Last-minute Tuning Tips

I shoot a Mathews MQ1. It is, in the world of compound bows, old as Methuselah. But it's proven itself time and again in the whitetail woods when I've done my part. A bow is a personal thing, and I just have a hard time retiring that one when it continues to perform as designed.

I'm a very laid-back guy on most things, but when it comes to my bow, I'm anal retentive (I've always found that to be a disgusting choice of words, but everyone knows what it means). I've stood in archery "pro" shops and watched as weekend help struggled to re-serve strings or figure out their bow presses. I'm by no means a bow technician myself, but I know enough about it to recognize when someone is screwing things up. For that reason, I'm very picky about whom I'll allow to work on my bow.

My favorite technician is also a long-time family friend of ours named Terry VanArkel. Terry, along with his wife, Ilda, leads a cool life, with residences established in the Florida Keys, Kentucky, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He bowhunts pigs in Florida in the winter, turkeys in Kentucky in the spring, and whitetails in both Kentucky and Michigan in the fall. He's also forgotten more about tuning bows, particularly single-cam setups, than most people will ever learn.

So, in the spirit of the final weeks ahead of bow season, I gave Terry a call and asked him what bowhunters should do, tuning wise, to their rig prior to the new season. Terry knows that few bowhunters, even serious ones, shoot year-around. Nothing wrong with that. But if you're just now pulling your bow out from last season, he does have a few recommendations.

Beyond obviously broken stuff, cracked limbs, etc., the most important thing to note is string and cable stretch. Terry says there are several ways to check for this, depending on the type of bow you're shooting. Axle-to-axle measurements, brace height measurements and cam timing marks (if you've made them), are all good references. If you haven't made cam timing marks, this season is a good one to make them. Once your bow is in tune, simply make a pair of straight, parallel marks on your cam(s) on either side of your limb. If you notice these marks have moved during the course of the season, your string has stretched.

Also, check your nocking point. Most bowhunters know that the nocking point should be at a right angle to the rest. This is easily checked with a bow square. To really fine-tune this, find a range where you can paper-tune your bow.

All in all, if things look OK, and you're hitting where you're aiming, an easy way to check your bow's tune is to shoot half a dozen arrows from about 8 feet away. "Your arrows flex a lot when they leave your bow, but even more so if it's out of tune," Terry says. "But at 8 feet, if they're going into the target straight, and you're hitting where you aim, it may be best to leave things just the way they are."

-Will Brantley