I know that this is the bow hunting forum and not the archery forum but I thought that you guys might be able to help me.

My son got interested in archery through the cub scouts so for Christmas I got him a bow and set up a little range for him on our property.

We do not have any archery shops near by so I did a little research on the internet and got the bow from Cabelas. I got him the PSE Razorback Jr Recurve Bow in 15 pound draw and a set of Gold tip youth Lighting Arrows. I put an arrow rest on the bow and set the nock stop ½” above the arrow rest.

We took it down to the range an have been shooting it, he is having fun but I dont think that it is shooting right. When you release the arrow the tail end seems to kick out (up and to the left). It eventually stabilizes but the accuracy is not that good. I have shot it and it does the same thing for me.

I don't have a bow shop near by to take it so I am looking for any advice to help me get this set up for my son.

Any idea what I am doing wrong?

I have attached links to the components that I have in case that would help


[URL= http://www.cabelas.com/product...rch-All+Products]Bow Link[/URL]


Arrow Link


Arrow Rest Link

Thanks!

It sounds to me like the "centershot" is not adjusted properly for the bow. When the arrow is passing the bow, it's kicking off the arrow rest. An adjustable Berger Button or plunger would help you to correct that.

It's also possible that the fletching on the arrows is contacting the bow's riser causing the arrow to deflect.

I'm sure someone else will chime in with other possibilities...

1/2" is too high in most cases. Try about 1/8" above the line perpendicular from the rest to the string.

Left-right adjustments- this will get you in the ball park. Hang the bow by the string from a hook or coat hanger with the arrow nocked on the string. So, you are looking at the floor, the bow is between you and the floor with the arrow pointing at the floor. The arrow should be darn near divided in two along the length of the shaft by the string. If the rest is too far out or in, you will see the arrow divided by the string only part way. Adjust it so it appears it divides the arrow from nock to tip.

That should get you close to start with without going into a lot of other things. Tell me the arrows are not for grown ups and are not 30" long. Get on the internet and look up arrow spine...that should help a lot.

If you are still having troubles, you can PM me or look to ArcheryTalk.com for more guidance.

Cheers and Happy New Year ,

Matt

Thanks guys I think that you are on to something. I mounted the bow in my vise the way it would hang from the string and took two pictures. One with the arrow mounted in the arrow rest and the other with the arrow sitting about .100" out from the wood above the arrow rest (not sure what it is called).

Here is it with the rest



Here it is sitting just above the rest with a .100" gap between the arrow and the wood.



You can see that in the first picture the arrow is kicked out by the rest.

Here is a picture of the rest, it appears to have a little tab that is kicking the arrow out.



So it appears to be the rest that is causing the problem. I got this rest because it hooks on the arrow. Because my son has trouble with the arrow coming off the rest when he draws back the bow. I wonder if I cut that little tab if this rest would work or if I need to go to something different?

What do you guys think?

Thanks for the help!

If he is having a problem with the arrow coming off of the rest, this is usually a problem with putting to much pressure on the nock well it is between his fingers. Try having him not squeeze the nock so hard.

Peter

You might want to try a rest like this...

NAP Flipper Rest

That way, you can adjust the rest in/out until you get good arrow flight.

I am not a pro at all. But the whisker biscuit style rests can be better for beginners and even for pretty good archers. Another thing that I didnt see is to use a pretty good release like the wrist drawn trigger style. The three finger release doesn't work as well with new bows,

If you don't feel like stepping up to a release yet, one of these shooting gloves helped me a lot back when I was still finger shooting.
http://www.cabelas.com/product...FrecordsPerPage%3D18

Peter

quote:

Originally posted by TexKD:
I am not a pro at all. But the whisker biscuit style rests can be better for beginners and even for pretty good archers. Another thing that I didnt see is to use a pretty good release like the wrist drawn trigger style. The three finger release doesn't work as well with new bows,

If the original poster had gotten his son a modern compound bow with a short axle to axle length, I'd agree that a release would make to easier and more accurate shooting. However, with a traditional bow, a release isn't used as the "axle to axle" length is more than sufficient to draw the bow comfortably with fingers.

The bow still needs to be set up correctly on the centershot, and then the young man just needs to practice, Practice, PRACTICE if he wants to get good.

With traditional archery, there are few shortcuts to accuracy...

If the arrows have plastic vanes I'd ditch them and fletch the arrows with feathers. Do this and you can ditch the rest and shoot off of the shelf. Just line the shelf with moleskin.

