Answer:
It is very common for most bows on the market to produce more than their specified draw weight. Typically the difference is about five pounds over, 10 pounds over would be on the upper end. This won’t hurt your bow at all. In fact, your bow will perform better with the limbs bottomed or nearly so because it will put the proper amount of pre-stress in the limbs and reduce the brace height. A bow’s draw weight will also increase if the string stretches. This will result in a longer draw length, as well.

You will probably achieve better accuracy in the long run by rolling your elbow out and shooting with a fairly straight wrist. This reduces the amount of hand you place on the grip which should reduce the tendency to torque the bow. Eventually, you’ll build up more strength in your wrist and the new position will feel natural. But if you really can’t get the knack of it, continue shooting the way you are. Just be very careful not to change your grip position once you start to draw the bow.

Answer:
Do they change the face of compound bows forever? Maybe, we spend the weekend shooting shooting some of The Diamond Iceman bows and have to say we were very impressed. The bows are very quiet and accurate. The bow is pretty expensive as are the Bowtech bows that feature the center pivot technology, but if price is no object, than we do recommend getting one.

Check out the video below for more info on the design:

To see the Wrist Slings availabe at eders.com click here.

Answer:
Much of determining an anchor point is personal preference, but there are some good suggested starting points. For years the standard starting point for the finger shooter has been the index finger in corner of the mouth. A higher anchor, such as the middle finger in the corner of the mouth, may be a better anchor for the instinctive shooter. The release shooter should try to get the last (largest) knuckle of the index finger back around the ear lobe. You may also consider placing the thumb of your release hand behind your neck for a solid reference point. This will stretch out the draw length, increasing arrow speed slightly. These three anchor points will allow you to use your back muscles properly and to point your elbow straight behind you for best accuracy.

Answer:
Roughly two fps per pound for small changes in the 10 pound range. However, if you turn your poundage way down on your bow you will lose some pre-stress in the limbs and the result will be a greater loss of speed than if you were shooting the same poundage with the limbs bottomed. This is because the shape of the force vs. draw curve is somewhat a function of limb pre-stress.

A bow with the limbs cranked out will not come up to poundage as quickly at the start of the draw. Also, a bow with the limbs bottomed will have a slightly lower brace height which also makes it faster compared to a higher poundage bow with the limbs backed out to achieve the same draw force. In other words, it is best to get a bow that maxes out as closely as possible to your desired draw force.

The center serving on a bowstring serves as a launching pad for an arrow. It secures the nocking position, snugs the nock and protects the strands of the string from harmful wear created by finger tabs or release aids. If it unravels or loosens, shooting becomes hopeless or even dangerous. For safety sake and consistent shooting, learn to replace the serving on your bowstring. Given the low cost of serving jigs offered by Bohning, Bjorn and Cavalier and serving material by BCY and Brownell, there’s no reason not to.

Although monofilament or nylon serving material will work, we prefer braided Fast Flight for the extra flexibility and strength it provides. A tight serving of Braided Fast Flight will outlast any other serving type. Although a 100-yard spool costs about three times as much as monofilament or nylon, a spool will serve enough strings to last for years.

For all the items you need to serve your bowstring and a dvd on how to serve your bowstring see: http://www.eders.com/products/bohning-all-in-one-serving-kit.html

Follow the steps shown here to learn this important task.

Step One

To start, remove the bow's cable guard and position cables so they are out of the way. Next, split the bowstring about two inches above center or two inches above old nocking point using a rounded nail and insert serving material leaving about four inches of thread along the string.

Step Two:

Using the serving jig, wrap the serving down and around bowstring 10 to 20 times.

Step Three:

After wrapping the serving about twenty times, pull the extra thread tight and cut.

Step Four:

After cutting the extra thread, continue to wrap the serving tool down and around the string until you are about 4 to 5 inches below the arrow rest. Be sure to adjust the tension on the tool so wrappings are tight together. You adjust the tension on the serving jig by tightening or loosening the wing nut.

