Your experience shooting off a rest

[Sojurn]

I have only ever shot off the shelf, so I don't have any experience shooting off an elevated rest.  As I window shop for a new bow, I wonder what the real pros and cons of a springy rest, or a bear weather type rest.
  I'd love to hear the Gangs opinions!

[buckeyebowhunter]

I tried it and ended up going back to the shelf. Just never really liked it. I'd tried it with Vanes instead of feathers but never could get used to it.

[John3]

I have shoot off of some type of rest for fifteen years or more.  Superb arrow flight...! 

[ed lash]

There are some bows that the improvement in arrow flight from a rest (compared to shelf) is truly remarkable. This can make arrow tuning much more straightforward on these bows. Some bows seem to shoot fine from the shelf, so I think experimentation is worth it if there's a struggle. It's also noteworthy that the rest will likely elevate the arrow and make shooting without a sight tougher.

[woodchucker]

My buddies and I all did it back in the 80's...

When the compound craze was getting started, aluminum arrows all had vanes, screw-in tips...
We stuck a Bear weather rest on our recurves, and we were in business!!!

Worked great then, It'll work great now!!

[algstick]

I did not start out shooting from a rest but gravitated to it. I shoot much better with an elevated rest. on my ILF (metal riser) bows i use a springy or a plunger and flipper. On everything else I use a bear weatherest. I see the target better, it seems to limit distractions in my line of sight and I get a better sight picture. I used to shoot vanes but these days I have been using feathers.
It is a preference and surely not for everyone. Gotta find what you are most comfortable with.

[M60gunner]

I do it both ways, off the shelf or with the simple brush rest. Started use a brush rest about 1973 when I bought arrows with vanes. My feathered arrows got soaked in the rain one day. Being a newbie I asked what worked better. Answer was vanes and raised rest. Now that I have multiple bows I have them set up both ways. I do find tuning easier with a rest. I do modify the rest so it sits about 1/4” from the shelf. I still put a soft material on the shelf for noise control if I happen to drop an arrow on it. Mount the rest so it lines up with the deepest area of your grip.

[McDave]

As far as type of rest, I've had problems with feather shredding with a springy rest, and someone else told me they had had the same problem.  Don't know, they've been around a long time.  Maybe we were doing something wrong.

I'd stick with some kind of flipper rest, if I were you.

[durp]

I'm a shelf guy myself but I have been known to put a wooden match stick under the shelf material on my old flat shelved bows.

I had a cousin that tried one of those flipper rest one year...I called in a monster 7x7 bull and he got all excited and drew before he should have and had to hold it a long time...while he held he was shaking badly and put his finger on the arrow to keep it on the rest...when he shot the rest broke off and a 10yrd chip shot turned into a laugh/cry arrow search...found it bout 25 yds up hill from where the bull was   

[MCNSC]

I’ve had some bows that shot much better with rest and others that I really couldn’t tell any difference. Depends on the bow and how well the arrows are tuned to the bow. A stick on rest is a lot cheaper than a dozen new arrows.

[Kokopelli]

I shoot an elevated rest and feel that it gets the nock end up a wee bit closer to my eye.  (Canted bow) YMMV.
I've had wire flippers hang up in brush and fail. The Bear Weather Rest is pretty much bulletproof.
I normally shoot feathers but can switch to vanes on a rainy day with no problems.

[JD Page]

Can't go wrong with the Bear Weather rest. Been shooting my Silvertip with them for 10 years, I change them out every couple years, not because they are broken, just preventive maintenance. Great arrow flight!

[elkken]

For shooting an elevated rest I have used a bear weather rest for years. They are simple to mount, quiet, and wear very well. They also aid in arrow flight, if I have a bow that just seems stubborn getting good flight off the shelf I go the the elevated rest and it works every time. 

[akbowbender]

I used an elevated rest on my Groves Spitfire MagII. Since the riser on this bow was designed for a compound bow, I had to build up the backing for the Jennings rest that I was using. Got great flight with 2219's with vanes.

The problem with this setup was this: I shot with a slight cant. Twice while hunting Sitka Blacktails, I had situations where I had to get an arrow on the string quickly without looking and the arrow ended up on the top of the rest against the riser. At the shot, the arrow flew wild, and I wounded two nice bucks. I ended up putting a strip of moleskin from the riser, over the rest and back onto the riser so the arrow would slip down to the rest  finger.

[Jon Stewart]

I use a feather rest on a few of my bows with no issues.

[Kittatinny]

I always preferred to shoot off the shelf. I make my own one piece, hair rest, and fasten it with weatherproof double sided tape.

[Ben Maher]

All my recurved get a Flipper Rest , they have since I since my first curve - maybe 1986 ?
I have also used springy’s , all sorts of plungers etc but for hunting I keep coming back to the NAP Centrerest Flipper.
Bomb proof and quiet. Had the same one on my main Titan since 2009 and it’s still going strong

[Sam McMichael]

I tried it and didn't care for it.

[Kokopelli]

Question for the assembled masses;
If one is point on at 50 yards off of an elevated rest and switches to shooting off of the shelf & a lower nocking point, will the point on distance remain the same, be closer or farther away ????

Thanx !!!

[McDave]

Question for the assembled masses;
If one is point on at 50 yards off of an elevated rest and switches to shooting off of the shelf & a lower nocking point, will the point on distance remain the same, be closer or farther away ????

Thanx !!!

If you can tune the same arrow equally well shooting it from a rest and off the shelf, the point on shouldn't change much.

The point on is a function of how much energy is delivered to a well-tuned arrow.  The bow was designed, either accidentally or on purpose, to deliver maximum energy when the arrow is in a certain position.  Let's say that with a rest, a nock point of 3/8” results in perfectly level bare shaft flight, and that off the shelf, a nock point of 5/8” results in perfectly level bare shaft flight.  Since the arrow is closer to square with a 3/8” nocking point, it should be receiving more of the bow's energy than it would at 5/8”.  Everything else being equal, the point on should be a longer distance with the 3/8” nocking point.

However, when most of us say our point on is 50 yards, we mean “about” 50 yards, and really don't know if it is 48 yards or 52 yards, exactly, because we can't shoot well enough to tell the difference, and probably wouldn't notice a difference in switching from shooting off a rest to shooting off the shelf.  However, if you know that your point on is exactly 50 yards, you'll probably notice a difference, and my guess is that it would be in favor of shooting off a rest.