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What %Let off do you prefer?

Seekbigger

Seekbigger

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Joined
Sep 5, 2022
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435
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Means, Ky
So I’ve been considering upgrading my compound, I currently have an 07 PSE X-Force. This has been and still is a great bow and has killed many deer and turkey through the years. The only issue is is only 65% let off and after buying my son a new bow for Christmas last year with 80% let off, it feels as if I’m holding nothing back at all compared to my bow. After killing several deer I realize that sometimes it would be advantageous to be able to draw my bow a bit sooner while waiting for the shot, as many times I’ve had to let mine back down because the deer locked up on me. Just curious about everyone’s thoughts, as always thanks and God Bless!
 
90% for hunting at short distances

but 75 or 80% for accuracy

also I find 90% let off difficult to let down smoothly because your back muscles go from not engaged much to catching the weight….can hurt

a trick with high letoff is to pull solidly back into the back wall before the shot to simulate lower let off
 
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I like 75 the best, but honestly 80 is nicer. Especially in hunting situations (cold, weird angles, etc...)
 
From full draw through the first couple inches of release during the shot are where your human error or inputs during could affect arrow flight. With lower let off you hold more tension in a sense, so it is harder to influence the arrow negatively. As a compound bow finger shooter this holds especially true for me. I really think it depends what draw weight you hunt with. If you're shooting 70+ lbs. 75-80% is probably a benefit. However if shooting 60-65 lbs. or less, I don't know how much of a difference there is. Also, although I've not studied it, I believe the string force on the arrow upon release to be more linear with lower letoff. My hunting bow is set to 63lbs. and I've never felt the need for more let off.
 
Pic1 said:
From full draw through the first couple inches of release during the shot are where your human error or inputs during could affect arrow flight. With lower let off you hold more tension in a sense, so it is harder to influence the arrow negatively. As a compound bow finger shooter this holds especially true for me. I really think it depends what draw weight you hunt with. If you're shooting 70+ lbs. 75-80% is probably a benefit. However if shooting 60-65 lbs. or less, I don't know how much of a difference there is. Also, although I've not studied it, I believe the string force on the arrow upon release to be more linear with lower letoff. My hunting bow is set to 63lbs. and I've never felt the need for more let off.
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"first couple inches of release during shot"......so are you saying that the arrow can still be on the string (since it is until brace or even a little after it as the string bounds passed brace) and not influenced by shooter inputs?
 
raisins said:
"first couple inches of release during shot"......so are you saying that the arrow can still be on the string (since it is until brace or even a little after it as the string bounds passed brace) and not influenced by shooter inputs?
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No. The arrow is influenced by shooter input until the time the nock passes by the rest/ berger button.

What I'm saying is any inconsistencies from holding back wall through initial release between shots is accentuated with higher letoff. True more so for finger shooters obviously, but IMO the same effect on shots holds true for release.
 
I am a big fan of 100% letoff followed by the sound of cracking riblets. ;) The compound I have been shooting for several years now is 80% I believe. Like was mentioned above I pull into the back wall through the shot break. I dont pull hard into the wall but firm tension into it to keep the back engaged.
 
85% IMHO. To me 90% is too much and its like you have to push the string to release it.
 
woodsdog2 said:
85% IMHO. To me 90% is too much and its like you have to push the string to release it.
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yeah, if you just let it fly, it can cause me shoulder pain

it helps me to bring the bow away from the face and drop my draw arm so that it is in a stronger position, tucked down more like a dumbbell rowing motion
 
75-85% with a solid back wall and a chill peak to valley slope. Not super attuned to any specific #, more go by feel, but anything squishy I can't shoot for beans and above 85% letdown starts to get rough.
 
Another consideration is the P&Y rules on letoff. If you care about entering any of your animals in the P&Y record books, they used to have a no more than 65% let off requirement but that may have changed. That kind of stuff was more important to me back in the day but I could care less now. But, a lot of people care about that and so you may want to look into that.
 
For awhile I was around 78% letoff for accuracy, but now of the opinion for close range whitetail higher like 85% combined with the draw weight right for you, to be able to hold full draw for some extended period of time, is a deadlier setup overall.
 
I went from 75% to 80% and it made a huge difference on being able to hold a draw. Never shot higher. I’ve avoided upgrading for years because my destroyer was 80% and I wasn’t willing to go back to the 75% that the newer bows were
 
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