Axle-to-axle length

[DanimalW]

What’s your preferred axle to axle length? And why? I think my previous bow was about 32.5. Seemed like my sweet spot. New bow is 34. I don’t see much improvement in forgiveness (same BH with both), but it does seem a little more cumbersome to carry. Only 1.5” longer, but riser and more parallel limbs make it feel bulkier. The 30” bows just don’t have a great string angle for me. I hunt out west and from a treestand in the Midwest. Just curious what other people like, knowing that it’s just personal preference. Might help some FNG’s out…

 

[Billy Goat]

It's interesting, I had a old few bows hanging on a rack. Tho the ATA is different on all of them, the overall length stayed consistent for me through the years. Starting with a Hoyt Katera to a Mathews V3 31, end of cam to end of cam is pretty consistent on any of the hunting bows I have kept around. I think the ATA ranges from 31-34", just cam design is some small ones, some medium ones, and a great big one.


Can't quote what that overall length is, but maybe I should figure it out.

 

[Maz7869]

most recently I went from a 34” inch ata back down to 29”. The 29” is noticeably easier to maneuver in climbers and blinds. I haven’t noticed much difference when shooting at distance.

 

[jimh406]

It depends on the design of the bow and length of the wheels/cams.

 

[5MilesBack]

My past hunting bows are 37", 36 3/4", 38", and most recently 33"........and as Billy Goat says "large cams". I haven't shot the 33" enough yet to make a good assessment of it, but I'll have a pretty good idea over the next few months. 33" is the shortest I will go, but my draw length is almost 33" as well.

 

[sodaksooner]

35" right now but short brace height. I don't think its as big a deal anymore as we've gone to longer risers and parallel limbs. Ive had really short bows that shot extremely well, but tend to gravitate toward longer ATA. Still shorter than my rifle...lol.

 

[fatlander]

33” seems to be my happy medium for a hunting bow. I’ve had longer and shorter, but 33 works great for me. Your current bow may not be as accurate than shorter bows you’ve had in the past for a myriad of reasons (draw length slightly off, grip type, back wall, etc.). All else equal, a longer bow is going to be more stable; there’s a reason target archers don’t shoot hunting length bows with money on the line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Luked]

33-35 for me. I have never shot a short axle to axle bow well for some reason. I have tried a bunch and always shoot the longer bows better. I just dont it to be too long. 34 seems to be my happy place.

 

[homebru.trout]

32-33 for me at a 28.5 draw. I've carried as long as 35 and as short as 30. I don't like the string angle on the shorter ATA bows and 35 wasn't a ton of fun to maneuver around.

 

[Point Man]

33 is more fun then my 31.

 

[Blockcaver]

35" A/A w/29-1/4" DL and 6-1/2" brace height is more forgiving mountain hunting for me than 32" or 30" bows.

And long compounds to me are over 40" A/A. Heck my Hoyt Pro Vantage I hunted with in the early 90's was 46" A/A...but had tiny cams.

 

[nphunter]

I liked my last bow at 33" more than my current bow at 30", my anchor isn't as good with the short ATA. I needed to add a large nose button to get the string back to my nose and stretch my DL slightly. I prefer the flatter string angle of the longer bow.

 

[SloppyJ]

32-34 seems to be what I like the best. I tried to shoot the vxr29 or whatever length it was and I could not do it. It would be great in a tree stand but I just wouldn't feel comfortable with it. I'm a bigger dude and the extra heft is actually welcome.

 

[cpalm9]

I just went from a ~30 to a 35. I’m sold on the longer ATA even with a shorter DL of 28”. I’m shooting a Prime Inline 5

 

[kda082]

Probably 32”, but have shot29” and 35” equally well. Also a Midwest deer hunter, currently shoot a Ritual 35, but my favorite tree and blind bow was a Mathews Helim which was 29” ata. That crazy bow shot so well and carried light.

 

[entropy]

I've only had three compound bows; a Halon X (35"), a Vertix (30"), and a VXR 31.5 (obvious). I guess I'm in the minority, but I did not see a whole lot of difference in the three. Probably affected by the fact that two of the bows have really big cams, and the Halon's limbs aren't close to being parallel like the other two.

I suspect I might notice a difference if I ever shot a V3X 33 or such...

 

[ElkArcher918]

The sweet spot for me is 32-34 in the last few bows I've purchased.

 

[KBC]

I'm pretty sure ATA isn't as important as string angle. Some bows have big cams and some have small ones. A 32" ATA with big cams might have a flatter string angle than a 34" ATA with small cams. I wish bows were advertised as "X" string angle at 30 DL, then I would know what bow's string would touch my nose at my anchor point. ATA wouldn't matter.

 

[Trr15]

I don’t like the string angle on anything under 32”. I’ve experimented with a bunch of different bows over the past year and 32-34 is my sweet spot. I’m 6’ tall for reference.

 

[Point Man]

33 " seems to be working well for me. ( Bowtech SR 350 ).