Hey all, after shooting my recurve exclusively for the past year, I picked up my long bow just for fun and realized how quiet it was in comparison to my recurve. Is it possible to get a recurve that quiet? or will it always be louder?
mh
Not sure what your specs are. I have an RER static limb recurve 60" 60# at my 30" draw, the bow was always pretty quiet but not silent.
Tried the Bow Hush, the product is as advertised give it a try, you will be very happy.
DD
I have a Damon Howatt hunter with D-50, padded loops and catwhiskers and it is almost silent. Really. The only longbows I have shot as quiet were ones someone had spent some time tuning and with some type of string silencers.
Joshua
Recurves can be made fairly quiet, but probably not as quiet as most longbows. It's the nature of the beast. The string has two major contact points on the recurved portion of the bow limb tips. The sound of the string slapping against the limbs at the shot can be reduced, but it can't be entirely eliminated.
My 2008 Martin Hunter is pretty quiet,I have a D97 8 strand padded loop with bow hush and wool puffs.I had a BW SAV with bow hush and hush puppies and it was quiet.I would get comments on how quiet it was from other shooters.
Jumping on the Damon Howatt Hunter train. I have one with cat whiskers and limb savers and it makes no noise at all. Everything is muted.
I've got my Fox High Seirra almost dead quiet, just a very low dull thud noise. I use Bow Hush, Hush Puppies at the 3rds and a set of string leeches at the 1/4s. Shooting a heavy arrow really helps too.
I have a 55# Hoyt Dorado, when I got it, I thought it was horribly loud, but I had already paid when I ordered it. It took Limbsavers, moleskin between the limbs and riser, and felt on the limb tips. It was better, but still not great. I started shooting HEAVY arrows, about 620 grn, and that helped too. It still had some hand shock and noise. I remembered a compound bow product used to tame down compound bowstrings, called STS, and how well it worked on them, and tried one. Not what many here would consider Traditional, but man, its just short of silent now!
If you tune it right and use a reasonable string, arrow weight, and silencers you can get them very quiet. I have owned a Paxton Talon and Great Northerns that were as quiet as any bow out there. I did own one or two that were not really quiet but had an after shot vibration - big name bow and no matter what I did it was not as quiet as I wanted.
Brace height can also make a big difference. Gary
Most of my longbows are quieter than my recurves and I have 19 2009 or newer production Big name bows right now. I have wood core,foam core, carbon foam core,wood core/carbon limbed bows. I have two recurves that shoot as quiet as my average longbow a carbon/foam core Cheyenne and a Shawnee Recurve foam core limbs.Other than that my average recurve isn't bad they just aren't as quiet as my best longbows.
my buddy brian just recently put a d-97 14 strand fast flight srting with "woolie whispers"at the quarters on his 49# ed holcomb 59' bear kodiak repro...that bow is AMAZINGLY quiet! rivals any longbow I've ever heard. going to try the woolie whispers on my bow....no audible string slap...it's kinda' freaky....oh, he also shoots split finger...which helps.....john
I set-up/tune mine in the basement. When you get them quiet in that echo chamber and take them outside, it's the sound of silence. Hap
I usually use cat whiskers or beaver balls. But I recently did some testing with the new mathews monkey tails. And with a total of 4 in different positions made my recurve whisper quit. i was really impressed, so i kept them on the string to hunt with this year.
A good clean release will make a bis difference in the noise you hear also. Ive never heard a quiet bow with a bad release.
SL
Some recurve designs seem easier to make quiet. Of the modern recurves I have found the Predator real easy to quiet with just a single set of catwiskers. The Predator is a very efficient design and I have often wondered if that in itself might be the reason it is easier to quiet down. I've had two of the RER static tip recurves and they are inherently a quiet design too. None have been as quiet as my Hill style longbows. And as the above poster said a good clean release makes a big difference in noise.
I shoot a Dorado with Trad Tech limbs,was very noisy when I first put it togeather.
Today it's as quite as my longbows.
The two biggist points after the basics were brace hight and my release.
The string contact on the limb tips actualy doesn't make anywhere near the noise most folksa belive.
I have owned 2 Dan Toelke recurves, a 1 pc. Chinook and a 3 pc. "S.L." take-down which has recently been replaced by the new Curlew 3 pc. In addition I have heard and shot a number of other high end recurves belonging to other 3d shooters and am no longer surprised by the fact that some of the most expensive ones are also the very noisiest. I will say that like his Longbows, every Toelke recurve I have heard shot was quiet and that mine with B50 Dacron strings and "cat whiskers" trimmed down to less than half the original diameter shooting arrows in the 10 to 12 grains per pound range were as quiet as any recurve I've ever heard and this was confirmed for me on numerous occasions by other shooters.
