Why a dry fire gets genuinely dangerous on compound, and what you need to know about the legal status of bowhunting in Germany.
"How dangerous is a dry fire, really?" With compound: potentially very. Unlike recurve, a compound bow doesn't just store energy in bent limbs — it also stores energy in cables, cams and wheels under constant tension. Release the string without an arrow, and that energy has nowhere to go — it slams entirely back into the riser, cams and cables.
The result can be a cracked riser, snapped cables or a destroyed cam system — and because fragments can fly off at high speed, a dry fire isn't just expensive, it's a real injury risk to you and anyone nearby. Never shoot without an arrow isn't a recommendation, it's a hard rule.
A second point that often causes confusion with compound in Germany: the design originally comes from the US hunting market, but bowhunting is legally banned in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Anyone shooting compound here does so exclusively as a target or 3D sport — and that's exactly as it should be. Especially if you ever lend your bow out or a beginner picks it up, a short, clear heads-up beforehand is worth it — most dry fires don't happen from carelessness, they happen from not knowing the rule.
A recurve limb at least partly absorbs the excess energy elastically. On compound, the energy runs through a system of cables, wheels and cams engineered precisely for the resistance of a flying arrow — without that resistance, the system is instantly overloaded.
Make it a habit: never draw the bow without an arrow nocked. No "just quickly showing how stiff the string is" — that's exactly how most accidental dry fires happen.
After a dry fire: stop using the bow immediately, check for visible cracks on riser, cams and limbs, and take the bow to the shop's bow press for inspection — even if nothing looks wrong visually.
Bowhunting has been banned in Germany since 1975, and it's banned in Austria and Switzerland too. The ban covers hunting animals — your compound for target and 3D-course sport is completely unaffected and fully legal.
Transport the bow relaxed and without an arrow, arrows in a closed quiver. At club or federation ranges, the local range rules always take precedence over your own habits.
Almost every compound manufacturer explicitly excludes dry-fire damage from warranty coverage — usually buried in the fine print of the warranty booklet. That means one careless moment can leave you not just physically at risk, but financially on your own too. One more reason to live the arrow-first rule with zero exceptions.
Dry fire is by far the most common cause of catastrophic compound damage. Treat every moment the bow is drawn as "live": arrow nocked, safe angle toward the backstop, no fiddling at full draw. Regularly check cables and cams for fraying before they fail under load.
Make a fixed sequence a habit: nock the arrow first, only then touch the string — never the other way around. This one rule, followed in fixed order, prevents practically every accidental dry fire, no matter how distracted you are. If it helps, stick a small "arrow first" label on your bow case — sounds trivial, but it helps especially in the first months, until the sequence becomes automatic.
Because the energy additionally runs through cables, wheels and cams under tension, engineered precisely for an arrow's resistance. Without that resistance, the system can tear or break, with a risk of flying fragments.
Stop using the bow immediately, check for visible damage, and take it to the shop's bow press — even without visible cracks, because internal damage isn't always obvious.
No. Bowhunting is legally banned in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Compound is shot here exclusively in target and 3D sport.
Not with visible damage or after a dry fire — that belongs in a pro shop's bow press. The tension stored in the system makes DIY repairs risky.
Compound: Mastering Aiming with Sight, Peep and Scope