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Stabilizers on my hunting bow: Am I missing something?

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Stabilizers on my hunting bow: Am I missing something?

Old 09-15-2014, 04:46 AM
  #1  
Spike
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Question Stabilizers on my hunting bow: Am I missing something?

This post is mostly to provide a review of my experience with a new stabilizer and ask if I am missing something essential about stabilizers. I would appreciate anyone with more knowledge chiming in with any input.

I have an entry level 60 lb Bear Encounter bow. I love it. Maybe it could be a little more quiet and a little faster, but I love it. Anyway I took the short Trophy Ridge stabilizer that it came with off and it made no difference in my group size.

Because my bow rocks backward, yes backward, quite a bit when I shoot, I thought I should try and correct this. I bought and installed a large 10 inch Bee Stinger and tried every weight combination up to all of the weights.

It almost eliminated the backward rock of the bow. However my group size actually increased by about an inch at 40 yards.

The "pin" did float a little less with the heavy Bee Stinger but not enough be worth all that weight. Also, my bow felt wrong with it installed. Although that was probably just due to me not being used to it.
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Old 09-15-2014, 01:09 PM
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Well for me the right weight stabilizer help tremendously with my PSE DNA. I was shooting for an entire year without one but just for fun I installed an old one I had (one of several) that gave me a balanced bow after the shot. In other words kept it vertical.
It made the bow quieter and I shot it better. And the extra weight is inconsequential when hunting from a treestand where I do most of my bow hunting.
But for you, if your group is only 1" larger at 40 yds (and I hope you didn't only shoot one group) then I don't think it would matter if you used one or not.
If you really want to be statistical you should number your arrows say 1 - 5 and shoot these for groups and plot where each arrow hits on a piece of paper each time. You may be surprised at your results. You may have for instance arrow #1 shooting a 1" or 2" group at 40 yards. And the same for any other arrow. But IMO that would be overkill.
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Old 09-15-2014, 03:29 PM
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I have to ask these questions to be sure I'm thinking about this in the right light:

When specifically does your bow rock backwards? After the shot, during the shot, during your draw?

I'm assuming it does not rock backwards when you are shooting at a downward angle from an elevated position?

What is your bowhand grip like?
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Old 09-15-2014, 05:23 PM
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Well, whether or not it rocks back during or after is the big question that I had. The degree of rock is similar to the forward rock of a competitive bow shooter that has a long stabilizer. I wish I owned a high speed camera to settle that issue once and for all.

I was concerned that although my accuracy was decent ( i think ) that maybe the rock back was influencing the arrow just enough to where a good stabilizer would improve accuracy even more. Who doesn't want a little more? Based on this experiment with the Bee Stinger I would say that the rock back must be happening after the arrow has cleared the rest and therefore the rock back isn't harming anything.

I think I have a proper grip, riser in the V / lifeline area, loose fingers open or slightly closed but not gripping, with proper follow through.

By decent accuracy I mean 2 inch groups at 20 yards and 4 to 5 inch groups at 40 yards. I am primarily a Bow Hunter and that accuracy will probably work for that but like I said, who doesn't want a little more

Last edited by temphank; 09-15-2014 at 05:32 PM.
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Old 09-17-2014, 07:48 AM
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You're right about us all striving for perfection. And although it will never happen we can continue to practice until we get better and better. But remember, only perfect practice makes perfect.
One thing that Nomercy made me think of is: does your bow rock back as you draw? Try pointing at your target and start your draw. Does your bow rock up or down? It could be that your limbs are not balanced. One or the other may have to be adjusted to give you a smooth draw without any rock.
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Old 09-17-2014, 06:04 PM
  #6  
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Thank you all for helping me. The bow doesn't rock at all during the draw. I think this is one of those cases where I am trying to fix something that isn't a problem.
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Old 09-19-2014, 01:56 AM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by bronko22000
You're right about us all striving for perfection. And although it will never happen we can continue to practice until we get better and better. But remember, only perfect practice makes perfect.
One thing that Nomercy made me think of is: does your bow rock back as you draw? Try pointing at your target and start your draw. Does your bow rock up or down? It could be that your limbs are not balanced. One or the other may have to be adjusted to give you a smooth draw without any rock.
That's where I was headed bronko. Typically your top limb has to be let down a bit to "set the tiller" on your bow. Your hand is actually below the center of the bow, so the top limb has a longer lever arm, and will flex proportionately less than the bottom when drawing, which usually causes a slight backwards tip of the bow.

Your bow should want to tip forward after the shot not just for convention, but for consistency. The center of mass for bow designs is placed to provide a forward cant to help resist that tiller imbalance under the release. Especially important in single cam or cam and a half bows due to the disproportionate string take-up. I'd love to see a bow design that was not balanced as such, and I'd sure never own one. Easy test is to hand your bow to another shooter...

Also, you lose access to consistency if you ever shoot at a downward angle. If it tips back when flat, then it'll be badly backward shooting uphill, but what happens when you shoot from a tree stand? Your arrow will get a totally different nock travel when your bow suddenly tips over forward due to the downward angle.

It's hard to argue with success, but I'd also think -how much better would you be if you corrected that form or tuning hurdle?
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Old 09-19-2014, 02:34 AM
  #8  
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Thanks Nomercy

I have the limb bolts screwed all the way in ( -1/4 ). Are you saying to unscrew the top bolt a little more than the bottom to achieve a better balance?

I wonder if this is why my group size from an elevated stand opens up a bit even when I draw normally and bend at the waist?
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:25 AM
  #9  
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If you have a tiller imbalance and your bow's pivot torque changes when you're shooting downhill vs. flat, then I can say at the very least, it's not going to help your shooting, and it's going to increase your variability when changing shooting angle.

Generally I set my tiller by feel. I heel the $hit out of my grips, so I have a little deeper tiller than what some others might have if they a high wrist grip. I'll have someone stand beside me as I draw to verify what I'm feeling. I shoot dual/binary cam bows; solocams, cam & 1/2's, and other non-symmetrical cams have different take up rates for top and bottom, which complicates the tiller a bit more, but it's the same rule of thumb. I don't want any rearward tilt when I draw, and since my dual cams have equal take-up and my hand is below the midline, especially considering my low wrist position, that means I have to run lighter up top to keep my torque even. That way when my bow starts pushing the arrow out, driving against my hand, it'll keep itself even and level as it delivers the arrow.

Even if you balance your tiller, as your shooting angle changes, you have to compensate a bit for the change in torque across your tiller. The more it leans forward, the less the bow will be able to press with the top limb, the less, the opposite.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:23 AM
  #10  
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You don't need to believe the hype to buy. If you shoot your bow better without a stabilizer, then shoot it that way. If it rocks back after the shot, who cares? Rocking back on a level surface with your arm extended horizontal is not unusual, many bows do it. What makes a bow rock forward is putting a 12oz. weight on the front-bottom 1/2 of it.
So when you see guys and their bow rocks forward, realize that they have a stabilizer on it.
Enjoy shooting your bow. That's the bottom line.
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