Self Bow Hunting Question

[Izzy]

Im really wanting to kill a deer with my "Glenbo" self bow this fall. Ive shot a squirrel with it to date but this fall it will do some deer hunting. My question is, how long do you fellas leave a self bow strung in the field? All day or do you feel that they get springy and looses some cast after a few hours?
  Ive noticed that my fishing self bow feels like it loses rigidity in the limbs if Ive had it strung more that 2 hours, especially under a hot sun. I can surely see a difference in cast in that particular bow.

[Walt Francis]

I am sure the longer the bow is strung the less power it has.  However, it is beyond my capabilities to notice much, if any, difference.  The old field Archers swore their was a difference and they would unstring their bow after every shot.  Both Pope and Young only strung their bow immediately before taking a shot.  Pigger is strung whenever I am hunting, I am sure it this has caused an extra inch of set over the last seven years.  However, she still performs well enough to kill anything from a rabbit to a moose, so she is braced while afield.

[wingnut]

My rule of thumb with a selfbow hunting is it hunts when I do and rests when I do.  It worked well for me and I took a number of elk and deer with them.

Mike

[Mark Baker]

There you go....good advice!

[Pat B]

I agree with the above advice.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Hot, direct summer sun and high humidity will make a bow feel a bit mushy, especially anything not made of osage. If you are going to bow hunt in the fall then none of that will occur. I leave mine braced the whole time Im out, be it 2 hours or 6 hours. I plan to mountain hunt next fall, in that case Ill have it braced at daylight until 11 or 12 for a bite to eat and then braced again until dark.

My advice is to not treat them like they are fragile and to not let it get to your mind. They are powerful killing machines and will stay that way all day for you. Just don't leave them braced over night for 10-12 hours. Ive done that a few times.

[Orion]

I string mine before I walk into the woods in the morning and unstring it when the hunt is over at the end of the day. Can't say as I've ever noticed a loss in cast.  Bow does appear to get a bit stiffer in very cold weather though.

[michaelschwister]

Wingnut hit it on the head.  During the rut when I sit dawn to dusk for two straight weeks I unstring the bow during low movement times and while scouting.  I killed four deer this past season with an osage selfbow, and was sitting with the bow unstrung when a P&Y came in.  I easily got the bow strung, but I came unglued between my ears when the win swirled and he went on alert, I missed him at 27 yards, my only miss of the season (he would have been #5. Poor follow through, pulled my head up:-/

[Terry Lightle]

What wingnut said!

[Izzy]

Thanks fellas. Bow is dialed in and I can't wait to hunt it. No hogs for me this spring so I'll start it out on woodchucks around here.