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The Stabilizer

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The Stabilizer

Postby Swede » 04 21, 2017 •  [Post 1]

I purchased a new stabilizer yesterday. I was convinced it would help my accuracy. I was surprised at how much. The stabilizer allows for more or less side lean and more or less weight forward. All of that by just adjusting where you move it around. In addition I can add or subtract weight front, rear or both which would affect the side lean.
When I was done with the adjustments; my groups of 6 arrows were all in a 2 inch circle at 20 yards. Not bad for an old geezer. In fact the pro on duty at the shop, said I was in the top 5% for people my age. Dang! If he had just left off that little caveat.
Notice I did not specify the make and model of the stabilizer. If you are going to do it right, go to a pro shop and try a few. If you are fortunate enough to get a knowledgeable pro he/she can be a big help in the selection and set up of your stabilizer. When I left the shop I was satisfied my stabilizer was set up well for me.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Elkhntr08 » 04 23, 2017 •  [Post 2]

It is amazing how many people just screw on whatever looks cool or what their buddy shoots.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Wahpeton » 04 23, 2017 •  [Post 3]

I'm part of that ignorant bunch.

I've just never thought about having a stabilizer shoot off to see which one is best for me.

I should do that. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby ORelksniper » 04 23, 2017 •  [Post 4]

So, Swede, are ya gonna give us a brand name? I would be interested in a stabilizer that balances out my bow. My local pro shop is well equipped but operates on a customer popularity and $$ spent on new bows scale. I don't buy a new bow every year so I'd better know what I want when I go in there.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Swede » 04 23, 2017 •  [Post 5]

I purchased the Trophy Ridge XS Sidebar. I found it works very well for me. It is highly adjustable. It is not a simple screw it in and done deal. I think the adjustability makes it work well for each individual shooter. It took me several adjustments before I felt it was optimal. At first it was actually in my way. As I adjusted it, things worked better, and it was no longer slowing down my getting ready to shoot.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby ORelksniper » 04 23, 2017 •  [Post 6]

Thanks. I will check it out.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby jmez » 04 25, 2017 •  [Post 7]

Good post Swede. I agree, if you find the right combination your pin float will decrease significantly and you will shoot better. If you are in the I can shoot just as well without a stabilizer camp, ( I was for many years) I'd say you haven't found the right combination.

I have the good fortune of sharing elk camp with a very good 3-D shooter. We talked about this a few years ago and he sent me his entire setup to play with. Bars from 6 inches all the way to 36 and an entire assortment of weights. I played with all of it for about a month and when I have a ten inch bar with 4oz of weight on the front there is a significant decrease in my pin float and feel at full draw. When you hit that right combination it is an Aha moment for sure. A stabilizer is not something you can just order or buy. You have to keep trying different combinations, when you get the correct one you will know immediately.

Levi Morgan also wrote an article, I think in Field and Stream a couple years back about bows, accuracy and shooting. At the end they asked him what the #1 thing bowhunters could do to increase accuracy and improve shooting. His answer was to get the correct stabilizer setting for their bow and shooting style.

I use a 10 inch B stinger bar with 2 2oz weights.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Swede » 04 25, 2017 •  [Post 8]

I found my old stabilizer made a little difference in accuracy and I believe it helped quiet the bow. The new stabilizer makes a significant difference in my shooting pattern size.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Brendan » 04 25, 2017 •  [Post 9]

The shorter the stabilizer, the less "stabilizing" that it actually does. If you shoot one of those little 6" rubber ones - really all it's doing is adding a little mass to the bow, and absorbing vibration to help quiet it down, but it probably won't make you any more accurate or consistent. Because a stabilizer works on mechanical advantage, the longer the rod is - the harder it becomes to torque the bow. Conversely, your bow will get more and more front heavy, so at some point you may need to consider a rear bar.

Good reading here, and better than I can explain it.

http://www.archerylearningcenter.com/blog/stabilizers
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Tigger » 04 26, 2017 •  [Post 10]

I haven't dedicated any of my limited brain space to stabilizers so this is a great thread! I was thinking of screwing a Tactacam in and calling that my stabilizer. Not as good as the proper stabilizer I am sure by I am hoping it might help a little?
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby pointysticks » 04 26, 2017 •  [Post 11]

i use a relatively short stabilizer. B-stoker if i remember the name right.

it does a few things for me. holds on my wrist sling. dampens some vibration, and sometimes i feel this is the most damn important thing: it gives me a few additional ways to hold my bow while hiking. my fav is i hook the stab over my shoulder and i can damn near glass with both hands with the bow riding on my shoulder like a pirate's parrot.

