Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Bow Tuning-How many here actually tune their bows

Whatever. Drag an arrow through a WB here and you'll be shooting at a buck that's looking at you.

Since we are on the subject of the WB, Ill say this. Can a bow be perfectly tuned with a WB? Yes its possible. Would I reccomend one to a customer? Nope. A rest that provides full arrow contact until the nock end passes through is not a good thing. It creates a zero effective brace height. And in turn will magnify any flaws you have in your shot process. And of course make proper tune a PITA to achieve. There are far better options for an arrow rest available. Something to consider....if fletching contact with cables or a riser or anything else is considered undesireable, why the heck is it ok to have brush bristles rubbing both sides of all three fletchings??

zero effective brace height.

That some new proshop soundbite to scare the newbi into buying an expensive rest. There is no such thing unless the string comes to rest on the pivot point of the bow.

The flipper rest shooting fingers had arrow contact through the shot cycle on one side with adjustable horizontal plunger tension. The prong rests shooting a release made contact on the bottom with vertical spring tension. There were a variety of spoons and Ys... all making some kind of contact. The WB has consistent contact and not just partial.

The physics of arrow flight is all still same, optimize your spine so that the two nodes of an osculating arrow fly as calm, straight, square to the target as possible.

I've killed biggame with a flipper, prong, WB, dropaway... I wasn't any less deadly with any. The prong was my least favorite, I killed my farthest animals with the flipper at 190 fps. I wasn't any less accurate with any.

We all like buying the latest gadgets, I have boxes of 'em, all the newest world changers at the time... but experience and hunting skill kills animals... equipment is just the latest fad.

If you don't have confidence in a rest, don't use it.

Kent

And I"m here to back him up... don't hunt SE TX but do hunt Central and Hill Country and South TX... none of them are forgiving at all. WB ain't quiet at all.

Add to teh fact that I won't shoot unless they are close and you HAVE to be quiet. Hence use of Moleskin, and waxing shafts with car wax....

^^^^^^^^

Dont own a pro shop. Dont sell arrow rests. But I have set up and tuned hundreds of bows. And without the human element, a WB will tune. But add in the human element and less than desirable form and the WB will magnify flaws in the shot process more than a non drop away prong or blade rest. Yes Im familiar with flipper rests, bodoodles, super star, tm hunter style etc. The one difference between those rests and the WB is that when properly setup, there is NO fletching contact. Arrow contact yes. But no fletching contact. The arrow contact with the prong and lizard tongue rests and even the super star is consistant. Once fletching starts "rippling" from repeated trips through the WB( i have run just about every brand/size vane and feather thru one) consistant pressure goes out the window. And yes it affects proper arrow flight. While the Hamskea, AAE, QAD, and Limbdriver are my favorites to work with, there are quality rests to be had in the same price range as the WB.

Honestly as a newer bow shooter it seems as some "bow guys" treat "tuning" as some sort of black voodoo...

Not voodoo. Absolute perfection. Perfection that isnt offered from most bow shops. Its about getting the most out of a bow. And yes its in demand. Maximum speed, maximum accuracy. Maximum efficiency. Folks send firearms to gunsmiths for basically the same things. Why not expect the same from your archery gear?

My guess would be because nobody is going to be taking a 400yd shot with a bow. Even as a novice with a budget bow I have no problem keep arrows within a 6" circle at 50yds as along as my form is good.

Maybe if you're shooting for money or bragging rights (which is where most of this comes from I believe). Fact is not everyone needs a 4x sight or a 3ft long stabilizer or witchcraft voodoo tuning to make a 30yd bow shot. But if that's what tickles your fancy, go for it.

It comes from the fact that more and more shooters are hitting the 3d and spot shoots in the offseason. I dont run magnified sight or a long stab. I shoot my hunting rig year round. But a lot of shooters are looking for any edge they can get. To truly tune a bow you either own your own press(a have to have especially for yoke tuning), you drive to your local shop and fork over money to them every time you need to try a little tweak here or there, or you ship it off to a professional tuner.

Hey 280,
I think like you do. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right.

I would really like to know more about how to tune the bow the best it can be. Can you run us through the steps, list the equipment necessary, and maybe post some links to sites or videos that will help explain.

I have done the standard paper tuning, but that's the extent of it.

I will now walk back tune after reading this thread.

Is there more to do?

Tuning a bow means different things to different people. My method involves several different things. But there are some basics that must be done before anything else takes place. And to get what most refer to as the "super tune", these are a must. Because without these basics, nothing else will work as it should. We will start with form/proper DL. Improper DL causes bad form. It prevents the release forearm from being on same plane and directly in line with arrow. It also causes bad shooting posture as a too long draw length causes most shooters to lean back instead of keeping the back straight. And NO everyone is NOT X" or X.5" DL. And yes even an 1/8" can make a difference. Proper form when DL is correct, will have feet about shoulder width apart with weight evenly distributed. Bow arm should have slight bend(this of course is debateable depending on who u ask because some teach the bow arm locked straight out). Thumb of bow hand should be exactly even with top of shoulder on bow arm. Arrow dead level. Release forearm directly behind and level with arrow. Head upright. Do NOT tip foreward trying to gain contact between tip of nose and bowstring. With todays short ATA bows it is not always possible.

The grip should be torque free. Relaxed hand with thumb of bow hand pointed at target. Bow hand should remain relaxed through the shot. When you draw you "build up steam" to get to the valley. Dont let up on your pull once the bow breaks over. Keep it and transfer that " built up steam" to your back muscles. Settle your pin and pull through the shot.

