Greatest component of a "forgiving" bow???

[skychief]

What is the most important component of a bow to make that bow a "forgiving" shooter?

[Sixby]

Possibly get a lot of different answers but the correct one IMHO is vertical and horizontal stability at full draw. Next would probably be limb timing so that the limbs stop or hit brace at the same time when the string is released. This part of it can be slightly variable with each shooter due to things as simple as finger size , placement , split finger or three under and a whole bunch of other things , like how is your arthritis acting today.
But overall in the bow itself , what we call forgiving is stability which helps overcome shooter variations and error in release.
God bless, Steve

I agree all of that, but I could add that some shooters need differing aspects in a bow to help them. I have an oddball Bear Kodiak Special that carries a 66" string. While I make no claims on how good or bad that bow is, it does one thing for me that is important. My Hill style form should have a 26&1/4" draw, sometimes it is 27 or more. That long stretch can mess with my sighting, but with certain bows there is not a huge change in arrow speeds from a slightly short draw to a longer draw.  I have a couple of bows that even a half inch shows a visible arrow speed change and others that show very little. I think it has to do with limb mass and inefficiency of the limb design at a longer draw. What ever it is, left hand I tend to draw a half inch short with varied shooting situations and right hand I sometimes draw long at other varied shooting situations, the bows that show the least variance when I mess up are my most forgiving bows.

[Steelhead]

I like a bow thats smooth on the draw all the way back.Especially at the end of the draw.Smooth,effortless and still at the release and followthrough and quiet in the hand as the arrow clears the rest.I think that all adds up to good tiller,limb timing and a bow thats fits the archer well.

[Gil]

Deflexed riser

[Jakeemt]

The most forgiving bow for me has a slim torque free grip. I tend to torque bows anf for me that offers that most forgiveness. Next would be a cut past center riser. Just my 2c.

[BigJim]

I would take it to confession...well, then it would be forgiven but it may not forgive you your trespasses  

BigJim

[McDave]

If we go back to the days of Howard Hill, he made the comment, probably somewhat in jest, that he didn't believe he was a skillful enough archer to shoot a recurve bow.  The reason he said that was because whatever recurve bow he was shooting would put arrows high and low and all over the place without any change in input from him, as far as he could tell.  I guess when we get unexplained flyers, we can take some peace in that:  if it could happen to Howard Hill, it could happen to anybody.

Howard didn't explain why this was happening to him; it just convinced him he should stick with his longbow.  My own theory is that he was probably heeling down on his recurve like he did on his longbow, which caused one of the limbs to bend more than the other.  This might have been okay if he could get the same exact bend every time he shot it, but once something like that gets out of balance, it gets very sensitive and could bend more one time than the other without the shooter being able to tell the difference.

If that is true, then probably one of the most important components of a bow to make it forgiving would be to shoot it the way it was designed to be shot.  In other words, put grip pressure where it is designed to be put, or if you don't like it that way, then shoot a bow that is designed to have grip pressure where you want to put it.  Of course, this applies to all other components of a bow's design as well.

[mangonboat]

My most forgiving bows are Frankenbows with long, slightly deflexed metal compound bow risers. The designers of those bows needed to keep overall weight under control but still have enough structural metal to securely attach the limbs, which necessarily concentrated the mass toward the ends of the riser. That's where the bowyers of old used to put pockets of lead or even mercury capsules. Amazing stability at full draw.

[Pete McMiller]

What does forgiving mean to you personally?  What has been said so far is all good info.  Properly tillered and timed limbs, proper string, etc. that is all good but it all goes to waste if the arrow is not matched to the bow.  

My Go-To bow, the one that has always been comfortable, easy to shoot, and accurate grew up considerably last summer when I started playing around with bare shaft tuning and UEFOC.  When I was done the incidence of gross fliers dropped significantly.  I am amazed at how well this bow shoots, even without consistently perfect form.

[Bladepeek]

Primary for me would be a lousy memory and a willingness to forgive me for all the times I've embarrassed mine.

[Flying Dutchman]

Your wife ????  

[Bladepeek]

No, my bow.

A forgiving bow would not remember or bring up all the shooter errors I've committed.  

[Gdpolk]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say how the grip fits the person.  Consistency is key to accuracy and for all things being equal in quality, the grip geometry is what separates a good shooting bow from a mediocre bow in my hands.  Assuming they are built properly, that's the one area on the bow that can make for inconsistencies between shot to shot quicker than anything else in my hands.

[Kris]

Some already mentioned above but here are some that come to my mind.  Define "forgiving" though?

- a deflexed riser
- bend(s) in the limb, reflex and deflex
- limbs with very little mass, especially the tips
- a draw weight you can handle w/o exception
- harmonically tuned and timed before silencing

Kris

[Kris]

The "Hills guys" will write in and say that a forgiving bow is one that you can point somewhat near the target and your arrow will hit right where you are looking every time...and will shoot any arrow well!

Kidding of course.  I own a string follow Hill and love it but nothing is so magical...you still have to know how to shoot.

Regards -

Kris