Which bow releases are best?

Whether you prefer hunting or target practice, a bow release is a surefire way to get the perfect shot every time. Even if you’re an experienced archer, fatigue and tiny differences in finger positioning can negatively impact your accuracy. A bow release is a mechanical solution that pulls the bowstring and fires the weapon for you.

When searching for a bow release, the key things to look for are consistency and comfort. For a release that has both, the TruFire Patriot Compound Bow Release is the top pick.

What to know before you buy a bow release

Benefits of using a bow release

When firing a bow, the smallest differences in finger positioning, rolling and even muscle tension can affect the trajectory of your arrow. Bow releases are simple devices that you attach to the bow string. The release ensures that your bow fires consistently and precisely, eliminating any of the nuanced factors that might affect your shot. Many bow releases are also strapped to your wrist with Velcro. These devices are comfortable to wear and may prevent the finger and hand fatigue that leads to injuries and impacts your shot.

Types of bow releases

Wrist release: Also known as index style releases, this type of bow release is worn on your wrist and tightened with Velcro straps or buckles. Wearing the bow release on your person will keep you from losing the device, and the comfortable design prevents fatigue. One drawback to this style is that the device could get in the way when you aren’t shooting. The Velcro straps could also wear down over time.
Thumb release: These devices, also known as handheld releases, are very responsive and small enough to fit in a pocket or be clipped to a bow. Thumb releases are a little more challenging to use than other types, and they’re often more expensive than wrist releases.

Target panic

Target panic is a form of anxiety that can affect all archers, regardless of experience level. The condition usually manifests itself as a sudden hesitation or uncontrollable flinch that occurs when firing an arrow, thus hurting your accuracy. This anxiety is most common among hunters and competitive archers. Some bow releases may help alleviate target panic, while others could actually exacerbate the problem. If you experience target panic, read product reviews closely and consider a release with a back tension mechanism.

What to look for in a quality bow release

Color scheme

Some bow releases feature a camouflage design, while others may be black, orange or chrome. A camouflaged bow release probably won’t make much of a difference in a real-life hunting scenario, so simply choose the color scheme that you like the most.

Types of mechanisms

Caliper: This popular release mechanism works like a simple set of jaws that are attached to the bowstring. Once the string has been pulled back to the firing position, the user pulls a trigger that opens the jaws and releases the arrow. These mechanisms are very quiet and popular among hunters, but they have the potential to cause target panic.
Thumb switch: These mechanisms are commonly found on handheld releases and feature a button that’s pressed with the thumb. Like caliper mechanisms, the thumb switch allows for smooth firing but could also lead to target panic.
Back tension: This clever release mechanism features a hinge that rotates freely as the bowstring is drawn back. Once the string is pulled back completely, the mechanism automatically releases the arrow on its own. While this may sound odd, releases with a back tension mechanism are very popular among archers who experience target panic.

How much you can expect to spend on a bow release

The cost of a bow release usually depends on the quality of its components. Midrange devices are usually around $15-$75, while high-end models can be $100 or more.

Bow release FAQ

Can a bow release improve my accuracy?

A. If you’re a novice with improper form, a bow release won’t dramatically improve your accuracy, but if you’re an experienced archer who occasionally needs help executing their shots, a release can be quite beneficial for consistent shooting.

Are bow releases ambidextrous?

A. Most bow releases can be used by both right-handed and left-handed archers, but check the product details to confirm.

What’s the best bow release to buy?

Top bow release

TruFire Patriot Compound Bow Release

What you need to know: This versatile bow release is comfortable, ambidextrous and easy enough for beginners to use.

What you’ll love: Made in the United States, this popular bow release has durable steel calipers with a padded nylon construction. The sensitivity of the trigger can be adjusted to fit your needs, and the release action is quiet and smooth.

What you should consider: The wrist straps were smaller than what some users expected.

Top bow release for the money

Nika Archery Trigger Caliper Compound Bow Release

What you need to know: This wrist release with caliper mechanism is simple and very affordable.

What you’ll love: If you’re looking to try a bow release without breaking the bank, this straightforward model is a good introduction. The rotating caliper head means that it can be used by both left-handed and right-handed archers.

What you should consider: Users question the durability of the release, and it may be too basic for experienced archers.

Worth checking out

Trophy Ridge Precise Caliper Style Compound Bow Release

What you need to know: This high-end thumb release is adjustable and loaded with features.

What you’ll love: Sold by a leading manufacturer of archery equipment, this quality release features a rotating caliper head and unique four-finger handle design for increased drawing power. The thumb trigger and wrist strap are both adjustable.

