How to Care for Compound Bows: 3 Tips from John Dudley

A successful season with your compound bow requires good maintenance and care– but it’s not just a once-a-year thing. Taking good care of your bow and keeping it clean and working well should happen throughout the season. 

However, like shooting your bow, good maintenance is not difficult. Our friend, HuntWise Pro, and compound bow expert John Dudley, shares just how easy it is to keep your bow in hunting condition. Here are three basic tips so your bow and arrow set are always in their best condition for a hunt. 

1. Preserve the Life and Integrity of Strings and Cables

The bow’s strings and cables are “wearable” items, meaning they are susceptible to wear and tear with use. 

Like shoelaces for your shoes, they will wear out over time.

Additionally, with your strings and cables, if you cut them or if they break, the functionality simply won’t be there. So, prolonging their life and integrity is crucial to keeping your bow in good working order for a successful hunt. 

Avoid Sharp Things

This might seem obvious: keep sharp things away from the string. For example, the broadhead of your arrow.

However, handling broadheads and keeping them away from the compound bowstring can be challenging for new bowhunters who are getting used to just how sharp broadheads are. It can take only a light touch of the tip of the broadhead to a string to cut some strands. If you cut some strands, you’ve damaged the integrity of the string. You’ll need to trust the input of a professional to give feedback on if it’s still safe to use. 

If it's no longer safe, you'll need a string change or upgrade for your bow. 

Beware of the Elements

In addition to sharp things, ultraviolet light, moisture, and extreme heat also impact the lifespan of your bowstring. Naturally, the more time you spend outside with your bow – either practicing during the offseason or on a hunt – the more the string is exposed to these elements. 

Putting a string treatment or wax on the string and cables and properly massaging that into the fibers is important. It helps to lubricate strings and cables and multiplies the lifespan “by a significant magnitude,” as Dudley puts it. 

If you see noticeable “fuzzing” on your string, this is a sign that the elements are starting to wear down its integrity. Rubbing a little bit of wax into the spots where you see dried “fuzz” really helps keep your string in good shape for longer.

2. Remove Excess Debris from Compound Bows

Being outdoors makes it easy for debris to collect in various places through your bow. So, it’s crucial to keep an eye on that debris build-up and remove it. You can do this at any time during the season.

Dudley says, “When you notice chunks of mud or spots where water has piled up, wipe all of that off. If a cloth can’t reach debris in tight spots, use compressed air to blow it out of those areas.” 

Focus on the area around the bow’s cams or wheels. Setting the bottom cam down on the ground or walking and splashing mud can collect a lot of mud in that spot, and mud and debris in the cams can act as an abrasive to the bowstring or bearings of the cam system. 

Using compressed air or a Q-tip to clean out mud and debris in tight spots can really help prolong the lifespan of your bow and arrow set. 

Don’t Over-Lubricate

Dudley notes, “One mistake bowhunters make is overlubricating the cams with WD40 or something similar.”

However, adding an oil like that can attract dust and debris that clings to the cams, which acts even more aggressively as an abrasive. Keep debris as clean and clear as possible, and don’t over-lubricate the cams to avoid attracting more-than-usual debris in those spots. 

3. Don’t Sweat It

You probably sweat plenty in the field (and use moisture-control and scent-blocking clothing and devices to keep animals from picking up your scent). 

Did you know your compound bow can sweat, too? 

When going from a cold environment into a hot environment, like being outside for a hot summer day and then coming into a cold building with AC, components of your bow can start to sweat and create moisture. 

When you see moisture, don’t let it sit there. Take something and wipe that down when you see it. Then, try to have some air blowing past your bow to dry it out as quickly as possible. 

This is crucial to prevent any type of corrosion in the bearings or moving parts. It will also prevent any kind of rusting on some of your accessory screws and bolts. 

Dudley says, “Doing these three things we covered today will help you enjoy many years with your compound bow!” 

As always, he explains it best himself! Watch the video below to see him walk through these tips for maintaining compound bows. 

Use These Tips and HuntWise for a Successful Bowhunting Season

We always appreciate hearing from John Dudley and his valuable tips for hunting with compound bows! We hope this information and video help you keep your bow in top condition for a successful hunting season – year after year. 

Along with your bow and insights from one of our HuntWise Pros, make sure you have the ultimate tool to help you before and during your hunts. The HuntWise app delivers multiple map layers to help you e-scout the best locations to hunt wild game. You can also use markers to note animal behavior or signs in your hunt areas, identify stand locations, and plan a successful day afield. 

With HuntCast, WindCast, and RutCast, you have the best predictors in your hand for weather and animal behavior to help you target the best days for tagging out. 

HuntWise and a well-maintained bow are the perfect combination for success every season. So, if you don’t yet have the app, download HuntWise today and enjoy access to every feature – free – for a week. You’ll have an advantage over other hunters before opening day!