Step Five:

After serving about four or five inches below the rest, pull out a large loop of thread, insert the tool back within the loop.

Step Six:

After pulling jig through loop, begin serving from bottom of loop up toward the serving you just wrapped. Be sure to wrap serving in opposite direction from the above serving. Go around ten to twenty times.

Step Seven:

Once there is 10 to 20 wraps inside the loop, position tool along top serving.

Step Eight:

With the serving jig now hanging over the top of the loop, use your hands to serve the thread down and around the bowstring. As you wrap the serving thread around the string the lower part of the serving thread that you just made at the bottom of the loop will unravel. When the serving on the bottom is completely unraveled there will be just a small loop of thread left.

Step Nine:

After the bottom of the loop is unraveled there will be a small loop of thread left at the bottom of the serving.

Step Ten:

Hold the loop and pull the serving tool string to pull the loop through. Pull tight and trim off.

Step Eleven:

After cutting the extra thread you are ready to install nock set. Using a T-shaped nocking square place a nocking point about 1/8 inch above the top of the rest. You

Step Twelve:

Release shooters may want to add an extra-tight layer of serving below the nock set for extra protection from caliper releases. Perform the aforementioned, except lay two or three inches of serving and fold serving against string when beginning, rather than placing it through the serving.

Editor’s Recommended Products: If you want to serve your bowstring, you absolutely need two things, A serving jig and serving thread. I suggest you check out the BCY 26 Server. It allows you to adjust tension nicely and is the tool we used to put this article together. As far as thread goes, Brownell Diamondback Braided Fast Flight is the way to go. If you need to get a T-square and nocking pliers, the Allen Compact Bow Tuning Kit is a hard price to beat. Last but not least, Saunders’ Nocking Points complete the project. Have fun and don’t be intimidated. Once you get the hang of serving the bowstring, its easy and it feels good to be able to do it.

Get all the products you need to redo your center-serving at eders.com:

For all the items you need to serve your bowstring and a dvd on how to serve your bowstring see: http://www.eders.com/products/bohning-all-in-one-serving-kit.html

For all the items you need to serve your bowstring and a dvd on how to serve your bowstring see: http://www.eders.com/products/bohning-all-in-one-serving-kit.html

Answer:
Most of today’s bows have fairly high efficiency values. That means that they convert a high percentage of their stored energy into kinetic arrow in the arrow. Efficiency does change with arrow weight: the heavier the arrow the higher the efficiency. With today’s bows, a 50 grain difference in arrow weight will produce an efficiency change of approximately 1 to 2 percent. (This only holds true for arrows within a range of between 350 and 600 grains. Outside of this range the efficiency changes faster.)

In simple terms, if you drop your arrow weight 50 grains your efficiency and penetration energy will go down about 1.5 percent, on average.

Now lets look at how much you have to raise your draw weight to counteract these losses. For every pound of draw force, your arrow’s speed increases by about two fps and your kinetic energy increases by approximately .75 to 1 percent. So if you drop your arrow weight by 50 grains you have to increase your draw weight only about 2 pounds to get the energy back again.

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For a huge selection of hunting arrows at great prices..check out www.eders.com

If your field tips have been consistently wobble-free and your bow is well tuned, you may simply have a bad case of the jitters. Apprehension about THE first day can do funny things to people, especially bowhunters after they attach a razor sharp broadhead to their hunting shafts. Torquing the bow, lack of back tension, not picking a spot, target panic, plucking the string and poor follow through are just some of the problems brought about by anxiety.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. Relax! Take it easy! Concentrate on the basics, and your form will return in minutes. If your arrows are still flying off into the wild blue yonder, then you are experiencing more than an anxiety attack-you’ve got one or more of those dreaded tuning problems.

