Rangeball

http://www.buckpole.com/pages2/acc.html

I'm thinking of giving this thing a try. I'm primarily a bowhunter, and this looks like it would give me the pulling power of a winn glove, the ability to leave it hooked up to my bow while on stand and the gator jaw would give me a loop like release without the loop. If you've tried it, please let me know what you think. If you haven't, please check it out and give me your opinion of the pros and cons you see.... Thanks.

ArcticBowMan

I like the Winn Glove, but don't like the fact that the release head on it takes away my dexterity. I would imagine that release would have similar problems for me. For tree stand hunting, that might not be a bad release, but for spot and stalk and motion hunting where you'll need both hands for climbing and working your way through the brush, I don't think it would be the best available release.
I like having the release head dangling off the strap personally. It still could get in the way, but nowhere near how the solid heads would.

Rangeball

Artic, most of my deer hunting is from a stand, but I see what you're saying. Luckily, that won't be a huge issue for me...

I'm really hoping someone here has tried this release, interested to find out it the head swivels to alleviate string torque, etc.

Edited by - Rangeball on 02/01/2002 13:51:18

Rangeball

Just heard back from my e-mail inquiry. The release head does swivel 360*. They offer a 30 day trial, full refund if not damaged...

I may have to fling a few arrows with this thing since I'll have nothing to lose if I don't like it... Still very interested in input from you guys...

Pinwheel 12

Range-

Gator jaws work well, but they beat the heck outta your serving, and serving is much more of a pain to replace than a simple loop. You have to re-set nocksets and kisser if you use one when reserving, whereas with a loop you simply have to whip a new one on and if you place a tie-in nockset above and below the arrow nock, then place the loop over them, you always have a definate point of reference with which to tie to. I can change a loop in the field in about a minute without losing any tuning or peep rotation, something you cannot do if you blow a serving. For this reason and others I feel a loop in the way to go, especially for hunting purposes. Good shooting, Pinwheel 12

nub

Range: All I can give is an opinion from seeing the pic. The jaws look like a serving and hand torque nightmare. The whole thing looks a little too big for me and hard to hang onto. But then I only have 4 fingers on that hand. Maybe with the wrist strap I could spare a finger for the trigger, but still seams like a lot to hold with even with a good hand.

Rangeball

What is it about the gator jaws that eat servings more than say a standard caliper head? It seems like the string angle wouldn't be as acute with a jaw above and below the arrow as opposed to one contact point with a single jaw. Are the jaws not polished or rounded on the inside where they contact the string? Are the serving problems you've seen them create with modern braided servings?

Pinwheel 12

All caliper heads eat servings, of course the braided servings help, but why bother with something that is basically now obsolete? Same thing happened when I was using the Barner Targetmaster rope release. I loved the thing, and it took me a long time to come away from it and to a loop. But the loop has so many attributes to it that it simply makes all of the other stuff prehistoric. Peep rotation is a non-issue, servings last the life of the string, less torque, can be adjusted for anchor and different styles of release, etc, etc, etc. I feel you should use what you want, but nowadays there really is no advantage to using a direct metal-to-serving contact point when you can simply use a loop. Just my own thoughts, Pinwheel 12

Rangeball

I see what you're saying Pinwheel... I was under the impression that modern braided serving material had solved this issue. I want to try hooking directly up the string again in an effort to get the string back on my nose at anchor. When I switched to a loop, I lost this reference point, even with my release adjusted as short as possible... I don't shoot near as much as some of you guys, just enough to stay proficient out to 35-40 yards, maybe 750-1,000 shots a year, so hopefully serving wear won't be an issue. Would love to shoot more, but time and responsibilities don't allow it right now, hopefully soon... Thanks for the input.