[eric schmaus]

You should have spent another 200.00 and gotten a Hoyt Vantage LTD!

 

[zestycj7]

Why on Earth would I want a POS Hoyt. I have shot them and they are garbage in my opion.
If you don't have anything to help with what I asked don't toss out any lame reminder about posting rules, thanks, Pierre Couture.
Don.

You should have spent another 200.00 and gotten a Hoyt Vantage LTD!

 

[NEVADAPRO]

You should have spent another 200.00 and gotten a Hoyt Vantage LTD!

Nice second post!! AT doesn't need more troublemakers!! If you are here for our motto "archers helping archers" then WELCOME!!! If not, maybe you should try another site!! I'm going to say...Welcome to AT!!!

 

[fuelracerpat]

Spine and draw weight? Sounds like a very weak spined shaft. Or, maybe excessive torque on the riser? I don't shoot the 'Cat so the real particulars are beyond me. The sight picture you describe...are you holding that far off the bale? Or is this just the way the bow lines up in respect to the stabilizer?
On my Barnsdales they don't line up with the stabilizer either, so I don't know if that would even be a concern.
I don't concern myself with paper tuning and fingers. I will occasionally baffle myself with a bareshaft... it is usually not too educational either, so... I just shoot my fletched arrows, set the nock-set up to where I get decent flight and try not to have too much contact on the rest. We do tend to "bag of tricks" ourselves rather often and rather unnecessarily. my .02cents. YMMV

 

[zestycj7]

I am shooting a shaft rated for 65# and I have my bow set at 57#, 28" long arrow, berger button with a flipper rest. I covered the entire rest area with powder and shot some shafts to see if I was hitting anything and there are no marks. I guess the shaft doesn't have to line up with the sabilizer. I shoot with an open grip on the fatty base part of the thumb so I dont think I am torqueing the bow, I have my son stand behind me at full draw and watch when I shoot to see if it torqueing. You can see in this pic how my bow hand is.
Don.

 

[vkrules]

Hi checked my cat, I'm inside of center according to the stab but looks ok if you line up with the center of grip.My nock is set about 3/16 I release 1 finger under and shoot 60 lb 29.75 inch with 350 spined arrows. tiller is set 1/2 turn closer on the bottom limb and timing set even.I use two tied nock points one above and one below.and use a cavalier micro tune rest.

 

[zestycj7]

Mark,
When you say your tiller is a 1/2 turn closer on the bottom limb, do you mean you tighten the bottom limb a 1/2 turn more than the top? My timing is set even also.
I would love to have my knocking point tied on but I don't know how to do that. That would keep my nose from getting cut all the time from that dumb crimp on knock.

Hi checked my cat, I'm inside of center according to the stab but looks ok if you line up with the center of grip.My nock is set about 3/16 I release 1 finger under and shoot 60 lb 29.75 inch with 350 spined arrows. tiller is set 1/2 turn closer on the bottom limb and timing set even.I use two tied nock points one above and one below.and use a cavalier micro tune rest.

 

[NEVADAPRO]

I am shooting a shaft rated for 65# and I have my bow set at 57#, 28" long arrow, berger button with a flipper rest. I covered the entire rest area with powder and shot some shafts to see if I was hitting anything and there are no marks. I guess the shaft doesn't have to line up with the sabilizer. I shoot with an open grip on the fatty base part of the thumb so I dont think I am torqueing the bow, I have my son stand behind me at full draw and watch when I shoot to see if it torqueing. You can see in this pic how my bow hand is.
Don.
View attachment 1023797

Hi Don, a couple of quick things with the Cat!! Make sure your cable guard has your cables as close to the center line of the bow as possible while still allowing the proper vane clearance!! This is very important on the Shadowcat. Also, do you have access to a draw-board?? This will allow you to accurately check your cam timing. If not, have you checked your cam timing with the draw stop completely out of the way? Mark your draw stop (so you can go right back to the same location) and then move it back, completely out of the way. Then see if your cam draw stops are hitting at the same time. Have someone watch them for you as you get to full draw. The bow will obviously feel long in the draw, but it's important to set the cam properly. After you've gotten the cams set as close as possible, then move your main draw stop back to its original position on the bottom cam. Then you can make small adjustments in tiller (as you would being a finger shooter). Your form looks very good to me!! .

As far as tying in your nocking point, there are several videos right here on AT showing how to do it!! It's very easy and can be done with dental floss if you don't have the actual material. Just check the search function!!

 

[vkrules]

Yes thats right bottom limb 1/2 a turn tighter.Tied nock points are easy I use dental floss take it around the string a couple of times tie a knot then take it back around to the other side of the string tie another knot( stops the knots bunching on one side of the string) do that a couple times pull tight then I put a couple of drops of superglue on the dental floss (not on the serving) tied nocks also give you a bit more speed.Best to find your nock point first. Do you release fingers under or split. I find fingers under can give you that high nock point as the back of the arrow tries to kick down on release .If you don't have a bottom nock set and a loose nock fit on the string the kick down can be huge. Last guy that posted he had a very high nocking point found he had a split limb, might pay to check. By the way love the shadowcat. martins may not be built like a hoyt but I havn't found a hoyt yet I would trade it for. ( moneys not the issue My other bow is a mathews triumph and I would rather shoot the shadowcat)Hope I have been of some help . us fingerflingers are a dying breed.