shooting? i shoot fine. i learned to embrace the dancing dot..moving center of balance out there is helpful, but for me it is great i can shoot without a complicated system.

i have friends that are such weight weenies..they have no stabilizer. i watch my buddy Jack pin a deer at 92 yards..

there are many ways to skin a cat. i personally wont call a stabilizer-less guy less smart than the one running the best rig.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby lamrith » 04 26, 2017 •  [Post 12]

Stabilizers can make a huge difference, however often it can be a "whatever works" for a hunting bow. A very important factor that people need to keep in mind in this off-season when looking at a change and gear is "how and where you hunt".
I would love to have a nice long 9" stabilizer, or something like that XZ Sidebar on my bow, but something like that I just do not think would work well run-n-gun hunting in the place I hunt. In fact I have an Elite E35 and last year after a few days I was contemplating pulling out my old Carbon Knight (32ata) just to have something smaller to bust thru the brush with. I didn't swap out love the E35 to much, but it crossed my mind. Stabilizers are great and make a big difference, but like everything it is all a balancing act of performance vs function.

Just food for thought. This is a great thread about an important piece of equipment for your bow worth spending time on.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Swede » 04 26, 2017 •  [Post 13]

Larry you make a very good point. I know if I am out run & gun hunting with you, I will probably remove the stabilizer. Likely I will remove the stabilizer and use the back-up 29 3/4 in. A2A bow. I would guess in the brush you consider your quiver situation some too.
I realize I have gotten to think like a true tree stand hunter. The thought of busting through heavy brush hardly crosses my mind.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby lamrith » 04 27, 2017 •  [Post 14]

Swede wrote:Larry you make a very good point. I know if I am out run & gun hunting with you, I will probably remove the stabilizer. Likely I will remove the stabilizer and use the back-up 29 3/4 in. A2A bow. I would guess in the brush you consider your quiver situation some too.
I realize I have gotten to think like a true tree stand hunter. The thought of busting through heavy brush hardly crosses my mind.

Well you have done very well with your style of hunting, so it is all good! Don't mean or want to rain on your parade, this is a very good thread. I just wanted to make sure people consider environment as well for their hunting bow. Worst thing is getting to hunting camp or days before you leave and realizing you need to change something on the bow you have been splitting vanes with. These stinky beasts can humble us enough on their own without losing confidence in our equipment before we even hit the woods.

The terrain we were in was not too bad when we stayed on the trail, it is those impromptu jumps into the rabbit hole that it could make a difference on. Good point about the quiver, though I did not notice that being an issue as much given how it fits within the shape of the bow itself, just a little bit thicker. I do have my quiver set pretty high on the bow tough so the head is up even with my top limb. This is because my arrows are so long(30.6"shaft, 31.2" with BH) that they would stick way out below the bow, setting quiver high the arrows are even with the lower limb rather than hanging down.

Probably not fair throwing telephone poles at elk, but gotta do what gotta do!
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Backyard » 04 27, 2017 •  [Post 15]

I don't run much of a stabilizer myself. It's more of a shock absorber than stabilizer at just over 3".
I used to run a longer one, but when I got a new bow a couple years ago, I decided to compare shots with and without in preparation for carrying it all day elk hunting. I found that it really didn't help much more in stabilizing with a long vs. a short. So I opted for the shorter and lighter 3"(at least on shots 40yds and under). The weight difference is worth it in my opinion. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not an ounce counter by any means, but I do know what is more comfortable to me at the end of a day of humping a mountain looking for elk.
Practice, practice, practice. And if you take your time on your shots...
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Swede » 04 27, 2017 •  [Post 16]

Backyard, I agree with you. If after trying some stabilizers and adjusting them for your application; and you see no difference, why buy and carry one? If you can see no difference, they make no difference. I could actually see the difference is less movement and tighter groups and I am glad I have mine. One thing I would point out is that a 3 inch stub or an old long stabilizer is hardly a fair test. I have a friend that thought a stabilizer looked cool so he welded one up for his bow. He never said it helped his shooting, but it looked good.
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 04 27, 2017 •  [Post 17]

I have a short, hunting STAB on both my bows and am not sure it helps with the bow's accuracy? I guess its supposed to help with vibration but really, I use one mostly to hold on my bow sling. A guy has gotta have a bow sling, yes? ;)
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Re: The Stabilizer

Postby Roosiebull » 04 27, 2017 •  [Post 18]

RJ, I have never used a bow sling..tried one a couple times and it feels very awkward to me.

I did take my stabilizer off a few days ago just to check it out, and my stabilizer does help, and does take the vibration buzz away...
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