Hunting with a stabilizer
Equipment
Just curious. I’m removing my 6 inch stab to shave a little weight. Do you think the small stabilizers improve accuracy? Maybe I’m just not good enough to notice.......:)
No they do not. They absorb a little vibration and help with balance.
Yes very much so, if they help balance the bow thus making it steadier it improves accuracy. Also helps to quiet a bow which in turn helps with string jumping critters. Shawn
I took my heavy B stinger off 2 years ago to shave weight for an elk hunt. I dont shoot past 40 yds and really cant notice any difference in accuracy or noise.
I should add that the benefit of a stabilizer could vary greatly among individuals. Only way to answer is measure arrow groups with and without and check the effect for yourself. For me there was none at reasonably short distances.
I am not a tournament shooter, just 3D with hunting set up. But I don’t think a 6” stabilizer helps accuracy. Balance and slight vibration improvement, but for balance I would think it would be rearward facing. I’m sure some experts will weigh in.
Big difference between an actual stabilizer and a small vibration dampener. A true stabilizer, such as a b-stinger,certainly has advantages. I use a b-stinger system that also has the rear stabilizer. My pin settles in much easier and faster with the bow balanced front to rear and side to side.
Try this test:
Shoot a group at max hunting range while relaxed.
Then shoot a group immediately after knocking out 20+ pushups.
The pushups should replicate the stress your muscle group encounters while hunting and getting ready to make that one shot.
Maybe a quarter mile run, but not push ups. I don't think push ups simulates anything during a hunt. But it does beg the question, how many of you guys can do 20 push ups?
Personally a stabilizer should help in target acquisition so it should assist in getting stable on the target quicker. Any stabilizer is better than no stabilizer. You can do whatever works for you but there is a reason that 99.9% percent use a stabilizer. A heavy weapon is always more stable than a lighter one. I have B Stingers on all my bows. Of course this is my humble opinion but I develop a lot of training on lots of different things that go bang. Different weapons but the same concept.
Boots, optics, backpacks, bows, and now stabilizers... These are all pieces of equipment that each person needs to experiment with in order to see what works best for them. Maybe a 6" stabilizer will help Alzy shoot tighter groups. Maybe not. Only Alzy can answer that question.
Game animals have been killed by the stick and string for tens of thousands of years without stabilizers.
Most serious compound bowhunters use a stabilizer of some kind. Elk hunters in tight cover might go without or only use a small backbar. Antelope or Coues deer hunters mostly likely will use a long front and backbar. It depends on the animal, shot distance, amount of cover, and the shooter's preferences.
Backbars are typically used more by guys that keep their bowquiver on their bow because it offsets the weight. A deer hunter that sits in a treestand usually takes their quiver off of their bow and doesn't need a backbar.
if I took my quiver off my bow I'd be leaving them all over the mountains. Something I have never understood.
Great insight guys thanks. Straight ->>Arrow I’ve been taking my quiver off my bow since I can remember. For me it was about balance and another vehicle to let vibration noise into my shot. Can’t seem to retrain myself not to
well I am a very serious compound shooter, and I do not use one. I shoot well out to 60 yards without one. I am a weight nut, and if I can shave off weight, I do it. However I shot recurves for a lot of years, so I was use to a light bow......
But not all bows are created equal... I shot with both Matthews and PSE, both nice bows, but I agree, they shot better with a stabilizer, but I could not see me with that on the bow, thru the woods......
I found I could shoot the Hoyt Carbon Spyder well without one, so the bow makes it for me. Never saw the value in a small stabilizer, most guys I shoot 3D with have the big ones, like pictured above, and many hunt with them, just not for me.....
Hard to put a stalk on the grasslands, enough, without more stuff, catching on my bow
No stabilizer for me, practice or hunting. Too awkward to carry a compound bow in the back country with it on to say nothing about the weight for me. (I saw no practical accuracy gain when I tested stabilizers a very long time ago, and haven't bothered with trying them since). I practice out to 100 yards and hunt at closer range...and yup I'm a pretty serious bowhunter. I do shoot better with my Tightspot quiver on my bow than without, at least on non-windy days. And I like a longer axle to axle bow (35") better than a shorter one. YMMV
Not that I am in his class as an archer, but Randy Ulmer has done a lot of hunting without a stabilizer based on what he has written as well as photos with critters.
No stabilizer for me, practice or hunting.
X2 for me
I don't just to cut weight down on my halon. But don't take shots past 40yds on game anyways so I can't tell enough difference to justify the added weight on a hunt.
I use a stabilizer for balance and vibration....the weight of a stabilizer is negligable. The thing I have noticed lately is the quivers of late allows for so much movement on the vane end of the arrow I have noticed "slapping" at the shot.
Of course they are useful..... I can take mine off in a second and use it as a club to dispatch most any animal......
I use a 10" carbon tube with a good size end weight (8 oz? total weight .62 lb) and a QD so a total length of about 12". Not a B Stinger but that type or style. I can't tell the weight of a stabilizer packing it around..... never made any difference to me, in fact it makes a great kick stand when you are leaning it up on something on the ground. But then I know folks that can't hunt without a sling, bothers them to carry their bow. Bow weight has never been an issue to me.
I'm not a great shot. In my case a REAL stabilizer (not a 6" rubber baby bumper....) is one of the very few things you honestly can just screw onto your bow and make an instant difference in groups. If you shoot 40-50-60+ yards it will noticeably tighten them if you take the time to measure it. How much is debatable. That it can and will to some degree is not. You may not see it till a 100+, but it will be there. For me it's much less.
True stabilizing is a combination of weight and length. The weight steadies (stabilizes) the rig on both aiming and through the shot. The length leverages what weight you have against bow movement. You can trade weight for length and vice versa to get the same overall effect. But up to a degree the longer and heavier the better WRT shooting.
A short light "stabilizer" may quiet the bow. It does little to nothing WRT "stabilizing" it either holding/aiming or at the shot. But a long lever with all the weight out on the end and a fair amount of it will help. Physics.
All a compromise..... always is. Just start a thread about arrow weight and see....
Kurt: good point about Randy Ullmer not using a stabilizer. I didn't know that. He must have a lot steadier than the rest of us.
It was much more important on the bow I shot 2 bow I shot 2 bows ago than on the one I shoot now.
Am properly placed Stabilizer will help shrink your pin float, how much is an individual answer. Matthews is producing boat anchors at this point so it maybe of no consequence
I agree was a 4.5 lb bow is loaded with all the gadgets. It doesn’t need a 6” stabilizer for more weight. A 30” one might help but not 6”.
I've always used a stabilizer in the 8-12" range. I am now shooting a Crossroad extendable stabilizer and this has allowed me to play with shooting a longer stabilizer than I have ever tried. Wow - my long range groups have gotten significantly tighter. I don't know how much I will extend it during the season, but it's a bigger difference than I would have anticipated as an average joe archer!
Are there any extendable or telescoping stabilizers available that are quality built and quick to deploy. My shooting needs all the help it can get.
Ambush, The Crossroad fits your description - IMHO.
I'm old school,if the bow has the stabilizer insert,then a stabilizer goes there.same as the plunger hole and sight inserts on the riser.there there for a purpose.
I don't think Chuck Adams used a stabilizer very often either. He was a reasonably serious bowhunter!
No they do not.
Very much so.
I'm confused as hell now, so do I buy a hacksaw or not ?
People smarter than me use the physics argument. Momentum etc. I like the simple description as a tightrope Walker has a pole with weights far away from his body and it stabilizes him in the center. Picture him on a rope with 2 foot pole. The movements would be quick and jerky. It’s as far away from them as possible. Again IMHO a 6” stabilizer does nothing but add weight and may absorb vibration. But does nothing to steady the bow. Weight does settle the bow also but most bows loaded with all the needed junk are already too heavy.
Took it off; feels noticeably lighter during carry. Have not noticed any difference in groups or settling pins on target.
Alzy, You'll enjoy hauling the bow around our mountains more without the stabilizer that is for sure. Good luck this fall!
I used to shoot a 12" stabilizer all the time, then I learned they suck in blinds and shooting in a tree stand when you had to work around the back of the tree. I still use a little limbsaver S coil but its only for shock and noise. I shoot just as well at 80 yards with a pointless 4" stabilizer as I do with a 12" pointless stabilizer.
I good stab setup will help you steady your pins and keep them on target. There is a reason why tournament and 3D shooters use them. That being said a short stubby stab is not worth much. I run a Bee stinger system with side bar and would not hunt without one.
I am like monkeybutt and have the crossroad stab and it really tightened up my long range groups.
That Crossroads stab looks interesting. Any noise or buzz from them?
