Let’s talk bow releases

They help to an extent. If you have trigger panic with a traditional release, I can imagine you will have a tendency to punch shots with a thumb release initially (anticipating your shot)! Not difficult to overcome with practice. I found personally my groups tend to be tighter with the thumb release.

It is super convenient to be able to hang your release while in the stand.

I tend to go back and forth from a hook style trigger, or my four finger thumb both tru ball releases.

Target panic is going to exist with any release that you manually trigger, be it thumb or index. That’s why target archers use a hinge or back tension, but they aren’t shooting an animal. As a bow hunter you need to be able to trigger the release.

I spent some money on an index (truball execution) with a trigger weight that can be adjusted down to nothing. Just like a rifle, a light trigger surprises you and limits how much you can influence the shot. I couldn’t be happier with it and it’s tightened up my groups a lot.

Whether you go thumb or index, learn how to trigger it with back tension as a way to settle target panic. Levi Morgan has some good videos on it. Your pin floats but returns to the x, when you learn to pull through the shot you’ll be surprised how often it goes where you meant to despite you thinking you see the pin elsewhere. Do that enough and you lose the fear and quit punching.

I’m still using the high country wrist release that I’ve used since 1992. Works just like it did then. No reason to change .

Funny that this is posted today. I have been shooting a Carter Like Mike 2 for about 6 months. Loved everything about it. I went to shoot yesterday and I can't get the damn thing to release. I've tried every adjustment possible, but can't get it to release. I shot it fine about 4-5 days prior. Never dropped it and stored it in a case every time. I e-mailed them last night about accepting this as a warranty and haven't heard back yet. I would expect a premium release company to have great customer service, but I guess I'll have to find out first hand unfortunately. At least it's not bow season.

Just ordered a Carter Wise Choice. I looked for the Stan Perfex, but couldn’t find it anywhere. I really liked the customization of the Stan, because I was torn on the 3 or 4 finger version. In fact, it’s hard to find the 2022 versions of anything.