Quiver: On or off the bow?

This hunter has removed his quiver from the bow. For him, it’s a good habit.

 

It’s a real easy question to answer. Do you shoot your hunting bow when the quiver is attached or off?

Now me. I always take the quiver off my bow. It’s how I learn to shoot, and who am I to go against my original training. I was taught that in 99 percent of the case, a bow hunter seldom will get a second shot if he misses the first shot.

Life often is about making such personal choices. None of us must follow other hunters like a flock of sheep, and do as they do. We can and should think for ourselves.

This applies as well to bow hunting as anything else. Every bow hunter worthy of the name has his or her own personal way of doing things, and often they turn out right. We all learn from the best teacher -- experience.

A quiverless bow in a tree stand is the ticket for me.

 

Bow quivers are a case in point. A fact I face whenever I hunt with my bow. We were checking out a TV hunting show, and a woman was trying to draw and shoot at a buck with the bow quiver on. She was having trouble, and it begged the question.

Should hunters leave the quiver on their bow while sitting in a stand and shooting at a buck? Or, should they take the quiver off to minimize weight and to eliminate an unnecessary item that could easily become tangled in tree limbs and mess up a shot?

IIt’s my daily blog so I'll go first, and throw my hat in the ring and voice my heartfelt opinion. I climb into a tree stand, and after attaching my full-body safety harness to the tree and my body, I sit down, and use the haul rope to raise my bow from ground level. The bow quiver is immediately removed and placed elsewhere on the tree after one arrow is removed. I often hang the quiver on a nearby limb where it will help break up my silhouette, and where it is out of my way.

Once the quiver in hung, I unscrew the broadhead and attach my Game Tracer string behind the FirstCut broadhead, and screw it into my Maxima carbon arrow shaft. It trails out easily behind the arrow, and at normal ranges of 20-25 yards, it doesn’t affect arrow accuracy.

I attach the release to the string, stuff the lower limb of my C.P. Oneida Black Eagle bow into my left boot, and relax. I hunt and shoot sitting down, and my stands are positioned so bucks usually come from behind me and on my left side.

I prefer sitting to shoot because there is less movement involved.

 

If the deer follows his normal pattern, he will approach from behind and on my left side. I'm right-handed, so when the buck comes within shooting range, and looks the other way, I start my draw and as I reach full draw, the lower limb clears the top of my boot and is clear of my leg, the stand or any tree branches.

This allows for a minimum of movement, is very quiet, and oh so effective once a hunter becomes used to it. This method of drawing a bow wouldn't be possible if my bow quiver was still attached.

The arrow shafts, vanes or even the quiver could get caught up in clothing, limbs or branches. But there is another reason why my quiver comes off my bow when I begin hunting.

It reduces the overall bow weight. Not much, mind you, but when hunting in a variety of locations, sooner or later a bow quiver is going to hang up on something. I remove all possibilities of that happening by removing it and hanging it some place where it is out of my way.

Whenever I watch a television show, or hunt with someone who always leaves his or her quiver on the bow, it makes me wonder how many lost opportunities have occurred because of that quiver.

Bow hunting offers but one shot 99.9 percent of the time. Why keep a quiver on?

 

A bow is a one-shot piece of archery equipment. It's not like hunting with a bolt, pump or semi-automatic firearm. Unless the wind is very strong and noisey, second shots at a buck are so rare as to almost be nonexistent. The quiver is just one more thing to mess up a shot.

A bow quiver on a bow, doesn't speed up getting off a second shot at a deer. It is somewhat awkward to reach to the quiver, pull out another arrow, reach across the bow to nock it, and prepare to shoot again. Chances are, any self-respecting buck with heavy headgear will be long gone if you miss that first shot and he may not come near that stand again.

I often use my bow to help camouflage my upper body and head. I wear a face mask while hunting, and can still turn the bow inside my left boot so the handle and upper limb breaks up my silhouette. If a deer offers a shot, a simple and slow half-turn of the wrist will point the bow toward the animal as the hunter comes to full draw.

Such a movement may or may not be necessary, and that is a debatable point, but it would be impossible to do with a bow quiver attached. For me, that is a strong enough reason for removing the quiver.

The slight added weight of a bow quiver (even a three-arrow quiver like mine) can allow a hunter to unknowingly cant the bow to that side. Is it enough, under the pressure of a nearby buck, to throw the arrow off its intended course?

I don't know and don't care to test the theory. My preference is to shoot a bow unencumbered by a quiver. It's my thought that it just simplifies everything, reduces weight, eliminates canting, and besides ... it works for me.

Anyone willing to plead their case for keeping a bow quiver on a bow while hunting is encouraged to contact me. You won't change your mind, I won't change yours, but I'd love to hear your philosophy.

Debate can be healthy if everyone approaches it with fairness in their heart. Talk to me about this quiver issue.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors