# tuning your bow by the shelf material



## fountain (Jul 19, 2010)

learned something else this weekend:


rick welch tunes his bow by rest material.  softer material (velcro) makes the arrow stiffer, harder material (leather) makes it weaker.  he is not a stickler for shaft tuning..shooting left?..put some leather on the side plate..weaker arrow..presto!  game on.

same can go for the up/down as well.

this was the half i did understand..what i dont understand is where they start at picking arrows...and he shoots 425...at all times (45-60+ lb bows)  execpt maybe some tournament arrows..but tell me this...how can that arrow spine out right for the higher poundages????????????  it seems to me that they are shooting stiff, light arrows...maybe im missing something..and maybe chris can chime in and tell me i wasnt paying attention to the seminar and was off in space when he covered this.

i have done it though..took a 75/95, cut it to the front of the shelf at full draw, added 125 gr points and went to shooting..and they flew straight and did not bounce off the shelf..out of a 48 lb bow!!!

i also shot gt 35/55 full length with 125 gr points in the same bow and my predator with good flight and hit goos as well

rod jenkins--bare shaft tuner
rick welch--"dont worry bout bare shafting or arrow tuning...spend that time on practicing accuracy"

bot contradicted each other in the seminars..both are world class shooters..which tells me this..do what works for YOU and you think is the right thing for YOU...even if it is shooting upside down and your eyes closed..if you hit good and mean to..then stay with it.


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## missalot (Jul 19, 2010)

i have heard that also..fred bear tuned his bow to the arrow with side plate matarial,most people now a days tune the arrow to the bow.


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## Al33 (Jul 19, 2010)

Very interesting TJ. Up until recently I used leather for both the shelf and the plate but went to stick on velcro. I also recently noticed my arrows (5575's) are not flying like they once did. Thanks to this thread I now suspect why. Thanks!!!


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## pseman (Jul 19, 2010)

Makes you wonder about all that tuning huh? I do bareshaft my shafts and like to have them shooting straight and grouping with my fletched arrows. I shoot .400 spine arrows with a 30" draw and they will bareshaft perfect. With that said, Rick Welch could most likely outshoot me with a kids bow and rebar for arrows. 

I think bareshafting really shines at long distances(40+ yards) although I have to take others word for that because I ain't likely to even scare anything at those distances.


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## gurn (Jul 19, 2010)

both contradicted each other in the seminars..both are world class shooters..which tells me this..do what works for YOU and you think is the right thing for YOU...even if it is shooting upside down and your eyes closed..if you hit good and mean to..then stay with it. 

That was both wise and refreshing and ah jewel of a thought. I think you are my new expert.  
Some folks done taught there self out of that.
Thanks


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## BigJim Bow (Jul 20, 2010)

Way too many people spend there time worrying about every little thing in stead of that little thing down range on the target. 
Go ahead and tune your bow and or arrows until you have them shooting well and then .... spend the rest of your time tuneing your eyes.
Using the shelf material to tune is  certainly cheaper than changeing out arrows. It should work for many as long as your in the right spine category. 
Just a side note for ya'll that like to shoot really light arrows- I sold my personal buffalo bow to a fine fellow who had a little bit of a time shootin it so he sold it to another. The last fellow sent me an email about the tip breaking.
Now I peersonally have shot this bow a couple of thousand times plus with no problems. When I asked this new fella about the condition of the bow when he got it, he said it was in great condition and that he probably cause the issue by shooting arrow that were a little light.
What we determined is that he was shooting about 5.5 g per lb of bow weight and after about 25 shots, the string tore right down through the glass tips and 4" into the top limb. Maybe it was because he was shooting about 80Lbs at his draw and arrow that were too light. Maybe he could have gotten by using 5.5 g per lb on a 50lb bow or less, or maybe his need to see an arrow flying 250 feet per second out of a longbow cost him his new bow. 

Whatever it was, he said he fell in love with it and wanted another identical to it at his expense. I apreciate his honesty and honered him with a discount.

Bigjim


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## frankwright (Jul 20, 2010)

I agree with Big Jim, I have never bare shafted or worried about all the computer formulas for tuning a longbow.
I adjust brace height, nock height and arrow weight until I get the arrow flying good and then I am done with it.


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## BigJim Bow (Jul 20, 2010)

Frank- I believe in bare shafting. After it is tuned though, I leave it alone and only check that when something in my equipment changes. But when I'm shooting poorly, or inconsistently, I try to keep my attention on the shot at hand instead of changeing every little thing. Some people are changing things so much, they couldn't hardly maintain any sort of consistency.

bigjim


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## 2wheelfoster (Jul 20, 2010)

I have to agree with Gurn...do what works best for you and practice with that. 

I use to get on a forum for my motorcycle. The more I read I realized that many of the guys had gotten themselves in a mess by trying too many things at once, then they didn't know where they were or what to do ti fix it. I would also read about a problem that one guy had, go ride my bike and think my bike had the same problem... Once I went back to just riding it didn't have any problems at all. 

Do what works best for you and stick with it!  Big Jim said it best "Way too many people spend there time worrying about every little thing in stead of that little thing down range on the target. Go ahead and tune your bow and or arrows until you have them shooting well and then .... spend the rest of your time tuneing your eyes."


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## robert carter (Jul 20, 2010)

I never worried much about bareshaft shooting. If it hits where I`m looking and flys good I ....shoot.RC


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## Barry Duggan (Jul 20, 2010)

I like to bareshaft, but it's only a step toward getting arrows to fly correctly with broadheads.


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## hogdgz (Jul 20, 2010)

Thanks for shareing TJ.


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