Bow Maintenance and Care Tips for Compound and Recurve Bow

Bows are durable and reliable when given reasonable care, so you’ll probably have to do few repairs. In twenty years of bowhunting-ten with a recurve and ten with a compound – I’ve had bow trouble only one time. On that occasion, I was crossing a boulder field, when a boulder as big as a house started to roll under me. I jumped off and fell on my bow, breaking the limb tip. That was my only bow problem, ever.

Nevertheless, some care can extend the life of your bow and prevent disasters. And certainly, you’ll damage some arrows that will need repair. Included in this chapter are some tips to keep your tackle working efficiently under all conditions.

Bow Maintenance and Care Tips

Sometimes, getting the bow worked properly can be a problem. This with the arrow problem can make your hunting experience tough. So,  check out the re curve, normal, and compound bow maintenance tips in the below article.

Dry Firing: Do Not Shoot a Bow Without Arrow on the String

Shooting a bow with no arrow on the string, or dry firing is one of the worst things you can do to a bow. When you shoot a bow with an arrow, the arrow absorbs much of the bow’s energy, up to 80 percent.

If you shoot the bow with no arrow on the string, 100 percent of the released energy vibrates through the bow itself, and the results can be disastrous. The stress can break the handle, limbs, cables, or string. Never dry fire a bow.

Do Not Use Light Arrows for Bow Shooting

Shooting very light arrows is tantamount to dry firing because the light arrow absorbs too little of the bow’s energy. To prevent damage to your bow, use reasonably heavy arrows. Also, use the perfect arrow rest to keep things in good shape.

A good guideline is to shoot at least 7 grains of arrow weight for every pound of bow weight. That is, if your draw weight is 60 pounds, you should shoot arrows of at least 420 grains (7 grains x 60 pounds = 420 grains).

Using heavier arrows is okay because the added arrow weight makes your bow more efficient (although beyond 9 grains per pound of bow weight, your arrows will be needlessly slow), but using lighter arrows could damage your bow.

Some Familiar Bow Damage and How Can You Avoid These Using a Bow Case

Using a bow case can almost reduce the bow damage up to 50%. It is preventive action, you can take without a much of a hassle and avoid some common damages. To maintain the bow, you should check out these.

Avoid Heat: Pack Your Bow in a Case Perhaps

A friend of mine once left his bow in a VW bus on a sunny day. The next time he drew the bow, the limbs split into a dozen pieces. Heat is hard on bows, particularly laminated wood limbs. The worst thing you can do is to lock your bow in the trunk of a car or hang it in a window rack on a sunny day.

Just make sure to keep the bows and arrows in proper space to avoid internal damage in the case.

Keep the bow in a padded case out of the sun. Glass limbs withstand heat better, although one bow manufacturer told me glass limbs will also take a set, or become permanently bent if left in hot conditions too long.

Avoid Moisture and Again Keep the Bow in a Protective Case

Moisture can seep between the laminations on wooden bows and delaminate the limbs. An occasional rainstorm isn’t much to worry about, but if you’re hunting with a wood-limbed bow in constant rain for days on end, you should dry your bow occasionally.

Glass limbs are fairly impervious to moisture. But using them are severe now a day. And There is no harm using a case for the better bow maintenance.

Transport Damage of the Bow and How to Avoid it

Some of the worst bow damage can occur in transport, as the bow slides around in the bed of a pickup or vibrates in a window rack. To prevent needless wear, keep your bow in a case. For general hunting, a soft, padded case with pockets for accessories is the most compact and convenient.

Hard cases for hunting compound bows are bulky, so they’re less than ideal for everyday use. Also, keep some case for different bow-hunting equipment like arm rest, arm guard etc.

However, for flying on a commercial airline, a hard case is essential. If you plan to fly to hunting areas, buy a good plastic or aluminum case. Check the hinges and lock for quality, as these are the main weaknesses I’ve seen in hard cases.