Quality Arrow Rests - A Necessity Not An Option!
By Mike Slinkard

The 5 X 5 bull elk was at 70 yards and coming fast to my incessant pleading cow calls. He had been bugling hard since before daylight, and was answering every sound I could throw at him. A mere 20 minutes after legal shooting light and in my mind I already had my tag punched and was telling the awesome elk story to my buddies back in town. As the bull closed the distance to less than 30 yards and started to veer to my right, I could clearly see his left side and a small tuft of hair that was positioned perfectly on the bull’s front shoulder dead center over his lungs. I came to full draw and gave a soft chirp in my mouth reed.  As if choreographed from a dream, the bull skidded to a halt just 25 yards away.  My pin instantly settled on the tuft, and the release activated crisply and cleanly just like a thousand times before.  Then I awoke from the dream and into a bow hunter’s nightmare.  The arrow flight greatly resembled that of a wing-shot goose and my heart sank as the shaft fluttered wildly back and forth toward the bull only to come harmlessly to rest in a rotting pine log near the bull’s front hoof.  The bull wasted no time in leaving me with my heart in my boots, and painfully pondering what could have gone wrong.  It took only a few seconds after examining the bow to clearly see the culprit.  One of the set screws that held my arrow rest launcher had worked loose and the launcher fell to a position well below where I had set it several days before.  This episode happened over 20 years ago now, but the lesson learned that day will always be as clear as the bull’s dust trail in my mind.

Accuracy Is A Must!

Archery accuracy depends on top quality equipment that will hold up to the insanely tough treatment bowhunters dish out. With many accessories, a minor malfunction may not be a hunt-ending event; however, the failure of an arrow rest is not in this category. The slightest malfunction of the rest can mean a complete miss or even worse - a bad hit on that trophy of a lifetime. Also important is the shot-to-shot consistency of the rest in all weather conditions. Fortunately for today’s bowhunters there are many choices in arrow rests that are both dependable and offer tack driving accuracy shot after shot in all conditions.  Having been a bowhunting addict for over 30 years, a pro shop owner, as well as a competitive tournament archer for 25 years, I have seen a lot of arrow rests, and have formed some opinions on what to look for in an arrow rest that will perform dependably each and every time.  Here are some of the things I look for.

For me, superior accuracy is the number one requirement I demand in an arrow rest.  I live in the West, and shots out to 60 yards or more are common.  For this reason, I look for many of the same things that I would demand in a target rest.  First the rest must allow for complete and total fletching clearance.  I guess I am a little old school on this subject, as there are rests out there that work basically the opposite.  I have found that arrows that leave the bow cleanly with no fletching contact are quite simply the most accurate shot-to-shot and day-after-day in all weather conditions.  If arrow fletching does not contact the rest on the shot there is zero chance of rest wear or accuracy-robbing deflection caused by contact.  There are several types of rests that achieve this goal very well both in launcher style and fall away models.  With launcher style rests (both “lizard tongue” and “prong” style rests) proper fletching orientation is key. You must position the arrow nock so that the fletching will not contact the on the shot. With these rests, it is sometimes difficult to achieve a no-contact situation with extreme helical fletching which in my opinion is also an absolute necessity for broadhead tipped hunting arrows.  Quality rests that feature adjustable prongs that lock solidly or can be bent to the proper position are necessary to assure that they will stay in place without fail.  I prefer to steer clear of those that use single small set screws as they can come loose at the worst possible moment.

The fall away style rests are also a great option, and have been my personal preference for all of my hunting bows for several years now.  The advantages of the fall away style rest include less necessity to have fletching aligned any particular way (although I always have all my arrows matching exactly - just an anal thing I guess) and the ability to use a hard helical fletching for maximum broadhead control. With fall away rests, the down side can be tuning them for maximum long-range accuracy.  The key to this is setting the launcher so that it stays up the absolute maximum amount of time possible but still fall away in time to avoid fletching contact. With most fall away rests, the pull cord is attached to the downward traveling buss cable which brings the rest up as the shooter draws the bow. The length of the pull cord is what controls the rate of fall of the launcher, so it is usually a matter of adjusting the pull cord until it falls correctly. I use common foot spray powder on my rest launched to determine if there is contact.  If there is none, I slow the rest-timing by shortening the pull cord until I begin to see contact; then, lengthen it back out just enough to clear everything.

By far, the best overall rest design I have tried to date is that of the new Spot Hogg Whammy rest.  With this rest, the cycle action of the rest is triggered in the opposite way of a conventional fall-away rest.  Instead of the rest coming up when the bow is drawn, it stays up all the time during the draw cycle; then, quickly drops after the bow is fired and the cable reaches the at-rest position.  The launcher then returns to the original position, ready for the next shot.  This enables ultimate arrow control for the maximum amount of time, and is as easy to attain as following the very simple instructions on the rest.  To date, I have not needed to shoot any bow more than 4 times to get a perfect bullet hole through paper after installing the Whammy; and the accuracy down range is exceptional.

Another feature that I look for in all my arrow rest is total micro adjustability. With today’s bows I find this feature to be a godsend when tuning the bow for maximum accuracy. Many times the rest needs only a fraction of an inch in adjustment to make the difference between great arrow groups and mediocre ones.  The necessity of ultra fine adjustment is magnified when tuning fixed blade broadheads especially if you want them to group with your field point practice arrows (another thing I always demand in my hunting set up). While it is certainly possible to achieve perfect tune with quality rests that does not have the micro tune feature, those rests with it will cut tuning time by an incredible amount in most cases.

The other important thing I demand is a rock solid lock down bolt or movement protection apparatus to make sure that once I get the rest set to the proper location it never moves. Also, multiple mounting holes to allow more than one mounting bolt to the bow’s riser is also a must.  For bows that have only one mounting hole, the second hole can be used with a larger set screw that will mate up with the bow’s riser and make it nearly impossible for the rest mounting bolt to loosen or slip.  Great rests in this department include Trophy Taker, Spot Hogg and Drop zone, to name a few.

The bottom line on arrow rests is to find one that is built beyond reproach as far as durability and quality workmanship, one that provides total fletching clearance with all your arrows in all conditions, has micro adjust capability, and finally can be locked down so it will stay where you put it.  There are many good rests out there, but if you stick with one that delivers the goods on these points, you will be on your way to putting fresh venison on the table!

Spot Hogg Whammy Rest

Trophy Taker Launcher Style