Cam Failure? Dry fire with arrow on?

[Chief27]

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.

[brendan's dad]

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.

[guysmiley]

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....

[Lefty-Canuck]

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

[Coiloil37]

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.

[scalerman]

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.

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by Coiloil37

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 ???

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.