Building the wood arrow Pt. 10 "Nocks and feathers"

        Since this blog is dedicated to preserving the style of archery promoted by Howard Hill, it may be interesting to see what type of fletching and nocks he used during his years in the sport.  There are those who say Hill used a certain fletching pofile for his most successful shooting, but evidence shows that he used a variety of fletch profiles quite successfully.  He did however, use a specific arrow nock for the greater part of his career.

       First, the fletch.   Based on photos and his movie shorts, it's easy to note that Hill used a parabolic shaped feather for the better part of his shooting years.  Photos going back to the 1940's with Skeet Moore show him with this profile in use.  Prior to those years, it has been said that he preferred a modified shield type feather cut, based on the popular French Curve shape.  He was purported to have tested this fletch profile on arrows shot in a wind tunnel.  I don't doubt this, as during that time, Hill worked for Curtiss aircraft company and had access to testing equipment like that.  However, he also shot arrows with straight cut fletch similar to a mini-flu flu profile. He used that fletch profile in his trick shooting and in movies. A modified version on arrows shot for the famous Robin Hood movie with Erol Flynn, made the proper noise flying through the air for great sound effect and the sound was copyrighted by Warner Bros and is still used today as the essential "flying arrow" noise.

        Hill mentions in his Hunting the Hard Way book that he preferred cutting his feathers after fletching them, by use of a sharpened die of ribbon steel, placed on the fletch and tapped by a hammer to chop the feather.  He said he disliked the smell of burning feathers.  In today's world, this can be replicated by use of a feather chopper and chopping the fletch prior to fletching the arrow.  

        It doesn't appear that he used a large shield cut feather much, if at all.  Maybe he didn't like the noise it may have made? Who knows, but it does seem that all his fletch was a bit longer and had a longer slope to the feather curve than most fletch profiles today, parabolic or otherwise.  The arrow I have that is from his Africa safari, is a 6" long, 3/4" high French Curve profile.  It was made by Ben Pearson Co., so obviously Hill gave Ben permission to use his fletching profile. I tend to think it wasn't a patented design. There's slight burn marks on the feather ends, showing that this profile was cut by a feather burner.  Probably a faster technique in a facility producing thousands of finished arrows per week.

      So how does this all affect our shooting?  Probably not a whole lot actually, but is a little interesting. However, being the curious sort that I am,  I wanted to see for myself if the French Curve profile shot any better than a regular parabolic or shield cut.  I made a burner ribbon in FC shape with the more gradual slope to the feather and made them just under 5 1/2" long.  I did testing with both straight offset like Hill used and also helical.  The offset fletched arrows shot higher at 40 yards by several inches...proving faster arrow flight. Whether it was from the fletch profile or reduced arrow spin, (I think it would be the arrow spin) I liked the flatter trajectory.  But as I've mentioned before, I didn't follow the arrow in flight as well with the offset fletch and preferred the helical.  This French Curve profile shoots very well in wind, from all directions, and does very well in controlling a broadhead.  I really like it. Do I like it better than the parabolic or shield cuts?  No.  The other fletch profiles shoot extremely well and I think it's a matter of personal choice.  I use 11/16" tall feathers no matter what, because after some shooting they will fuzz out and be a smidge taller.  With that height of fletch, I see all these profiles very well in flight (peripheral vision) and if there is any real advantage from one to another in my shooting, the French Curve fletch flights a little better in the desert winds I have to shoot in all the time...including up to 60 yard shots which I do frequently.  However, for practical purposes and my practice arrows, I usually use the parabolic fletch because chopping the feathers is faster and cleaner than burning them.  I save the feather burning for special or hunting arrows.

      This is the French Curve profile compared to parabolic on my arrows.

         Arrow nocks are surely a personal choice. Hill like his Midnoc version which had a very shallow groove and barely seated on the string.  John Schulz preferred the standard Mercury index nock with the index filed off.  When he and I were talking nocks, he said that in speed shooting, he against Hill, John would beat Hill most of the time.  Of course this was after John had become a star student.  John said that the deeper seat of the Mercury nock made nocking the arrow easier and faster and the split second per arrow that Hill had to make sure his arrow was fully seated on the string, slowed him down.  Obviously it wasn't enough of a difference for Hill to change his nock preference though.

        This photo shows Hill's Midnoc and Schulz's yellow  Mercury.

      You can also notice the real of the fletch slope difference between the FC of Hill's arrow compared to the parabolic of Schulz's.

        Today we have a few choices of arrow nocks to choose from. For wood arrow making, the choices are more limited. Sadly, the Mercury nock and good ol' index nock aren't made anymore. There are still some goodly stashes of them around the country and they pop up from time to time.  I got used to filing off my indexes on my Mercury nocks at Schulz's direction and now an indexed nock feels strange to me.  I don't need to know which direction I'm nocking my three-fletched arrow, nocking either way the arrow still shoots fine. I do usually nock the arrow with the cock feather out, but in times of fast shooting, I don't care and nock the arrow as I have fingered the nock getting the arrow from the quiver.  I realized that in speed shooting, nock thinking about the nock index really is faster and simpler.  I had to shoot two fast shots in succession arrow my latest moose, and I shot the two arrows in about 3 seconds or less...and couldn't tell you how it happened our how my arrow fletch was facing.  Both arrows shots perfectly straight to the spots I was looking. I'm glad I got used to shooting without the index.

       But there is one thing that I prefer, and it's not the sloped rear nock ears of a Bohning Classic nock and the snap feature.  I have used those nocks as they are extremely popular, but to me the rear of the nock is sloped too much and it's hard for me to grab the nock in a fast shot situation and feet it onto the string.  I much prefer the Bohning T nocks.  And the bonus is they come without an index.  They also have a very nice, deep string throat for a good deep seat on the string and no real snapping motion. In my opinion, the snapping of the nock on the string is a mental distraction when I'm concentrating on the target.  I file the T nock to fit my string just like the Mercury nocks and when I run out of Mercury nocks, the T nock is my nock of choice.

       Remember, Schulz said that there shouldn't be anything that distracts from the concentration on the spot to hit from the beginning of the shot to its completion. Whether it's nock indexes, nock snapping, the string hitting a hat brim or glasses, whatever,  he was adamant about getting rid of the distractions.

      So there you go, a sidestep to learn about fletch and nocks and how they apply in the Hill style of shooting.  Figure out what works best for you and make sure that you glue the nocks on the arrow in line with the wood grain and that they are on very straight, and make sure that the fletching profile and size is large enough to help your arrows to fly straight under the Worst conditions...not the best ones.  That arrow must fly to the spot you're looking when you're cold and bundled in excess clothing, it's raining, the wind is blowing and the animal is giving you 3 seconds to get your shot off...oh yeah, and the animal is one you really want to put in the freezer or on the dinner table.  All that pressure requires an arrow that flies the best in the worst of times.  A good nock,  big fletch and a straight wood shaft....combined with proper Fluid, Dynamic, relaxed Hill style shooting form, will put the arrow right where you want it.  

        That's how you Shoot Straight.