Taming the Covert Hunter

[AndreasLundin]

Today I had the chance to shoot the Border Hex5, Hex6 and Covert Hunter side by side with lighter and heavier arrows.

Needless to say they all shot wonderful but I preferred the riser and draw of the covert hunter. The Hex6 and Black Douglas was far quieter though.

So knowing that several people on here loves the covert hunter I wanted to ask.

What did you do to tame the limb tip vibration and sound? I shot an arrow slightly stiff and about 12 GGP and even though it was better than 9-10 GPP I could still both feel and hear a slight buzzing sound.

I am about to drop some money on a new bow and I am doing some research. I would appreciate any information I could get.

[Breathn]

It'll always have a little limb vibe but all I've setup have been really quiet ,speed is amazing on them.
Make sure and follow their max draw length  per bow length guidelines ,and brace height range.
I always shoot over 10gpp anyway so arrow weight helps as it's designed to throw heavy arrows. I find they are quiestest with cat whiskers and I also put a small Simms cable leach up by limb where string comes off..made huge difference on mine .
Lastly limb savers put right at fade out helps

[AndreasLundin]

Originally posted by Breathn:
It'll always have a little limb vibe but all I've setup have been really quiet ,speed is amazing on them.
Make sure and follow their max draw length  per bow length guidelines ,and brace height range.
I always shoot over 10gpp anyway so arrow weight helps as it's designed to throw heavy arrows. I find they are quiestest with cat whiskers and I also put a small Simms cable leach up by limb where string comes off..made huge difference on mine .
Lastly limb savers put right at fade out helps

Thanks for the reply. The little vibe you still have. Is it a feeling or more of a sound? I don't worry too much about vibrations but I do like a quiet bow. The bows I shot the hex6 was by far the most quiet but the feel and the grip was hands down the covert.

[bucknut]

I think someone on here not long ago posted about putting 1" or so piece of rubber tubing over the top limb tip to reduce all of the above. Haven't tried it myself just remember reading it.

[TOEJAMMER]

If I remember correctly, it was Ozzy Clint that talked about the rubber tubing on the limb tips.  Might drop him an email.

[AndreasLundin]

It was ozyclint but I am pretty sure he is shooting the BB2 Hex6. Might work on that CH too.

[DJ Hardy]

Just wondering how much of a speed gang there actually is after you hang all that stuff on your string and limb tips.

[AndreasLundin]

Originally posted by DJ Hardy:
Just wondering how much of a speed gang there actually is after you hang all that stuff on your string and limb tips.

The speed isn't that important to me. The draw is butter smooth and the riser holds perfect. It is also a benefit to have a 62" bow which is shorter than my current 60" bow. Perfect for spot and stalk in dense undergrowth. It's quick don't get me wrong but speed isn't the covert hunters best attribute.

I am stuck between the covert hunter and a black Douglas hex6. Price, shooting quality, quietness and manuverabity is deciding factors for me.

[Over&Under]

A bow that requires two different types of string silencers and limb savers to be 'tamed' seems like it needs a little more time in the design phase.  No offense to anyone, but speed and such don't mean a lot to me if you have to potentially slow it down just getting it quiet and vibration free...besides a lot of vibration typically means less energy transfer to the arrow, less efficiency.

It sounds like it has lots of other good qualities though.
Those big hooks may actually hang up more in thick brush even though it's shorter than your 60"er.

There are some statics out there that draw butter smooth, have great speed and are quiet and shock free with minimal effort.

[ozy clint]

yeah, you need to make some "Twangquilisers" and 'put the sound to sleep'.
LOL

[jabodnar]

I haven't had much problem getting my CH quieted down. There is a slight hum from the big curves after the shot.  I don't feel it, but if I pay attention I can hear it.  I film a couple shots of myself everyday just to check my form and I can't pick up any of that hum from 5-10 feet away on the video.  Put the camera next to the target at 25 yards and I can barely hear the bow go off.

Once I got my nocking point figured out it drastically reduced it. They seem to be fairly sensitive to hand pressure.  They like a high grip with the standard tiller).  Push those big hooks way out of tiller and you may have more vibration.

These bows definitely store a ton of power.  I'm shooting pretty much the same arrows I did out of my last bow, which was 12# heavier in draw weight with the exact same point on.  I didn't get a covert hunter to shoot faster, I went with one, b/c I could drastically drop draw weight and still shoot a heavier arrow.  I'm sure that helps reduce the sound at the shot.

Here's my specs just so you can compare

-68" covert hunter
-21" riser
-xl hex 7.5 limbs
-52@31
-6 7/8" brace
-3/4" nocking point (3 under)
-4 everlast leeches
-1" strip of velcro right where the string leaves the limbs at brace height

-black eagle x-impact (250 spine, 32", uncut)
-100 grain outserts (the 400 spine black eagle instict outserts fit the 250 spine x-impacts)
-250 grain points
-4x3" parabolic feathers
-13gpp
-28% foc

none of this is needed to have a deadly set-up. But I love tinkering with stuff.

[md126]

You can't have all that performance and radical design without  sacrificing shooting qualities somewhere else. It's simple physics

Plenty of other high performance bows out there that are quiet and stable without all the extra effort

[cch]

I just used a mountain muffler string on mine and it shot and sounded wonderful. There is a learning curve on tuning as they are a little different than a conventional limb but once you figure it out they are great.

[AndreasLundin]

Originally posted by cch:
I just used a mountain muffler string on mine and it shot and sounded wonderful. There is a learning curve on tuning as they are a little different than a conventional limb but once you figure it out they are great.

Anything other than they like a stiff arrow? Did you find grip pressure makes a big differance? What materiel for the mountain muffler string? I was actually looking to get the same string after reading several positive posts in regards to them.

[cch]

They don't like to be heeled and put most of your pressure in the throat. If you like to heel the grip you will likely have a high nock point probably  around 3/4" high. They do like a stiffer arrow. I am shooting .340 Axis arrows with 200 gr tips that are 30" long. My bow is a Covert Hunter ILF 19" riser with long Hex 7.5 limbs dran to 29". I think Border is recommending D97. Steve with Mountain muffler know for sure and will make a perfect string for you with the proper placement for the end silencers. You will probably have your best results with an arrow above 10 gpp.

[cch]

Also I have found they like the arrow in line with the string and not outside of it. You might get away with a tiny bit but most find straight in line the best.  If you are going to order one listen to what Sid recommends for riser and limb lengths. If you shoot 3 under with a high anchor a 17" riser might work but the sight window is very small. 19" is probably more useful for most people.  I got rid of my 17" CH because of this. It did work well if you want to aim off the riser as the to of the window was just about perfect for a 20 yd pin. I also went with ILF as in the future if I can't afford Border limbs or get a deal on some other brand I can put them on it. My Phenolic riser is very nice and fits my hand very well. When I ordered I asked to make it no wider than 1 1/8" wide as I have felt others that seemed very wide. If you like metal check out the Tempest riser. It handles even better. Overall Border will take care of you the only issue you might run into is exchanging emails as they are not the fastest and will be way behind when they get back from vacation.