Reality Check Regarding Hunting Stabilizer Length

[UTGrad]

This is going to be a simple post but hopefully it will open up a few eyes. Someone brought it to my attention in the past. It was a "duh" moment.


People are reluctant to shoot a long stabilizer while hunting. They say they hunt tight places, etc. They worry their long stabilizer will get caught up in branches or a tree trunk, etc.

Well guess what, how long does your nocked arrow extend beyond the bow?

If you already have a nocked arrow that extends several inches out from the bow, what will it hurt to have a 12-14" hunting stabilizer? If you have enough room to manuver a bow with a nocked arrow, you have enough room to manuver with a long hunting stabilizer. Good luck this season and give a long hunting stabilizer a try this season.

 

[REN]

not sure if that is apples to apples.

If i draw back the bow i have taken all that extended arrow backwards rather then forwards like a Stab. You add that backwards distance with a 14" stab you have a bunch of area you are covering.

I hunt with a 7-8" stab but 12 just seems a bit long to me.

 

[UTGrad]

not sure if that is apples to apples.

If i draw back the bow i have taken all that extended arrow backwards rather then forwards like a Stab. You add that backwards distance with a 14" stab you have a bunch of area you are covering.

I hunt with a 7-8" stab but 12 just seems a bit long to me.

Right but when you lift your bow to draw, your arrow is still extended way out there.

I personally havent hunted in a spot so tight that a 12" hunting stab gets in the way. If it was that tight my arrow would get knocked off the shelf before I even got a chance to draw.

 

[REN]

I can only speak for me but the reason I can't use them is the extra length at full draw. The predraw arrow length doesn't bother me any

 

[UTGrad]

I can only speak for me but the reason I can't use them is the extra length at full draw. The predraw arrow length doesn't bother me any

No problem but as info your pre draw arrow is several inches out from your riser.

I'm not suggesting people hunt with 30" target stabilizers, but a good 10-12" stabilizer with weight the end will enhance accuracy.

 

[reloadxx]

I hunt with a 12" doinker and I love it. Me personally will never go back to a short stabilizer

 

[UTGrad]

I've never hunted a spot where I had to "crawl".

I simply lay my bow in my backseat. I don't use a bow case.

A 4" stabilizer will kill deer, no doubt, but a longer stabilizer will improve accuracy.

 

[reloadxx]

I noticed a big improvement in accuracy when I went with the longer stabilizer with the weight on the end

 

[Crow Terminator]

The thing to keep in mind is that bow hunting means trying to get as close as possible to the animals your hunting versus target archery in which you see who can shoot the best at long distances. Every year since I can remember being on TN Deer there have been "yardage poll" threads that run with the deer season. Every year the average yardage of deer killed of all the totals provided = 23 yards or less. At those close of distances you're not going to notice much if any accuracy advantage between a short stabilizer and a longer one. The main reason most hunters have stabilizers on their bows is for extra sound dampening anyway. A lot of the longer 10-12 inch stabilizers popular in the "hunter" classes of ASA and IBO are just one piece machined aluminium with varying weights at the end (B-Stinger) or hard plastic tube with a weight (Stokerized)....do absolutely nothing for killing sound like an S-Coil or 4" Doinker ChubbyHunter does. My 12" B-Stinger has an 8 oz weight on it and it makes my bow very heavy to carry in full hunting setup and does nothing to quieten the bow...vs my little Doinker that makes a big difference in noise reduction. The big advantage of the longer stabilizer for me....being able to use it as a kickstand for propping it up against trees haha

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I noticed that at distances less than 40 yards, a stabilizer never gave me an improvement in my accuracy, so I eventually just quit hunting with one. I always shot heavier than typical arrows, so my bow was pretty quiet to begin with.

 

[UTGrad]

Even at 20 yards if one is trying to hit a precise spot a longer stabilizer will help.

Aim small, miss small.

My pin is much steadier with my B Stinger vs a short stab that I own.

 

[Crow Terminator]

Longer stabilizers aren't the cure all. If you want to get technical, archery will let you do that. If you go with a longer stabilizer with a weight on the end, you can mess up your weight ratio for the bow and it wont be steady at all.

Here's a quote from the BeeStinger website on selecting the right stabilizer setup for your bow...this taken from the guide for compound bows with parallel limbs:

[color:#FF0000]"These styles of bows require MORE weight behind the bow. You can accomplish this by using a longer back bar, shorter front bar or more weight on the back bar. Depending on the length of bars used a 1:3.5 ratio is a safe starting point.

One of the reasons these bows require more weight rearward is this geometry changes the center of gravity at full draw. When a past parallel bow is brought to full draw the limb�s actually come down, causing the center of gravity (COG) to actually move forward. This COG shift requires the higher ratio of rear weight. For this reason balancing the bow at rest is not as effective. Mass weight should always be taken into account when deciding what lengths to purchase. A longer v-bar will allow the archer to keep a lower overall mass weight while a shorter v-bar will require more mass weight to accomplish the same amount of leverage."[/color]

http://www.beestinger.com/b-stinger-com ... rallel.php

 

[UTGrad]

Crow you are a shooter no doubt but do you see people at Vegas with 4" stabilizers? I shot with Dan McCarthy an Chance Beauboef and at 20 yard Vegas target face they had long stabilizers.

Sure I could kill deer without a stabilizer completely with my bow but by gosh I'm aiming for the crease between the back leg and the thorax to get the heart. If it loads it's legs to spree its a double lung. I'd rather have my 12" B Stinger with an 8 oz weight vs a dinky 4 "dampener"

My Monster MR6 doesn't need an additional "dampener" l

 

[UTGrad]

And honestly I scanned your text in red cause I know what spot shooters have on their bows

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Crow you are a shooter no doubt but do you see people at Vegas with 4" stabilizers? I shot with Dan McCarthy an Chance Beauboef and at 20 yard Vegas target face they had long stabilizers.

