IMO, can't beat the WB for hunting. The full-capture feature, quiet operation, ruggedness, all are excellent features for hunting.
I still have my Reflex BuckSkin with the Whisker Biscuit on it, The BuckSkin/Whisker Biscuit shoots the same over all groups as the RipCord.
I thought this may be because I have shoot the BuckSkin for several years so I swithched rest putting the Whisker biscuit on the Katera, same sizes groups (4-3/8" @ 50 yards and less than 2" @ 20 yares) about as well as I would expect for a 70+ year old.
Torque is a problem with any rest but concider this if hand torque moves the rest 1/16" the string (with the arrow still on it moves a lot more).
I have used the Whisker Biscuit in all types of weather for near 100°F to well below zero, sun and rain, snow and freezing rain it has never failed or froze up.
I can think of nothing the the Fall-Away rest can do better than the biscuit, I know when I still shoot 3D I finished ahead of more Fall-Away shooters that what Fall-Away shooters finised ahead of me.
The Whisker Biscuit will be on my Katera when I go Whitetail hunting Oct. 1st.
Some would say I lose accuracy with the WB; but I'm shooting kill zones every time at 60 yards. Perfection is perfection; but I'm not shooting anything past 60.
Just like in rifle shooting, If I'm getting 1 inch groups at 100 yards....3 inch groups at 300 yards...I'm not shooting anything past 300 yards, so i'm good. I could spend thousands of dollars bedding, truing, blueprinting, etc. my rifle to hit 1 inch groups at 500 yards; but what's the point besides bragging rights?
I'd rather be a better hunter and shoot at a respectable distance.
Some are real and some are just percieved. The WB, against everything that most technogeeks have learned about rests, shoots great. Fall aways are NOT neccesarily more accurate. Show me the target shooters who are using them! Those guys are absolutely obsessed with accuracy and I have not seen ANY pro target shooters useing fall aways.
So G-Man, the real answer to your question is......shoot what you like, they all work. Some will suit your style better than others. Our Hooter Shooter makes a half inch hole with five .295" arrows at 20 yards through a WB. Rank beginers make Robin Hoods at 10 yards with brand new equipment at our shop in thier very first half hour of bow shooting THROUGH WBs!
I don't have anything to do with WB, no ownership, no sponsorship, no friendships, nothing, I just get sick of people who have NO IDEA claiming they are not as good based on what they think might be true.
Otherwise, I agree with what spike said. I use a WB on my hunting bow as well.
determined, I don't like the way the Ripcord drops down if I have to let down and so I prefer the Quad Ultrarest in that type rest. I have a Ripcord I'd sell you reasonable!
With this being said, the WB is an excellent rest. Minor modifications of the rest, by removing the whiskers that could interfere with the fletching will greatly reduce the possibility of flight deviation. The minute deviation in arrow flight that might be caused by the WB is not going to show up at the impact point, with the distances of the common bow shot.
I believe that if we can negatively affect the flight of the arrow by moving the bow during the shot, then a drop away is more forgiving. For sake of arguement, and rounding off, let's say you have a 27 inch draw length, and a bow with a 7 inch brace height. The arrow is on the STRING for 20 inches of power stroke. As soon as it leaves the string, we can no longer affect it's flight with a drop away. With a full containment, non-drop away rest, we can influence it's flight til it leaves the rest, or for 27 inches of travel. So, the arrow is affected by us, for a third less time with a drop away. (theoretically)
How much difference does this make? I have no idea. How practical is this information? I have no idea. I shoot drop aways. I want all the help I can get.
FWIW
BELIEVE me, I understand much more of the how and why rests should perform for best arrow flight. I do high speed video testing of everything I can get my hands on when I have the camera. It is capable of 17,000fps! We usually run it at about 1000fps becuase we shoot indoors and don't bother with enough mercury vapor lights to go much higher with good quality footage.
(You can easily see the flourescent cieling lights cycling at 60 MH overhead and it affects the video!)
NO rest contact is much more akin to EQUAL-all-around contact than you would guess, so the biscuit works just fine. THAT is the importance of having the correct biscuit! Anybody who tells you that it is all right to use a large biscuit on a small shaft is WRONG! The biscuit MUST fit the shaft to function properly. Otherwise the bottom two fletches hit the biscuit well before the top one and cuase the back of the arrow to jump up and start an unnatural oscillation in the arrow just as it leaves the biscuit.
As far as Al's point, it is valid. However, I believe you need to measure this effect in time not inches. The likelyhood of a shooter to affect the shot with poor follow through IS directly related to how long in time the arrow is on the rest. We are, after all, talking about reaction time. How quickly can you twitch, jerk, slap, clutch, or whatever!?! Fast enough to affect the flight?
ABSOLUTELY, in fact, it is so certain that it doesn't matter what rest you have, drop aways included! THAT is why it is so important to develop a surprise release! Even your trigger finger wrist strap release can be fired "on demand" with back tension! If you are not doing that,along with other good form, then your reaction time is quick enough to affect EVERY arrow from any rest. Not that people are that quick, just that people are that good at ANTICIPATION!
Mosty people set up thier releases incorrectly. If your trigger finger is out straight right before the shot your release is TOO long. Your finger must curl around the trigger so you can slowly apply more and more pressure until it goes off in at least a semi-surprise fashion. JUST like good rifle triggering.
If your release is set very light, it is probably wrong! Much better to set it up as stiff as possible on most so you can "lean into" the trigger a little without fear of a premature...ahh.. release!( sorry!) Then start to squeeze.
If your hand flies away from your face at release, or stays put, you are probably using it wrong! Your objective should be to follow through. The forces should not be off to the side! They should be straight back! A good follow through will have your release hand touching the top of your shoulder because you have pulled with your release hand straight back against the opposing force of your bow hand, which is pushing straight towards the target.
If you do not almost drop the bow after the shot, chances are you are doing it wrong! THIS is where the most clutching, jerking, twitching, and MISSING comes from. Too often we have trouble holding the pin on target (mostly because we are shooting too much weight with improper posture but that is a whole other book!) so we watch for it to look like it is going to cross the bullseye and then we try to slap the trigger at precisely the right moment! Oh yeah, did I mention that we also try to push the arrow into the bullseye at precisely that moment by grabbing the bow and pushing it up, down, sideways, or wherever the bulleye was last! Yeah, that too!
Look, there is more but I'm tired of it and so are you so let me just wrap up with this:
BAD form and technique has WAY more detrimental effect on the majority of shots than any rest ever had! Especially the whisker biscuit, which happens to work very well, even for beginers.
I'm sure your assertatioon regarding time being more relevant than distance is true. And, since I believe the arrow is accelerating while on the string, the last 7" of travel, before leaving the rest, is likely nowhere near the percentage of the total elapsed time, as it is in distance. (but I have absolutely no intention of applyng the nexessary brain power needed to figure THAT out!)
Just go to Archerytalk, click on the "vegas 2008" link, then find the link with the shoot-off video, download that and watch it. If those guys didn't have slings, every one of them would drop their bow on every shot. Some of them even bounce their long stabs on the floor.
