I take my smokepole and leave the bow at home. If its that cold I certainly haven't practiced with extra clothing on and pretty my muscles won't be pulling back and holding my bow very smoothly.

It gets pretty cold here most year, temps well below 0 and the windchill can bring it down to 30 below pretty easy.I hunt through it most years, and if I still have a bow tag by that point Ill still be using my bow.

Ive also missed deer hunting in these brutal conditions.Generally though its not the bow itself but something else that causes it.Ive had arrow rests that were supposed to move sieze up and remain stationary.Ive had whisker bisquits that sounded like a brick wall when you tried to shoot through them.Ive had releases that stuck and gave you just a fraction of a second delay before releasing.And Ive probably had minor equipment failures I didnt notice or just chalked up to me sucking.

A bows like anything else, you take it out of your warm house or truck immediately into sub zero weather things frost up, they contract, they get stiffer.If it was a muzzleloader it would cause it not to go off at all.So if your drop away rest doesnt drop away, or your whiskers on your whisker bisquit get hard, or your release hangs up its gonna change things, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot depending on what doesnt work.

On a related note about hunting in the cold, how do yo guys keep your feet warm ? Usually when hunting in the cold, my feet are the first to go numb...hot hands warmer of the feet didn't work too good...

I shoot a good old Bear recurve and it hits the same. I do draw it once and a while to get the stiffness out of my arms and the "Creaks" out of the bow. I wax my string pretty heavy and when it is in the cold for a while it will make creaking noises when you draw. Drawing even half-draw once and a while takes it out.

The only thing I ever found to work on cold feet is socks that "wick" away sweat and pack boots.

I live in texas....just below freezing i never saw a difference til i put my jacket on. Gl

The old laminated limb bows weren't as affected by the cold as much as the new plastic limbs. They get stiffer in the cold and shoot higher. So take a couple sight in shots and either adjust your sights or lower the bow weight to put your pins back on. And clothes also affect the shot if you're hitting them. Using a more open stance gets your bow arm farther out of the way and you clear the heavy clothes better.

Drawing the bow back every 30 min will do the trick down to about 35F - keeps the limbs from stiffening up too much and prevents creaks. But for colder temps, this just doesn't seem to work for me.

lol how is this gonna help? are you de-icing the suker er wha?

Pulling it back prevents the "creak". In my bow, anyway. Otherwise, there will often be a creak after several hours of non-use which is a bad thing when a deer is 20 yds away. As far as warming it, any kind of movement warms it a little - enough to prevent cold induced stiffness to a point.

sounds like you have a crack in one of yer limbs.