Thinking about putting a whisker biscuit onto your bow, you worry that it might hurt its accuracy in a way that you can’t afford to lose. You don’t see anyone shoot with a whisker biscuit in archery competitions, which makes you wonder if they have merit for use in hunting.
Do whisker biscuits affect accuracy? An overwhelming majority say whisker biscuits won’t hurt your shooting accuracy. Shooting with a whisker biscuit may impact accuracy slightly, but it won’t hurt it enough to matter when out and about and hunting. Worn-out whisker biscuits and long-range shots may hinder the accuracy slightly more.
In the coming article, we will cover the whisker biscuit and why some people may worry that it hurts accuracy. We will also go into greater detail on why the whisker biscuit doesn’t hurt accuracy that way.
Why Do People Think Whisker Biscuits Hurt Accuracy
People may think that the whisker biscuit hurts the shooter’s accuracy because of how the arrows must shoot through whiskers. Some believe that this slows it down at its best and hurts accuracy at its worst. The whiskers may also hurt the fletching on the arrows over time, which made it so that many archers don’t use whisker biscuits.
While shooting through the whiskers may impact the accuracy slightly, it shouldn’t hurt it to the point where you miss your shots. When out bowhunting, you will still hit your target even with the biscuit as long as the shot wasn’t off to begin with. In a competition, people don’t use it because it does hurt the accuracy, but for hunting, it serves its purpose well enough.
When the Whisker Biscuit Badly Hurts Accuracy
You may want to take your bow into a reputable and professional archery shop to request that an expert install the biscuit. This keeps the accuracy at its best. People complain the most about the accuracy of a whisker biscuit when installed incorrectly. You want a professional to install it because poorly installed whisker biscuits hinder accuracy, and it can hurt the fletching of your arrows. You will need to re-fletch them more often shooting with a biscuit.
The farther the distance between you and your target, the harder it becomes to hit your mark. Along with distance, you must practice good form with a whisker biscuit because this can hurt accuracy as well. Whisker biscuits require good form more than a drop-away rest. Your practice with it can aid in the performance of your shots, and you will improve accuracy as you learn how to shoot with it.
As a whisker biscuit wears out, this can impact the accuracy as well. How fast it wears out depends on the frequency of shooting, but the average shooter can expect to replace it every two to three years. Everyday shooters may need to replace the whisker biscuit every one to two years.
Whisker Biscuit: Accurate as the Shooter
Generally speaking, the whisker biscuit will display as much accuracy as the shooter. Form matters in all archery, and you shouldn’t discredit this as more important than the shooting aid used. Two misconceptions exist with the whisker biscuit. First, people have to consider accuracy versus forgiveness. The whisker biscuit forgives little if you already take poor shots, which can make it worse. Second, people don’t pay enough attention to what happens with the bow after the shot. Jerking all over the place will impact the placement of the arrow.
Understanding the Whisker Biscuit and Its Uses
Before we look at anything, we should understand the use of the whisker biscuit because many people think of it as usable for all forms of archery. In 1999, Ike Branthwaite and Steve Graf invented the whisker biscuit because of a wild love for bowhunting. The whisker biscuit solved an issue holding the arrow securely to the bow. This allowed hunters to act on a target within seconds.
They never intended for the whisker biscuit’s use in archery, and in fact, it doesn’t serve many purposes in archery. Within archery, you want as much accuracy as possible, and the whisker biscuit may interfere with this on some level. The other reason that you don’t need it for archery is the fact that you might only hold the arrow for the shot for a few seconds. You don’t have to worry about your target running off if you don’t string and shoot the arrow quickly. That was the problem that they intended to solve for bowhunting.
Using it for archery, it only becomes a hindrance as it doesn’t need to serve as an arrow rest. For cases like that, it doesn’t make sense to use a whisker biscuit.
It Affects Accuracy but Only a Little
The whisker biscuit does impact the accuracy of your shots but only slightly. Like with how the whisker biscuit impacts the speed, it may impact it slightly, but it won’t have a huge negative impact. The whisker biscuit impacts the speed of the arrow by between 3 and 6 fps. You can’t deny the speed difference, but it only impacts it slightly.
Meanwhile, most don’t think the whisker biscuit impacts the accuracy badly enough to hurt it. Especially when you consider hunting with the bow, you have a large target. You don’t aim for the head with the target, you aim for the heart and lungs. Learn more about headshots and why you should avoid them when hunting with an article that I wrote here.
While the whisker biscuit may throw off your shots slightly, it won’t hurt accuracy enough to miss the shot. The hit will still usually be deadly enough to kill, which is why slightly less accuracy doesn’t matter.
When Accuracy Matters Most, Choose This Instead
In cases where accuracy matters the most, choose the fall-away rest instead. It gives you much better accuracy. The rest design makes the arrow sit in a more forgiving position to allow for better shots. You don’t feel your shots getting impeded with this arrow rest. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt the speed as much as the whisker biscuit. You might try the whisker biscuit first and try the rest later to see which one you prefer. The whisker biscuit especially does well when out bowhunting in the field. You want to make the best shot possible each time.
How many feet per second do you lose with a whisker biscuit? You only lose between 3 and 5 fps with a whisker biscuit, which makes the speed lost hardly worth worrying about. For those who want total speed, however, the drop away arrow rest may serve your needs better.
Can you use a whisker biscuit on a recurve bow? You could install a whisker biscuit to a recurve, but because it already contains an arrow rest, most bowhunters think of it as a poor choice. If you follow the proper form, you won’t need to install a whisker biscuit. Not only that, but a whisker biscuit on a recurve doesn’t look good.
Conclusion
The whisker biscuit may impact the accuracy on some level, but it won’t hurt it enough to matter. Especially considering how they intended the whisker biscuit for bowhunting, you don’t necessarily need pinpoint accuracy to shoot a target. You need an arrow strung for the right moment, and as long as it doesn’t hurt accuracy too bad, it won’t matter.
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