Lets debate if quiet is really important

Originally posted by SuperK:
I want my bow as quiet as I can get it.

X2!

Bisch

[Stephengiles]

Necessary, maybe not but the twang of a bare recurve sure is annoying.MHO.

[Austin Brown]

Same here, I just don't enjoy shooting loud bows.  Only way I can enjoy shooting a recurve is to wrap contact areas of the string with yarn.

[Archie]

I shoot a nice heavy arrow from my bows and they are nice and quiet.  I like them quiet, but am not micro-managing the noise level.

[m midd]

I cant stand a loud bow. All mine are whisper quiet. Does it matter? It does to me. I have killed second arrow deer and just last year i had 5 deer feed under my stand, i shot the lead doe and she just laid down. The other deer did not move, then a really heavy 10 point ran up and i shot him aswell. I dont believe that would have happened with a loud bow.

[Arkansas Osage]

Sound moves alot faster than the arrow, I want as little sound getting to the animal as possible before the arrow can get there.

[Bel007]

I find that anything I obsess about detracts from my experience.  Noisy bow, proper canting, enough FPS, FOC, skinny strings, low stretch, etc., etc.

Nock it, pull it back, push my bow hand to the target, stretch....   that is all I need to worry about.

[Bladepeek]

I realize this may be somewhat apples and oranges, and I like quiet bows as much as the next guy, but I have shot multiple times with a rifle which was definitely NOT quiet.

In Germany, it is the practice to harvest a quota of bucks, does and fawns. You don't shoot a doe with a fawn unless you take the fawn first. I have done that and had the doe look around wondering, not what the noise was, but why her fawn was down.

Given the super hearing ability of deer compared to ours, I find it hard to believe they don't hear a bow. They just often don't recognize it as an immediate danger.

[ChuckC]

I see no reason to add to the stuff that can go wrong by making the deer move with loud equipment.  It is not difficult to quiet most bows and arrows.  View any hunting video and at the shot nearly all of the animals are reacting. They hear something. With trad gear I have had second shot opportunities including at the other animal that was also standing there (besides the one I just hit. I don't recall that opportunity using compound bows or guns.

BTW. .  ChuckA tended to shoot his aniamls at 100 yards or more (teasing) so sound was not as critical for him.
CHuckC

[Lamey]

for me its important as I like quiet bows, no matter if Im going to hunt with them or not.

[Randy Koleno]

I think every situation can be different. Depending on the condition at the time, alertness, wind etc. one deer react harshly, and have another not react at all to the same bow.

 I enjoy shooting a quiet bow more than a loud one, and will put some effort into making them quiet.

[Friend]

There is no debate that silence is golden.

Each situation is different and the animals we pursue reaction may vary greatly.  Under the many 1000’s of situations and animals encountered as by the audience this question is posed, one will encounter situations where a loud bow has scored successfully.

Enhanced silence can do nothing but improve the vantage.

[bgremill]

Well a few people touched on what makes me get all crazy about noise.  It makes my experience more enjoyable.  I hunt with both longbow and recurve; but, I shoot and hunt mostly with a longbow because i just love the fact that i hear nothing but the flight of the arrowafter firing my long bow.
I thought of this post after shooting my recurve for about a week, then picking up my longbow.  Bothare quiet, the longbow is another level of quiet that i just have an addiction to.  Take care all!

[Pete Patterson]

At sea level at 68 degrees F, sound travels at 1125 ft per sec.  With a bow that shoots 170 ft per sec, the sound travels 30 yds .48 seconds faster that the arrow.  For a 20 yard shot the sound gets to the target about a third of a second faster than the arrow.

You judge your comfort level with whether the deer can jump the string or not in those time differences.

[wtpops]

I understand what you are saying. I do think it is important but not to the point of pulling what little hair i have left out of my head. I get my bow as quite as i possibly can with the knowledge i have and then hunt and don't give it a second thought from there.

[Brock]

to me it has to do with how alert the animal is you are shooting toward.  I have had whitetail at less than 10 yards do absolutely nothing after my shot as they fed by and I missed by shooting high out of a tree stand due to the angle and my own mistakes....  This was with a Habu which is not known to be a real quiet bow.  I have shot and missed a doe at 12 yards and had her twitch and take a step sideways...and look at arrow in ground and continue walking.

All of these were unalert, no idea I was there....so I dont think noise matters on an unalert deer and they stiffen up and start looking at most...

Now get the same deer that see movement or something is not right.....doing the side to side heat weave trying to see what you are....and they are going to jump EVERY SINGLE SHOT no matter how quiet.

I think they see the movement of your release hands/arm and bow.....and react to it along with the movement of arrow as they are already staring towards you looking for MOVEMENT.

When they are looking away or otherwise unaware of your presence,  I have never had one drop significantly to "jump the string/duck the arrow"....  I like mine quiet as possible but convinced that is more for our benefit rather than our intended targets...if that was the case a crossgun or modern bow shooting light arrows would never get anything.

[ishoot4thrills]

I am currently using silencers on my bow but it isn't very loud at all without them either.

I have often wondered if it really makes any difference how loud a bow is unless it is absolutely, totally without any noise at all. I mean, the deer is gonna hear it anyway if it makes a noise so it's gonna react at the sound no matter how faint or loud it is, right?            :confused:

In the meantime, I'll still use silencers on my hunting bow, but that's still subject to change without notice.......

[Bowwild]

I've used silencers on most of the bows since 1970. Some of the most modern bows that I no longer hunt with (you know the ones) don't require any silencers on the strings because of other developments.

I've always silenced my recurves but I've never gotten one absolute whisper quiet. In 44 years of bowhunting, probably averaging 1 deer a year (lots of 2-3 year droughts in the early days and 2-3 deer a year for the past 15 or so) I've never had a deer "jump the string".

I don't hunt public land deer and the private lands I hunt are only lightly so. I'm extremely careful to shoot at unaware deer when they aren't able to see me.

I agree with what several have offered that the movement of the shot may have more to do with alerting the beast than the noise.

[nineworlds9]

I mean a glass bow is gonna make some kinda bit of sound in the end, even a Hill bow, if you're gonna make sound your ultimate factor go with a self bow with a dacron string and some puffs, there is no comparison.  my little osage Hill bow i've been trying to sell is SILLY quiet. but it's only 40# also and prolly only does 140 fps on a good day?  More fps/more power means more potential for noise imho.  I enjoy shooting a quiet bow more than a loud bow.

[overbo]

It must be!
You see it all the time in the classifieds.So Smooth,so fast,and so quiet but if the bow has so many so's.Why is it for sale?

Anyway,
Not really necessary but seems to be a very desired quality.