Gator Gun - Dry Fire Bow signs

[Pipe Dream]

Just did some pistol shooting with my younger son this weekend at Gator.
There must be about 10 signs posted now by the bow department stating that if you dry fire a bow and it causes damage, a $100 fee will be charged

[quack quack]

Think I had anything to do with that They had signs up that said do not dry fire bow.I guess because mine was an accident they had to change there policy.

[Capt'n Shane]

Why would anybody dry fire a bow anyway?

[RiskTaker]

Originally Posted by Pipe Dream

Just did some pistol shooting with my younger son this weekend at Gator.
There must be about 10 signs posted now by the bow department stating that if you dry fire a bow and it causes damage, a $100 fee will be charged

And it used to be the range policy, not there necessarily, that if you shoot a light you shot 10 bucks. Sure beats hunting in the woods, aaay? I was a little slow to figure it out because I didn't see any silouettes of any bucks around there either.

It's all the Duck mans fault: Shoot a compound bow and you shot a 100 bucks. WOW! A lot better than killing two ducks with one stone.

[Pipe Dream]

Dry fire is by accident only....unless, you have no clue what you are doing.
I guess alot of people fall into the later category and Gator has had enough of it. Still, the guys are great and I am sure that they would let you slide if you appear to have a knowledgable head on your shoulders.

[quack quack]

The first thing I said to the guy was it was an accident.Just to make sure he new I did not do it on purpose.The next words out of my mouth were I would pay for the damage and or shipping back to the factory.That is what separates the real accidents from the goof offs.The later would have said see ya later.

[just2fish]

Originally Posted by Pipe Dream

Just did some pistol shooting with my younger son this weekend at Gator.
There must be about 10 signs posted now by the bow department stating that if you dry fire a bow and it causes damage, a $100 fee will be charged

id like an answer also... if i did dry fire a bow, what damage could it cause and how. i own a compound and dont see any reason to dry fire it.

[quack quack]

The strings go to fast and come off the cams while limbs are moving and releasing there energy.If string or cable gets caught it might break the sting or snap a limb.

[Gaitor]

Dry Fire .... Hmmmmm .... causing damage ..... hmmmmmm .... is that like dry humpin' yer date and havin' an accident?

[mneptune]

Originally Posted by just2fish

id like an answer also... if i did dry fire a bow, what damage could it cause and how. i own a compound and dont see any reason to dry fire it.

There is a tremendous amount of kinetic energy that is harnessed in a compound bow. When you shoot an arrow, all the kinetic energy is transferred directly to the arrow, which is one of the reasons that most compound bows today shoot over 300 fps. The amount of energy in the arrow going to the target is quite impressive and it is normal for the arrow to pass totally through an animal in a fraction of a second.

When you dry fire a compound bow, all the stored kinetic energy in the limbs does not have an outlet, ie. the arrow, the energy is obsorbed back into the bow itself and is extremely dangerous. The normal result is a damaged bow but many people are injured, some severly, if the bow breaks apart.

IMHO, bow hunting is a much more challanging and satisfying way to hunt game. I also believe that it is a more humane method of harvesting game. When you shoot an animal in a vital area, (lungs, heart, liver etc) with the extremely sharp broadheads in use today, the animal feels much less pain and dies from internal bleeding versus hunting with a firearm where the animal dies from blunt trama.

Just my .02