Maybe you have heard the term whisker biscuit before and wondered what it means. You know it relates to archery, but you don’t know what they use it for.
What is a whisker biscuit? Introduced in 2003, whisker biscuits act as an arrow rest especially useful for hunters. The device uses synthetic bristles that hold the arrow steady in the center, and it keeps it in perfect alignment when the opportunity arrives.
If you’d like to learn more about the whisker biscuit, keep reading because we will explore everything that you need to know to maximize your use of this device.
How the Whisker Biscuit Revolutionized Bowhunting
Originally invented by Steve Graf and Ike Branthwaite, both men had backgrounds in engineering, and they both loved to bow hunt. Lit with a fierce passion for bowhunting, the two had the know-how to bring us the world’s first whisker biscuit. This contained arrow rest held the arrow at multiple points of contact. The whisker biscuit guides the arrow until it leaves the bow.
At first, no one knew how to take the whisker biscuit, but clever marketing and word of mouth spread the whisker biscuit onto the shelves of American bow shops across the nation.
Hunters began to love the whisker biscuit because of how it stopped the arrow from popping off the bow, a common problem. Nothing worse than missing your shot at the most essential moment. The rest is history!
No Need to Fight the Bow
Bowhunters took to the whisker biscuit because it eliminated the need to fight the bow when taking your shots. Especially when you have sat up in the treestand all day, suddenly seeing a big buck come through can leave you zipping to put the arrow on the rest. The whisker biscuit eliminates the worry that the arrow will fall off the rest.
Even today, the whisker biscuit remains one of the best-selling arrow rests of all time. You may have some competition out there, but this arrow rest maintains a strong following. If you were looking for a good whisker biscuit, you may want to check out the Trophy Ridge Sure Shot Pro Whisker Biscuit. This is the original Trophy Ridge whisker biscuit, which has made it the most popular.
Whisker Biscuit – Not Perfect
Before you go out and buy a whisker biscuit, I should highlight how the whisker biscuit does have its share of problems. For example, some bowhunters dislike this arrow rest because of how the bristles damage the feathers after a while of shooting through them. You can mitigate this problem, however, by having the whisker biscuit installed by a professional archery shop. This helps it to last longer too.
Depending on how much you shoot, many people report having to re-fletch their arrows because whisker biscuits can be hard on the arrows. Along with the bristles being difficult for the arrows, it can slow down the arrows as well. Still, you don’t usually lose more than 3 fps. To put that into perspective, the average arrow shoots at 210 fps. Furthermore, having the whisker biscuit properly tuned will further reduce the speed loss.
Many hunters say you will have a hard time beating a biscuit. You have other choices on the market as well like the biscuit that helps the arrow rest, but many bowhunters still prefer the whisker biscuit.
Some of the other types of arrow rests on the market include:
- Drop away rest
- Pressure/plunger rests
- Shoot-thru rests
Should You Shoot the Whisker Biscuit?
Now that you know what the whisker biscuit is, you may wonder if you should shoot it. I would advise you to at least try it out and see if you like it. On the whole, whisker biscuits come with few downsides with the exception of it damaging your feathers over time. You may need to re-fletch once in a while if you shoot with one often.
What type of arrow rest you choose or if you even choose an arrow rest depends on preference. A lot of bowhunters like the drop-away rests because they don’t lose speed with it or see their feathers damaged from use. Still, that one comes with its own set of issues as well.
The whisker biscuits remain popular even today for a reason. They make shooting easier because it holds the arrow in the circular containment until ready to fire while keeping your aim steady.
If you’d like to learn more about when to replace a whisker biscuit, check out this article that I wrote here.
How to Know the Size of Whisker Biscuit That You Need
In general, I’d advise you to look for a whisker biscuit that gives you a 0.03 width gap near the top with the arrow. Your whisker biscuit’s size wholly depends on the size of the arrow that you choose. You will know it is too tight if the arrow fills the whole hole. The extra size lets your arrows, whether vanes or feathers, pass through the whisker biscuit without suffering harm.
You can get away with a larger whisker biscuit hole better than you could with a smaller hole. Some report it as shooting inconsistently because the arrow moves around too much, but most people say that this doesn’t cause a problem. In general, when you look for a whisker biscuit size, you want to go with one hole larger than what you planned to buy. This usually hands you the best size.
Conclusion
The whisker biscuit gives you an arrow rest to hold the arrow in place. You can take steadier shots with it. Most commonly bowhunters use it when out and hunting for animals like deer, turkey, bear or moose. Use it anywhere where you would hunt for animals with bow. Bowhunters love whisker biscuits because they have used them, and they can trust that they will help them hit their mark. To decide if you want the whisker biscuit, you may want to check it up against the fallaway rest to see what you like the best.
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