Leave it strung?

[CBH]

I was told many years ago that it doesn't hurt a thing to leave your bow strung when you're not using it. I was just wondering what most of you guys do with your bow when you hang it up.  I leave mine strung up most of the time,(always during deer season), but if I don't think that I'll be shooting for quite a while, I unstring it.

[bmb]

i always leave my hoyt gamemaster strung but i recently got a 07 martin hunter, since its a one piece i was wondering the same thing. thought it might be more critical in an all wood one piece compared to a 3 piece with a metal riser.?? hopefully someone can chime in for an answer for me too? i shoot the hoyt everyday, the martin about one every week or 2.

[mwmwmb]

i dont know the specifics but i have a stringer and i only takes like 5 seconds to use. so i just unsting them.

[sendero25]

I have a Black Widow longbow and they recommend un-stringing, so I do.
If I shoot my recurves often, I leave them strung for a while.
I've been told by others to always unstring longbows but you can leave recurves strung.
I usually unstring everything, I can't see how unstringing carefully with a stringer is worse or more harmful to the bow than shooting dozens of arrows every day.
I always unstring during transport, especially in a hot vehicle here in Florida

[Rooselk]

I unstring my bows when not in use (though I might leave one strung if I know I will be using it the next day).

That said, I once heard that Martin took one of their traditional bows, strung it, checked it on a bow scale, and then hung it on a wall in the shop for a number of years. As the story goes, when they finally took it down they put it back on a bow scale and again checked the draw weight. Supposedly there was little if any loss.

It would be really interesting to find out if this story is actually true.

[bmb]

i have also heard that about martin. im gonna try to contact them to see.

[stevewills]

i always heardyou have more of a chance of damaging a bow while stringing it than leaving it strung.if i have one im not shootin regulary it gets unstrung.....but im not by any means any kind of any expert

[Ybuck]

keep mine strung. I also shoot most every day  

[Ssamac]

I keep the recurves I'm shooting strung. The others get unstrung and put on a differnt rack. They are fun to go back to.

I always heard that you should not leave a longbow strung, so I do unstring them. I also heard like Sendero that stringing and unstringing can do more potential harm than leaving them strung. I can see that, especially if you don't use a bow stringer. I always do.

[john fletch]

I always unstring and place on a horizontal rack by the end of the day.  Just take a few sconds either way with a bow stringer.

[BACKSTRAP]

I have a bamboo longhunter 78@28 that has been unstrung maybe twice since the late 90s.  The 2 times I did unstring it was to replace the string.  I shoot it 2 or 3 times a week to keep the old muscles goin, and checked today on my scale today and it is right at 78# still.

[30coupe]

Self bows need to be unstrung when not in use, even during the day when hunting if you can. Modern laminated bows don't really need to be. I'm curious to know why a modern laminated longbow would need to be unstrung any more than a recurve.

[John R. Graves]

I have a Martin Saber that's been strung since about 1999, I hang it horizontally by the string.  I check it periodically on the scale and it hasn't lost a single pound of draw weight yet.

[Wiley Coyote]

I usually leave my bows strung through a hunt or even deer season. Doesn't seem to hurt them and I think you wear the string faster if you unstring them every day.