Any time I've had issues with a recurve it had to do with the rest. I quit trying flippers, shoot-arounds and springs and just shoot off the shelf with feathers.

As far as your son having trouble with the arrow falling off, have him cant the bow when he shoots. If he tips the top of the bow to the right gravity will hold the arrow against the bow.

quote:

Originally posted by Shof:

quote:

Originally posted by TexKD:
I am not a pro at all. But the whisker biscuit style rests can be better for beginners and even for pretty good archers. Another thing that I didnt see is to use a pretty good release like the wrist drawn trigger style. The three finger release doesn't work as well with new bows,

If the original poster had gotten his son a modern compound bow with a short axle to axle length, I'd agree that a release would make to easier and more accurate shooting. However, with a traditional bow, a release isn't used as the "axle to axle" length is more than sufficient to draw the bow comfortably with fingers.

The bow still needs to be set up correctly on the centershot, and then the young man just needs to practice, Practice, PRACTICE if he wants to get good.

With traditional archery, there are few shortcuts to accuracy...

Thanks Shof. I don't pretend to know anything about this archery stuff. I just got back to it more with my family. I had last had bows when the compound bow was a new thing from Bear. LOL

That said, and while not appropriate here for the OP, these new compound bows with releases and yes gaad the whisker biscuit are way better than even 5 or 10 years ago in terms of ease to shoot better and faster.

This is a recurve; the arrow has to kick out to the left to go around the riser.

The spline of the arrow is what is governing the kick. To stiff an arrow and the arrow will not kick enough to go around the riser and to weak and it will kick to far.

If it is to stiff, which I am guessing it is, it is probably slapping the riser and then kicking out.

Get some powder foot spray and spray the side of the riser all around the rest. Shoot a few arrows and see wee the powder is rubbed off; that is were the arrow is hitting.

With the style of rest you are using there will probably be some contact, but if the arrow shaft is hitting rather than the fletch the arrow is the wrong spine.

You can check to see what part of the arrow is hitting by spraying the shaft and fletch and not the riser and then look to see where it comes off, other than where it has been pulled across the rest.

Also make sure you are using feathers as a fletch, rather than plastic vanes with a rest such as this.

also make sure he is not twisting his hand as he pulls back. If the fingers twist to the right it will pull the arrow off every time.

It is very important that he develops the proper form now or he will be doing it wrong forever.

quote:

Originally posted by Lapidary:
If the arrows have plastic vanes I'd ditch them and fletch the arrows with feathers. Do this and you can ditch the rest and shoot off of the shelf. Just line the shelf with moleskin.

Any time I've had issues with a recurve it had to do with the rest. I quit trying flippers, shoot-arounds and springs and just shoot off the shelf with feathers.

As far as your son having trouble with the arrow falling off, have him cant the bow when he shoots. If he tips the top of the bow to the right gravity will hold the arrow against the bow.

Please search for "O.L. Adcock Bow tuning recurves and longbows". It's a great bow tuning primer. Also, might download the Easton Archery arrow tuning guide. They'll explain making the arrow's spine match the bow (and how to test with paper tuning/bare shaft testing). With compounds, the rest is screw-adjustable for matching centershot. But you can do effectively the same thing with recurves/longbows. Also, as stated above, plastic fletches sometimes don't shoot well off recurve or longbow rests. And you have to avoid squeezing the arrow's nock as you draw the bow.

HTH,
Steve

Seeing your set up for a rest I have a recommendation: Use a heat gun and warm the plastic then push it close to the rise and hold it in place with a piece of wood until it cools. You should be able to bring the arrow rest closer to the riser.

I shot many recurve bows when I was younger. I always tore those rests off and shot off the shelf with adhesive backed fur/moleskin.

It is okay for him to cant the bow a bit to keep the arrow on the shelf and have it not fall off.

Matt

There are so many things that effect accuracy when shooting fingers AND a recurve its hard to say. Many of these have been brought up. shooting a bow is all about repitition.Doing everything the same every time.It could be the anchor point,release, or a dozen other things. If he had never shot a bow until now,I would have him work on his anchor point and release. Have him shoot at 10ft and close his eyes when he shoots so he doesnt try to watch his arrow.
Pushing the bow makes an arrow do CRAZY stuff. Its really hard to tune a bow until the shooter gets comfortable with it. Wish I could help more. LOVE to see young people get into such a great sport. My hat is off to you.