My reviews are based on my experience and thorough research. When you make a purchase using my links, I may earn a commission. Learn more
Did you know that you can get even more out of your bow with some handy tools?
Read my archery bow tuning guide to learn what you need to step up your game:
What Do You Want To Improve?
Before you upgrade your bow, you need to know what you want!
Do you want to reduce the sound your bow makes?
Do you want to improve your accuracy?
Do you want to make your life as an archer easier in general?
Follow along and learn how you can achieve all that!
The Bow Silencer
When people think about silencers they usually think about firearms like guns and rifles.
The truth is, that bows can be equipped with a silencer, too. They look completely different, of course:
While bows are much more silent than guns, they do make an audible sound that can scare game way.
The stronger the bow, the louder the sound of the string usually is when it shoots forward to let the arrow fly (and when it moves back vibrating to its original position).
There is no “big bang”, but when hunting a “bow silencer” can give you the chance of a second shot, if the first one missed its target.
Your solution: String Silencers or String Dampeners
Every bow can be equipped with string silencers/dampeners, but putting them on compound bows can be tricky, because you usually have to remove the bowstring from the bow.
If you have never done this before, I would recommend to ask a professional to do it for you.
It is rather easy for a longbow or recurve bow, so this shouldn’t cause you any problem.
Let me show you a few types of silencers:
Mountain Man Beaver Balls String Silencer
This lightweight string silencer is made of beaver hide and can be used on any bow and withstands any weather.
It reduces the sound and vibration of the bowstring perfectly.
If your bow makes a loud sound when releasing the string, you should try this silencer.
You will be surprised how effective it is.
They come in a set of two, as you need to install two silencers to keep the balance.
The Bowjax Ultra Jax II is a fantastic string dampener which reduces vibration and sound of the bowstring up to 75%!
Make sure to always keep the balance when installing dampeners/silencers on your bowstring.
Like I said before, I recommend compound bow archers, who have never used a dampener, to ask a professional to attach the dampener to your string.
You don’t want to cause damage to your bow, do you?
The Bowjax Ultra Jax II is a bit more effectice than the Mountain Man Beaver Balls String Silencer, but both are doing a great job!
Attention:
This dampener is of a different kind and can be only used on bows that have a split limb, like many compound bows or crossbows do!
The BowJax Magnum reduces vibration in a surprisingly effective way.
They are extremely easy to install and will make your bow much quieter with much less vibration after the shot.
Watch the video below to see how efficient they are:
Who Needs A String Silencer?
Everybody who wants to go hunting should consider getting a string silencer or limb dampener, if the bow is making a loud noice when the arrows are released.
A limb dampener reduces the vibration greatly and with that some of the sound.
The bowstring still makes sounds by itself, so in many cases a combination of limb dampener and string silencer is the best method to make your bow as silent as possible!
There are bows however, which are naturally silent. For those you wouldn’t really need a silencer or dampener.
You will have to make the decision depending on the bow you are using.
Continue With The Next Part
This was the first part of my Archery Bow Tuning Guide.
I hope you learned everything you wanted to know about how to get a real quiet bow that won’t scare animals away.
In the next part I will talk about how to increase your accuracy using equipment you can attach to your bow.
Although I am not a hunter archery has always interested me. So reading your article was very rewarding, I had no idea you would need to silence a bow for any reason. You give a great explanation and peaked my interest more regarding archery. thanks for the informative article and website.
Thanks for your very kind words. Yes, it can be surprising when people hear for the first time that there are silencers for bows, too. Most people think of guns and rifles when they hear “silencer”. Do come back when you want to learn more about archery. 🙂
