The "Quietest" Longbow

[DaveT1963]

I think any Hill/American style longbow with a proper hunting weight arrow is quietest.  Currently I am amazed at my new JD Berry Vixen - this thing is absolutely quiet with a 500+ grain arrow..... I haven't even put string silencers on it yet.  Now sure about other reflex/defle longbows but my other three longbows (Brackenbury Old Timer, JD Berry Serpentine) are quiet but not as quiet as my new Vixen.

[Fletcher]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Great Northerns.  My Critter Gitter is dead quiet.  The rest of the GN line of bows is known for being quiet, even the Ghost recurves and Fireball.  I have a D/R Osage Royale by Chuck Jones that is silent as well.

[adamgti]

I have a quartermoon bow that is the quietest bow i have ever been around.

[Orion]

There you have it.  90% of the longbows made today are the quietest ever.  And all the kids at Lake Wobegon are above average.      He he he he.

[Rooselk]

Originally posted by Alan Coe:
Any Fred Anderson longbow

I have one. I can't disagree with you on that one. And my Skookum bow doesn't even have string silencers on it.

[DesertDude]

I have a Mowhawk (Sparrowhawk) 66" that's nothing but a whisper........

[Yolla Bolly]

Norhern Mist Whisper (both of 'em)

[joe ashton]

Mohawk and 21 century.

[rnharris]

In order top three bear Montana, Rodney wright firehawk, eaglewing string follow.

The bear Montana is spooky quiet

[grayfeather]

My Legends Cyclone, it is so quiet,very smooth bow.

[Kris]

A very subjective analysis...we have no standard for what loud is for a trad bow, so all are just opinions and are anecdotal at best.  Ask the guy with impaired hearing how quiet his bow is?    

We could use a loudness meter to truly compare one bow to another for the amount of sound being emitted from the shot.  Getting too technical?  Likely, but this wasn't my post.  I did a search online for a decibel meter, they start at around $20.  Even if you weren't comparing two bows against each other for "loudness" you could compare just one bow to itself, to find its "sweet spot", arrived at through tuning.  I might consider this, but have always just used my own hearing.

This from Wiki:

A sound level meter or sound meter is an instrument which measures sound pressure level, commonly used in noise pollution studies for the quantification of different kinds of noise, especially for industrial, environmental and aircraft noise. However, the reading from a sound level meter does not correlate well to human-perceived loudness, which is better measured by a loudness meter. The current international standard that specifies sound level meter functionality and performance is the IEC 61672:2003.

[TSP]

Hills are as quiet as an ant fart.  An ant told me that and they don't lie.

[threeunder]

Quietest I own is my Northern Mist Classic

[VictoryHunter]

My Bama hunter longbow was so silent that I once missed the same buck twice in one sitting and ended getting winded because he circle my stand. The arrows hit the ground and he didnt so much as bat an eye. I am convinced however that any longbow with the proper brace height and a good heavy arrow will shoot silently.

[Goshawkin]

The one with a skinny padded loop Ultracam string shooting heavy arrows.  

[Bladepeek]

Or the one at anchor, about to be released?    

[Ricker]

I have shot many many makes of the American Longbow's (Hill Style) for 25 plus years and they tend to be for me the quiet ones, but my Two Tracks "Echo" string follow profile bow is scary ridiculous quiet. It is 54#@28 and 68" long shooting 615 gr woodies.

[Sixby]

Any string follow with good brace stability is going to be as quiet as a bow can get. With a skinny ff string even better yet;

God bless you all, Steve

[Tradcat]

Looks like the Northern Mist Baraga is the winner so far...it has the most votes in this thread

[Bud B.]

My HH Big Five string follow. I have received many comments/compliments on how quiet she is.