bow silencers

Crossbow Hunting

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bill morrison
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bow silencers

Post by bill morrison »

i have read on a number of posts on this forum that the string silencers such as puffs or the string leach do not help the noise level of the crossbow,yet nearly every photo of the bows in the kills have some type served onto the string. just wondering if it is more for the shooters piece of mind or do they work to some extent and are they served on to the string or served into the string like on a compound.
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Post by Pydpiper »

The silencers on my Boo string are served on to the string, not in it.
The trade off for speed to the actual benifit is well worth it as far as I am concerned.
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Cossack
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Post by Cossack »

ANYTHING on the string or out on the limbs slows arrow speed somewhat, with little appreciable difference in noise level. My (guess) is that most folks transition to crossbows from verts where string noise suppressors are a common, so......
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Post by Pydpiper »

Kinda going full circle here, but I will give my experience with silencers on a crossbow.
My first attempt was those fluffy felt pads, I obviously put them on wrong, first shot they both flew off, one smacked me in the cheek, I added that to the things on my bow that have hit me, along with a dryfired string, rope cocker handle and the battery door on my defective rangefinder.

My Boo string that is on my bow was served when I got it, over 2 years ago, it has been rained on, frozen, coated in ice and shot, they show absolutly no sign of wear, not even a little. I would guess that string probably has close to 2000 shots on it. The string it's self is begining to fray, it has served it's purpose and may soon be retired, in another year. The served on cat whiskers look the way they did when I got the string.

The whiskers themselves did not make a noticable difference in speed, not enough to justify adjusting my scope anyways. The difference in noise was also minimal, but the difference in vibration was enough to make me keep them on.

Making a crossbow quiet to hunt with is a pipe dream, and I won't pretend that I have a silent bow.
However, out of those 2000+ shots only a few were done while hunting, all the rest were done for pleasure, just standing in one spot and cocking and shooting my bow for days and days, THAT is when you start to appreciate the little things. I don't mean 10 shots a few times a week or a 40 shot shooting session, I mean spending a half a day shooting arrows until my back hurts, testing arrows, fletching combinations, broadheads, weather variations....
If the whiskers are put on correctly the benifits will outweigh the minor disadvantage of a fractional loss of speed.
I am not a fan of silencers, but I am a fan of anything I can do to make my shooting more pleasurable, hunting is a whole other entity.
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longwinters
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Post by longwinters »

So, are compound xbow manufacturers able to quiet their xbows? I don't know how if recurve xbows cannot be really silenced. Yet some sure advertise that they are. I have a STS ordered but my motivation is protection from dry fire. Which really should never happen any more than an accidental fire with a rifle. Unless a person forgets to put an arrow on. And also hopefully to take some vibration out at the shot. I would agree that types of string silencers would help out here as well.

When I order a string we'll see about a string anti-vibration device :)

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cabinfever
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Post by cabinfever »

At 20-30 yards with out any silencers the arrow will hit the deer before it can react. All they are good for is looks and they make your wallet fit in your pockets better.
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VixChix
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Post by VixChix »

cabinfever wrote:At 20-30 yards with out any silencers the arrow will hit the deer before it can react. All they are good for is looks and they make your wallet fit in your pockets better.
I have to say I've come to think that way too. This summer I started shooting my bow naked and noisy. At first it bothered me a bit, but it didn't take long before it didn't even register with me anymore. No big deal!
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wabi
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Post by wabi »

Noise & vibration are much the same. You cannot silence a crossbow to the point a deer can't hear it, but you can reduce the noise & vibration to make it more pleasant to shoot.
I don't get too concerned about the noise. I even removed the disipator bars to reduce weight/maintenance and don't really miss them.
With a fastflight string and no silencers it makes more noise, but with a Boo string and "catwhiskers" or a dacron string the noise is similar to the fastflight with the DBs installed.
I started with a minimum weight arrow and added weight until I noticed a noise/vibration reduction. For my ears (and my bow - Phoenix) that weight was around 380 grains. I use arrows weighing 380 grains (or slightly more) from my bow.

