As many of you know, I am a fan of stabilizers for hunting bows. I put them on all my hunting bows and have found them very beneficial in the field. The best part about it is they are relatively easy to install yourself.
The two main things that will affect stability are the length of the stabilizer bar itself and how heavy it is or what weight the counterbalance system is at the other end. So let’s start with our bow set up first!
It’s also important because if you have not added any rest, your arrow flight could be very erratic at short distances. I have found that a plus-length draw will help with arrow flight and accuracy.
Now it’s time to determine the best weight of a stabilizer system. Many people say to always start with your bowhunting weight, but in my opinion, it’s not always the best place to start. The best example is if someone has 70 pounds of bow hunting weight and adds a 20-pound counterbalance system on top of that, they would be at 90 pounds before adding any other accessories such as quiver, sight, or release aid. It weighs down the front end and could result in slower arrow speeds and less penetration through heavy brush, even close distances. The best thing about high-quality systems like TightSpot, Roam, or even a few others made right here in the USA is that they offer a wide variety of weight systems that will allow you to start with a lower starting bow hunting weight and then add on as needed.
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Do you need a stabilizer on your hunting bow?
Stabilizers are like the square root of perfect aim. They do two things: first, they help to keep your bow stable and secure; secondarily, it slows down movement for your pins so that when aiming at a target with moving parts (like eyes), there’s less time spent trying to anticipate where those spots will locate over our desired point-of Target. But, on the other hand, it could make someone punch their trigger (shoot before I see), making them panic to avoid missing!
The second purpose is to minimize vibration, which quiets your bow and removes the shock felt in your hand. No matter how smooth it may be, you’ll always find some sorta’ pulse going on with no sound at all. The strings buzzing against wood or rubber dampeners absorb any unwanted sounds coming off them as they hold down their end goal. It provides an enjoyable shooting experience for both shooters and targets alike!
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Match Your Camo Pattern:
When choosing a stabilizer, the function should be your top priority. I’m guilty of picking out the coolest looking ones or those with fantastic new designs and matching my camo patterns! But it would be best if you thought about how well it functions before buying anything. The three things that will help ensure are length, much weight on end (ideally covered in something like nylon cord), and some dampener behind all this junk, so there isn’t too much noise when shooting arrows into the target board.
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Length:
The bows longer than 12 can be a real hassle. You are on the right track if you have more gear, but what about shorter stabilizers? The true stabilizer works as a counterbalance. It requires weight towards the end of the bow. Still, it is not the same thing if you’re shooting an under-5″ bow with one. Proper stabilizers work by counterbalancing your arrows and require weights at either end to have any effect on optimization or center mass weight distribution in this case 6″. For bows longer than 12″, I would recommend getting something more manageable like 8″.
How much weight do I need?
The longer the bar, the less weight you’ll want on your end. Many people start with 2 ounces and go up from there; however, placement is also essential, so make sure to put it right at or near where all five feet meet for maximum effectiveness!
Rubber Dampening Material
The best stabilizers have a rubber dampening material at the end just before weight. It helps send vibrations from your bow as far away from its center of gravity and thus reduces vibration Pauses in shooting an arrow, for instance
Dampeners help you shoot better by dispersing force across their surface area, which makes them applicable with any type or kind of equipment that produces noise, such as guns!
Backbar
Are they trying to balance a bow on your back while walking across high wires? It’s like balancing weights, but you have two poles between each foot. The more weight there is in front of the bar (like when strung), means less stability with everything else behind it – so if possible, try moving some things over to where they’ll do count most: 3x-4x their size!
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Long vs. Short Stabilizers
There’s a reason why high-end stabilizers like the weight coupler on my bow are so popular. It lets you tune out that pesky friction and let your arrows fly straight for hours of continuous shooting without worrying about losing power. It takes time to get there with traditional design elements such as an unbalanced stick or heavier joints in between sections where the blade meets the handle.
People who hunt with a bow find that the longer you make your stabilizer, the easier it becomes to move around. Most outdoor enthusiasts believe this extra length hinders their shot at deer in close quarters, but I’ve been packing an extendable broom handle for more than 20 years and haven’t found any difficulties whatsoever!
Western bowhunters will often use an extended 12 to 14-inch bar for better stability when still hunting thick cover or crawling through the sage. However, I prefer the more extended stabilizer, not just because of its improved rotational inertia. You can also reduce how much weight is needed at the end by using less with this setup than shorter bars that require more force on occasion, so as long as we’re talking about 10″ -12″, they may have been even happier!
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How does Stabilization work?
Is your bow unstable? Does it move around during the draw and arrow-launch phase of shooting, making you less accurate than desired? Get a stabilizer for increased stability that will keep the shot pattern on target with ease!
