How to Carry a Bow in the Woods: On Your Back, in Your Hand and Up the Tree

The best way to carry a bow depends on how far you're walking and how soon you might shoot. For the walk in, a sling or a backpack holder keeps both hands free and takes the load off your arms. For a stalk, carry the bow at your side by the grip with your arm hanging straight, and raise it to a ready carry only when a shot is close. Use a case in vehicles and on flights, and a haul line to get it into a tree stand; never climb with it.

The reason for that order is your elbow. Held out in front at the ready, a rigged 6.5 lb compound puts about 9.6 N·m on an average man's elbow, roughly a fifth of his maximum, which ergonomic guidelines rate as comfortable for only about six minutes. At your side, the same bow puts almost nothing on the elbow.

• ~6 min
  comfortable ready-carry hold for an average man with a 6.5 lb rigged compound; about 2 min for an average woman
• 42%
  of Georgia's tree stand hunting injuries in a 10-season CDC review happened while climbing up or down
• 126 of 294
  ArcheryTalk members in 10 carry threads brought up a bow sling, more than any other carry

The question comes up on ArcheryTalk every season, in threads like "Carrying a Bow" and "How do you carry your bow while hunting?". I read ten of them, then worked out what each carry actually asks of your arm, so the answer rests on more than habit.

What's the Best Way to Carry a Bow?

Match the carry to the stretch of ground you're on. Most bowhunters use two or three of these on the same hunt.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Why Does Carrying a Bow Tire Your Arm?

Because in a ready carry your elbow is a lever. Hold the bow up in front of you with your forearm level and its whole weight sits about 13 in from the elbow. Let the arm hang straight at your side and that lever nearly disappears: the bow hangs from the shoulder through a straight arm, and only your grip works.

I put three real weights through that lever and compared the result with average elbow strength from a 178-person strength study: 50.9 N·m for men and 26.5 N·m for women. Hold times come from an ergonomics design guideline built on Rohmert's endurance data.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

The 2.4 lb is a Samick Sage as one owner weighed it on my Sage vs Spyder page; 4.26 lb is the listed mass of a Mathews Lift 33; 6.5 lb is my estimate for the same class of bow with sight, rest, quiver, arrows and a short stabilizer. All rows in the carry data (CSV).

So the ready carry is a posture for the last stretch, not the walk. At a slow 1 mph stalk, six minutes covers about 170 yards. Carry at your side until you think a shot is coming, then bring the bow up.

How Do You Carry a Bow on Your Back?

With a sling or a backpack holder. A sling attaches to the bow, usually around the riser, and puts the bow across your back or over one shoulder, where it comes off in a few seconds. A backpack holder or the pack's compression straps lock the bow to the pack for long walks, which is slower to unload but keeps the bow from swinging.

• Face the sight and rest toward your body so branches and rocks hit the riser and limbs instead.
• Keep arrows in a covered quiver, on the bow or the pack, never loose.
• Pad it against something soft, like a sleeping bag, so it doesn't rattle or shift.
• Check the cams and limbs can't touch your pack frame; a shifted bow rubs.

Slings were the carry ArcheryTalk members brought up most: 126 of the 294 in the threads I read.

Is It OK to Carry a Bow by the String?

For a short walk, it's common and fine for the string. The real trade-off is control: hanging by the string, the bow swings away from your body and the sight and rest go first into brush. One member in a 2012 thread on carrying to the stand put it simply: "I NEVER pack mine by the string. Why take a chance on gak-ing the sight or rest with a twig or branch." If you want a hand carry, the grip at your side gives you the same low arm load with the bow under control.

How Should You Carry Arrows?

In a quiver that covers the broadheads, with nothing nocked until you're ready to shoot. That's the line in bowhunter education courses; the official study guide's safety checklist says to carry broadheads in a quiver that fully covers the blades, cross obstacles with arrows secured in the quiver, and only nock an arrow when it's safe to shoot. Six members in the carry threads brought up walking with an arrow nocked; the course guidance says to wait until it's safe to shoot.

How Do You Get a Bow Into a Tree Stand?

With a haul line, after you're up and clipped in. A CDC review of Georgia hunting injuries over ten seasons found that 19% of tree stand injuries happened while climbing up and 23% while climbing down, and none of the 214 injured hunters wore a harness. Bowhunter education says the same in one line: don't climb or descend with a bow in your hand, and use a haul line for gear both ways.

1. Tie the haul line to the bow, not the string, with arrows in a covered quiver.
2. Climb with both hands free, connected to the tree the whole way.
3. Once you're in the stand and clipped in, pull the bow up slowly, clear of the steps.
4. Reverse it to come down: lower the bow first, then climb down.

How Do You Carry a Bow on an ATV, Bike or Flight?

Fixed and covered. On an ATV or bike, a rack or clamp mount holds the bow so it can't bounce loose; many sold as gun racks work for bows. In a truck or on a plane, a hard case is the only carry that protects against a real impact, and a soft case is the lighter option for the trunk or a short walk. Re-check your sight and rest after any long ride.

How Do Bowhunters Actually Carry Their Bows?

Carry yours a way I didn't cover? Tell me through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions