Release Aid Advice to Compensate for Old Finger

[Bowwild]

I haven't posted here as much lately. Mainly because I haven't been shooting my recurves much for about a year.  

About a year ago my ring finger of drawing hand starting hurt a lot. X-rays show bad arthritis and no cartilage in the two joints of that finger above the palm. Then a ganglion cyst grew out on the side of the 2nd knuckle, just above the ring. Stiff, painful, and hurts most upon release of the string.  Had to go to silicon wedding ring and from size 8 to 10 in that.

I don't want to quit shooting my curves. I can't switch hands, I did that in 1996 and I won't go back to RH shooting.

This afternoon I put a D-loop on the string of my favorite Blacktail (I know, Norm might want to return my money if he sees this          ).  It is a very high tech release aid, I think a Lucky from Carter.  It felt very awkward but no pain. The sight picture is foreign.  My windage was perfect, and vertical grouping was tight (short range- 7 yards so I don't miss and put holes in home interior).  But the bow is noisy and vibration is quite a lot, or at least it seems so.

But, the best thing, I can tell if I keep at it, this will probably save hunting with the recurve for me.

There has to be better releases than the back motion or index finger I'm using?  I'm thinking something around the wrist with a strap on the string?  Any ideas? I'll do a search here as well.

Oh, I've been to the hand surgeon about the finger. Got a shot (steroid?) and drained the cyst. The shot was absolutely horrible, I was to weak to stand for 30 minutes afterwards. Shot helped for about 45 days. I'm not doing it again.  Surgeon says joint replacement next but motion will be lost and reduction in pain and stiffness isn't guaranteed.

Thanks

[wingnut]

Nothing wrong with shooting a release.  There are quite a few "closet" release shooters hanging around.  LOL  I'd go with a wrist strap loop style. Like a Scott.

Going to take a whole new tune on the bow though.  Very little paradox from the release and the D loop is centered on the arrow so the tiller is messed up.

An ILF rig may be in your future.

Mike

[Steve Jr]

Man Roy that sounds like a bummer. On the bright side the release allows you to shoot again. It sounds like some time spent messing around with it ( the release aid ) and you will be good to go ! Best wishes    

[South MS Bowhunter]

On the LW site there was a guy making a traditional release aid called the "Talon" that used a nylon strap that you curled around the string like a tab.

it had a wrist strap that distributed the weight to your wrist and off the fingers.  Seemed to work good and a lot of people claimed it helped them remain active in shooting.

Probably can google and pull up information.  I even think Bob Morrison was selling them.

[mec lineman]

Here is my suggestion, use two nock points and use a tru fire "lobo" or magnum release below the bottom nock point. These use your thumb and rotate. This is how i learned to shoot compounds in the early 90's. I like ball type jaws vs. caliper type jaws, so not to damage serving.

[Friend]

You may consider trying two under.

Scott Anzak went seemingly undefeated for 10 years shooting 70+ pounds utilizing two under.

[maxwell]

For what it's worth I have been shooting a release with my recurve and even bought a little kids compound to help me draw  my bows, shoulder issue has limited my drawing ability.  I want to get the shoulder fixed but mri freaked me out.  I find that the release or angle of the draw using a release has given me more shooting time which I have found very enjoyable. I am shooting a wrist strap release.  Good luck.

[mec lineman]

Great thinking Friend! I have a buddy who is a good shot, who shoots 2 under. Tiller isn't affected

