BruceW63

yes. Get a different bow.

bigcountry nailed it. Sell this one and buy a bow with a 34-inch-ish Axle-to-Axle dimension.

Right at the start of the 2007 archery season, I got a Mathews Switchback XT (31" A-A) and never really got comfortable or extremely accurate with it. I don't think I ever could have, either, with my 30" DL. I solved all my problems by following the above advice. My two bows are 34.5" and 33".

JeffB

It's not always solely a problem with the axle to axle- It's string angle in particular, and I've had bows with 31" A2A that had better string angle than some longer bows- it has as much to do with the size of the cams, where the string exits them and just how far the limbs are travelling at full draw. My AM35 and Admiral have roughly the same amount of string angle for example. My GT500 had less closed angle than the AM35

(edit-trying to remember my geometry teminology, unsuccessfully)

BGfisher

I think most of the guys here have things figured out pretty well. Unfortunately the vast majorrity don't and that's why these "too short bows" are getting more common.

Not sure I agree with BruceW, though. Doing a little mental math I have about a 26.5 to 27" draw. I have a 68 wingspan and my preference for bow length still hovers around the 36" to 39" range. That's a pretty fur piece off my 32" sleeve length. And beelieve me, I've got three 32-33" bows here right now and still find that about 37" feels much better when speaking of string angle, stability, and aiming.

So anyway, doing that mental math thing I'd say most people would shoot better and feel more comfortable shooting somethingat least1/2 their wingspan or even a little more. I wonder if saying draw length plus 6" would work out? I'll have to think about that.

bowdoc1

My anchor when I shot a recurve was the center of my chin and nose with a 27 3/4 inch draw and had a 300 average indoors.When I went to a compound I had the anchor off to the side on my chin because of the string angle . Same draw and same average indoors, Than I started wearing glasses and had to anchor off to the side of my nose because I couldn't see through the frame of the glasses with the same draw and still a 300 average indoors.I had surgery on my eyes and no more glasses. I tried going back to the center of my nose, but my 3 arrow group really opened up on me from the size of a quarter to the size of a base ball at 40 yards so I have went back to the side of my nose. The other day it was really nice out so went out to shoot. Shot 4 round of 3 arrow group at 40 yards and on my 4 th round I Robin Hooded one of my Fat Boys. Peed me off so I went back into the house. Ihadput all 16 shots dead center of the spot at 40 yards , but thats way I shoot only 3 arrows to agroup is to try keeping that from happening. Arrow are to expensive to do that it sucks[:@]

Rambo22056

i have a question regarding my 2007 black ice bow..i have a 70 pound...it doesnt feel like im pulling 70 tho..i took it to archery shops few times to have them test weight and they keep telling me that it is in fact set at 70...they told me the way the cams are designed on this bow, the draw is very smooth and effortless to pull...but using my handheld bow scale, it reads 61 pounds..so i dont know what to believe..what do you think? ...-Dave

BGfisher

If you are weighing your bow with a Cardoza hand-held scale then don't believe it. These things are notorious for being 5-6 pounds too light. If it's a difital then I can't comment.

The one at the shop may be a couple pounds light. It really isn't important whether the bow draws 70# or not. What you need to do is use one or the other and just use it for a reference in case you make any changes to the bow at a later date.

It's been said many times before and I'll repeat it here. There is nothing walking this continent that requires a 70# bow except our egos. If your bow is drawing 67-68 then that is fine. Even 65# will dump anything you're going to hunt.

An important thing to consider is that archery/bowhunting is not a sport where brute strength is required. If you can draw a bow with ease and shoot it accurately then that's the way it's supposed to be. With a little lighter draw weight you can practice longer and work on shooting form with greater ease. Accuracy is what this is all about.

All the kinetic energy in the world is not worth a hoot if you can't put it where it does the most good.

Now ll this ranting of mine brings me to another point. You can double check a couple things to see if your bow is within factory specs. Namely the advertised axle-to-axle length and brace height. If the A2A is a little long and the brace height is a little high then the bow may need to be adjusted by twisitng the string and/or cable to put more prebend in the limbs. And if you don't know how to do this then that's what shops are for.

JeffB

Very wise words and sig-worthy!