Shooting in the rain: me, the bow or arrows?

[Stéphane]

I was shooting the rain this morning and after about 30 minutes, my arrows started to drop significantly. My hands were really cold and I wonder what caused the drop in the arrow (were my cold hands a factor?).

2010 Martin Bengal 60# with release
Gold Tip Hunter Expedition with plastic vanes.

[358win]

Hands just get colder when they get wet.

[greybark]

:-D Hey Stephane , The colder you get the tendancy to relax decreases . This is critical particularly with your bow hand and the increase in hand pressure (torque) slowly moves the MPI in any direction
Aso a tendency to hurry is naturaly created and the bow arm follow through gets shorter and shorter , hence the drop of groups .
Am recovering from a fall (fishing) Dave and I will give you a call for the next practice in about two weeks .

[Stéphane]

:-D Hey Stephane , The colder you get the tendancy to relax decreases . This is critical particularly with your bow hand and the increase in hand pressure (torque) slowly moves the MPI in any direction
Aso a tendency to hurry is naturaly created and the bow arm follow through gets shorter and shorter , hence the drop of groups .
Am recovering from a fall (fishing) Dave and I will give you a call for the next practice in about two weeks .

I'm in!!! Let me know.

SG

[dave*]

Shooting in the rain. You, bow or arrows?


If it is a serious p*@@ing down rainstorm I would say the bow.

Specifically the string gets saturated with water, extra weight on string can have a serious impact on arrow velocity and thusly trajectory/drop.

A light rain or shooting frequent arrows it should be a non issue. The shot cycle generally "snaps" the water off the string

Keeping the string well waxed will also help to reduce the h20 impact as well

D*

[Stéphane]

Thanks Dave*, that was my first guess. Yes, it was pouring down, and the water was flowing off my oil skin hat. I did wax the string and lube the cams before I left. However, I was cold and I might have held my bow differently. Having said that. I was making sure that I was doing everything the same way as I usually do. So, lets say the arrows are ruled out for now.


Shooting in the rain. You, bow or arrows?


If it is a serious p*@@ing down rainstorm I would say the bow.

Specifically the string gets saturated with water, extra weight on string can have a serious impact on arrow velocity and thusly trajectory/drop.

A light rain or shooting frequent arrows it should be a non issue. The shot cycle generally "snaps" the water off the string

Keeping the string well waxed will also help to reduce the h20 impact as well

D*

[Bow Walker]

If it was cold and raining you were likely dressed for the weather - extra cothing to keep warm plus all that rain gear. The bulky clothing coupled with cold muscles and hands likely altered your form enough so that you coudn't hit your same P.O.I. as you normally would. Just a guess.

[Stéphane]

It happened again today. Wasn't cold, but it was raining. So, when I got home, I checked the FOC and it moved by 1/4 of an inch toward the rear making them 1% less. Could that be enough? I'm thinking the weight changed too, but I don't have scale. I'm surprised it doesn't happen to anyone else.

[Bow Walker]

When you said in your opening post that your arrows "dropped significantly" - how much did they drop? An inch or two? More? Straight down or down and to one side or the other?

I know the string - even though it's waxed - can hold onto a bunch of water and be slowed down because of it. I have shot a few 3D events in the pouring rain. One memorable one was when the skies just opened and it was raining the proverbial "cats n dogs" all day long.

Every shot was an adventure and you'd swear that a gallon of water was sprayed off the string/arrow as the shot was released! Everyone's scores were reflective of the weather.