Seeking arrow forgiveness
If you've been involved with archery long enough, you've all experienced it at some time or other; that shot you made that you wished you could take back...the one you flubbed through panic or loss of concentration. Or perhaps the animal moved at the exact wrong instant...or the arrow was deflected by the unseen branch. Whatever the case, in most situations, an arrow with maximum forgiveness may have saved the shot and the day.
We've all heard or read the Internet pros talking about perfect arrow tune. Or maybe we've had a coach at the range discuss arrows and tuning them and the bow to work together. It seems the perfect arrow tune is the carrot dangling in front of us as archers. We all want shoot an arrow that flies perfectly to the target. We work religiously on form, getting it to a point of consistency and then find arrows that fly straight with no fletching and then put minimal fletching on the arrows we take to the range or woods because everyone we know or hear is preaching that's the way it's done correctly...and if you're not doing it that way, if your arrows don't fly well without fletching, then you're not tuned.
This Blog is a discussion arena about the Hill style of shooting. I wonder what Mr Hill would've said to a modern day longbow shooter who asked why his feathers were so large, or maybe asked if Hill had ever bareshaft tuned. Maybe Hill's reply would've been akin to his reply when taken to task about his simple, plain looking longbow; a response that his plain longbow had taken game for him and helped him be successful in his hunting and shooting endeavors, to a much greater extent than the pretty bow has done for the archer taking him to task. You see, for Hill, the "proof was in the pudding".
Hills arrows had quite a bit of feathering. He recommended 5" - 5 1/2" long and 5/8"-11/16" high fletching for most shooting, especially if it involved broadheads. He didn't want heads over 150 grains so the arrow was properly balanced and would "carry". He recommended enough helical or offset twist that an arrow would make a full rotation every 10-12' of travel. He understood and explained that an arrow wags the fletching end as it's coming out of paradox on its way downrange. So much wag, that he said the arrow needed 40 to 60 feet to straighten out its flight and wasn't flying in a perfectly straight position until it had traveled 60 to 70 feet. This arrow movement needed a hole through airspace of at least 15" diameter to get through on its flight.
How would Hill's arrow flight hold up under today's archery "experts " scrutiny? I think he'd smile as he was eating his pudding.
The reason we use feathers, and enough feathers on an arrow is for forgiveness. We all need it. None of us is perfect and will always shoot perfect arrows with perfect form when we're out in the field or woods. The pressure of the shot, seeking to take an animal's life, or perhaps being dressed bulkier than when in the backyard leading to reduced mobility. Perhaps the animal is acting nervous and the shot is taken in haste... whatever the reason, an arrow shot with perfect form in the yard, the basement or on the range, with minimal fletching, is now terribly unsuited for the task. At this moment, we are seeking arrow forgiveness, and we'll take all we can get.
It's not a bad thing to shoot with more fletch, to practice using arrows with lots of fletch. What's the worst thing that can happen, you hit the target more often? If your arrow flies well with a proper spine in the backyard and only needs three 3" feathers to fly well, is there anything wrong with using three 5" feathers? Nope. Not at all. I think archers would be better off if more people used enough fletch to cover for the bad shots that can happen at any time for any reason.
Expect the best shot, but be prepared for the worst shot. More than enough fletch has been the standard practice of great field and hunting archers for a very long time, Hill included. So build into your arrow all the forgiveness you can get... because you just never know when that shot will happen, that shot that you can't take back, the one that sends the arrow where it was never intended to go. At that moment, it's too late to ask for forgiveness.
Shoot Straight.
With a good helical 4 four inch has as much or more feather than three 5". Feathers cost the same, smaller ones cost the same. However, I have not seen my point on distance change with 4 fletch Five inch on my arrows. I also believe that i get less 'S' length by a yard or two. I still use 5.5" on some arrows, I imagine the 4by5" is about the same. A local brought over some carbons, he bare shaft tuned them just right and when fletched he still got wacko arrow flight when he least expected. He believed that my fletching was the secret that he saw from his friend's arrow flight. The answer was a polite and simple, 'No'.
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts Nate. I’ve often had many of the same thoughts that you are putting in print. I’m glad to see you affirming some things . Not just about arrows but shooting as well.
ReplyDeleteExactly Nate. Another well stated observation and reminder of where we came from, what we used to know, and what we sometimes forget. Or maybe we are just creatures of fiddling. Again, thanks for keeping this, and us, grounded in our perspectives in this sport/hobby/lifestyle we enjoy. With emphasis on the “joy.”
ReplyDeleteI've been at both ends of the spectrum over the past 60+ years. I started full of ignorance and hope, worked through the figuring it out phase, moved into trying everything - bare shaft, centershot recurves, light arrows. Nowadays I'm back to close to my starting point, but better educated through experience. I pay attention to details but don't worry about minutiae. I'm back to where I started - a bow, arrows and a quiver.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at the vast amount of "how to do it" on the internet and in books it's ironic that we killed anything when we weren't inundated with information.
For several years now I have been simply buying wood shafts that spine the same weight as my bow at 26" (my draw length) and fletch with 3~5 1/2" feathers and I rarely have any flight issues that are not related to my form getting sloppy. I never thought about it too much, after reading this series of blogs it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI read a quote from Schulz once in one of his books "it is usually the archer that needs tuning not the the bow" or something to that effect, I think Nate has mentioned it here as well.
Thanks Nate,
Art G.