I thought this thread was about hunting stabilizers, not shooting targets in Vegas.

I could make my rifle light matchsticks at 100 yards if I wanted to spend the time and money, but for hunting situations, it's just not necessary. Same goes for hunting stabilizers.

 

[BlountArrow]

I think Chris Farley could have best ended this debate by saying, "You could get a good look at a T-Bone by sticking your head up a bull's @ss but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it?"

 

[Andy S.]

....but for hunting situations, it's just not necessary.

x2

 

[southernhunter]

I think I will try it just to see the difference , if there's no improvement I can all ways go back to my s coil .

 

[Crow Terminator]

You don't see them in Vegas with JUST long stabilizers stuck in the front of their bow...they ALL have back V bar weights added in addition to the longer bars. Those V bars aren't there just to look pretty. They are there for a reason. Just sticking a long stabilizer on the end of the front of the bow ain't all there is to it bud. Each bow is gonna require some experimenting to find the right ratio balance to it. Thus why there's different weights for all of them and different lengths.

If you really want to push the envelope on accuracy...get rid of that short A-A and low brace height MR6 and buy an Apex 8. It's a tad long at 42.25" A-A and an 8" brace height, oh and a bit heavy at around 5 pounds naked...but hey, hair splitting accuracy is what you're after. I don't see any Vegas winners shooting bows under 34" A-A there either

 

[Radar]

I shoot a 9" B Stinger on my Axe 6 , but I plan to put my shorter stabilizer on for hunting . For me it's easier to carry through brush , allows more clearance at downward angles over limbs , and top rails on some climbers at full draw !

 

[REN]

You don't see them in Vegas with JUST long stabilizers stuck in the front of their bow...they ALL have back V bar weights added in addition to the longer bars. Those V bars aren't there just to look pretty. They are there for a reason. Just sticking a long stabilizer on the end of the front of the bow ain't all there is to it bud. Each bow is gonna require some experimenting to find the right ratio balance to it. Thus why there's different weights for all of them and different lengths.

If you really want to push the envelope on accuracy...get rid of that short A-A and low brace height MR6 and buy an Apex 8. It's a tad long at 42.25" A-A and an 8" brace height, oh and a bit heavy at around 5 pounds naked...but hey, hair splitting accuracy is what you're after. I don't see any Vegas winners shooting bows under 34" A-A there either

Yatzee! This is the post I was waiting on.

 

[TNDeerGuy]

You don't see them in Vegas with JUST long stabilizers stuck in the front of their bow...they ALL have back V bar weights added in addition to the longer bars. Those V bars aren't there just to look pretty. They are there for a reason. Just sticking a long stabilizer on the end of the front of the bow ain't all there is to it bud. Each bow is gonna require some experimenting to find the right ratio balance to it. Thus why there's different weights for all of them and different lengths.

If you really want to push the envelope on accuracy...get rid of that short A-A and low brace height MR6 and buy an Apex 8. It's a tad long at 42.25" A-A and an 8" brace height, oh and a bit heavy at around 5 pounds naked...but hey, hair splitting accuracy is what you're after. I don't see any Vegas winners shooting bows under 34" A-A there either

Spot on CT! Most archers, especially the Pro's, that shoot 3D use a series of weights forward, backward and/or sideways to achieve a balance in the bow, and that is exactly what most try to achieve�balance. Very few just use a weight-forward stabilizer. A balanced bow, along with a properly draw-length fitted bow will result in less "float" of the pin over the target, which will net higher accuracy.

It is very hard to compare the accuracy and the tools used to achieve that accuracy of pro tourney shooters like Chance and Levi to us, because it is not apples to apples�they are using long A-A, high brace heights, low draw weight, heavier equipment and absolute spot on draw length, all of which dramatically helps them decrease the "float", compared to us that us low brace heights, high draw weight, short A-A, light equipment and draw lengths that sometimes are questionable at best.

Bottom line, if your comfortable shooting with a 40lbs. dumbbell attached two feet in front of your bow or a 4oz. piece of rubber, then by all means go with what is the most comfortable to you and what gives you the most confidence.

 

[Crow Terminator]

Exactly what I've been trying to say!

Although my 30 yd groups could use some snugging up...guess it's my little stabilizer that caused so wide of a gap

 

[UTGrad]

I know they use side bars and V bars.

The purpose of the original post was to point out that a nocked arrow sticks out much further from the riser vs a stabilizer. For hunters that have thought about using longer stabilizers for hunting but were reluctant due to room, their nocked arrow would get in the way first.

 

[UTGrad]

Oops, double post

 

[Radar]

I know they use side bars and V bars.

The purpose of the original post was to point out that a nocked arrow sticks out much further from the riser vs a stabilizer. For hunters that have thought about using longer stabilizers for hunting but were reluctant due to room, their nocked arrow would get in the way first.

. But not at full draw when it matters as several of us pointed out . Think about the tree limbs , stand rail , etc. that may come into contact when aiming downward .

 

[UTGrad]

Ok...I surrender. You guys win lol

Seems like I'm usually alone in a lot of these debates.

 

[REN]

Ok...I surrender. You guys win lol

Seems like I'm usually alone in a lot of these debates.

hahah, I understand what you are saying and for some it will make perfect sense.

I just cant use one over 8" personally due to the added length at full draw. Can it improve accuracy to use a longer stab? sure if set up correctly.