Personal preference, no more no less. I prefer my hand held thumb but will use my index occasionally.

 

this^^^


i am a thumb guy, my kid loves his index....I can go with either but prefer the thumb by far. No wrong answer.

 

The biggest factor I think is which you put in the time practicing with and thus have your shot routine most proficiently tailored. I have a wrist release or two but the hand position and sequence of thoughts I've got the most reps with is with my thumb release. That's a lot of reps ironing out errors and getting precise control of motion down. An important question to ask is how good do you want to be and what equipment will get you there with the amount of practicing you will do.

 

Switched from an index to a thumb for the last few years. Love it for practice, but I prefer the index when hunting. So, I'm switching back to an index this year. I like always having the index release attached. So far, it seems like I'm shooting the index better too.

 

No doubt index.....for hunting anyway. Like some are saying it IS personal preference in the end but there are real factors that should be influencing that decision.

For me they are:

I can pull the weight easier with my wrist than my fingers
I don't drop it because it's attached to my wrist
I shoot firearms a LOT so the trigger is very natural feeling to me and an ongoing way to shot both weapons without bouncing back & forth
I can vary the speed & intensity of the pull for the shot at hand
I shoot it well

Those are my reasons........obviously just my reason but they are real for me. They may not apply to others and that's where the preference thing come into play. But for me I'm not shooting an index because it's all I know..........it's for reasons.

 

I switched from a wrist to a thumb trigger around 2015 for hunting and for 4 years I had no issues until I had a buck come in behind me and over my left shoulder. I was in a hang-on and I leaned back into the tree to hide my silhouette. I attempted to stealthy draw my bow and raise it up to shoot in one motion, and I drug the release against my coat, tripping the thumb barrel, sending my arrow 5 feet below the buck. Was it user error? For sure. But in real-world hunting situations, you’re gonna be in unknown shooting positions, and a thumb trigger with the barrel exposed and facing inwards is a much bigger liability than an outward facing wrist trigger. Thumb barrel cost me a nice buck. For target shooting on flat ground a thumb barrel is great. I’m back to the wrist release while hunting with no plans to ever change.

 

I went back to my RX1 for hunting. Installed a heavy spring and adjusted to near zero travel to mimic the same release process as my thumb release.
I can live with it being attached to my wrist, some cannot. I know one thing, it'll always be there when I reach for it. A lanyard attached to my STAN isnt a option for me. It also seems I can hold better, and longer, when using the index.

 

I got a thumb as the draw cycle seems a little easier with my hand in the position the thumb release gets me to use. I've been using it a yr well in between surgery heal times. I do like the draw and the feel, but my accuracy takes more focus. The slightest change in anchor, and I'm off bad.

I'm thinking for me, the index is gonna be my hunter this yr. It's small and stays out of the way. It doesn't catch on things. It's way more forgiving, O, and I got like 30 plus years experience shooting one.

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After decades of shooting stickbows with fingers, I shifted to compound bows and got a wrist release. It felt awkward not being "attached" to the string with my fingers, but I eventually got somewhat used to it. After reading a lot about hand held releases and how they were supposed to be superior, I bought a used one around 2015 and went through several before I found the Stan SX3. I liked the release, felt better pulling with my hand, had a very good anchor.....but the release process never fully "took" for me. It was always an issue to be intuitive with my thumb and I eventually decided to give a wrist release a try in the summer of '22. My old Trufire Edge was a bit too basic, so I again bought and tried a few before finding the Carter RX1. It took me a while to feel at all natural with the Carter, but I killed a couple deer with it last fall and kept working with it over the winter.

One thing that helped me was exchanging the stock strap release for a Truglo BOA and then using 550 paracord as my attachment. That is a relatively new modification that is working out very well. Coupled with my '23 Athens Vista 35, the draw and anchor is very consistent and I am executing well. I still have one of my previous three Stans in the man cave cupboard, but don't honestly envision my using it again. I;m not going back to competitive shooting and for hunting this setup is just really workable.

 

I can see where a thumb release would be beneficial to a pro tournament guy. When I'm shooting mine well. I'm just not sold that these are for me in the woods.

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Thumb release for me, but like stated above, it’s all personal preference.

Bisch


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I switched to thumb from index for 3d & hunting a couple years back. I tend to have a more consistent anchor point now. Another benefit when hunting is that I can leave the release on the bow for when it’s time to shoot, which makes gloves & pockets more of a non-issue in colder weather… for me at least.



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Thanks for posting this..........lol. My release is over 25 years old and I have no idea how old the strap is that on it now....been through a few. So I was going to take a picture of it for a PM a guy sent me and when I laid it out on the table the leather is torn and close to breaking.

The foam padding on the back hid that very well so it was a ticking timebomb! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. I should check it I know but time goes by so fast you forget how old things are. What stinks is the replacement strap with todays costs is darn near what I paid for the whole release when I bought it............lol

 

I use a Stan Onnex Resistance hand held for 3D and for working with target panic. I use an index finger release for hunting!!!

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I f I was going to teach a new bow person, I would have them use a thumb release
I am old and been using an index release for ever, tried a thumb release and , did not try very long

 

I think my form is more consistent with a thumb release and I’m less likely to punch the trigger. I can swap to my index release without too much issue but my thumb release feels more natural.