Limb slap is a major culprit in recurves, I pad with the rug side of heavy duty velcro and replace it periodically. A lower strand count string is a lot quieter than a 12-14 strand, whether or not you are looking for performance increase they are a lot quieter and will cut down on the amount of silencing material that you need to get the job done. And the heavier the arrow the quieter the bow which in combination with a low strand string will give some overall performance improvement but we ain't going there here.
I am going to add a comment on a new bow, new to me today.
The bow is a Great Northern Super Ghost 60" AND 50# at 28".
This is the first one I have owned, played with a B-50 string and no silencers very quiet I was very suprised.
Made up a puff yarn/wool silencer even better.
Then I made up a mixed Yarn/Wool and Rubber leg silencer, the rubber legs come from fishing supply store.
The bow is dead silent and as quiet as any of my longbows.
Now here is the question; is it because of the limb design of the bow?
Oh and the bow is quick as well, I am shooting 2018's that are weighing at 570 grains.
Draw to 30"
DD
Figure out where each particular recurve likes the brace height, some catwhiskers or the like, maybe some wool to pad the loops from Bow Hush, and an arrow of decent weight. This should get most recurves pretty quiet.
From what I have seen with longbows, the quietest recurve is about the same as a longbow WITHOUT much added to silence it.
Some recurves are just easy to get silent...some are not. I have a 40# @ 28' Rivers Edge,2 woolie puffs and brush buttons and its silent. An old Bear Grizzly took a bit more work with the brace height but I got it. I had a Great Plains SR Swifft that was silent. Every bow is different and needs to be tuned and that part of the fun!!!!!
I have a Bill Stewart recurve that is as silent as any of my longbows and it has FF string. My quietest longbow is my ACS with hush puppies.
I only have a "relationship" with 4 bows. 2 recurves and 2 longbow. One is a cheap factory longbow that stacks like crazy, the other is a Sentman Longbow. The recurves are a Pittsley Predator and 70s Bear Kodiak.
That last bow is the only rh bow I have (got it to try and get dad hooked) and is the quietest bow I have, or have ever been around. Of course, I shoot a ridiculously heavy arrow out of it since all my other bows are 15# heavier. It works out to over 14gpp.
All those techniques will make for a quieter shooting recurve.Heavier arrows(I like 11-12 grains per pound),appropriate brace height and nockpoint.Padding the end of string with bowhush or padding the string grooves.Velcro works well for that.The right string.Some like a certain material and strand count more than other materials and strand counts.I have come to like an 8-10 strand Astroflight string with padded loops to 16 strands.Some will be very good with a 12 strand B-50 or B-55.
Some will be even quieter with vibration dampeners from sims and also a quiver attached can help.
I usually use 2 sets of string silencers on recurves.Some need it more than others.I like bowhush and also muskox wool or my homemade ones from fleece.Heavier Wood arrows can be the quietest to shoot.
A good release always makes for a quieter shooting bow.Cant forget that.
The quietest recurve I have had is a Toelke Chinook followed by a Frederick 50s style and GN Ghost.The Frederick has extemely narrow and the deepest cored recurve limbs I have ever seen on a recurve.Makes a super ghost look like a wide limb.It dampens out very quick.Some of my GN ghosts have been quieter than others.These 3 are as quiet as most any longbow.
Short answer...NO. :readit:
You can never get any recurve as quiet as you can a straight limbed longbow.As long as the string contacts the limbs on release it will never be as quiet.Not saying you can't get one quite enough for most hunting but it will never be as quiet as a real longbow.jmo
When I layed down the compound and switched to a longbow it was not for all the reasons many post.It was not for the challenge or because killing animals was too easy ect.It was because the longbow is a better weapon for hunting the spooky whitetails in my area.I have since used recurves some as well but if you hunt spooky deer nothing will be as quiet or be better than a simply longbow for whitetails and you will never see any recurve as quiet.jmho
Email me your address and I'll send ya a free set of BowHush for you to try.
I developed it for string contact dampening on recurves. Yep, it does make a difference if you address string slap.
tarz@tradgang.com
Wrapping the ends of the string with yarn is a must on a recurve.You can quiet them down alot but you'll never get them longbow quiet.
Proper placement of the silencing material,whatever it may be is also key.I can't tell you how many people I see have thier cat whiskers or wool puffs shoved right down towards the tips...it does something but not all it can way down there.12" from where the string leaves the curve of the limb will usually be the best place for them on MOST recurves.
Longbows are quiet like the King of Sofa's
ChuckC
My 62# Ancient Spirits recurve is quiet enough that when I shot a gobbler last fall, the remainder of the flock (25+ birds)just stood there, looking at the dying bird. I was only 5 yds from the bird I shot, and only about 10 ft. from a large hen.
I have played with my brace height some to find the "sweet" spot. I also, use the Hush-Puppies and Bow-hush----both are GREAT products!! :goldtooth: :archer2:
SBD bow string make a huge difference. A bunch of us have them and they are just incredible.