A standard stabilizer is placed at the front of your bow. It puts inertia directly in line with your target, which means that you will be able to hit what’s on it–no problem! However, most modern hunting bows won’t aim well if there’s too much weight sitting atop their riser due to extreme parallel limbs and a reflexed-riser geometry (which promotes downward shooting). In addition, the shooter must use muscle tension just so his sights stay upright, making relaxed aiming impossible for him as well. It makes good shooting mechanics difficult because both hands have got work cut out for them.
A back or side stabilizer is needed to counter the front mass weight. This bar can make your bow bulkier and less streamlined for hunting, but you get a sweeter-shooting setup, so you must weigh the pros versus cons before deciding what’s acceptable in terms of style preference. Two things will happen when shooting a well-adjusted bard with these accessories attached (depending on how they’re set up). The first trait is that once locked onto the target, aiming becomes very easy because there’s no movement from either yourself or the sight pin when shot at its center point – almost like magic!
If you hunt without a bow-mounted quiver, chances are your steady will be much improved with this simple hack, by adding short stabilizers or threaded counterweights directly below the grip on either side of where it meets an arrow rest and keeping everything compact from here out. While also providing solid aiming when using eight to 12 inch long weights as needed can help fix any imbalance problems that may arise before they even start!
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Spider Archery?
You know you want to get on the map of excellent hunters. Check out Spider Archery, their new Tracker Series is just what this season needs! S&S only sells products that we use ourselves or recommend wholeheartedly too, but more than anything else.
Spider Archery – Tracker 10″ Hunting Stabilizer with Orange Dampner
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The Spider Archery Tracker 10″ Hunting Stabilizer is made with lightweight, durable carbon fiber and features a rubber dampener for superior vibration absorption. It comes stock with a 4oz powder coated weight that will not change the length of the stabilizer during hunting. Additionally, the product offers up to three inches of adjustment by hand for better stability at long distances. Use your more significant weapon together for greater accuracy over distance or attach to your small bow set up as part of an actuating anchor point to increase advantage overbears or other large game!
The weight is easy to detach when carrying your bow, making it more manageable for you to pack up at the day’s end. Don’t let bulky stabilizers get in the way of all that fun!
When hunting in humid weather conditions, take advantage of Spider Archery’s patented dampener technology which helps reduce vibration upon release by up to 12%. It also significantly reduces noise by nearly 80%, minimizing the chance of spooking nearby prey.
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Perfect Setup for Hunting:
The hunt for the perfect setup can be challenging. It is especially true when you consider how specific your hunting style might need to become, and there are so many options! So first things first: do I want a shorter stabilizer? More on whether or not this would work in my situation later down below. But if it doesn’t matter what kind of shooter/hunter I am, then let’s talk about color schemes and material types–is black important enough that all other considerations will change because no one ever thinks, “I wonder why he has such cool shades?” Or maybe something like camo could prove more helpful than anything we’ve seen before thanks to its ability to blend into even rugged environments beautifully while still providing me excellent sight visibility.
There are two types of stocks for shotguns. When you need to get off quickly in an emergency or when hunting with your friends and family at the local range. It tends not to be ideal because they’re designed differently than what’s typically used by sport shooters who spend most of their time loading up on game dozens deep before aiming at multiple fields filled only by birdsong (or other sounds). A typical longer gun has its sights out toward where that bullet will go once fired while shorter models point towards someone standing next to them.
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Hunting tips:
The Spider Archery Pro Hunter Pack is a great starting point for most guys like me. It comes with two 4 oz weights, so its importance can easily adjust from 8-10 pounds without having to buy more equipment or spend an arm and leg on one product that may never work as well as you hope! The quick-release design makes mounting simple too. All I had done was attach my stabilizer by using these four steps:
- Attach the Stabilizers
- Eyes up high enough where they will not get hung up during shooting time
- Come fully draw back away from target until tension builds in limbs
- Then hold still while closing your eyes tight breathe deeply.
It is essential to follow the same routine every time you shoot because consistency will lead to your goal. I don’t affect what happens before releasing the ball/barrel of a gun.
It can be pretty simple if you find there are changes in where or how high they land after release; however it might take some trial-and-error until finding out exactly which adjustment works best based on any observations made while taking shots at targets both close up as well as farther away with various weapon types.
When I have a setup that keeps my aiming point tight and consistent and then removes the stabilizer to shoot at a distance without it. Take pictures of groupings using both methods so you can see which one works better for your style of shooting!
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Summary:
I hope that helps some of you get dialed in with an excellent stabilizer setup. At S&S Archery, we all use and recommend Spider Tracker Stabilizers, but if you are looking for something different, then don’t hesitate! There are many quality brands out there to choose from, make sure it has everything I mentioned above: length-weight at the end with sound dampener.
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