Stabilizers, what are they really doing, why do we use them?

[bsims01]

I have a stabilizer and back bar on mine. I don’t notice much of a benefit to the stabilizer, but the back bar helps offset some torque from the front sight. I’ll probably run the back bar In the future and leave the stabilizer in the case.

 

[esven89]

Don’t crucify me as I feel like I am in the miniority here, but I use a 15” front bar and a 10” back bar……let me explain lol

I’m a long time target shooter so I have setup my bows pretty much the same every time. What I try to do with my bows is have a bit of bias in them. By using some side weight on the back bar, I have to use a bit of muscle to hold it upright. This helps “lock in” the bow and prevent movement. I will say that it’s not so much that if I don’t look at my bubble that it’s going to be far off….but it’s enough that I have to put a little effort into it. I also find a heavier bow helps me significantly. Keep in mind I hunt out west in an area that constantly has wind. As far as hiking with a heavy bow…..I lay it across my shoulders and i can hold the stabilizer with 1 finger….thw bow itself basically lays across the top of my pack.

As far as the weight on my stabilizers, my 15” front bar has 5oz and my 10” sidebar has 12oz

 

[roosiebull]

For western hunting, I went away from any stabilizers. The benefits to my lack of form, were offset I felt by the benefit of not carrying as much weight all day.

Meaning, weight makes my bow more forgiving, but carrying 12+ ounces less for hours on end benefits me more than having a little more on the overall.

Like heavy boots, sometimes you need them, but sometimes its better to have the energy to cover more ground than bricks on your feet.

I’m a light boot and no stabilizer guy, and if you do that over 25yrs, there is never a time when I wish I had either

I have tried both, and it ain’t my thing. I have spent my whole life running around rocking boats in rubber boots with zero ankle support, and running around the hills in boots with no ankle support with various amounts of weight on my back, and have never had any issues due to that

My hunting shots are almost always top pin, just how it generally works out on the coast, I don’t know that I’ve killed 10 critters beyond 30yds, so I don’t need a target bow shooting an 800# animal at 12yds

I think a lot of it has to do with the hunting we do, none of it is one size fits all.

I absolutely hate back bars on hunting bows, and they seem to generally make a bow feel better to me than a front if I had to pick. I just try to only shoot bows that don’t “need” stabilizers

The longer mathews are a good example, the lift 33 is a really nice bow, but without any stabilizers, I don’t like it, it would be a bow I would love to own if the grip was moved up a little. I know they do things for a reason, but it ain’t for me for that reason.

With my history, I would probably not even set stabilizers up properly if I went all in, I would likely do what you are saying not to do, using them to cover up some other imperfection vs tweaking an already good hold.

I generally put an S coil on the front mount and an A bomb in the rear because there is no such thing as too quiet, but they certainly aren’t for stabilizing anything

 

[Billy Goat]

Don’t crucify me as I feel like I am in the miniority here, but I use a 15” front bar and a 10” back bar……let me explain lol

I’m a long time target shooter so I have setup my bows pretty much the same every time. What I try to do with my bows is have a bit of bias in them. By using some side weight on the back bar, I have to use a bit of muscle to hold it upright. This helps “lock in” the bow and prevent movement. I will say that it’s not so much that if I don’t look at my bubble that it’s going to be far off….but it’s enough that I have to put a little effort into it. I also find a heavier bow helps me significantly. Keep in mind I hunt out west in an area that constantly has wind. As far as hiking with a heavy bow…..I lay it across my shoulders and i can hold the stabilizer with 1 finger….thw bow itself basically lays across the top of my pack.

As far as the weight on my stabilizers, my 15” front bar has 5oz and my 10” sidebar has 12oz

The only issue I find with setting bars up for bias with a hunting setup, is once you are shooting from really odd positions. That bias can make you do odd things that broadheads pick up on.

But what you are shooting falls in line with where I feel like they can actually be adding some stability to the bow. I generally won't bother with less than 12" back bar anymore if I'm going to use one.

The longer mathews are a good example, the lift 33 is a really nice bow, but without any stabilizers, I don’t like it, it would be a bow I would love to own if the grip was moved up a little.

Its adding weight, but 4-6oz screwed into the v-bar mount typically fixes that. For broadheads, I definitely don't mind the low grip in exchange for flat nock travel.

But its not wonder they ship the Title with that 8 ounces on the bottom.

 

[Beendare]

When I used to shoot competitively I used a stabilizer....but for the last couple decades no.

Has anyone that is a tourney archer ever tested shooting with/without a stabilizer and determined the accuracy gain?

I suppose it wouldn't be a blind study....hard to not know there is bars and a stabilizer on there.....

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

I moved away from the traditional front and back bars to the Bee Stinger Micro Hex Counter slide. I mount it low, in the rear stabilizer hole. I like it because it allows for balance left and right, front and back and keeps the weight low and close to the bow. I keep it very light with only a few oz on it so that the bow doesn't weigh 20lbs.

Since you guys mentioned it, will shoot my bows sans Counterslide and see how they shoot.

 

[2Stamp]

So going back about 8 years ago I started using a side bar to counter the quiver. I really like it for that aspect. I've shot a carbon bow of some sort on/of since 2020. They are almost too light for me, especially shooting out to 80yds (which I practice out to for potential pronghorn, and it just makes my shorter shots feel easier). So I've gone to adding weight to the bow via stabs front and side. The worst for me was the Mach 1 and Mach 30. I went to an RX-9 this year. Two things stand out, it's a little heavier combined with the lower mounting hole, the combo works better for me. With the Low position I use a shorter 8" stab, along with their kickstand. I still use a side bar to counter the quiver. It honestly doesn't bother me. As for carrying the bow, it's either across my shoulders, in the crook of my arm, or the long hikes in/out strapped to my bow.

I tried the short Hoyt stab on the front and the bow just didn't hold as steady for me. I may experiment over the winter with reducing the use for the stabs, we'll see. I suspect with the carbon riser though, I'll be right back to the setup.