michigandrake

I just picked up an older Bear Kodiak, 45lbs@28" and it is a 60" bow. It is in pretty good shape and shoots OK, but I have a longer draw length (30.5") and the bow seems to be really heavy at full draw (I think it is called stacking?). I don't have a problem with the weight, just the feel. My question: is it possible to play with the draw length by adjusing the length of the string or is that pretty much set and not adjustable?

Thanks

Dean

BobCo19-65

Hi Michigandrake, I also have a long draw almost exaclty as yourself. I also have a Bear Kodiak (mag), that was my dad's in the 60's that is also 45# at 28". Between the finger pinch and the stacking taking place in the bow, I don't shoot it much. I don't believe that you will be able to escape the stacking on this bow.

Arthur P

You can play with brace height a bit and change the feel of a recurve, as long as you don't go crazy with it. It might only change a pound or two, but it can be suprizing how such a little bit can change a bow's feel.

Dropping brace height about a half inch will help with the stack, but it may cause your arrow flight to go hinky. I don't agree with Asbell on a lot of things, but the one thing I picked up from his book is finding the proper brace height for your bow. Drop it down low, until you get bad arrow flight and noise. Then start twisting the string up, a few twists at a time, until arrow flight clears up and the noise goes away.

I've done that on many bows and always wound up within the bowyer's recommended range for brace height. The only drawback to shooting it on the lower edge is that any string creep will start making your arrow flight squirrely. But it just takes a few seconds and a few twists in the string to get back to good.