I've found through my past experience that a quieter bow is one of my tools for successfully harvesting animals.

Take for instance this scenario: If your bow shoots at 250 fps and you're shooting at a white-tailed deer standing 20 yards away (60 feet), the deer will hear your bow before your arrow is just about two-thirds of the way to the deer. This is because the speed of sound travels at 1,088 fps at 32 degrees F at sea level. Therefore, it travels 60 feet in 55/1,000 of a second. Your arrow is traveling at 250 fps, and will require 24/100 of a second (or 240/1,000 of a second) to reach the white tail.

As you can see, even the fastest bows are not fast enough. The deer has had time to jump your string. Of course, a deer further away has more time to react, just as a deer closer will have less time to react. If you want to hit your target, being accurate and having a quiet bow is a must.

Here are several ways you can make your bow quieter:

· Put puffs and string silencers on each end of the string and cables and sound/shock absorber like the Sims LimbSaver.

· Use mole skin on arrow rest to quiet the sound of the arrow as you draw your bow.

· Shoot a heavier arrow. A heavier arrow will absorb more of the energy stored in the bow at full draw. (The more energy the arrow absorbs, the less that is left to rattle the bow.)

· Place mole skin on any portion of the bow that the arrow might touch around the sight window.

· Use a good Shock Absorbing Stabilizer such as NAP's ShockBlocker to minimize vibration and noise.

· Pull your bow back in a quiet area and have someone else listen. If they detect a noise, you'll need to check further and work on troubled areas.

The best time to release an arrow is when an animal is relaxed. He is less likely to jump your string. I always use a bright-colored fletching so I know exactly where the arrow hits.

If an animal can't see, smell, or hear you it puts him at a distinct disadvantage.