[MOBIGBUCKS]

I believe they are very good for hunting. When your adrenalin is flowing and your rushing your shot, a true stabilizer helps keep you from pulling your shots. This is my opinion of course It's helped me several times follow thru with my shot; I believe they help especially with some of todays lighter bows. I use the b-stinger and it has dramatically helped my shooting. (target and hunting).

 

[IlBuckMaster]

There are three primary benefits that today's stabilizers provide.

Noise Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of noise that is heard during and immediately after the shot. How much noise reduction is dependent on the bow and stabilizer chosen.

Felt Shock Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of vibration that you feel during the shot.

Bow Stabilization - finally, they help to keep the bow from moving (erratically, somtimes) on the shot. This is useful under hunting conditions because some shots are taken at weird angles.
​

Two of the three primary benefits are yardage independent. Whether or not it is worth the expenditure is up to you. But there are, IMO, lots of benefits to proper stabilization on today's bows.

 

[JV NC]

No.

 

[Stealthman]

A good Stabilizer will make your bow more forgiving to shoot under all conditions and tighten up your arrow groups!
In other words,it will make you shoot more accurately!
We all need to make the best most accurate shots we can when hunting for reasons we all know!

 

[PAstringking]

ok...

take the stab off your bow and shoot a 3 spot target at 20 yards.

now put on a 28" stab and shoot the same 3 spot.

now i know this isnt a hunting scenario...but the benefit of a stabilizer can be seen at 20 yards. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR HEART IS PUMPING!!



this is the reason i shoot a 12" Posten Slim Jim. the light weight rod keeps all the actual weight of the stab out away from the bow.

i let people shoot with my stab on their bow...and they always notice a difference. from 30-60 yards...it is a lot more noticeable then at 20...but it is still there :darkbeer:

hope i helped a little :thumbs_up

 

[JV NC]

So sight your bow in and practice without a stabiizer.

My avg. kill shot is under 15 yds. Does it make "A" difference? Yeah.

Question was....

Is a stabilizer really needed for hunting?

Answer is....

No.

 

[RCL]

Is a stabilizer really needed for hunting?

In my opinion........maybe :wink:

I don't feel I need one, or much of one......I use a 5" S-coil, for sound/vibration dampening. My bow has enough mass weight to hold steady at any of the distances I'm going to be shooting at in the woods.

Now for somebody hunting in open western terrain where shots may be longer, it might be an advantage.

 

[bigracklover]

If you hold steadier and can shoot more accurately with a stab, then why not??

 

[5MilesBack]

I have been trying the 8.5"/11oz B-stinger for the last couple weeks. In doing so, I have been taking it on and off frequently and seeing if there is much difference with or without a stabilizer. I shoot out to 60 yards in my yard almost every day, and the groups so far aren't that much different with or without the stabilizer. However, I'm pretty sure that the stabilizer will reduce the distance off target from fliers. If a stabilizer keeps even one flier shot in the kill zone over my lifetime, then it would be worth it. Personally, my bows balance better with some sort of stabilizer/dampener attached to them.

So......do I need a stabilizer? No, but even if I use a small one and it balances and quiets the bow some, then that's a good benefit to have IMO.

 

[zhunter62]

do you need one, no, but like someone said here, is it worth the investment on that one shoot that it would have made the differece, you bet. at those yardages, you wont see much difference, but at farther it will. we all know the one time that it would have been nice to have will be the once in a life time animal and you are shaking so bad you cant hold your bow steady, the extra wieght and stablization of a stablizer will be a important factor in determaning whether or not you moke the shot or not. get a good one, what do you have to loose in having one on, not anything that i can think of, but without one, it could cost you.

 

[JG358]

No, you dont need one... but I do like the the way my bows balance with a stab on them.

 

[NYBOWHUNTER.COM]

You don't need a stabilizer on your bow, but you also don't need a release, sight, string silencers, arrow rest or peep sight either - just ask the guys shooting longbows and recurves off the shelf.

I would recommend shooting with a long 8-12" rigid stabilizer with an adjustable weight stack at the end. It helps settle the pin no matter what distance you're at. You don't have to have one, but it will made a noticeable difference. Will the deer standing broadside at 20 yards know the difference if you're shooting 2" groups or 6" groups? Probably not, but I like to shoot as tight of a group as possible.

 

[BigAK 907]

I think it all depends on who you are, what kind of bow you shoot, and how well you shoot it.

 

[legacy_hunter02]

:wink:

There are three primary benefits that today's stabilizers provide.

Noise Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of noise that is heard during and immediately after the shot. How much noise reduction is dependent on the bow and stabilizer chosen.

Felt Shock Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of vibration that you feel during the shot.

Bow Stabilization - finally, they help to keep the bow from moving (erratically, somtimes) on the shot. This is useful under hunting conditions because some shots are taken at weird angles.
​

Two of the three primary benefits are yardage independent. Whether or not it is worth the expenditure is up to you. But there are, IMO, lots of benefits to proper stabilization on today's bows.

Very true...i took my stab off mine last night to do a little work on it...got it all done and went out to shoot a few arrows jsut to make sure everything worked ok....forgot to put the stab back on....it had bad vibration to it without it...put it back on and it all went away...its more than jsut to stabalize a bow

 

[holger_danske]

I can shoot pretty well 20-30 w/out the stab, but it keeps my sight out of the dirt when I set my bow down in the woods.

 

[young_bull44]

No.

good advice! :thumbs_do

 

[Bobmuley]

For at least 20,000 years there were no stabilizers in hunting...so, I'd say that they aren't needed.

They are nice as an option though. Typically my hunting setups are equipped with as little as needed to get the job done.

 

[Grandad]

Thanks for so many thoughtful responses to my question. You've given me more to think about than I realized. What about length... a quick disconnect along with 8.5" or 10" maybe?

 

[Joe W.]

There are three primary benefits that today's stabilizers provide.

Noise Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of noise that is heard during and immediately after the shot. How much noise reduction is dependent on the bow and stabilizer chosen.

Felt Shock Reduction - they help to dampen vibrations running through the riser which in turn reduces the amount of vibration that you feel during the shot.

Bow Stabilization - finally, they help to keep the bow from moving (erratically, somtimes) on the shot. This is useful under hunting conditions because some shots are taken at weird angles.
​

Two of the three primary benefits are yardage independent. Whether or not it is worth the expenditure is up to you. But there are, IMO, lots of benefits to proper stabilization on today's bows.

Yup...what he said.