How to quiet my hunting bow?

[Little John]

I been shooting recurves for quite a while now, I was never interested in long bows, untill now. I've been having no luck with them. The first one I bought kept hitting my arm. I sold it! Now, I picked up another, I really like it. It don't hit my arm at all and is fast and hits where I'm looking. Only one problem, It is loud. Real loud! Here is the set up. It is a 60" bow and I'm pulling it to just over 29". It has a FF string on it and a set of silencers on the string. When I shoot it, it cracks like the string is hitting the limb. Could this be the problem? It is a R/D bow and is 55#@28". Any comments or help would be appreciated. I want to do some hunting with this bow, but it is way to loud right now. Thanks, JOHN

[JEFF B]

hows the brace hight and how far apart are the silencers and do you have the right spined arrows for it

[indianalongbowshooter]

Shooting too stiff a arrow, slapping the riser on release and nockpoint maybe. I bet too stiff of arrow have had the same problem.

[Charlie Lamb]

Hushpuppies and Bowhush will tame the most spirited bow.

If the string is the "old timey" Fast Flite, then change to a custom made TS1 or Dyna 97 string.

Find the sweet spot on the brace.

[longstick]

Listen to ol' Charlie..the d97 do make a diffeence for sure..then check the braceheight. A gang of us were shooting some 3d's sunday and one of the guys lb was loud and as he shot through the course his string stretched and changed his bracheight and you could definitly tell the difference

[Shawn Leonard]

I think it is unusaull y for a LB to be loud, even an R/D one. There should be very little limb contact with the string. Put some velcro on the limbs where ya think it is making contact and see if that helps. Shawn

[ChuckC]

Read the above.  Most of the problems are covered. I think there is usually very little "contact noise" from a long bow.  

Usually, the heavier the arrow, the quieter the bow.  You didn't mention your arrow weight.  

Also, do you know for sure your arrows are not hitting the bow, either the rest (nocking point needs to raise) or riser (maybe a spine problem).  

Also, try changing to another type of string, like B-50 and make sure you have the brace height optimized.
good luck
ChuckC

[JEFF B]

may the force be with you young string walker    what ever you do have fun. and dont give up on it

[Whip]

Sure does sound as if the arrow is hitting the bow as it leaves.  Check the edge of the shelf and see if it is leaving a mark.  Even try some old lipstick on it and see if you are getting contact somewhere.  I have had the same problem and it ended up being too stiff an arrow and/or too low of nock height, as already has been suggested.

[jeff / sc]

Along with all the other suggestions, you might also try a B50 string.

[donnyjack]

I had a noise problem on one of my longbows and found that it was the string silencers (beaver) were not wraped tight enough and the leather was rattling against the string on the shot.

Good Luck !

[Jason Jelinek]

I have a hybrid bow that was loud.  I raised the brace height from 7" to 7.5" and put on string leaches at 1/4 points on the string.  That made the bow very quiet.

Jason