You’ve got the prey in your sight. You’ve drawn back your arrow and are ready to let it fly. As soon as you do, “twang”, the sound of the bowstring warns the animal – in just enough time for it to run. You need to make that bowstring be quiet or you’ll never take home dinner! It’s not hard at all to make a bowstring silencer that will be the finishing touch to your bow. All you need is some yarn and you’ll never scare away your prey again.
Places that sell yarn offer a large selection of colors that would be suitable for using with a bow. The particular yarn type doesn’t really matter. Find camouflage yarn, buy green or tan yarn, or go with black yarn. Whatever color you decide on, you’ll just cut a pile of pieces to make the bowstring silencer.
Lay a ruler or tape measure out and measure pieces of yarn to be three and a half inches long. Cut piece after piece, to this size, until you have around forty pieces. Those forty will form one bundle but you’ll actually need two bundles. If you want, tie a piece of thread around the center of each bundle to hold them together.
Lay your bow on its side and mark two places on the bowstring where you will attach the bundles of yarn. Measure the length of the bowstring, divide by four, then use that number to mark the string. Or, divide by “3” to adjust how you want to position the silencers. From the end of the string, toward the center, measure the determined number, and make a mark. Do the same by measuring from the other end, toward the center, to create a mark on the opposite end of the bowstring. Make these marks while the bow is still strung.
Un-string the bow and, at each of the marked areas, gently coax the strings apart to create an opening for threading the yarn bundle through. Be sure to stay right on the marks. Slide a bundle of yarn into each marked area, then carefully twist the bowstring to tighten.
The yarn silencers will look better after they fray. To help that along, just pull and let go of the bowstring several times. The yarn bundles will fluff up and create a nicer look.
Animals have such good hearing that even the twang of a bow can send them running. The bowstring silencers are a cheap and easy solution to that problem. Soon, your freezer will be full!