First check to see if ALL your shafts are going hay wire. One or two could be dinged or bent from your summer practice sessions. Even pulling an arrow from a target butt, if not done with care, can cause curvature to an aft. Look too at the nocks. You may have replaced one improperly by cutting or not cleaning the nock swage, or by not rotating the nock correctly for proper fletch clearance.

A simple spin test will show you if your other arrows are wobble-free. Sometimes machining tolerances between broadheads and bushings are too great which can lead to your broadheads wobbling all the way to the target. A plastic washer might eliminate the problem, but more often than not you’ll need to switch broadheads from one shaft to another in trial and error fashion until you find a combination that spins true.

Of course, if you have been practicing extensively with your broadheads, you might have damaged the blades or bent the ferrule. Examine each head closely, and if that’s the case replace the damaged head with a new one.

A gob of glue on one side of the insert can also cause your arrow to wobble near the broadhead. Simply reheat the glue around the insert, and then twist the insert with a pair of pliers to redistribute the glue. Be careful, those aluminum shafts can be hot.

Broadheads suddenly veering off course? A new bow quiver full of arrows can change your point of impact.

Broadheads still veering off target? Think back. A common mistake archers make is adding something to the bow that wasn’t there during their summer practice sessions. Swatches of muff glued to your arrow rest or plunger button to silence an aluminum hunting shaft can have a deleterious effect on arrow flight. And a quiver full of arrows or a new stabilizer can sometimes change your broadhead’s point of impact leading you to erroneously believe your arrows have suddenly gone awry.

Did you make any changes to your equipment, like increasing the poundage of your bow, after you attached your broadheads? If so, did you turn the upper and lower limb bolts evenly? A change in bow poundage can adversely impact the spine of your arrow, and uneven stress on the limbs can stop the wheels or cams from rolling over simultaneously. This can interfere with the bow’s timing and cause your broadheads to porpoise up and down.

The most common explanation for poor broadhead flight however is lack of fletch clearance, often indicated by black on your arrow’s fletching. Indeed, the slightest interference between any part of the bow and the arrow’s fletching will ruin broadhead accuracy.

First check your bow for loose or damaged components. Start by tightening everything down with a set of Allen wrenches. A loose arrow rest, a cable guard that has turned into the bow or a bow sight that has slipped down into the arrow’s path can all cause your broadheads to fly haphazardly. Then give your bow a good look-see. Defective limbs are rare these days, but cracked launchers are not. A bent cable guard had me screaming for mercy one day until a friend noticed the unusual curvature. I must have stepped on the thing!
  
Next, eyeball your finished arrow to see if the fletching clears your cables, overdraw unit, center shot window and the forks on your arrow rest. You may need to rotate your nocks, adjust your cable guard, change your cable slide, remove part of your overdraw unit or try a different design arrow rest to get the clearance you need. And check out those arrow-rest support arms. They are notorious fletching grabbers!

If you can’t pinpoint the source of the interference, take the powder test. Spray your arrow rest, over draw unit sight window, cables, cable guard and the last eight inches of the fletched end of an arrow shaft with dry foot powder, and then shoot the shaft into a foam target. You don’t want the arrow to penetrate to the fletching. If the fletching comes in contact with any part of your bow, the foot powder will scuff or smear showing you the point(s) of contact and the position of the fletching as it leaves the bow. That should tell you if you need to rotate your nocks, readjust your cable guard, switch over to a lower profile fletching or change your style of arrow rest.

Arrows still wobbling? Your bow may not be as well tuned as you thought. According to Wayne Meritt, general manager of the Genesee Valley Taxidermy and Shooting Supplies complex in Caledonia, you may need to have your hunting set-up paper tuned at a qualified pro shop to achieve perfect arrow flight.

Tighten down all components. A loose arrow rest or cable guard can raise havoc with broadhead flight.

“A broadhead-tipped hunting shaft has the capacity to magnify any tuning error in the bow,” says Meritt, “causing the arrow to porpoise and/or fish-tail. Properly tuned however, your hunting shaft will look like a round dot all the way to the target.”

Generally, a tail-low tear indicates a low nocking point which can be easily corrected by raising you nocking point a 1/16″ at a time. A tail-high tear indicates a high nocking point. Lower the nocking point a 1/ 16″ at a time until you get the arrow point and fletching appear to enter the same hole. Once corrected, you arrows will stop porpoising. A tail-left tear usually indicates a weak arrow for right-handed shooters-lefties will expenience the opposite pattern. You can decrease your bow weight, use a lighter broadhead, switch to a stiffer shaft or increase the plunger button tension. Release shooters may have to move the arrow rest slightly to the left.

A tail-right tear usually indicates an arrow that is too stiff. Lefties again will see the opposite pattern. You can increase the bow weight, choose a weaker arrow, decrease the tension on the plunger button, or use a heavier broadhead. Release shooters may have to move the arrow rest slightly to the right.

There are however other variables including your shooting forn and the bow’s timing that can adversely affect the arrow’s flight through paper. That’s why visiting your local pro shop is most always in your best interest. Indeed, the paper test may verify what a good bow mechanic already suspects: an under spined arrow shaft is the second leading cause of poor broadhead flight.

“Many bowhunters, erroneously believe a lightly spined shaft will give them a speed advantage,” says Meritt. “After all, a flatter trajectory makes yardage estimation that much less of a problem. However, as a general rule of thumb, a lightly spined arrow does not mean more speed. In fact just the opposite may be true.

“When you set your hunting bow up with the correctly spined arrow, and you must include the shooter and shooting style in this equation, it will give you the flatest trajectory, the most speed, the most penetration, the most accuracy, and be the most forgiving in execution. Everything is gained by having a correctly spined arrow.

“For example, a 2114, 2213, and 2312 all weigh virtually the same, plus or a few grains. There is however a significant spine difference between these arrows. Why then would you want to shoot an arrow that borders on being under spined when you can shoot a properly spined shaft at the same weight?”

What about the fletching itself? Keep in mind that most finger shooters do best with standard five inch fletchings set with a slight helical. A release shooter may get away a shorter fletch or a fletch with less profile if the bow is well tuned.

One final note. Should you line up the broadhead blades with your arrow’s fletching? I hear different opinions from knowledgeable mechanics across the country. It doesn’t seem to be a requirement, but on the other hand many believe this set-up does seem to be more forgiving. One thing everybody seems to agree on, and that is it can’t hurt. Good hunting!

Paper Tuning
Generally, a tail-low tear indicates a low nocking point which can be easily corrected by raising you nocking point a 1/16″ at a time.

A tail-high tear indicates a high nocking point. Lower the nocking point a 1/ 16″ at a time until you get the arrow point and fletching appear to enter the same hole. Once corrected, you arrows will stop porpoising.

A tail-left tear usually indicates a weak arrow for right-handed shooters-lefties will expenience the opposite pattern. You can decrease your bow weight, use a lighter broadhead, switch to a stiffer shaft or increase the plunger button tension. Release shooters may have to move the arrow rest slightly to the left.

A tail-right tear usually indicates an arrow that is too stiff. Lefties again will see the opposite pattern. You can increase the bow weight, choose a weaker arrow, decrease the tension on the plunger button, or use a heavier broadhead. Release shooters may have to move the arrow rest slightly to the right.

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Answer:
Both styles have their strengths. Hand held releases are out of the way in a pocket until you need them. Some can be clipped onto the string of the bow and left there until you draw it. Nice and convenient. Many hand held releases are also thumb triggered. This may or may not be your preferred method. Wrist strap releases are always right in your hand, you will never have to scramble to get it out of a pocket, and you’ll never drop it from your tree stand, but at the same time they are also in the way. Some folding and retracting models do exist, however. Most bowhunters find that they can draw more bow weight with a wrist strap release. These also tend to be index finger triggered styles, if that makes a difference to you. Try a few at the nearest archery shop to see which are most comfortable for you and go from there.