I have spent my entire archery career worrying about the small differences that make one bow more accurate than another. Here is a little of what I have learned.

BRACE HEIGHT

When you shoot a bow with a brace height over 7 inches, the arrow gets off the string more quickly offering less time for your bow hand to spoil the shot. But, more importantly, the riser geometry itself is simply more stable. The grip is farther forward relative the cams and this makes the bow less sensitive to bow hand torque.

There are always tradeoffs. As a bow’s brace height goes up, its ability to store energy goes down and so does its arrow speed. But, I’m willing to give up a little speed to gain more accuracy. If you want to get some of that speed back there are plenty of lightweight carbon arrow options available.

CAM DESIGN

Highly aggressive cams accelerate an arrow more violently than the soft cams and round wheel bows of the past. When you dump that much energy into an arrow all at once, a rough release or a slight nock travel variation in the bow will destabilize the arrow more than would occur with a softer cam. This is why I don’t shoot a radical cam.

LENGTH

Unless you’re faced with cramped quarters, I recommend a moderately long bow for greater forgiveness. I’ve found that I shoot best with a bow that measures 37 to 40 inches between the axles. Anything shorter becomes slightly more critical while anything longer requires long limbs that are generally slower.

MASS WEIGHT

Being primarily a western hunter, I’m willing to trade a little forgiveness for reduced weight. I commonly hunt for up to 25 straight days in the mountains. Shaving a pound or two off the bow is a definite advantage on long stalks. If most of my hunting was done from tree stands, I’d carry a bow that weighed seven or eight pounds with accessories. Moreover, I’d use a 12 inch stabilizer to further improve forgiveness.

Given the fact that you can carry a laser rangefinder there is little need for an aggressive bow firing an arrow with a bullet flat trajectory. A bow that will shoot very accurately under the widest range of conditions is ideal. A forgiving bow, rather than a fast bow, is the best choice for most bowhunters.