracy.