CG

I'm kicking around the thought of toying with a fall-away this year, either the MZE or TT Shaky Hunter (Don't know if I'll ever give up the WB for hunting though). I've heard all of the positives, what are the negatives? My biggest concern is whether the linkages will hold up to REALLY hard hunting on the ground. Let's hear some horror stories (if there are any)!!

"What we do in this life echos an eternity"

Paul L Mohr

What do you mean by did not work? Do you mean it did not do what it advertised, it did not function correctly, or just fell apart after shooting for a while? I have owned a few, and made some out of prong rests(flipping the springs and attaching a string to the cable slide.). I also now people that own other models, and spend lots of time on these boards listening to what athers say about them.

I have owned the SME revolution that works simular to the muzzy zero effect. It uses a linkage hooked to your cable slide(actually replaces your cable slide). It worked pretty well, and was not that hard to install, it came with a video just like the muzzy does. The thing I liked about it was it was not an overdraw rest like the muzzy and GFK Mirage. The down fall was that since the rest was over the shelf you did not get as much arrow clearance from it. Kind of blows the whole point behind using a drop a way. The other problem I had was that after doing alot of adjusting and tweaking to it I ended up stripping out the two screws that hold the launcher arm to the rod. And I was not cranking on them or anything either. And like I said, I have converted my quicktune to a drop away a few times also. I don't think this works as well as a real drop a way. They drop away too fast, the other designs are made to stay up for a while giving a bit more guidance to the arrow before dropping out of the way.

I have a muzzy now and am quite happy with it. It seems a bit torque sensitive, most likely due to the over draw aspect, but not that bad. It works fine and was not that hard to install if you read the instruction and watch the video. It seems pretty tough to me. It should hold up as well an anything esle on your bow. I would not want to throw it on the ground or drop it out of tree. That in my opinion would be abuse and I would not be surprised if something went wrong. Honestly I think it would take it though. The weakest point I can see on the muzzy is the hook that crabs the arrow. You might be able to snap the tip off of it if you tried real hard. Other than that it is a pretty solid design. It should work great in cold and icy weather since it is not a fall a way, it is driven a way by your cables.

I have not owned a Mirage, but have heard nothing but good things about it. The new power drop looks like a pretty good concept as well. I have heard of some having trouble with the rests that are enertia driven. You cock them before each shot and the recoil of the bow trips them to drop. There have been cases of them not dropping when they were supposed to. Especially with real dead bows, and low power set ups like women and small archers. I have never witnessed this for myself, just something I heard. I can't even tell you names of the rests off the top of my head. I would hate to list one and be wrong about it's design and how it funtioned.

My opinion about them after using a few of them is this. They are cool and fun to play with. And would be an asset if you wanted to shoot a narrow arrow with lots of helical. But if you think they are the miracle cure for bad form or poor tuning, you are sadly mistaken. Especially the overdraw type like the muzzy or mirage. My bow shoots no better with the muzzy than it did with the quicktune 3000. If anything like I said, it is a bit more sensitive to torque. I have noticed with the drop aways that they are a bit more forgiving on weak spine and tend to shoot fixed blades slightly better. I have also noticed with the muzzy that bare shaft tuning is a bit easier. With my prong rests it was kind of a futile effort. The muzzy seems to react a little better to it. I don't know if it will actually improve my groups any or not, I will have to play some more. The quicktune and gfk prong rests are deffinately easier to adjust for the most part.

I don't want you to think I don't like them, and that they are a gimmick, that is not the case. Just don't expect to slap one on and have your bow instantly shoot better. You might get lucky, but don't expect it. You still need to install them properly and tune your set up for optimum flight. I will admit they tend to be a little more forgiving on tune though, which does make them a bit easier to tune. And just because you can put one on and it shoots bullet holes thru paper does not mean it is tuned. I actually think paper tuning a drop away is a bit deceptive. Group tuning and maybe some close up bare shaft tuning really pay off with these rests.

My extent of bare shaft tuning by the way is to take one of my regular arrows and trim the feathers off, leaving the base of the fletching on. This keeps the arrows pretty much the same weight and foc, just less drag. And I shoot them with fletched arrows to see if they get the same flight. I just want to see if the bare shaft is kicking off in one direction compared to the fletched arrow. Normally if they are flying straight, they group pretty much the same. And I don't go beyond 20 yards, but that is what I am setting my bow up for (20 yard spot shooting).

I know I am famous for comming on here and harping about bare shaft tuning having no place with a compound and a release, and it is a waste of time. But for some reason it tends to work well with these types of rests. I am willing to eat a little crow every now and then if it benifits me. I just don't get overly fanatical about it. And like I said, I am not 100% sure it will make my bow more accurate or not, I am still playing with it. I will let you know when I am half way into the season of spot shooting. If my scores go way up it worked I gues, unless I just suck<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>. This is my first time doing anything like this. I did manage to shoot a 558 out of 600 for my first time out, I didn't think that was bad.

Well those are my opinions on the subject, if you care. I do think they are a great rest for hunting. Not quite sure if they are the ticket for target shooting or not. I saw quite a few drop aways at the club the other night though.

Paul

comndr45

I used a Savage Derringer drop away that did not give me vane clearance. It also would not stay in place side-to-side. Went back to my TM Hunter ultimate.

The most important bloodtrail leads right to the foot of the cross

Belle Island

I own a Trophy Taker and I like it. However, I was a little misguided by all the hype. I was expecting to put this thing on and start shooting 1 inch groups at 30yds. Did not happen. Although, I do believe this fall away has improved my accuracy marginally. The reason I wanted one was so I could shoot 5inch vanes without clearance problems and this rest allows me to do that. The bigger the vanes the better/more forgiving the flight, in my opinion. Fall away rests are great, but don't expect them to be a cure all for shooting form or tuning problems. One more point, I honestly believe my Trophy Taker provides a more forgiving shot, or it could be the 5 inch vanes, either way I'm glad I made the move. Good luck.

Hunt the thickets

huntmup

I hate to say it but after a while my MZE started letting me down.

I had it on my Pro-38 & everything was perfect shooting big heavy 2315 arrows at 60#. When spot season was over I cranked her up to 70# and started shooting my carbons at ~365gr, that's when the meltdown started. I couldn't get a tune out of the bow and couldn't group the arrows down range. Also, my String & Cable started getting REAL ugly - the cable slide ate them up enough that I had to replace both of them - with Winners Choice that was another ~$125... I ended up removing the MZE & put on a Pro-Tuner which I use for only 3D & spots.

THEN - I get my Patriot in - and decide to try the Trophy Taker. The TT is the only rest I've had on the bow and it has been perfect. There is NO way to really hold the arrow when not at draw but I have moleskin all over the shelf & I just have to remember to cant the bow a tad to keep the arrow on the shelf - it honestly hasn't been an issue for my type of hunting.

I still haven't had an issue with the TT - it's been on through 1 hunting season and the indoor 3d's thus far. I did put moleskin on the rest & it is totally quiet!



Aim small miss small

Sagittarius

huntmup,

There is a new launcher available for the Pro Tuner that is for hunting and 3-D.
It can be seen at Archery Talk's Manufacturer's forum, in case you haven't heard of it.
Mike claims, your arrow will not fall off the rest up to a 45 degree angle.
Will probably be using it on a new Merlin hunting bow this fall.


Sag.

silentassassin

I bought one of the NAP 4000 fallaways before the season and I hated it. I couldn't get it to tune worth a flip and the screws stripped out too easily. I put my GKF Premier back on and I had it shooting holes with one adjustment, almost had it perfect from the get go. It shot good through paper out to 30 yards so then I moed on to group tuning. I had it tuned as well as I can shoot it inside of 30 minutes. I played with the NAP for a couple of hours with pathetic results.

Protect your hunting rights, &quot;Spay or neuter a liberal.&quot;

Trock63

I have had my zero-effect on now for 2 years and it has not failed me. No problems with worry that it will fall off the shelf and I shoot carbons at 27&quot; with a 115gr muzzy head as does my brother and we have no problems with grouping and the shots being where they are supposed to. Just ask the deer below hehe! MZE is the way to go.

Kill em' Wide and High!!!

Steven J. Collins (Trock63)
Bowdaddy Productions

Bees

No bad stories to report: my Muzzy preformed as advertised. I drug it threw some thick stuff and the arrow was always ready when I was. No complaints at all with the MZE.