In praise of ‘Bareshafting’

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Man that shooting a bareshaft is awesome.

Im putting together a little lighter setup for my hunt next week in Az late season. My elk setup is 64”/52#.... and i wanted to drop from my 19” riser to the shorter 17”(62” total) for ground blind hunting.

Instead my SF limbs I thought why not put these Uukha Ex1Evo2 limbs on there even though they’re just a little bit heavier. I can just turn them down.

Set at 45#, im shooting my 400’s that tune great with the SF limbs at the same weight.....nope, my groups are opening up just a little bit and I can sometimes see a little tail wag.

Out comes the bare shaft and sure enough the 400’s are shooting weak....adjustments arent fixing it.

So for the heck if it, I tried shooting and bare shafting my 340s and they shoot to the exact same spot- bingo. groups are money too.... though i have to adjust a bit at longer ranges for the lighter poundage.
16587BB6-E105-4710-8B74-76A135132EAA.jpeg

shooting bareshafts tells you so much... about not just the arrow but your form too. Simetimes i shoot bareshafts as a form check.... crazy how those fletches hide stuff.

hail to the bareshaft!

...
 

lumis17

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 15, 2016
Messages
103
That’s why I always carry 2 bareshafts in my quiver all the time.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
3,158
Many years ago the spine charts told me I needed .400s to shoot from my 52# at 28" Morrison. Bareshafting proved I was better off with .340s and I've never shot a lesser spine. My only grief with bareshaft shooting is that your technique and release had better be right and consistent or you'll go nuts trying to interpret the results.
 
OP
B

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
....

My only grief with bareshaft shooting is that your technique and release had better be right and consistent or you'll go nuts trying to interpret the results.


Thats^ what I love about it. Bareshafting can help a guy rectify those form errors. Shooting a couple rounds of bare shafts will tell you real quick what I am doing right or wrong in my technique.

I get what you are saying though....you need a starting point...and if form and spine are off....its impossible.

...
 

oldgoat

WKR
Joined
Mar 5, 2015
Messages
2,063
Location
Arvada, CO
Many years ago the spine charts told me I needed .400s to shoot from my 52# at 28" Morrison. Bareshafting proved I was better off with .340s and I've never shot a lesser spine. My only grief with bareshaft shooting is that your technique and release had better be right and consistent or you'll go nuts trying to interpret the results.
Yeah, my current favorite bow to shoot is a short 60" RD longbow, with my 31" draw I'm pretty much maxing it out! It's a Toelke Whistler and it is designed to work at my draw length but man is it unforgiving! I kind of like that though because it really keeps me from getting complacent! Point I'm beating around the bush getting too is it's tough to get good flight from a bare shaft, at least every time, but it puts broadheads on target with clean arrow flight when I execute my shot sequence! My longer bows I can get bullet like flight from bare shafts but drive myself nuts on this bow trying to achieve that!
 

GLB

WKR
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
712
Location
Alaska
My final test when setting up a bow is if I can consistently group a field point arrow, broadhead arrow and a bare shaft arrow together at 20 yards. When I bare shaft I don’t worry about which direction it’s sticking in the target. I want it to impact where I’m aiming to maybe 2-3” weak.
 
OP
B

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
....it's tough to get good flight from a bare shaft, at least every time, but it puts broadheads on target with clean arrow flight when I execute my shot sequence! My longer bows I can get bullet like flight from bare shafts but drive myself nuts on this bow trying to achieve that!

Yeah, good commentary^.

The bare shaft test is telling you how critical perfect form is with that bow.

I like shooting multiple shots with bare shafts in a practice routine and analyzing the results. It really shows me which part of my shot needs work [arrrrg.....typically with me its getting a smooth release!]

..
 
OP
B

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
My final test when setting up a bow is if I can consistently group a field point arrow, broadhead arrow and a bare shaft arrow together at 20 yards. When I bare shaft I don’t worry about which direction it’s sticking in the target. I want it to impact where I’m aiming to maybe 2-3” weak.

Good point....sometimes showing a little weak...or a little strong is best. Typically a BH will weaken a shaft just a tad more than an FP due to the added length of the BH.

I shoot 145gr FP's/ 150gr VPA BH's [a pretty big BH].... and when my bare shafts are grouping with fletched....the extra 5 gr or additional length hasn't been a factor... I get great BH arrow flight. I thought I might have to get bare shafts to show stiff....but no.


....
 

GLB

WKR
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
712
Location
Alaska
As said above that when shooting bare shafts your release and follow through must be good to get accurate results. and you should be able to know the difference when the shot was good or not.
 
OP
B

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
As said above that when shooting bare shafts your release and follow through must be good to get accurate results. and you should be able to know the difference when the shot was good or not.

Yeah agreed................you don't necessarily need a bare shaft to detect a bad shot.....but I think experimenting with it helps me detect small form errors

...
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLB
Top