Next thing is properly spined arrows. I use OT2(pinwheel software) to help with that selection. Most of the "std" arrow charts you see at the bowshops are "outdated" concerning todays bows. Carbon express offers a pretty decent one on their website. Its a bit aggravating to use with all the "add for this, subtract for that" but it will get you very close to correct dynamic spine for your setup. I also spine test my arrows. Want "stiff side up". With trad bows you want "stiff side out". That affects the way the arrow flexes/oscillates/recovers at the shot.

Equipment needed depends on just what degree of tuning you want to achieve. I have if course a wide variety of allen wrenches, a precision tuning fixture, string and arrow levels, a laser tuner to set centershot, a mech shooter, a draw board( a must when working with dual cam or cam 1/2 setups to be able to properly time and synch cams), a chronograph( helpful when tinkering with speed nock numbers and locations), and a paper tuning rack. Also a couple block targets(a must for walkback tuning because bag targets can distort impact angles). And a good scale for checking DW and holding weight.

I like to start by checking measurements on the bow. Draw length. Draw weight. Brace height. ATA measurement on both sides. Next bow is placed in my tuning fixture/bow vise and square/set center shot. Center of arrow matching up with center of berger btn hole is a good starting point. Next its on to paper rack to get a good visual of arrow flight. Check with both fletched arrow and bare shaft. A bullet hole with both is desired result. I shoot my bow myself. But use my mech shooter if owner of bow is not available. Tweak rest, nock point height and/or cams(adjusts nock travel because it may not be perfectly level from factory). Usually high or low tears are easy to adjust out. But side tears can be tricky because they can be caused by more than one thing. If you cant adjust a left tear out or eliminate it by adding weight to back of arrow/maybe removing some from front(effectively stiffening arrow spine because a weak spine will give a left tear) shorten your DL. A right tear that cant be adjusted out or eliminated by adjusting tip weight on arrow(need to add weight to tip to weaken spine a tad or by going to next weaker spine) is too short a DL. That can sometimes be corrected be merely going with a tad longer D Loop.

Once the paper tune gives desired results, its on to the block with a weighted string hanging down the center. Start at 5' distance. Shoot a fletched arrow at string with the goal being touching the string or splitting it. Target should be shoulder height for human shooter or at height that allows arrow to be dead level at full draw for the mech shooter. After the fletched arrow, adjust rest ever so slightly to bring arrow to string. After you accomplish splitting the string with the fletched arrow. Go to bare shaft. Same process. Next shoot fletched arrow and bare shaft at string. If they group together but dont touch string, adjust yoke to move group to string. Then repeat at 10'. As you increase distance adjust windage on your sight to move group. If at longer distances the bare shaft and fletched arrow dont group together, tweak rest until they do. Adjust sight windage. If group still wont move back to center, tweak yoke again. Most all adjustments that need to be made will be done at top limb only.

People ask about cam lean. At rest its not a big deal. But it needs to be adjusted out when bow is at full draw. Eliminate it first. Then procede with tuning. After I get bare shafts and fletched arrows grouping together at 20 yds and get fletched arrow groups tight and dead center at 60 yds, i go measure again. Makeing sure bow is still within factory specs in relation to brace height and ATA. Also check draw weight and holding weight again

Lots of stuff!

Not really that much. Shoot. Adjust. Shoot. Adjust. The name of the game is get your form right. Get your DL right. Be consistant. Just like your rifles favorite reload. Give you the same results everytime as long as you always use the same amount of powder. In archery. The arrow is the bullet and you(the shooter) are the powder. Do the right things the same way every time and youll get the expected results. Get sloppy and be prepared for disappointment. Your shot process should be a subconcious thing. Practice enough so it becomes automatic. Shoot with someone that help you and vice versa. I have a friend that i shoot with. He is a die hard bowhunter and avid 3d shooter. He was having trouble with accuracy. (Do bear in mind he is a super good shot. Competes in and regularly wins the long distance (80-100 yd) bonus shoots at the 3d ranges around here. Watched him shoot a few and instantly noticed him closing his hand at the shot. He corrected that and problem solved. Once in a while things need to be corrected. Our form gets a little off and we drive ourselves crazy trying to figure it out on our own. A second set of eyes is always a great thing to have around

If you become frustrated... simplify...

Set poundage and tiller

Choose arrows and cut to length

Eyeball center and level

Walkback shooting the string, start close and go back as far as possible. You don't have to shoot any set distances as you are just adjusting your rest to center. If you have to adjust your rest, start from close, reset top pin right/left if needed, repeat a few times.

Once center is set, shoot from around 40, still aiming top pin on top mark. If there is vertical stringing adjust nock up/down until it tightens as much as possible.

If it continues horizontal stringing after tuning there is an overspine issue. up poundage and/or add head weight.

If there is vertical stringing after tuning there is an underspine issue. decrease poundage and/or decrease head weight.

The bow is the engine and it's sole purpose is imparting energy into the arrow shaft... how much energy is completely dependent on the arrow's spine... spine equals arrow chosen, length cut and head weight... there is only one perfect amount of energy to make that combination fly perfect. That's all a bow has to do.

There's a zillion combinations of arrow manufacturers, weights, lengths that can be cut and head weights added. Chasing after the perfect combo just to shoot X poundage on X bow could be futile and frustrating to the max... adjust the energy to the arrow chosen.

Here's a video of arrow osculation on tuned bows, if your energy isn't correct down the shaft, movement will be even more violent and tuning impossible.



Archers paradox

Ditto. Although I have bought a few dozen arrows set the same way and have the "recipe" card on file at the shop for when I run out. I check my brace height often and replace strings frequently. Another line on the recipe card at the shop is for the string I use.