I did recently buy a new set of silencers that use 2 AAA batteries, but I haven't tried them with my crossbow yet. They are the ear muffs with electronic circuitry to block sounds above 85db. The are "weird" feeling with a muzzleloader, though. :lol: I put them on the other day when I was going to check my sights and when I snapped a cap to clear the nipple of oil I could see the grass in front of the muzzle move from the force of the cap, but heard no noise! I'm going to try them with the crossbow one of these days just to see if it makes enough noise to kick on the blocking circuitry.
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Grizzly Adam
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Post by Grizzly Adam »

Here's my perspective from having killed deer with a longbow that is so silent you can hear the "whick" of the arrow on the hair plate as it passes, and the "tick" of the snap-on nock separating from the string, and the "thrumm" of the string as it comes to rest:

The deer still hear the ARROW COMING!

And I can hear them too, as they ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP toward the target!

I've killed a lot of deer with archery equipment, and I am of the opinion that almost every deer begins to react to the sound of the approaching arrow, however quiet the bow.

Quiet is good, but fast is better.

As fast as Excals are, you don't have much to worry about. Take sensible shots at calm deer, and you're golden. 8)
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michiganman
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Post by michiganman »

Take sensible shots at calm deer, and you're golden.

your right here,the doe that beat me at 22 yards was ready to bolt,and did.
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rt2bowhunter
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Post by rt2bowhunter »

My Ibex is all decked out. I even filled the rail with foam rubber. A buddy of mine bought a Phoenix he left his stock. Shooting the bows side by side. Mine has no felt vibration while his rings in your hand. Mine is a little bit quieter. As far as keeping a deer from hearing it no hope. But mine is funner to shoot and not one lose screw. The key to a quiet bow is arrow weight. A trad shooter shoots a arrow from 10 to 12# some more per pound of bow weight. A compound bow at 60# shooting a 400gr arrow is right at 6.5gr per pound. A 400gr arrow out of my Ibex is like 2.3gr per pound. And a deer can hear them all.
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Post by warningshot »

get a custom boo string with cat whiskers ...you will be amazed by how much vibe and quieter the bow is ....you can actually watch the arrow in flight ....
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Strikenmike
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Post by Strikenmike »

Whenever I touch my arrow, or sometimes when I am knocking the arrow before shooting, I hear an annoying "twang" or vibration sound. I am shooting about 400 grain Gold Tip carbons. My broad heads are tight, etc. What is that? Is it just the sound resonating in the metal frame of the Phoenix?

Would heavier shafts affect that sound?

Has anyone tried filling the frame with foam? Do you think that would do anything other than add weight.

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Post by old fart jim »

VixChix wrote:
cabinfever wrote:At 20-30 yards with out any silencers the arrow will hit the deer before it can react. All they are good for is looks and they make your wallet fit in your pockets better.
I have to say I've come to think that way too. This summer I started shooting my bow naked and noisy. At first it bothered me a bit, but it didn't take long before it didn't even register with me anymore. No big deal!
Oh My God, Vix Chic running thru the woods naked and noisy shooting her bow. did I read that right :twisted:
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Post by Pydpiper »

old fart jim wrote:
VixChix wrote:
cabinfever wrote:At 20-30 yards with out any silencers the arrow will hit the deer before it can react. All they are good for is looks and they make your wallet fit in your pockets better.
I have to say I've come to think that way too. This summer I started shooting my bow naked and noisy. At first it bothered me a bit, but it didn't take long before it didn't even register with me anymore. No big deal!
Oh My God, Vix Chic running thru the woods naked and noisy shooting her bow. did I read that right :twisted:
You sure did read it right, I just seen a picture of her bow, it has whiskers, so we know it isn't naked. :wink:
Good thing mosquito season is over here!
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