What you should consider: This release is a bit more expensive than other models, and some archers don’t enjoy the handle design.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

Check out our Daily Deals for the best products at the best prices and sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter full of shopping inspo and sales.

BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

Digital details revealed in a new documentary corroborate passenger accounts about the last hours — and seconds — of the RMS Titanic, which sank 113 years ago.

The makers of “Titanic: The Digital Resurrection” followed a crew of researchers from Magellan, a deep-sea mapping company, as they sent robots to the wreck 12,500 feet under the Atlantic Ocean’s surface in 2022. For three weeks, Magellan deployed sophisticated scanning technology to compile data that included 715,000 photos plus detailed video footage, and create a “digital twin” of the wreck, “accurate down to the rivet,” according to the National Geographic channel.

The effort took two years of analysis by a team that included historians, engineers and forensic experts, Nat Geo in a statement. The goal was to “reconstruct the ship’s final moments—challenging long-held assumptions and revealing new insights into what truly happened on that fateful night in 1912,” Nat Geo said.

The film, produced by National Geographic and Atlantic Productions, premiered Friday on Nat Geo and began streaming Saturday on Disney+ and Hulu.

‘Titanic: The Digital Resurrection’ follows a deep-sea mapping crew as they deploy sophisticated scanning technology on the wreck. (Nat Geo)

Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton, England, headed for New York City, with stops in Cherbourg, France, and Cobh, Ireland. Just before midnight on April 14, 2012, the vessel sideswiped an iceberg. The ship broke in half and sank nearly three hours later. Survivors numbered 706, according to the History Channel; 1,500 people lost their lives.

Several new details emerged from the digital analysis, many of them corroborating passenger accounts, BBC News reported. Survivors at the time said ice entered some cabins during the collision. The digital model appears to bear that out, with a porthole showing damage consistent with such a hit.

The actual damage appears to have been inflicted by several roughly 8.5×11-inch holes along a section of the hull — about the size of a piece of printer paper, as BBC News noted.

There’s also evidence that the ship’s engineers left the boilers on, shoveling coal into the furnaces to keep electricity running. This bought the crew time to launch the lifeboats safely rather than feeling their way in complete darkness, Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson told BBC News. Working electricity also enabled the ship to send distress signals, Smithsonian magazine noted, likely saving hundreds of lives. All members of the engineering crew went down with the ship.

Related Articles

Review: Landon’s direction, Fahy’s performance elevate thriller ‘Drop’

Movie review: ‘The Amateur’ looks the part but can’t execute mission

Eagan native Eva Erickson joins an alliance of muscle on ‘Survivor’

Review: Naomi Watts and a Great Dane mourn Bill Murray in ‘The Friend’

Val Kilmer, ‘Top Gun’ and Batman star with an intense approach, dies at 65

New information may also exonerate Titanic First Officer William Murdoch, who went down in history for allegedly abandoning his post.The digital evidence indicates he was swept out to sea while attempting to launch one last lifeboat, which matches the account of survivor and second officer Charles Lightoller.

The digital record ensures that the shipwreck will keep yielding information long after the physical remains have disintegrated, experts said.

“Titanic is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster,” Stephenson told BBC News, “and she still has stories to tell.”

The Trump administration on Sunday evening doubled down on its assertion that a federal judge cannot force it to bring back to the United States a Maryland man who was unlawfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador last month.

In a brief legal filing, the Justice Department reiterated its view that courts lack the ability to dictate steps that the White House should take in seeking to return the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to U.S. soil, because the president alone has broad powers to handle foreign policy.

“The federal courts have no authority to direct the executive branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner,” lawyers for the department wrote. “That is the ‘exclusive power of the president as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.’”

The position taken by Trump officials was not the first time they had tried to defy efforts compelling them to seek Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador. Still, their continued recalcitrance meant that Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three, would for now remain at the CECOT prison in El Salvador, where he was sent with scores of other migrants March 15.

The administration’s stubbornness was also likely to heighten tensions between the White House and the judge overseeing the case, Paula Xinis. Xinis has scheduled a hearing to discuss next steps in the matter Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

The conflict has persisted even though the Supreme Court last week unanimously ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from Salvadoran custody. Trump officials have in fact already admitted that they made an “administrative error” when they put Abrego Garcia on the plane to El Salvador in the first place.

The dispute — just one of the legal battles involving Trump’s deportation plans — threatened to spill over into an official visit from President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, who is set to meet with President Donald Trump on Monday.

When the Supreme Court ruled on the case last week, it seemed at first like a victory for Abrego Garcia and his family. But the court’s order contained an ambiguous passage that Trump officials have seized on in their ongoing effort to avoid doing much of anything to ensure his return to the United States.

