new to archery...question about stabilizers

istahill

New Member
Mar 9, 2014
19
0
Hey guys,
I have a question about stabilizers. Ideally how should my bow react after the shot? Like I said I'm new to archery and I've heard that when your bow is properly balnced with a stabilizer that it should rock forward once yoou've released the arrow. Mine current set-up does not. It rocks back towards me. Should I look into getting a longer/heavier stabilizer to achieve this? I've heard that it can help with accuracy. Especially at longer ranges. Anyway just trying to better understand the mechanic of the bow and get the optimal set-up. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated, thanks!
 

RockChucker30

Active Member
Feb 22, 2014
162
0
Tennessee
Ideally at the shot the bow doesn't move, i.e. No hand shock. After the arrow leaves, the bow would then slowly fall forward.

IMO if you want a stabilizer for accuracy you need to look at a Bee Stinger or a Doinker in a 10"-12" length. Those stabilizers have very light shafts and heavy ends, which increases the moment of inertia, kind of like the difference between a canoe and an ocean liner in choppy water...both move, but the ocean liner is slower, steadier, and easier to anticipate. That increases accuracy.


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Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,847
2,230
Eastern Nebraska
My preference is to have just enough weight so that my bow sits basically upright before I draw. I can hold my bow in my left hand only with an open hand and the bow just sits there. At the shot, mine tips forward just a bit from the recoil if I leave my hand open (only do this with a wrist strap). I however have changed to a finger tip hold instead of leaving my hand open. The bow no longer tips at the shot. I do think that the shock absorbing stabilizers contribute to a quieter bow as well as add proper balance.
 

Fink

Veteran member
Apr 7, 2011
1,961
204
West Side, MoMo
My preference is to have just enough weight so that my bow sits basically upright before I draw. I can hold my bow in my left hand only with an open hand and the bow just sits there. At the shot, mine tips forward just a bit from the recoil if I leave my hand open (only do this with a wrist strap). I however have changed to a finger tip hold instead of leaving my hand open. The bow no longer tips at the shot. I do think that the shock absorbing stabilizers contribute to a quieter bow as well as add proper balance.
I've found that accuracy, for me anyways, deteriorates if I close my hand. I can shoot most accurately with an open hand. I was actually looking at Doinkers and Bee Stingers the other day, so I'll be interested in what other have to say about adding a good stabilizer to their rig.
 

Work2hunt

Veteran member
Mar 2, 2013
1,366
11
St. Louis, MO
Ideally at the shot the bow doesn't move, i.e. No hand shock. After the arrow leaves, the bow would then slowly fall forward.

IMO if you want a stabilizer for accuracy you need to look at a Bee Stinger or a Doinker in a 10"-12" length. Those stabilizers have very light shafts and heavy ends, which increases the moment of inertia, kind of like the difference between a canoe and an ocean liner in choppy water...both move, but the ocean liner is slower, steadier, and easier to anticipate. That increases accuracy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
+1

I am actually using a bee stinger on my bow with all 3 weight discs. I like the extra weight when I am at full draw. The added weight will help slow any arm movements that may happen.
 

tdcour

Veteran member
Feb 28, 2013
1,100
26
Central Kansas
I am in the bee stinger boat as well. Mine is a 10" with an 8 oz disc on the end. It makes the bow heavier, which I like. Having a heavy, long stabilizer will help with small movements when sighting at long distances. Basically, you want a longer stabilizer, in my opinion, to maximize leverage of the weight at the end. The longer the stabilizer, the more leverage that is fighting against your unsteadiness at full draw. I have noticed considerable differences when I switched from a small cheap 4" stabilizer to the heavy bee stinger when I practice at 70-100 yards. I've also noticed that adding weight to the bow makes it a little more steady in general. Physics says that an object at rest stays at rest, and the more weight when at rest, the more force needed to move that weight from the resting position, thus, a steadier bow. As far as how it feels in your hand, this is a null point for me because the bow should be taking out most of the vibration rather than the stabilizer. I use stabilizers to stabilize my bow, and if they just happen to make the hand shock less, great, but that's not a deal breaker for me.
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,847
2,230
Eastern Nebraska
I've found that accuracy, for me anyways, deteriorates if I close my hand. I can shoot most accurately with an open hand. I was actually looking at Doinkers and Bee Stingers the other day, so I'll be interested in what other have to say about adding a good stabilizer to their rig.
It used to for me as well. I learned the technique from a Mathews Pro 3D shooter. You basically just place the tips of you fingers on the front of the handle opposite your thumb. There is no way to grip or torque the bow when doing this. I am no expert archer but I have taken over 100 big game animals with my bow so I have decent experience. This improved my accuracy to the level that I changed the way I shoot.
 

istahill

New Member
Mar 9, 2014
19
0
Well I took your guys advice, picked up a 10" b stinger last night. Took the bow out to the range tonight and wow! I'm freaking amazed at how much a difference I saw! I didn't have to fight the bows movements nearly as much making my accuracy significantly better! Cut my grouping diameter at 40 yards in half! I'm really impressed, thanks for the advice!
 

mnhunter

Active Member
Aug 23, 2011
226
0
Andover, Minnesota
Well I took your guys advice, picked up a 10" b stinger last night. Took the bow out to the range tonight and wow! I'm freaking amazed at how much a difference I saw! I didn't have to fight the bows movements nearly as much making my accuracy significantly better! Cut my grouping diameter at 40 yards in half! I'm really impressed, thanks for the advice!
You made a good choice. The one draw back of the longer stablilizers is they can catch a cross wind a little more, but the B-stinger, carbon blade, etc maintain a pretty low profile that the wind has a harder time catching. On this same note, practice with and without your quiver on your bow. It is important to get used to having that weight on your bow, but you also want to be used to shooting without it in case you want to take it off for a shot with a heavy cross wind.