Wear on a new shooting glove

Dirigo · October 09, 2025, 04:36:48 PM

New guy here. Been thinking about what to throw out for a first post and something came up today you guys might be able to chime in on.

I have a new calf hair shooting glove that i picked up a few weeks ago. It is high quality and it seems to help a lot with my various release problems, the main one being a tendency to pluck. I have been shooting with it for 2 to 3 weeks at a rate of about 50-100 arrows a day, and I noticed the calf hair is worn right down to the leather.

Now the question. Does this seem like a normal expected level of wear for the amount of shooting I do? I suspect it is, but I was really wondering if this might indicate a possible problem in my release. I am certain the glove is not defective, and I have no intent of approaching the vendor about it.

Jack Denbow · October 09, 2025, 06:33:11 PM

What kind of serving do you have on the bow string? I have had that nylon serving eat up tabs, even cordovan.
I have used monofilament in the old days but use BCY 62XS now. It is available in different thicknesses so you can make your nock fit perfectly.

McDave · October 09, 2025, 07:15:48 PM

I haven't used calf hair gloves, but I did use a calf hair tab some years ago. The face of my tab quickly took on a look similar to your glove. When the hair gets worn off, I think the glove or tab loses a part of the slickness that the hair gave it. Probably the underlying leather is still fine, and it can still be used for its intended purpose. But I didn't like it anymore than you do, so I quit using calf hair tabs.

Things like excessive plucking can accelerate the wear of a glove or tab, but I have pretty good form and my calf's hair wore off about as fast as your's did.

Dirigo · October 09, 2025, 08:21:39 PM

Quote from: Jack Denbow on October 09, 2025, 06:33:11 PMWhat kind of serving do you have on the bow string? I have had that nylon serving eat up tabs, even cordovan.
I have used monofilament in the old days but use BCY 62XS now. It is available in different thicknesses so you can make your nock fit perfectly.

That's a good thought. I have a new bow as of late August and the string that came with it has a very heavy, almost plastic, serving. I think it will save a ton of wear and tear on the string up by the knock, but I suppose it might be tough on my glove.

Dirigo · October 09, 2025, 08:34:51 PM

Quote from: McDave on October 09, 2025, 07:15:48 PMI haven't used calf hair gloves, but I did use a calf hair tab some years ago. The face of my tab quickly took on a look similar to your glove. When the hair gets worn off, I think the glove or tab loses a part of the slickness that the hair gave it. Probably the underlying leather is still fine, and it can still be used for its intended purpose. But I didn't like it anymore than you do, so I quit using calf hair tabs.

Things like excessive plucking can accelerate the wear of a glove or tab, but I have pretty good form and my calf's hair wore off about as fast as your's did.

Yes, I think the glove has many miles left in it even with the calf hair worn off. I'm sure my plucking habit is not helping either. I seem to have an obvious pluck once or twice in every ten shots and it is one thing I am working on as a priority. I have had a few breakthroughs this summer in dealing with other problems and my shooting is better than it has ever been before, so I can't really complain. Seems like it is the case that fixing some other problems makes the remaining ones more obvious.

Tim Finley · October 10, 2025, 11:09:35 AM

You brush your head a lot it'll look like that to . I made a tab out of an early season deers front leg very short smooth hair it lasted a long time .

McDave · October 10, 2025, 11:36:09 AM

As you probably know, a pluck is caused when you begin to lose back tension before the shot is released. The result of doing that is either a collapse, or a pluck when you try to prevent the collapse.

As you probably also know, the cure is to continue to increase back tension until the shot is gone. It's easier to do that if you have some kind of surprise release or trigger, but that's almost a different subject, because it's still possible to pluck, even with a surprise release or trigger.

A more basic place to start is your own inner perception of what is happening in the shot process. Mostly, we think that the shot is over when we release the shot, except that, oh yeah, we should try to followthrough afterwards, whatever that means.

So stop thinking that way and your plucks will cease. Stop thinking that you release the shot. If you release the shot, you're going to pluck or creep or collapse a fair percentage of the time. Instead, think of that part of the shot process as being a continuous increase in back tension until your fingertips touch your shoulder (or wherever you want them to end up) when you follow through. And, oh yeah, your release happens somewhere along the way.

Orion · Reply #7 - Re: Wear on a new shooting glove

That's normal wear on calf hair. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long. As others have noted, the glove is still shootable, but some of the slickness is gone. I keep a newer calf hair tab on hand to use only for hunting. For my other shooting, I use all leather tabs.

Back tension done properly pretty much stops a pluck, as McDave suggests. If you have a static release (some folks do) it's a matter of pressing your release hand tight to your face when you establish anchor and keeping it there through the release. I don't shoot with enough back tension, and try as I might, I still pluck on occasion. Only been shooting 65 plus years. I'm still working on it.