Quiet? Recurves can be quiet.

[jhg]

Okay, maybe YMMV, but when I bought a '72 Howatt Hunter this summer I took note of the previous owners little tweeks. He was obviously a more experienced archer than I am....

Last evening I shot a few bare shafts with it. I could not hear the bow. At all. Only the arrow hitting the target down range.

 Really.

I  mean zero noise. Silent.
 
The bow has two sets of cat whiskers on a D50 string and lambskin limb tip silencers over the string grooves. I have a 5 arrow Great Northern quiver on the bow and a Bear weather rest, cut down with a custom side plate of the soft side of velcro as well

Just sayin'


Dial it in folks!

And good hunting!

Joshua, tickled pink.

[hitman]

My black widow is amazingly quiet with just the spider silencers on it.

[bawana bowman]

Properly tuned any recurve can be quiet. Once finding the brace height which the bow prefers, and finding the best nocking point, it's just a matter of dealing with shelf clearance. After this is done correctly I find a little padding where string comes in contact with limbs is usually all that is needed on most my recurves. Only a small percentage of my recurves really need any type of puff ball or spider leg tie on silencers. In fact, I find using brush buttons will sometimes eliminate the need for tie on silencers on bows which tend to have need of the tie on type. JMO

[Frank V]

I have a Blacktail Elite that is very quiet with just Beaver Hair silencers on it.
Frank

[PAPA BEAR]

i had a zipper recurve made by bob thompson that was quiet as a church mouse with string puffs and the felt in the grooves.it was very smooth to and fast.makes me wish i still had it.

[soxbow]

Hitman, I have a have a maIII and it seems to have more noise than it should have, Has a low thunk sound. whats up

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

I still don't understand why we need to pad the string or groove.

[AdamH]

Sounds like my HABU, whisper quiet, heavy arras does a Bow wonders ...

[Bowtie]

Yep, recurves can be VERY quiet. My Assenheimer recurve with beaver fur string silencers is super quiet.

[Cal bow]

My widow is also very quiet with just spider silencers and fairly heavy arrows

[Hookeye]

FWIW...... had about 14 hunting recurves over the years, never had to pad the string grooves.

[ron w]

One persons idea of silent maybe different than another's.......heck I can hardly hear my wife anymore...lol.

[PAPA BEAR]

ron w you hit the nail right on the head...i get every bow i own as quiet as i can and if its not quiet i sell it.all depends on a persons likes/dislikes. i just love a smooth quiet bow.the felt in grooves eliminates string slap.you'll never know its noisy unless you put the felt on and try it out.

[Sixby]

Timing and tiller with the right brace height really quiet down a curve. Limb design does too. The Statics are much quieter than the working recurves IMHO. The EagleWing Talon Static is queit enough to hunt with with nothing on the string except a nock point. I do use tiny beaver balls though cause they just look cool. God bless you all , Steve

[shbne]

Last week the wife and I were up scouting on horseback.


I turned to say something to her, and noticed she was gone, must have fallen off her horse somewhere.

It was a good thing, I'd been worried sick for the last hour that I had gone deaf.


On a serious note is there a systematic method to getting ones bow as quiet as possible?

I always just shot heavy arrows and called it good.

[buckeye_hunter]

I was listening to some videos of people shooting bows. Yes listening not watching. Every time I heard a loud bow I would look to see whether it was a longbow or recurve. Low and behold, EVERY time I looked the loud bows were recurves. I wish I knew the secret to making recurves dead silent, but longbows can be made quieter than recurves without as much work generally speaking.

And I am usually a fan of recurves over longbows. Except a longbow with a recurve grip....

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

Indeed! Thanks for sharing!

[Sixby]

Buckeye hunter the secret in the case of my recurve is the geometry of the hook. It is round and tight and the string rolls up on it instead of slapping. It sounds justt like a d and r longbow. Actually there is really no need for silencers. Its really that quiet. Limb slap is the culprit. If you have not been to my site check out the Talon limb and strung profile. The string comes abruptly off of the hook. Even at full draw you are still barely off of the bow limb with the string. This also makes for an incredibly smooth draw sycle with no finger pinch. I have heard that some of the other statics such as Dryad and Sheepeater and Quick styk are quiet like that too. I have not shot them personally so can't say either way.God Bless You, Steve

[LV2HUNT]

I tried an Assenheimer (static) for a while and it was the quietest recurve I have heard.

However, the quietest bows I have owned or heard were one piece R/D longbows.

It is worth mentioning that I owned a 3 piece longbow that was louder than any of the bows I have owned. Sold it for that very reason. It was smooth and fast but it produced substantial reaction from game.

My arrows are heavy, bows tuned properly, and in the case of the above noisy bow I was using 2 sets (4 total) of cat whiskers.

[HB3]

Sixby is right, I went to a shooting clinic in Ft. Worth and Wingnut had a static tip recurve that was as quiet with nothing done to the bow as the other bows with silencers, long bows included. I now have a set of his limbs for my Dalla riser and they are very quiet, more so than the one longbow I have or any of my other recurves. They also don't stack at long draw lengths which is another plus for me. I have a second set of heavier limbs on order.