Bow troubles, really need some advice please.

[cornfedkiller]

I've got a shop lined up now that's a little further away but i'll go get this all sorted out. Appreciate your insight on this. thank you!

Keep us posted on what you find out!

 

[jonnyjard]

Asking again.

The first time this happened the arrow was fine, no damage to it (went and flexed all my older arrows yesterday after someone had suggested it)

 

[Fogalo]

It sounds like you’re at least fairly new to archery. Definitely find a new shop with people who know what they’re talking about and have them walk you through.

Maybe post the nearest local town to you and see if anyone on here knows of a good shop.

 

[Billy Goat]

The first time this happened the arrow was fine, no damage to it (went and flexed all my older arrows yesterday after someone had suggested it)

My gut tells me it was accidentally dry fired the first time, and with a derailment a bent cam isn't uncommon. Bent cam, just slightly makes it easier to derail from torquing it, and a derailment with that arrow on the string ended up pushing the back end of that shaft into the top of your rest at launch.

Might be you are just really gripping it and causing it, don't know.

Check your cams with a straight edge, look for any bend in them. They could have bent even if you had an arrow on both times and it derailed from torque.

 

[Lowg08]

Shooting too light of arrows is essentially the same as dry firing a bow.

Get a new archery shop to work with.

For what it’s worth, torquing a bow is common for new archers and will not cause arrows to be damaged. It just causes poor arrow flight and accuracy problems.

Normally it won’t cause a major arrow defect but a. Defective arrows that accidentally passed quality control could possibly explode. A major torque and the arrow continues to travel after derailment could cause a major catastrophe as he experienced. If it’s off rails, and in a bind against the riser and rest this breakage could be possible.

 

[Marbles]

Nothing below answers your current question.

I bought a brand new Elite Basin bow 6 months ago. I probably have cycled 200 arrows through it.

This stands out to me. Can you set up a spot to shoot in your yard or house?

Or, perhaps you left off a zero and meant 2,000? If actually only 200, dial back the draw weight until you can shoot 30 shots in a row with proper form. I can draw my bows full 75 pounds, but can only get 6-12 shots off before having noticeable issues from fatigue, it is currently dialed back to 67 pounds, which lets me practice more. If I shot as much as I should (2,000 plus every 6 months), I'm sure drawing 75 pounds would be no issue.

 

[Fisherhahn]

I would definitely contact Elite cust service and ask them where the best shop in your area is for working on their bows. Fully explain everything to them. They are extremely helpful and very in touch with their dealers. I wouldn’t shoot that bow again until it is looked at by by someone who knows what they are doing or maybe sent back to Elite to have them look at it. With arrows blowing up and strings derailing you are just asking for an accident. Bow could have been dry fired at the shop and never looked at before you bought it. Saw that happen at a Cabelas once. Guy dry fired then hung the bow back on the rack. I advised an employee and they didn’t ever look at it.

 

[87TT]

My gut tells me it was accidentally dry fired the first time, and with a derailment a bent cam isn't uncommon. Bent cam, just slightly makes it easier to derail from torquing it, and a derailment with that arrow on the string ended up pushing the back end of that shaft into the top of your rest at launch.

Might be you are just really gripping it and causing it, don't know.

Check your cams with a straight edge, look for any bend in them. They could have bent even if you had an arrow on both times and it derailed from torque.

I had a Hoyt derail on me when I was letting it down. It bent the cam and had to be replaced. The let down was my fault as it had slipped past the draw stop and I told a friend to put some pressure on the cam so I could slip past the draw stop on let down. Bad idea.

 

[Billy Goat]

I had a Hoyt derail on me when I was letting it down. It bent the cam and had to be replaced. The let down was my fault as it had slipped past the draw stop and I told a friend to put some pressure on the cam so I could slip past the draw stop on let down. Bad idea.

It's easier to derail a bow on the let down then firing. A lot of people will really grip it letting it down, of course you are still holding the string too, so easier to twist the riser away from the string. Whereas shooting the string wants to follow the cam groove, and isn't being held by anything more than arrow weight.


How'd it end up past draw stop? Shim too far?

 

[87TT]

Not sure. Was the top cam and it somehow slipped past on the draw. I realized it before I shot and tried to get it down. I have since put a small washer under the stop and spaced it out to make sure that doesn't happen again. On a Helix.

 

[jonnyjard]

I don’t think any Elite bow is a bad bow. I haven’t bought a new bow since the Kure came out. Love it but I sold it to a buddy before I PCSd overseas. I’m still shooting a 2003 Elite Answer that I bought new in 2012 after my second deployment. I just fired off 4 dozen arrows and it shoots as good as it did the day I bought it. I have killed dozens of animals with it. Some people would probably laugh at it but I kill stuff with it.

