Why prohibit elevated rests??

[James Wrenn]

I am one of those that really cares less what the guy beside me wants to shoot.If I can't compete I can change equipment if I want too. :)Bottom line however at the ranges of 3ds in our area the bow or setup is not going to be the decideing factor.It is always going to come back to the guy pulling the string.Maybe for feild archery advantages might show up but at 25yds and under like most trad 3d courses are set a 2$ piece of plastic is not going to change any outcomes at the end of the day.  :confused:

[larry]

I agree with James, at 25yrd, which I think is IBO distances, if a guy shooting an elevated rest beats me by a few points, next time I may beat him, if he beats me by 20 points or more, chances are we could switch bows and he'd still beat me.

[hawksnest]

Originally posted by James Wrenn:
Bottom line however at the ranges of 3ds in our area the bow or setup is not going to be the decideing factor.It is always going to come back to the guy pulling the string.Maybe for feild archery advantages might show up but at 25yds and under like most trad 3d courses are set a 2$ piece of plastic is not going to change any outcomes at the end of the day.   :confused:  

Yup, I went to shooting LBs off the shelf last year, because of PA traditional rules, and now it doesn't bother me, I know how to tune for it. I still have my recurves fron the early/mid 60s, flat shelves and Pierson elevated horizontal feather rests still on them:-). I never shot off the shelf in my life until last year.:-)  Bill G.

[TaterHill Archer]

The reason I originally asked the question is due to some of the threads I've read on this site and other sites.  It seems many people state they have tried a stick on elevated rest and off the shelf and noticed no difference in accuracy.  However, some noted their bows shoot better with one or the other.

[JC]

Roknjs, I do notice that minor release errors are eliminated with an elevated rest. When I played with one on a couple of different bows, I found roughly a 3% improvement in my scores for the same bows without an elevated rest if scoreing the 10 ring and smaller.

"What has happened is a few small minds in there attempt to cull out a target bow has used the rule to cull out or handicap most all of the older recurves as well in the process.I shoot off the shelf to follow such rules however I will use a rest for my hunting bows.I think it is a darn shame any time a rule keeps someone from useing there hunting rig at a 3d."
Maybe it has nothing to do with "small minds" but just folks thinking they should be in a different class. Primative bows aren't expected to compete against glass etc....not sure why off the shelf should expect to compete against elevated rests.

And as far "keeping someone from using their hunting rig at 3d", no one is keeping anyone from that...at least at the shoots I've been to. If there is no class for elevated rests, you can still shoot...just not turn in your score. I've been to plenty of shoots that outlawed carbon arrows for score and I still shot my carbons because that's what I hunt with. I have also shot in those tournaments with aluminum arrows just to score in the competition. Myself and others made mulitiple, intelligently presented arguements to those that made the rules at these tournaments and some were eventually changed to include carbons. If you want to shoot an elevated rest for score, petition for a seperate class...bring enough guys with rests to show the "powers that be" you deserve your own class and voila!...everyone is happy.

As far as flat shelfed bows being eliminated, a couple of shims of leather or matchstick under a shelf plate will usually provide enough of a shelf to get good arrow flight on these types of bows.

[Tom A]

Wouldnt a match stick be considered an elevated rest? Where do you draw the line. Some shelfs look like a sharp upside down V.  They do the same thing a plastic stick on rest does. Its just hidden better.

Anyways a match stick will not fix a lot of bows that were designed for a rest because these bows were designed to be shot 1-2 inches higher than the shelf.  If you drop the arrow down that low on the bow you run into tiller issues.

[JC]

Tom, in my opinion at least, as long as it's attached to the shelf and is of solid material, it's not an elevated rest. I know guys who've taken bondo etc. to their bows to make it shoot off the shelf properly and still passed all the qualifications for shooting off the shelf. Imho, the elevated rest is superior because it's flexible, raises the arrow away from the shelf to minimize any contact as it leaves the bow and has a much smaller contact point for the arrow than any off the shelf rest...can't do all that with a matchstick etc. firmly attached to the shelf.

You probably are correct on the 1-2" higher bows...I've just never had one with that much of a tiller issue. I have an old browning cobra 2 that came with the "leaf spring" rest (maybe 1")that shoots just fine off of a small roll of leather under the shelf rug.

[no]

I wondered about this topic, until a few days ago a friend said they caught a guy ata local shoot using the rest as a sight pin somehow? maybe thats why they are illegal some places?  Mike