 

[vkrules]

Forgot to say the sts tends to also kick the back of arrow down, especially finger shooters

 

[zestycj7]

I shoot split fingers, well I guess I still do, had my index finger ripped off in a team roping misshap...dee ta dee. Once I get to full draw I end up holding all the poundage with my ring finger, did that before I lost my index finger too. I will check my cable guard location, I have checked the timing,but not like Nevadapro mentioned, will give that a shot. My tiller is equal top and bottom. I do recall now that back about a 100 years ago when I use to shoot before I lost my finger there was a 1/8 '' difference between the top and bottom limb.
All this new bow tunning is new to me, I have only been back shooting about a year after a 15 year layoff from losing my finger. Here is a pic of me shooting, you can see my release hand (whats left of it....LOL)
Thanks for all the help, guys.
Don.

 

[vkrules]

So your holding fingers under.Most who draw split lift some or all the weight off the top finger .

 

[zestycj7]

I have no choise but to hold under the knock. I tryed useing my middle finger ontop of the knock with my ring and little finger under, no good. So I draw the bow with just my middle and ring fingers sence I lost my index finger and drop my middle finger at full draw. So I am only holding the string with my ring finger.
Don.

So your holding fingers under.Most who draw split lift some or all the weight off the top finger .

 

[b0w_bender]

For the ppl here shooting a Shadowcat with fingers, how do you have the timing and tiller setup? I shoot with a low hold, base pad om thumb. I have been getting a low knock tear in paper and my knock is now at 9/16" to get my arrows so hoot bullet holes.
I am also way inside of center shot. When I set the bow up center I missed my bales at 20 yards, I was shooting at the center of the bales. If I look down my string and line everything up I am pointing real far to the right of the stabilizer, looks real funny.
Any help on this would be great, thanks.
Don.

I had the exact same problem then I found a rather substantial crack in the lower limb. I'm waiting for the new limbs so I can start over. I was hopefull it was the cracked limb causing the issue but after reading this post I suspect it may be a larger issue. I have both the Maxima 250's and 350's and a large assortment of point weights to test. I suspect that will allow me to rule out arrow spine and I'll be able to ID why it is doing it.

I shoot 2 fingers under. My indoor bow seems to need a high nock and this bow before it blew up also seemed to want a real high nock. I also have one for hunting but it has a Whisker biscuit on it so that seems to be a bit more forgiving but it still has a high nock point. Once I get the 3D bow back together I'll start to do some serious tinkering. If it turns out to be a cam timing issue I'll share my notes.

 

[b0w_bender]

Hi Don, a couple of quick things with the Cat!! Make sure your cable guard has your cables as close to the center line of the bow as possible while still allowing the proper vane clearance!! This is very important on the Shadowcat. Also, do you have access to a draw-board?? This will allow you to accurately check your cam timing. If not, have you checked your cam timing with the draw stop completely out of the way? Mark your draw stop (so you can go right back to the same location) and then move it back, completely out of the way. Then see if your cam draw stops are hitting at the same time. Have someone watch them for you as you get to full draw. The bow will obviously feel long in the draw, but it's important to set the cam properly. After you've gotten the cams set as close as possible, then move your main draw stop back to its original position on the bottom cam. Then you can make small adjustments in tiller (as you would being a finger shooter). Your form looks very good to me!! .

As far as tying in your nocking point, there are several videos right here on AT showing how to do it!! It's very easy and can be done with dental floss if you don't have the actual material. Just check the search function!!

This is interesting since the Martin Cams have a cable post that routinely hits the cable. In order to solve that little problem I had to bump my cable guard out almost to it's maximum. This is only an issue when you are near the maximum draw length of the cams. perhaps I will switch to the cat cams I have and try those.

 

[vkrules]

This is interesting since the Martin Cams have a cable post that routinely hits the cable. In order to solve that little problem I had to bump my cable guard out almost to it's maximum. This is only an issue when you are near the maximum draw length of the cams. perhaps I will switch to the cat cams I have and try those.

Mine to ,waiting for my cat 2s to arrive. But not to cloud this issue. Here's a pic of mine

 

[zestycj7]

Nice looking bow vkrules.
My 2nd bow is getting setup for freestyle. I will be shooting it with a scope,3 stbilizers and a relese., this ought to be fun....LOL
My main bow I shoot non-sights and fingers. My freestyle bow will be the first ever bow with any kind of sights on it.
Don.

 

[vkrules]

No problem Don thats how I hold by choice except I drop off the bottom finger before I release. You can see by the pic that my nocking point is a bit lower than yours I put the square on with the bottom edge down the centreline of the shaft for the pics. if I take off the bottom nock I have to move the nocking point up. Good luck with the freestyle. So far I have resisted going to the release but age may change my mind....... One Day......

 

[zestycj7]

Mark,
I am still going to be shooting bowhunter class, just going to see what freestyle is all about, who knows I might win Vegas some day....LOL
Heck who am I kidding, I am to dang old, 55 now. I can get the old ppl discout at Dennys now.....ROFLMAO
Don.