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quietest recurve configuration

11K views 40 replies 20 participants last post by  Seven Arrows 
#1 ·
Being such a newbie to traditional archery but primarily a hunter I have another dumb question.
Which recurve configuration is the quietest?
Daala Das connection?
Ilf connectionwood or metal risers?
regular takedown recurve?
or a one piece recurve?

I ask because I was watching some hunting videos from Rick Welch on youtube.
I dont know what bows these guys were using but of the deer killed most of them jumped the string a bit and Im pretty sure it was from noise. Most of the bows seemed loud.
 
#5 ·
The more different individual pieces and parts to a bow, the more items which have an opportunity to vibrate and rattle.

Also, The better tuned your bow is the more quiet, in general.

The heavier your arrows, grains per pound, the more energy they absorb. This means your bow absorbs less of that energy in the form of vibration, heat etc and the less noisy it is, potentially.

Many other factors too. Quality of your release. Your tab or glove can contribute. What type of string on your bow. How the string contacts the limb tips. Bow quivers can rattle too.

Guess my answer to your question is, there is no simple answer. Bow design plays a part, but a solid one-piece wood longbow can be loud if it is not tuned well, or is shooting really light arrows, or you have lousy release etc.

So tune your bow, try some heavier arrows, pay attention to your release, arrow rest. Some guys on here have tricks for quieting up ILF limb connections too.

I've had a dozen or more bows. Great Northern Fireball and DAS MAster with Border Hex5 recurve limbs using beaver fur string silencers have been the two quietest for me. I've had some D-shaped longbows that seemed to always have a noticeable "thunk" to them.
 
#7 ·
I don't think you can make a bow quite enough that a deer can't hear it. The two best killers I know(over 300 big game animals each, deer and hogs) don't try to shoot real quite bows. They both just get close and shoot low.
 
#11 ·
Some limbs are naturally more noisy than others but!!!!!! DAS connections on the original configuration with the rubber pad will be the MOST quiet,,generally.. Now I have shot some of our sponsors Bows,,,Dryads are especially quiet! They just go,,,,booomp,,,,. I have a Tracker warf that has DAS connections and original DAS plates (my personal favorite) with Sky shorts at 46 pounds,,60 inch Bow,, just pretty quiet!

Went hun ting with a guy 15 years ago,,,he was shooting an Oneida compound,,,sounded like a 22 going off!!!!! Could hear him shoot at Javelina quarter mile away in his stand,,,lol:)
 
#16 ·
Quietest bow I've ever shot, or heard shot,,,, an osage selfbow. Nothing but a puff sound.

Behind that a set of dryad longbow limbs on a das riser. Same minimal noise.but just a bit more noise than the selfbow.

Easiest bow for me to get hunting quiet,,das riser with winex limbs.

Hardest to get quiet,, a particular ilf set up that I wont name the maker. Maybe as much my fault as the riser. But I have issues getting any ilf connection as quiet as I want them
 
#17 ·
as mentioned earlier there are an awful lot of variables in making a bow quiet, note that I do not say noise-free.

As a generalizations I'd opine that:
Awell tuned one piece wood recurve will be quieter than a TD.
A well tuned wood three piece with a SOLID, two or three bolt limb mounting system will be quieter than one with one bolt and a peg and probably quieter than many metal risered 3 piece TDs.
A DAS was specifically designed to be a quiet hunting bow and will be easier to get quiet for most shooters than an ILF metal riser bow. After all the DAS is a solid 2-bolt system and was designed with noise attenuating ads in the "pocket" floor. Some of the metal ILFs were built more like banjos that bows in some regards.
A shoot from the shelf set-up will be quieter than many metal elevated rests.
You can figure that the more "things" there are on the bow the more potentialities they can be noise generators and require more effort to make/keep quiet

However the end result is always a result of the combination of ALL the factors and the skill of the person setting them up. A poor set up of course, can reverse any or all of the generalities I suggest.

There can be any number of noise sources aside from just the riser and limb set and setup. Bow attachments can add noise, poor string choice and setup (more properly included in "well-tuned" I guess) arrow weight and material, string to arrow nock fit, glove or tab material and configuration, there there is the archer him (or her)-self-----its amazing/amusing what some archers unconsciously do while shooting.

bear in mind as a hunter, that not all noise is the same on the range as it is in the woods--thank goodness--and that some noises are more natural and less likely to cause a 'stage three alert" than others (one reason I gave up aluminum arrows many years ago).