I had my middle finger base joint come unglued when doing long holds when shooting a 96 pound longbow.  It took years to heal.  I bought a caliper release wrist strap duber and a recurve.  I needed to add a kisser button to gain a better anchor.  i positioned it to be at the spot my index finger contacted my cheek when shooting normal split finger with the middle finger just back of the corner of my mouth.  That worked for targets, but I found it too clumsy for the way I hunt, so I went left handed.  I could always shoot left handed, that was not an issue for me.  Walking left handed with a back quiver through sticks was a difficult learning curve.  Eventually my right hand misddle finger cured enough that I can shoot right handed again, as long as do not get carried away.  I dropped my bow weight to less than 60 pounds, shoot 30 arrows or less in continuous shooting, and no longer practice long holding times. I shoot a few ends right handed and a few ends left handed, to a total of less than 100 shots a day right handed and sometimes as many as 300 shots a day left handed. I shoot dual shooter longbows as my go to bows.  Oh, back to the subject.  Without the kisser button to give me a consistent anchor I was shooting 9" groups at 20 yards at targets.  With the kisser button tagging a familiar spot on my face and my thumb behind my jaw bone, I worked it back to a more normal soft ball size group, but it was a very slow shot process tempo.

[jrstegner]

I shoot two under with a talon. It is a wrist assisted tab. The talon takes about 80% of the draw weight off your fingers. I previously shot split, and there  was very little learning curve. I don't believe the gentleman is still selling them, but if you know someone with a sewing machine it should be easy to make one.

[jrstegner]

I shoot two under with a talon. It is a wrist assisted tab. The talon takes about 80% of the draw weight off your fingers. I previously shot split, and there  was very little learning curve. I don't believe the gentleman is still selling them, but if you know someone with a sewing machine it should be easy to make one.

[South MS Bowhunter]

Here a video of the original "Talon" traditional release aid

I believe he has modified it to use 3 under.

 

[Cavscout9753]

Sadly, in most anything there is dogma. Use a release aid and don’t think rwice about it.

[Bowwild]

Thanks for all this advice.

I shot 3-under since 2010. I tried 2 fingers today.  Pretty tough on those 2 without #3.

I'm going to research this talon.

Thanks

I still have that mechanical release, if you want give it try, let me know, I have no use for it.  It is an older model like this one   http://www.lancasterarchery.com/scott-wildcat-2-release-black.html

[tecum-tha]

I think the Talon is the way to go for you, especially since it almost works like a thumb ring/ thumb glove but without the string on the fingers. As you saw in the video, your ring finger is not even involved a bit in the release process. If you have that arthritis, it is probably not a good idea to put more strain on the other fingers, as their joints probably already are detoriated, but not as far as the ring finger yet.
As long as there are medical reasons for using  mechanical aids, I don't know who should have a problem with that. And there are a myriad of traditional and historical documented releases on youtube. Some dating back thousands of years.

I used a Wison Strap tab with my target bows, I beefed up the strap much like the Talon so I could shoot a 42 pound bow with it.  It eventually affected my thumb, although I was shooting many arrows in a session with it.  Maybe, I was pinching harder than I needed to.  The first time I shot with one of those three finger Hotshots, I argued that i didn't want to do it, but the guy insisted that I would like it.  I drew back his compound aimed, then aimed some more, then released.  The arrow went skidding across the floor, the Hotshot, banged off the bow and stuck in the ceiling tiles.

[ChuckC]

Also research Frank Eichholz's creation back in the day  I think it was called the bow lock.  His patent pictures were printed on one of the sites, cannot recall which but you can build one from the  pix. It is a simple block of wood.  

I imagine it takes a bit to learn how to use it safely, but he used it on heavy bows quite a bit.

I have a rendition that I made that I will be glad to send to you if you wish.

[Big Ed]

Sent you a PM

[Doc Nock]

OUCH!  

I had tendonitis develop in the ring finger of my right hand and it felt like a cattle prod hit me when I released... hand doc said there are tiny guides like a fishing rod that run up the finger and if you pull them loose, it's major surgery...

Apparently, the GUIDES swelled and the tendon couldn't slide up and down like line thru a rod guide.

He shot cortosone in the finger area and it helped...I shot 2 under for 2+ yrs with no visible change in style or impact.

Tried split again after 2.5 yrs and been doing it again for the past 7-8 yrs now.

Bob Morrison told me during that period that he had to use a rope release for a while for some reason...

Now it's arthritis in the shoulders and back that play havoc with drawing and shooting...

Gettin older ain't for sissies!

Good luck and prayers for a solution!