I have had yet another set-back. Early this past week I managed to crush the end of my ring finger on my right hand. Right handed shooter. The bone is broke just before the tip and there is a nasty wound that goes down through the nail to the bone. It's all bandaged up and I know it will take a length of time to heal. In order to not go stir crazy I tried to use a compound release on my longbow.. :-( Those arrows danced all over in flight and all over the target. I tried a few different spines, point weights, lengths, and I tried putting a D-loop on the string and just clipping the release on the sting itself. NOTHING looked halfway decent. I am slightly concerned about how bad the arrow flight looked off the release, not sure why it looked good (even bare shaft) with fingers and absolutely terrible with a release? If anybody has any other suggestions on something to try, I will have a time this winter to experiment. I assume I can teach myself to shoot a little left handed as I am fairly ambidextrous, but even with that I would need to make sure the ring finger stayed clear of contact. Looking for thoughts and ideas on shooting with a giant brace around the ring finger.

-Bones

You may be drawing substantially farther (or maybe just the opposite) with a release such that the arrows are no longer properly spined to the bow. Also need to adjust your nock point down if you go to a release. Needs to be set much lower, so your arrow nock is about level with the shelf, not above it. Good luck.

Of course, you could go to a two finger draw. Works for some people.

Can you shoot with 2 fingers? Pointer and middle finger.

Get one of the Talon wrist releases. They do work well once you get used to it.

First you have to think about what is different. Shooting split finger you have one finger above and two below the arrow, this effects where the nock set needs to go. When you change to a release aid all that changes, you now have one small contact point on the string, which will require a WAY different nock set location.

Bob

Under-spined arrows are the answer. Sometimes very under-spined. Finding a consistent anchor also takes some experimentation. A second nock set below the nock is important as this is what the release comes in contact with as you grasp the string. You can even try a third nock set a half inch to an inch below the nock to get the arrow closer to your eye. Your draw length with be shorter, too. Obviously, snap-on arrow nocks are needed to prevent a potential dry-fire. Knowing how to properly trigger a release is a real bonus. There are many variables to experiment with but stick with it.

Tried it myself, never could get it to work. With a compound I could shoot with the pros. But put it on my recurve? The barn was safe. Effected both hands couldn't even hold bow solid on release.

Bones -

Frankly, I would stop shooting until the finger heals. Even if you're not using the ring finger, the way the nerves and tendons are set up, unless you could shoot with a perfectly relaxed hand, just using the other fingers or wrist could do damage. Even with a relaxed hand, some "recruitment" could be happening.

If you "have to" shoot, a cheap wrist/caliper release should work best, but you'll have to tune the bow as a compound specs, not as you would with a recurve or LB, since paradox is no longer being induced by the fingers.

Viper out.

Thanks for the responses. I tried some left handed shooting, and that was okay, except for the little bit if vibration in the bow made the finger hurt a little more. It does not take much to irritate it. I may try the release again, and the information shared will help. Thanks,

-Bones

What Viper said. And do some fishing. You might try a thumb release just for entertainment. I know nothing about that.

I totally agree with Viper, you can damage other parts of your hands/body by trying to push the healing process.

What fdp said.

I lost 5/16 of an inch off my ring finger. I shot split finger with a glove. I shot with 2 fingers for a year as the ring finger hurt to shoot normally. After talking with someone at the traditional bowhunters expo in Kalamazoo I switch to 3 under and a thicker tab. It took awhile to get used to it but it worked for me. Good luck Ramjet

Ive been shooting using just pointer and middle finger for about 50 years with no problem. Could never figure what the ring finger did other than cause problems since it usually carries a very small amount of the total load on the string. This has worked well for compounds and stick bows shooting split finger and 2 under. Give it a try.

I would like to be able to test the two finger deal out more, but currently I have a giant Aluminum, velcro over the top, splint on the finger which sticks out a solid inch in front of the middle finger and goes just beyond the middle knuckle. I have not figured out how to get that finger out of the way of the string and still have a good anchor. I would think the best profile for two fingers would be to have the ring finger tucked down and against the face, not an option with this contraption. If you leave pointing out, I have to be very conscious of really pointing away but it still managed to catch a bit of the string. Fortunately right now I am using a sub 40# bow to try to learn another method of shooting on. More thoughts are definitely welcome.

-Bones

Bones, are you still around Crockett?

Several years ago my oldest son damaged his fingers on his draw hand. He ended up shooting with a release for several months and shot very well.

As mentioned earlier though, it does require a complete reconfiguration of the set up of the bow.

Might sound silly, but maybe just let your finger heal up and start where you left off? I know it is not a popular answer, but it does have some merit.

I've got trigger finger in the ring finger of my drawing hand. Haven't shot for about 2 years. Doesn't look like it will get better so maqybe find another option.