In their ruling, the justices agreed with Xinis that the White House should do what it could to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, but they never defined the specific steps officials should take to actually “effectuate” the plan.

Indeed, they sent that question back to Xinis, cautioning her that as she clarified what the administration should do, her decision needed to be made “with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

On Saturday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers asked Xinis to order the administration to send a plane to El Salvador to pick him up and to have Trump officials travel with him to “ensure his safe passage.”

But lawyers for the Justice Department, in their filing Sunday, said the administration should not have to do any of that because it would intrude on dealings between the White House and the Salvadoran government.

“All of those requested orders involve interactions with a foreign sovereign — and potential violations of that sovereignty,” the lawyers wrote. “But as explained, a federal court cannot compel the executive branch to engage in any mandated act of diplomacy or incursion upon the sovereignty of another nation.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Pennsylvania state authorities have arrested a 38-year-old Harrisburg man they said set fire to the governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept, forcing them to evacuate early Sunday before the blaze severely damaged part of the building.

The man, identified as Cody Balmer, 38, jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers after he broke into the building, authorities said, adding that he had used homemade incendiary devices. He fled the scene and was arrested in Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a news conference.

Balmer is in custody and is expected to be charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism. Law enforcement officials said they could not provide any information about a motive.

During the news briefing outside the fire-scarred mansion, Shapiro, a Democrat who gained national prominence last year when he was on the short list of possible running mates for Kamala Harris, said that the FBI was assisting in the investigation. The smell of smoke lingered in the air as he spoke, with the blackened, broken windows where the arsonist had struck visible behind him.

Shapiro became emotional as he described his family’s ordeal, recalling the moment a state trooper had banged on his door shortly after 2 a.m., waking him, his wife and his children, and rushing them to safety. The attack, he said, had been “targeted.”

“Last night, we experienced an attack, not just on our family, but on the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “I want you all to know that your prayers lift us up, and in this moment of darkness, we are choosing to see light.”

Shapiro, who last summer helped oversee the law enforcement response to the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, condemned the vitriol in American politics.

“This type of violence is not OK,” Shapiro said, his voice rising in anger. “I don’t give a damn if it’s from one particular side or another. It’s not OK.”

During the briefing, Shapiro said he had spoken with FBI Director Kash Patel hours earlier. “He promised all of the resources of the federal government,” Shapiro said, adding that he thanked Patel, the FBI and the president for their support.

The State Police said in a statement that the fire caused “a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence.”

Shapiro noted that the attack had occurred on the first night of Passover, one of the holiest Jewish holidays, and that other members of the local Jewish community had been celebrating in the state dining room with him and his family. “No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly or proudly,” he said.

Law enforcement officials described a chaotic scene at the mansion in the early morning hours. Once state police became aware of a security breach on the property, they set out looking for an intruder. But, in a matter of minutes, Balmer was able to break in, set the fire and escape back over the same fence he had scaled to get in, officials said.

Bryan Flores, 37, a neighbor who lives across the street from the residence, said he awoke shortly after 2 a.m. to see a large response outside from police and firefighters. “We woke up to the sirens and the flashing lights and stuff,” Flores said. He added that the incident seemed under control at that point.

Shapiro, who served for six years as the state’s attorney general before being elected governor in 2022, has been the target of threats at least once before. In November 2023, police arrested a man who they said sent a threatening email to him, according to a Pennsylvania State Police report. It was unclear Sunday if the man was charged in connection with that incident.

The governor’s residence is a 29,000-square-foot Georgian-style building on the Susquehanna River that was completed in 1968, according to the state government. Its landscaped grounds occupy a full block about a mile and a half from the state Capitol complex.

The public is able to tour the residence, which exhibits art and artifacts on the first floor.

Recent high-profile incidents of violence directed at political figures have helped fuel fear and unease among Americans, polls have shown. Before the presidential election last year, about 4 in 10 voters said they were extremely or very concerned about violent attempts to challenge the outcome. The assassination attempt against Trump last summer took place a little more than 200 miles west of Harrisburg.

Other serious incidents have included a foiled plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan in 2020, and the home invasion and assault at the home of Nancy Pelosi in 2023, which seriously injured the former House speaker’s husband, Paul.

Though American politics has grown increasingly acrimonious and deeply polarized in recent years, research shows that extremist violence in the United States has actually declined, even though a handful of episodes have drawn widespread attention and alarm. Scholars who study the issue have said that the political climate has not become more broadly violent.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.