I have a bit of a dilemma, maybe someone could chime in. I am shooting a new Kota Prairie swift which is 52#'s at my 28'' draw length. I really like the bow!
With a Dyna Flight string its much faster with no hand shock. However I get a twang that even after lots of tuning is still noisier than I like. I don't know if it will bother deer, but it makes me wince.
With a 16 dacron string the bow makes absolutely no noise. I mean its shockingly quiet. However its shooting much more slowly, taking a completely different tuned arrow. I robin-hooded one shaft and it only went about a inch into the other shaft. I wasn't all that impressed.
So what do you think is better, faster and louder? Do you think the deer really react that fast at 10 to 15 yards. Or is quiet better with less penetration, and as long is the shot is in the money spot its OK? Hmmm... Opinions?
If it makes you wince it is too much. Have you tried a skinny string with wool silencers? My R/D bows are very quiet when set up like that.
I have not tried skinny string. You think it would be quieter than the Dyna string?
Do you have any string silancer on you string? I use Cat Wiskers, on one of my bow and muskoks wool balls on my other one and they are both good, even if I think that the CW are better! What are the total weight of your arrows? some time, shooting a heavyer arrow, will quiet a bow, and you would get better penetration, even if the speed is a tad slower!
Cheers
I done lots of tuning on the dyna string with leeches, wool, cat wiskers, and switched to shooting heavy cedar arrows. The leeches were by far the best silencer.
Although after trying so many things its hard not to be aware of the sound and make an honest assessment of noise. Noise with the dacron string is zip, I just think performance suffers quit a bit. However I think I am leaning to a deadly quiet bow.,,
JGoemaat: Yes, in my experience the skinny string is very quiet. R/D longbows have a characteristic 'twang' or 'thonk' that can be a nuisance. Dynaflight is good stuff but creeps too much to make a good skinny string. 6 strands of D 10 is recommended for bows 53# and under. SBD bowstrings is a sponsor here and they make a great skinny string.
I was gonna say try shooting heavier arrows but I was beat to the punch. Do you have a bow quiver mounted on your bow? I shot a friend's bows one with a bow quiver with arrows in it and the other had no quiver on it. Both bows are the same make and model. The bow without the quiver on it was much quieter than the one with the quiver full of arrows.
I hope you can get your problem solved. Just to let you know I had a string issue with one of my bows and went with the Dacron with no regrets.I gave up speed also but not as much as I thought. I put the bow thru the chrono with both setups I got a whole 6 fps difference. I thought it was alot faster before the chrono test. Just my experience. Like you said my bow is whisper quiet.
I'm a big Dacron fan & haven't looked back because of how quiet my bows are.
With my bows listed in my sig line I use 12 strand B50 & after tuning I use cat wiskers as that last bit of silencing.
Have you chronographed the different strings? It may be much closer than you think. I only gain 3-4 fps normally, going from 12 strand dacron to 8 strand D-97. Some think the modern string is quieter, but I've never shot one that wasn't louder to my ears.
Make sure you know what Tim says the brace height is. On my Prairie Fire I asked and he said 7 3/8" kind of high but I'll give it a go - yep, exactly (don't know how he did that) but that's the spot. I take one rubber whisker, tie hald on the top and half bottom, 14" from end and it's dead quiet. Granted the higher brace high makes it slower but it uses a stiffer arrow because of it. I took measurement as most, deepest part of the grip, and I think he goes form back of the shelf. Really call and ask, maybe you'll be surprised as I was - Nice bows
What about limbsavers?
I know some love them some hate them but it comes down to confidence and if you think dacron won't give you enough penetration go with the other and enjoy the woods with confidence.
Also: is the nock fit loose enough?
I had a Bighorn that I could never get to shut up, didnt matter what string, brace, arrow or anything else I tried. I loved the bow but it was just too dang loud for me. Im used to long bows just whispering! Gotta love 'em! My vote is for quiet and not speed. Those deer are so dang fast that 5-10 fps here or there matters not if they decide to move out on you.
If you chronograph your bow you will find it' not that much faster a deer's reaction time is a whole lot faster than any traditional bow as well as most wheellie bows. In my opinion I will take quite over speed any day.
JGoemaat, I wouldn't put too much significance on the robin-hooded arrow relative to penetration. That has nothing to do with how the arrow will perform on game. Your bow, with any string, will shoot with enough energy to handle most anything in North America. Concentrate instead on getting the best accuracy you can, and don't worry about speed.
Most folks find that skinny, low-stretch strings are quiet when tuned right.
As always lots of good opinions. Thanks! I think I will concentrate on using the quiet Dacron string, it is just so quiet, barely making a thud.
I think I will order a skinny string just to continue experimenting though to. Tuning is just so much fun!
:readit:
If my bows were any faster it would just mean that I could miss quicker..lol
I'll take accuracy over speed any day.
God bless,Mudd
Your bow is more than enough for elk not to mention deer!!!! Use whatever is quiet and dont worry about speed. With a well tuned arrow and razor sharp broadhead you'll go right thru any deer ever made. Frank
i only shoot dacron.
i realy doubt you loose penetration.
I have had very good success in taming a noisy bow by installing 2 string leaches at both the top and bottom 1/3 and 1/4 points.
I can't help you on string choices, but here's some factoids for ya.
-Sound travels at roughly 1,083fps depending on sea level where your at, give or take a few fps.
-Which roughly translates into 700+ miles per hr.
-Deer can react to sound and drop a full body width in 1/3 of a second, slow mo video has proved this.
So armed with those facts, I'd shoot the quieter set up if I were you.
I have personally experienced high hits on deer that tried to duck when shooting bows over the 300fps threshold. Just thought I'd throw that in there for referrence. :rolleyes:
Another "factoid": giving up speed by other then raising arrow wght is the same as giving up power. I would continue to try to find a way to not have to use a b50 string. Other then a couple collectables, I have never kept a bow that required it.
Maybe I am entering a little bit late on this but like Bjorn I belive a good skinny will give you the best of the 2 worlds.Fast and silent.Accuracy depends on the tuning.