Larry, no we moved almost 2 years ago.. Again. But I am still in East Texas. I appreciate everyone's responses, and I do know the most logical and useful suggestion is to just let the finger heal. Currently I do not know what that time frame looks like, as they had to remove the entire fingernail, and the broke tip is a little messy, not a clean break. Two things are difficult to figure out. How to keep the finger completely dry and clean while fly-fishing, and how to shoot a bow with some reasonable accuracy. The shooting is more for mental decompression and energy release. Some of us are wound a little tight and simply shooting is a big daily relief.

-Bones

:-)

A few ideas -

A lightweight ambi bow- like the PSE Snake or an old Pearson fiberglass bow and a thumb ring, or draw w/ 2 or even 1 finger

Modern slingshots are very light draw and only require thumb and index finger to draw. There is a lot of information on the web regarding modern ergo slingshots and flat bands - I shoot slingshots indoors when it is too cold to shoot my bow - the are capable of great accuracy and a lot of fun

Simple-Shot.com sells a slingshot that converts to a slingbow -called the Hammer - I have one and it is a lot of fun to tinker w/. You can shoot an arrow using a caliper release. The hammer grip design is similar to gripping a bow.

Rotary or non-mechanical release

Black Widow used to make a strap tab - they sometimes show up on Ebay

And - risking detention in Room 101 for violating every forum rule - how about a compound bow

Ishi- I will be detained in room 101 with you. I still shoot my compound and enjoy it at times, and yes, right now that is Easy enough to shoot and still get some target time. I have a deeper fascination with recurve and longbows, and would like to pursue options to allow me to continue to shoot them. The new to me Pearson doesn't need to get stable-sour over a lack of use. :-D I have a dual shelf Polar and can shoot it a couple times, but the mild vibration in the handle when shooting left handed has proved fairly uncomfortable. Maybe a slingshot is worth a try?

Drawing a bow with my feet sounds like a good way to lose a bow and maybe some teeth in the process... HAHAHAHA

-Bones

I’ve known several that learned to use a mouth tab fairly quickly and accurately. I would be inclined as others have stated, to lay off for awhile to prevent any possible residual damage.

You may try a thumb ring type system. You may need to shoot on the opposite side of the riser as I've seen some archers do. It may take an incredibly concerted effort to explore that option but you would eliminate the need for the ring finger that you crushed. I may be wrong but it may be something to look at. Best of luck on figuring things out and your recovery.

Bringing this back up to add in updates. I went down some rabbit holes trying to get to where I can comfortably shoot. The good news is that the wound itself to the ring finger is healing quite well, and that has allowed me more freedom with my hand. I kept bumping the brace a lot and that was fairly uncomfortable, so I quit wearing the finger brace. When I took that off I realized I had completely over thought the whole process. This is a picture of the wrist strap, and thumb tab situation I tried to work-out.

-Bones

I found while working on this strap that a few things are VERY important. 1) The strap needs to anchor very securely and not move down the wrist into your palm. so you need to have it fit tight. 2) The "tether" from wrist to string needs to be short enough that you actually use the strap to draw the bow, and not try to just pinch the tab with the thumb and index finer to draw. With VERY light poundage you an get away with basically anything pinched and draw. As you step up in weight you realize the strap length is important and that you need to only be concerned with holding the end of the tab between thumb and index not drawing. 3) There is a limit, regardless of material, of the draw weight I could comfortably draw even with the adjustments to the strap.

Somewhere just shy of 45# I lost the ability to really comfortably shoot the tab. I was able to shoot my 51# longbow but not able to get into full form before the end of the tab was pulled out of the fold. So IF I was to snapshoot, fine, but not like I wanted.

-Bones

Thanks to information shared to me from other wallers, THANK YOU all VERY Much!! I am being sincere about that. I do appreciate ya'll. I did the above experiments. So here is where things started turning. I also had some information shared about tuning bows more like compounds, in that using a different arrow, knocking points and methods. This pic best shows what I came to as an aid to keep shooting. I was not spot on, but was more able to control the shot. I still had my finger in the brace while starting this part of the process. The thumb release allowed me to keep the broke finger up and out of the way, draw weight then supported by two fingers on the release...

Hold that thought, it is about to click.

-Bones

AH HA!!! I can draw the bow I want with two fingers.

So, when the finger brace was removed (remember it is only the end of the bone that is broken and end of finger that is .. Yukey) I was able to fold that finger under and use a tab. Now I anchor two fingers under, draw, settle, pull through to release... BINGO!! For whatever reason my brain did not allow me to get to the simple idea of being able to shoot with two fingers while I had the brace on. Once I removed the brace, things changed.

That little piece of suspended target was a 4"X4" square when I started shooting it. After a few connecting shots it is now less than 2"X2". The shot here was taken at about 25 yards.

I am back to shooting my homemade targets on the range here at the house. This whole little process covered a few weeks and LOTS of Shooting. We just got back from a weekend trip to the hunting property, no real success, but very happy to be able to shoot the bow I want so quickly. Again.

-Bones

Looks like you've done a good job thinking and working through this situation. Props.

OUTSTANDING! HEAL UP QUICK!

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