That’s enough about my opinion on your bow and mine, don’t want to detail your thread.

That's great to hear, it definitely gave me some confidence back in my bow. One of my bow hunting buddies can only say Hoyt, everything else is garbage. I get it, he's a brand guy. Anyway, thanks again for your time replying here, I honestly appreciate it!

 

[stanginthe11s]

first, where do you live? there are plenty of guys on here who can point you to a reputable shop or even help you out themselves.
second, that bow is a yoke tuned bow, so as is typical, that shop probably had no idea how to yoke tune and had it set up wrong. a bow that is set up correctly will be very forgiving to torquing. that being said, you do need to work on form and grip, just not until you get that bow done right by someone who actually knows what to do.

 

[406RoadToad]

X6 it’s you over torquing your bow. Can cause both issues in extreme cases which this sounds like an extreme case…

 

[307]

The bow isn't the limiting factor here. Please don't hunt with the bow until you have a lot more knowledge, practice, and understanding of bowhunting.

 

[elkliver]

A lot wrong going on here.... Whether the Bow was dry fired or not, it sounds like the OP may not be ready to hunt with a bow. Bringing the bow home from being fixed and then hunting without firing it at a target would seem indicate a lack of understanding about bows and archery hunting. They are not like a Rifle. Not trying to bash on the OP but please take some lessons prior to wounding an animal.

that being said, i wouldn't shoot that bow again unless the factory looked at it.

 

[WCB]

I’m going to just say it,it sounds like you and buddy don’t know what the hell’s going on.
Get a bow press,arrow saw,scale,square and draw board,that way you can see what’s going on.
Slow down and just invest it those things.Less than 500 and you will recoup that easy within a few years.Most shops are so busy or stupid its
not worth the drive.
There are some awesome shops but it’s definitely not the norm.

Sorry, but a guy that thinks the shop sets his sights for him and doesn't shoot it after they set it up has ZERO business pressing a bow building arrows and maybe worse trying to work a draw board.

He needs to have someone who knows what they are doing set the bow up and he needs to take lessons.

 

[ndbuck09]

Another issue in this story is the level of..im sorry...but pure douchness from the shop and even a buddy who knows you're new to archery but has to be a tool and act like only hoyt makes a good bow. That douchness runs rampant at bow shops. The dudes working at em seem to think they're some kind of gift to hunting and it's really sad how it affects new people and ultimately even animals due to equipment problems causing bad hits, etc.

My suggestion in all of this is to try to find someone who has enough mental acuity to be able to leave their ego at the door and unbiasedly help a new archer out by giving you a quick run down on your shot execution and having your equipment really dialed. Honestly finding this person is more important than the brand or model of bow you're shooting, arrow your using or anything else.

 

[Marshfly]

Jonny, Put your location in your profile and post it here and no doubt, someone close to you will reach out to help. You need an experienced set of eyes on your bow and on YOU as a new archer. That's step one.

Step two. Forget about slinging an arrow at an animal this year. Put that totally out of your mind. Next year is your year.

 

[Zac]

Sorry, but a guy that thinks the shop sets his sights for him and doesn't shoot it after they set it up has ZERO business pressing a bow building arrows and maybe worse trying to work a draw board.

He needs to have someone who knows what they are doing set the bow up and he needs to take lessons.

I totally agree, it seems the knee jerk reaction is for every newb to get a used bow from the classifieds and invest the rest into a home shop. It’s like telling someone to buy a car with no engine so they can get a cherry picker to install one.

 

[tdoublev]

Sorry OP - this is a lot of tough love coming your way in this thread. The comments about finding a shop who knows what they’re doing are the best recommendation, but also entirely unhelpful for you to know which shop that would be. What is your closest major town?

Until then - How did you get the string back onto the cam the first time? That requires a bow press. Based on your story, sounded like you did it yourself and I have not heard you mention owning one. If you muscled the string back on somehow, those cams are certainly ruined now. Is the string back on the cam now? Can you take a picture of the bow from behind showing both cams and the string all in line with each other?

Also are there more details about the weird shot that derailed it the first time? Did you flinch while shooting? Did the arrow sound strange? Did the arrow or your anchor bounce at all? I’m trying to envision scenarios where you had an arrow knocked but the ending result was the equivalent of dry firing. The more info we have the better. We’ve all made dummy mistakes in our archery careers. Anyone who says they haven’t is a LIAR.