Cam Failure? Dry fire with arrow on?
 

Posting this question, happened to a friend of mine on opening day (I know, sounds like I'm trying to avoid the heat here).

He had an arrow nocked, went to let it fly at a doe at 25 yards. The bow made a weird noise, he missed left by 5 yards, and when we looked at his bow, the string had jumped the upper cam and looked as if it had been dry fired.

Here's the question, would the bow act as a dry fire if the arrow was not completely nocked on the string? Clipped on but not fully set?

Has anyone else had a cam failure in a similar fashion? Looking for some thoughts on it.

Side note, this bow was brand new, he had shot it to sight it in, but other than that fresh out of the box this year.

Info
 

Probably need some more info...

1. Brand and model of bow
2. Was it set up at a pro shop
3. Type of arrow rest.
4. Type of release
5. Poundage and draw length.
6. Length and spine of arrow
7. Experience of the shooter

Also what do you mean it looks like it was dry fired? String broke or partially broke? Cam bent? A photo of the damage would be helpful.

I had the exact same thing happen. Arrow went 10 feet, cams bent the same as a dry fire. I attributed it to the arrow coming unnocked just before the shot.

Really ****ed me off too....

Yes… a nock breaking is like a dry fire too. The energy not transferred to the arrow has to go somewhere, limbs cams and strings fail as a result.

LC

Brocken knocks typically result in the arrow going nowhere, usually they fall nearly straight down. The few improperly knocked arrows I’ve see shot were much the same, they go a couple yards at most.
Seeing as the arrow only missed left by five yards it seems it got some energy from the bow. I would lean toward the string derailing from the cam. Could of been shooter induced bow torque, a piece of debris in the cam or on the string like a stick, string contact with almost anything like a branch, heavy clothing, binoculars or ???

What did the arrow nock look like? What were the circumstances surrounding the shot? Was his bow around small limbs, could the string or cam have a piece of debris from moving through the bush? Was he shooting from a strange or unfamiliar position that could of contributed to abnormal torque?
Or was he in a tree stand with no brush in front of him after plenty of time spent sitting and confirming his bow and string were clean and the shot was picture perfect where the shooter was wearing nothing more then a light shirt and shooting from a position similar to a range?

Reality is, the shooter should be able to suss out what happened better then we could but some more information would help narrow down the guessing.

Another possibility is that the cam hit a twig or branch during the shot causing the arrow to fly off course and the cables to derail. I have had that exact thing happen to me.

I have had a nock break in competition and have seen quite a few break as well. The arrow will be off mark, but the cams and string set generally are able to survive. I do know that derailment because of poor bow grip is a real thing, especially on let down. This is more likely the cause of folding cams and damage than a broken nock. Jmo based on what I have seem.

Thanks for the info folks, I will try to load a picture up to help with the discussion. Just need to figure out how to post that.

Here are the photos. Hopefully it uploads properly.

This was my first thought as well, a derail for one of the reasons you mentioned. I was at a tournament some years back and the fellow beside me had his derail, shooter induced torque. Also bent the cam like that. Some bows have issues with cam lean anyway, and can derail quite easily with even a bit of torque from shooter's draw/form being a bit off.

I had an old Prairie Fire bow and like your friend, I drew the bow and had a total wreck. On inspection I discovered that I had set the bow down in some mud and it had hardened into the little valley on the cam and derailed the string when I drew back the bow. It also took a small chip out of the cam. Being poor and not to bright I shoot that bow like that for many years. Don't be that guy.. lol

Todays bows are much better built still I would have the bow inspected by a qualified bow shop EG: Jim Bows, Calgary Archery etc. and hope you have no major issues.

From the photos, I think it was a twig or dirt in the cam. The reason being is it was the bottom cam that derailed; probably picked something up while hunting from the ground. The Torrex only has yokes on the top cam, so if there was excessive cam lean or shooter induced torque then you most likely would have derailed the top cam.

Thanks everyone!
He took it to Jim Bows and they basically told him he dry fired it and that was that. They did not seem interested in thinking that it could have been anything wrong with the bow and it was all on him.

Going to have to go with shooter induce torque, seems to be the most popular answer.

Regardless of how it happened, wether it’s on the shooter or a freak thing like a nock breaking. A bow doesn’t dry fire on its own… and the bow damage tells the tale. Flattened cams, peep missing out of the string, derailed string/cables, and damaged limbs are the tell tale signs.

LC

Oh for sure, I'm not a pro when it comes to reading the signs of how it all shook down. I know a bow won't dry fire on its own, would have to be some reason for the damage to occur. Just looking for opinions on what that could be when we couldn't find a clear reason ourselves. And I am pleased with the feedback I got from the forum!

I just know when it broke, something wasn't right. This has made me rethink my technique when shooting, the idea that shooter induced torque has me guessing that was the likely cause!