Old timers and string silencers

[CG]

Ever notice that you never see string silencers in the pictures of many of the great archers of old?    Fred Bear obviously took a lot of game with a recurve that usually only had a set of brush buttons on it.  In fact, in his videos you can clearly hear his bow when he looses an arrow.  Most of the old-time bowhunters shot heavy arrows, but so do many of us today.  What do you think? I would consider myself as picky as most when it comes to quieting my bow, but I wonder if sometimes I'm focusing on something that isn't really as important as I think it is.

[JEFF B]

hey if it works use em i do they work great. i aint going to change now.  

[BowHuntingFool]

My bows are quiet with no hand shock to begin with, thats why I shoot a Big River. I use silencers to take the twang out of the string. If it works for ya, keep on keepin on brother!

[Jerry Jeffer]

When you are the shooter, you hear much more noise then the game out in front of you. Most animals don't respond very much to the slight sound of a bow (unless you are in TX). By the time they figure it out, it is too late. Unless you have a poorly tuned arrow or a bow that has a messed up brace height, you can usually do with out silencers. The whisper of my longbow is hardly enough to scare game as long as I'm not hunting high pressured animals.

[Bjorn]

Just now I took a 1957 Kodiak 52# @ 28 with an 18 strand B50 Endless loop  string with kissers, and a 600 gn arrow. It was pretty quiet and performed well. Wood I hunt with that? No; but it was a good test. With a 12 strand B50 Flemish string, fur silencers and no kissers the bow is dead silent with the same arrow.

[CG]

Totally agree with the points above.  Anyone have any insight into why silencers weren't used that much back then?  I used to think that no one had thought of it yet, but I've seen plenty of pictures of Fred Bear from years that I know other people were putting silencers on their strings.

[KEG]

The old bows were using dacron strings not fast flight. This would help in being quieter.

[Night Wing]

Both of my Blacktail TD recurves came with Dyna97 bowstrings. With the proper brace of 7 3/4", my 42# recurve shoots a 32" BOP 2117 arrow weighing 657 grains and since the arrow is so heavy, the bowstring doesn't string silencers on it. It's whisper quiet.

[JimB]

We used them in the early sixties and Bear sold them.They make a big difference.For me,brush buttons always increased noise.I know I could make an occasional shot on game without them but I consider them a must and very cheap insurance,like a tuned arrow and sharp broadhead.

[warbird]

Was the string material then more supple than today's modern material?

[ron w]

I cleaned up an old Bear for a friend of mine. It had no string so I made a B-50 14 strand up for it. The bow was 37# @ 28" 66" semi-curve. I draw 29" and I had a couple of 40-45 cedars that I shot out of it with nothing on the string. That bow was and is dead silent upon release. His wife shoot it's now and it's silent even at her draw. I did put 2 wool puffs on just for fun but it didn't need them! I think a lot just depends on the bow, most self bows are silent with just a heavy arrow.

[bornagainbowhunter]

I will always use them, but i don't think they are absolutly necessary.  I have killed deer with Pearson Dead Heads, they whistle when they fly.  By the time the deer looks up, its too late.  One of my friends called it the "death whistle".  

As long as the sound is not alarming deer usually look before they jump or run.  imo

[CG]

KEG--I too thought about dacron.  But having said that, the sound of the bow and string vibrating after the shot with dacron is far more bothersome to my ears than the sound of a non-stretch material.  Basically, to my ears dacron is "noisier" because of that.

Anyway, I have no intentions of taking the silencers off of my strings--just thought it would be interesting to discuss.

[lpcjon2]

Didnt they make the strings out of linen.?

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

??? Just wondering does a deer reacted to bow sound more at cose range or long range ?  Way I see it ... If your close the arrow gets there faster..so , less reaction time. But farther out ...maybe not as loud but more time to reacted. Whats your thoughts on deer reaction to bow sounds ???

I never had one jump the string close..far out ..yes !

[MSwickard]

Personally, I do not like to put anything on the string unless I have too.  Most of my bows do not need it.

With my Griffin and a 6 strand 450+ string and a 678 gr arrow it is whisper quite...only a slight whoooosh.

You just have to figure it out.

Mike

[stevewills]

and lets not forget the animals were not pressured like they are today

[Brad_Gentry]

Originally posted by stevewills:
and lets not forget the animals were not pressured like they are today

I really think it has more to do with this, than anything.

[shortstroke 91]

I don't know if you could hunt deer in Texas without silencers. These animals are wound up so tight that when a mouse farts they jump 4 feet.

[mcgroundstalker]

I like to think that B50 is quieter than FF.

Longbows are quieter than Recurves.

Wood arrows are quieter than hollow arrows.

Heavy arrows are quieter than light arrows.

I need cat whiskers on my strings, cut kinda short.

But... That's just me...     ...

... mike ...