Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer Bow Talk thumb vs finger / wrist release

thinking about making the change to a finger pull thumb release from the wrist style. I know quality isn't cheap but what do you recommend that doesn't break the bank. I've seen them priced from a little to a lot.
Also how much difference did it make on your accuracy if any?

I tried one. Picked up a Stan Onnex and practiced with it for a while before deciding to hunt with it, which I 110% recommend. Found I shot equally as good with the thumb button as I do with my index.

I had one situation where it was knocked off my d-loop during a hunt while I was reaching for my bow. That one instance was enough for me to convert back. I am sure there are ways to mitigate that happening again, but being since I didn’t particularly see the benefit of the thumb over index, I reverted back.

Never tried one but I don't think it would fit my hunting style. I sit in an open front climber or lock on with my bow across my lap and try to keep my released hooked up.

Last year I was freezing cold on a very windy late January morning about 8:30 just taking a north wind in the face in a climber on the side of a pine tree... my hands were freezing sitting on my bow riser..
I know better than to sit unhooked on mornings like this in the rut when you can't hear well and everything is moving, you just have no reaction time on a cruising buck.. but I put my hands in my pockets to warm up for a few minutes...
Look to my right and a 130"+ 8pt comes in fast at 15 yards and get passed my window at 10 yards before I could get hooked back up and draw. Ugh..
If I would have stayed hooked up I probably would have had a shot.. Best deer I saw last year and I knew better too.

I have a stan SX4. I bought a couple of months ago. Never shot a thumb before.It took a few weeks to get comfortable with it but It's a lot more accurate. I'm not going back to a Index.🏹🍂🦌

I shoot the same with both styles of releases, but I prefer to use a thumb button to hunt with. Been hunting with one for 10 years and I’ve never had an issue. I’ve always carried an identical back up release in my pack even when I shot a wrist strap. For a thumb button, don’t go cheap. You want one with a double sear that has adjustments for both trigger travel and trigger sensitivity. Ever had a rifle with a shitty trigger? The cheaper thumb buttons with a single sear aren’t as adjustable and cannot be set as sensitive. As the bow poundage increases, so does the amount of tension it takes to activate the trigger. A double sear release will have a separate cocking button. If you have to depress the trigger for the jaws to open to load it on your loop, it’s a single sear.

Lot of good thumb buttons out there. Stan, Carter, UltraView and TruBall are probably the top ones. I used a Carter Chocolate Lite up until last year when I switched to a Stan Onnex. Best thing you can do is find a shop or a buddy that has several and try them before committing to one. You’ll have to decide whether or not you prefer a 3 or 4 finger version. Also the head length varies on different models. One may feel perfect for you but another may feel too short or too long. You may have to shorten or lengthen your d loop to make it feel perfect. Another thing that may have to be adjusted is your peep height. I can swap between a thumb button and an index style release and my peep height doesn’t need to change, but for a lot of people it does.

If you’ve never shot a thumb button, you definitely want to go ahead and make the change now if you’re going to. You’ll need time to get used to it before taking it to the woods. I don’t plan to ever go back to an index release for hunting whitetails. I sit with my bow on a hanger and my release clipped on my loop. I can’t see myself sitting with a release strapped to my wrist having to worry about banging it around on something. Now for spot and stalk or hunting out west, an index finger would definitely have its advantages. I shoot competitively and this year I swapped back and forth between the two styles.

Come to hoover tactical for the Tuesday night bow shoot and you can try my stan onnex and im sure there would be several other guys that would let you try theres

For the money, Tru Ball Rave is hard to beat.