Will shooting a fixed crawl cause bow problems?

[longbow fanatic 1]

My bow is tillered for split, but I shoot it three under. Recently, I began shooting a fixed crawl, approximately 1/2"- 3/4"  below my arrow nock. I know that this will cause the bottom limb to compress more than the top limb, so the limbs are not equally tillered. I've also noticed the bow is loud when shot with a fixed crawl. Will I damage my bow at all shooting a fixed crawl?

[mahantango]

Won't damage it, but as you have found it will make it loud.

[Diamond Paul]

No, it won't damage the bow.  You are experiencing the same thing stringwalkers run into:  the fact that moving your hand on the string detunes the bow.  It would be better to do this on an ILF bow, or a pseudo ILF bow like the Buffalo, which has tiller adjustment, so that you can play with that till you find the tiller that shoots the best and makes the bow the quietest.  What might help is to work on tuning the bow with a higher nock point, since tiller really is only a way to make your nock point more neutral, rather than having to move it way up to overcome the split finger tiller.  With the higher initial nock point, your crawl will be relatively closer to the center of the bow's pivot point, and might result in a quieter bow when shot from the crawl.

[mgf]

Why not just tune at your crawl?

[longbow fanatic 1]

Thanks guys!

[longbow fanatic 1]

mgf-Please enlighten me. How best may I tune at my crawl? With my Stewart bows, I can only adjust my brace between 7"-7.5"

[Medicare Bhtr]

When using the fixed crawl I raise my nocking point to lessen bottom limb stress. Places string pressure closer to center. Adjusting placement of string silencers will reduce noise.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Great tips everyone. Thx!

[Diamond Paul]

Well, moving the nock point higher is a form of tuning to the crawl, since it moves the hand closer to center of bow and creates less limb imbalance.  You want to tune the bow for the actual nock, get that at an acceptable point on (say 30 yards, in case a big one walks out there), and then set your other nock for the crawl, probably something in the neighborhood of 1/2 to 5/8s down the string from the first nock point.  If your first nock is pretty high, which it will be for a 30 yard point on, then the crawl doesn't detune the bow much, if at all, although it would still be better to be able to play with the bow's tiller to find what works best for you, probably zero or close to it.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Diamond Paul- So with the nock point adjusted higher (point on at 30, say), then I set my crawl below. Now are you saying that if the deer is 30 yards, I nock and shoot it normally for three under. Then if I have a 15 yard shot, I nock my arrow normally, but shoot the arrow from my fixed crawl nock? Is that correct?

[Diamond Paul]

Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too, in a sense.  You don't want a long point on because it makes the crawl too low and detunes the bow a lot more.  Also, most of us don't want to shoot at deer that far, anyway.  Check out youtube and watch Dewayne Martin and Jimmy Blackmon's vids on the crawl.  I think Dewayne gets his point on down to 32 yards before he sets the crawl.

[Diamond Paul]

Basically, this will allow you to put the point on the deer, depending on which nock point you use, from something like 15 to 35 yards; you'll just hit a bit high or low, but not out of the kill zone if you hold center.  Bow speed has something to do with the distance range, of course.

[Diamond Paul]

The guys I know that use a crawl are banking on 15 to 22-25 yard shots; I don't think they worry about the original nock much, if at all.  You can always just use the crawl and put the point on the backline if he comes out around thirty yards; just about as simple, really.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Thanks, DP!

[mgf]

Originally posted by longbow fanatic 1:
mgf-Please enlighten me. How best may I tune at my crawl? With my Stewart bows, I can only adjust my brace between 7"-7.5"

Sorry, I missed the question.

Just as any other tuning, nock point height is part of it but so is arrow spine, length, point weight etc.

String walkers have to pick a place to tune...most shot distance, median distance or whatever they choose. Using a fixed crawl, I just tune there.

One of the things that happens as you grab the string further below the nock point is that the actual draw length shortens (because of the string angle). All else being equal, the arrow should show stiffer.

On occasion I use a 20 yard crawl.  It seems perfect for eastern whitetail hunting.  There are a lot of things you can do to take the buzz out of the bow. Some have been touched on.

Raise your knock point.

Use and elevated rest.

Use longer arrows to shorten your gap.

Use heavier arrows to shorten you gap.

...or... all the above.  :^)

[longbow fanatic 1]

Great tips, Jim. Thx

[longbow fanatic 1]

Thx, mgf!