My own quietest TD bow is a short 14" Morrison solid phenolic riser shot off the shelf with Bob's carbon foam LB limbs; but its pretty well set-up, on release there is nothing but the hiss of the arrow in flight and the thunk of it hitting the target. It's darn near as quiet with a set of Border hex-4s--- but that took a little work. Next is my original DAS MASTER with any number of different limbs, but again more stuff to tune and set up---but it doesn't spook deer (not saying that I don't on occasion--but that's not the bow's fault:))

Oddly enough my saluki, when I could still shoot it, was amazingly quiet and easy to set up.
 
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#18 ·
i think that two recurves of different design, both shooting the same GPP the faster one will be louder.

now, tune them both to the same speed and watch the noise levels change, BUT the faster one will be shooting with more energy. as you will have a heavier arrow travelling at the same speed as the lighter one.

if you take the idea of, 9gpp at 200 fps will be as loud as 200fps from a 7gpp. as its the noise of the string hitting the limb due to speed of limb movement.
so take a louder fast bow, and reduce its speed with a higher GPP and watch it go quiet.

Most people say My bows quiet, then tell you its 160fps.
most people say, that guys bow was like a 22 rim fire. then tell you its 220fps.

but the same type of comment comes from, Heavy arrows make a quiet bow.

Now link the two together. and you might get a more honest idea as to whats quiet and whats not.

things that can make a bow noisy are nock contact with riser due to weak spine, bad limb alignment, causing string to slap the string grooves, bad tiller adjustment making one limb think the BH is low as you get limb flap, and some squeeky connection somewhere in a take down bow.

other than that all bows can suffer from string hum. and loose quivers.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Doulos, further to my point above, this is how I personally would break it down:

If you want a hunting quiet bow and noise is a main concern, then buy yourself a good one piece longbow or recurve. If tuned well it will be quiet.

If you would like to be able to break the bow down for travel. or you would like to be able to add a 2nd set of limbs in the future, consider buying a take down longbow or recurve. Not many moving parts, the limbs bolt down solidly so there's not much, if any, added noise.

If you want to be able to tune the bow a little more with an elevated rest and plunger + have the world of ILF limbs at your disposal, then buy a DAS or ILF riser. You can still get it hunting quiet, but maybe not quite to the same level as a well tuned one piece bow. These rigs may offer some advantages as a 3D/bowshoot rig also.

The one exception to the rule in my experience has been the DAS risers. You get the use of ILF limbs, but in a better, quieter DAS connection. You get the flexibility of elevated rest w/ plunger for great tuning or you can shoot off the shelf. If tuned well, even with elevated rest, mine is as quiet as the quietest one piece longbows I've shot. YMMV.

P.S. - I'm sure there are other risers that offer similar flexibility as a DAS in a quiet bow, but none that I've tried so far. Also, you might read the current thread, "Take down risers with longbow limbs". Another interesting option.
 
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#22 ·
I agree with you up to a point Gunner but I think arrows do play a huge part in it.
You shoot really heavy arrows so that makes your now quiet, and I shoot with you a lot so I can confirm how quiet it is. If you shot my 260grn arrows out of it, you would hear a whole different level of noise.
 
#27 ·
I will video it tonight and see.....I realize that a light arrow will be noisier...and you can hang all kinds of things on the limbs and strings etc to make them quieter and then you sacrifice speed.

I want something in the middle...quiet and fairly fast. I am a hunter and I also want MOMENTUM and penetration so I go heavier when I can

Jer
 
#31 ·
if one bow is 8fps faster... then load up the arrow weight and make it equal, then evaluate the noise. 180fps is 180fps. its not about GPP and quietness??? its about speed and quietness.

The ultimate question is what speed do you end up with to get a quiet bow. For example, to get two bows to (made up noise level) 40db. the fast one might shoot 13gpp at 170gpp.
the slow bow might get 12gpp at 165fps.
yet both at 9gpp the faster bow could be 10db higher. would you write the fast bow off due to this?

see what i mean... Asking whats the most silent bow... well they are all silent at 4fps.
its what do you have to do to get them to a quiet level. then whats the output.
 
#32 ·
@ bigjono...btw i shoot 8.7gpp. That is not a heavy arrow. Gpp is what matters... A light arrow is not light out of a light bow. Of course gpp makes a difference in noise, but a quiet limb is just that more quiet with a higher gpp.

Point is its not the connection but the limb that makes the difference imo. I have heard loud one piece and boltdown bows and seen DAS bows with half a sheep on the string.
 
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