? on rest and on arrows

[mattbritton]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the traditional bow world and am trying to figure out some things. For starters, I have a quinn stallion. I'm wondering what rest I should use, or if I should use any rest at all. The other question that I have is which arrows to buy. My goal is to go deer hunting next year. Any and all opinions and advice are greatfully appreciated.

[John 4]

Weather you use a rest or not is totaly up to you.
I'd put a T300 on it,and if it will take a plunger then definatly that as well.
It will make the bow far more tunable than shooting off the shelf.
Just depends on weather you want to shoot as well as you can,,or just look like somebody else's version of trad.
First arrows,,go with alloys,,again,for ease of tuning,but expect to try out both carbons and woods as time goes by.

[Scott J. Williams]

Matt,

     I think the first thing to consider is what method of shooting do you want to do.  If you are a gap shooter, the rest will not be a disadvantage.  If however you want to shoot instinctive, the lower the arrow is to your bow hand, the better your pointing ability.

     You can tune a bow off the shelf to shoot as well as one you use a button, and elevated rest.  I have shot stickbows in each configuration, when done correctly, you can get flight that is better than our ability to shoot it consistantly.

     For hunting, keep it as simple as possible. If you want an elevated rest, I would attempt to keep the button thing out of it.  Having shot those in the past, they get dirt in them, they freeze up in cold weather, and you can lose the caps. My basic rule is simple, if it can break, and I can do without it, I do without it.

     John gave you some good advice, you will likely get "Information overload".  Just remember, in traditional bowhunting, there are more than one way to skin the cat.  The joy, and the thrill is in finding your path.  We are honored to be your guides, but you choose the path.

[mattbritton]

What do you mean exactly by saying "tunable," what can be changed to tune it correctly. I think that I might try shooting off the shelf, I've used a rest and in the woods my arrow always seem to fall off, I think that it might be easier to walk in the woods without a rest at least I wont have to pay as much attention to it and can pay more attention to other things. As for arrows what do you recomend, carbon, alum. and what kind of fletchings, rubber or feather?

[Tom A]

This year I shot some of my best ever "instinctive" 3D scores off a plastic arrow rest. Having the arrow close to my hand does not seem to matter to me. I cant the bow and dont know any gaps and rarely if ever look at yardage  at close shots.

[p1choco]

If you are shooting off the shelf I don't recomend vains.  If you are shooting off a rest you can get away with shooting both feathers and vains.  Overall, I think feathers are more forgiving especially when shooting through brush.  If you are asking what can be changed on an arrow to tune it, several things.  If length permits, you cut it shorter for more stiffness.  You can add more wieght with a heavier point or by adding wieghts to an insert to counter the effect of a shaft that is too stiff.  Overall, I am most happy with carbon arrows.  It's a personal thing, one which you will have to decide on your own which path to travel.  I recomend trying all types of shafts and sticking with the type that YOU like.

[Scott J. Williams]

Tuning will include selecting the right arrow, the correct brace height, the right nocking point, and making sure that your arrows have the correct, or acceptable forward of center balance point.

Bare shaft tuning, is the one I use. It has been described to death on this forum, so examples of it are everywhere.

[Jim/LI]

I recommend an elevated rest.  This will be much easier to tune and will give excellent arrow flight.  You will also be able to use vanes on rainy days.  They Hoyt super rest is one of the best and simplest.  The tip tends to break off.  Some last for only a few days; others, for months.  I switched to a brush rest.  The brush rest lasts for years and has a more traditional appearance.

[JSimon]

I was in your exact position a year and a half ago. I also have a Quinn Stallion and I use a Bear Weather rest. I have not shot the bow off of the shelf, but the riser design is set up such that you can shoot off the shelf.

As for the Weather rest, I stuck it on as close to the shelf as possible and made sure that the flipper was right over the deepest part of the handle. I shoot feathers and I do get some feather contact with the rest, but it doesn't seem to affect the arrow flight. I would like to experiment with vanes (rubber) but that small amount of contact has me sticking with feathers for now.

Here is my setup that seems to work well for me. If your bow specs and draw length are similar, it might be a good place to start.

45lb @ 28" Stallion
My draw length is 30"
Carbon Express 45/60 arrows cut to 31.75" long with 5" right helical feathers.
I just use standard aluminum inserts and 125 grain points.

I was going to buy Gold Tip 3555's but full length is only 30". If I went with those, I most likely would have had to increase my point weight in order for the arrows to be properly spined (tuned). I chose to stick with 125 grain points (since many broadhead brands are offered in that weight) and use longer arrows to properly tune them to my bow. To be honest, I got lucky by ordering the arrows at 31.75" long.

Most people will recommend at least 9 grains of arrow weight per pound of draw weight. Many suggest much more than that. Heavier arrows tend to quiet the bow and may aid in penetration. Since carbons tend to be much lighter than aluminum or wood, I added some plastic weight tubes that slide into the arrow shaft to increase the total weight of the arrow. These weight tubes are available at 3riversarchery.com.