# arrow flight



## bearhunter (Jan 30, 2009)

ok. its that time of year when a "broadhead" topic shows up. whats better,what flys better, what penatrates better,ect. my biggest ***** about these topics is that everyone blames the head if thier not shhoting the same as field points. i blame the arrows everyone is selling nowdays :x short vanes with no helical :x :x for gods sake arrow manufactures.... put some helical on them arrows :roll: i fleatch my own with 4" feathers with a good twist and have no trouble getting good flight with any modern head.


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Amen-although I'm now using lil Blazers much of the time and getting good flight with all broadheads,even big thunderheads.  
The trouble is,so far nothing to get good flight at.


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## DckS1yr#7 (Oct 20, 2010)

It has always been my belief that if a fella was to actually tune his bow correctly you can pretty much shoot any broadhead you want and it will fly straight on any arrow shaft with any fletchings. I have never had a problem with any arrows/broadhead combo that i have shot but i also spent the time to paper tune my bow. IMO that is why so many people shoot mechanical broadheads is because they are too lazy to properly tune their setup prior too hunting.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

DckS1yr#7 said:


> It has always been my belief that if a fella was to actually tune his bow correctly you can pretty much shoot any broadhead you want and it will fly straight on any arrow shaft with any fletchings. I have never had a problem with any arrows/broadhead combo that i have shot but i also spent the time to paper tune my bow. IMO that is why so many people shoot mechanical broadheads is because they are too lazy to properly tune their setup prior too hunting.


That would be false.

If your arrow is under spined for your setup, it doesnt matter how well tuned the bow is, broadhead flight will be less than ideal.

The reason most guys shoot mechanicals is because they cant tune a bow, and most are shooting a dynamic spine that is to weak for their setup, which leads them to believe they are out of tune (which they may or not be).

Fletching size is sort of "small potatoes" in getting broadheads to fly correctly, arrow spine however is a BIG piece of the puzzle. Yes, 4" vanes will usually stabilize broadheads better, but if your incorrectly spined, it doesnt matter what fletch combo your shooting.

FYI....the charts on the back of arrow boxes only showing the static spine, one really needs to know the dynamic spine as well. The little charts recommend a 340 shaft for me (static), im on the "upper end" of 340, this however isnt enough dynamic, I bump up to a 300 and good to go. If one is on the lower end of 340, it would probably be good.


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## huntinND (May 1, 2008)

Bareback,

Can you explain more about the difference between static and dynamic Spine


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Static spine is just the stiffness of the shaft. This is what is listed on the back of arrow boxes. It is measured on a shaft "at rest".

Dynamic spine is how the shaft flexes when fired and traveling through the air. You cant really measure it and it can be extremely variable is one or more things is out of whack. There are many things that come into play to affect dynamic spine, fletching type and orientation, FOC, broadheads, etc. This is where so many guys have problems, even through well tuned bows. They have no problems with forgiving field points, but when shooting broadheads it does weird things to the dynamic spine. Thus, they say "good enough", or switch to mechanicals (which dont fix the problem, merely hide it). From a properly thought out rig, even a mechanical that prematurely opens shouldnt deviate off its intended course.

Think of static spine as being 2-D and dynamic spine being 3-D.

For example, you look on the arrow box and find you are on the low end of being a 340 spine. You will probably be fine with the 340. Tis better to be overspined than under.

But, if you find you are on the upper end of the 340 spine, to be sure you dont have issues with dynamic spine and broadheads, it would be advisable to go to the next stiffer shaft.

Being slightly over spined will usually not give you any problems, but being even slightly underspined could give you fits when it comes to something like broadhead flight. The stiffer the arrow, the more it softens the three dimensional nature of dynamic spine.

Does any of that make sense??? :-?


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

Yup, arrow spine is more important than fletching. But, you do not need helical fletching to stabilize broadheads either. I've been fletching my arrows straight, with a 3 degree offset for more than 25 years. I use AAE Elite vanes, I think they are about 3.5" long. I use three blade Thunderheads, I have no trouble getting good arrow flight.

A properly tuned bow with the correct arrows is way more important than the type of fletching.

huntin1


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## huntinND (May 1, 2008)

> Does any of that make sense???


Ya makes sense to me, thanks for explaining. There are more factors that go into accuracy with broadheads then I originally thought.


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## bearhunter (Jan 30, 2009)

BUT....... "for those of us that don't have "perfectly" tuned bows will benifit with a good twist the the fletch.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

Not really. And I said "properly". Helical fletching will not make up for an improperly tuned bow. There are so many aspects that come into play. The arrow and it's FOC, the head, the fletch, are one. Shooting style and form are another. As is bow tuning. Helical fletching may compensate for some of these aspects, BUT compensating for an out of tune bow is difficult, fletching alone ain't going to get it done.

I'll say it again. If you have a properly tuned bow, (and if you are hunting with it, it should be) and the correct arrows for your set-up, the style of fletching does not matter, straight or helical, they will both fly true.

huntin1


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

I agree-at least in theory.However at crunch time things aren't usually perfect.Form is rattled(pun there?)by nerves,wind gusts can cause havoc,even grass can,if not deflect,certainly affect arrow stabilization.Thats where larger helical fletching helps IMO.Nowadays with Blazers,those are concerns I have despite normally good flight.
Actually,I still like(don't use with compounds but like)large helical feathers.Noisy as hell but thats another can of worms I'll leave alone.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

duckp said:


> Actually,I still like(don't use with compounds but like)large helical feathers.Noisy as hell but thats another can of worms I'll leave alone.


 :thumb:

Tuned bow or not, helical (or minimum of offset) orientated vanes/feathers will stabilize and correct a broadhead tipped arrow faster, and stabilize it better through "environmental" conditions such as wind gusts than a straight orientation..

A broadhead acts as "vanes" on the front of the arrow. Only unlike the vanes on the back of the arrow that stabilize the arrow, the blades of the broadhead up front act more as steerage than stabilization. You need to overcome this "steering" force of the broadhead (and because of dynamic spine properties, there will be some discrepancies here even through a well tuned bow), thats where large vanes that impart spin to the shaft come in. Stabilizing a field point tipped shaft is easy, the broadhead is the true test.

And blazer style vanes are a crock (and not "new" like many think). Its not the height of shaft that has greatest stabilizing effect, its length (thats what she said).

Straight short fletch....crap.
Offset short fletch.....ok.
Straight long fletch....better.
Helical/offset long fletch....best.


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## bearhunter (Jan 30, 2009)

here's an exaple... my buddy just bought a brand new Hoyt and had scheels set it up. he called me and said he was stacking arrows to 60 yards with field tips. than he went to broadheads and was all over. stinger broadheads with aramid arrows, blaser vanes.. he was contimplating buying rage :shake: heads . i talked him out of it. i gave him some muzzys and he borrowed some montecs from another buddy. same thing. he;s a stubborn cuss and was going to go buy several different brands of heads to try. i told him to bring 1 arrow to me and i fleatched it with 4 inch feathers with twist. guess what, his groups improved big time..did i mention he was stubborn oke: oke: . he still went and bought rage :eyeroll: heads and is sticking with the blaser vanes.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

Large feathers, fletched helically are very forgiving and can correct a number of issues in shooting form and equipment problems.

But, I still maintain that when your bow is tuned, you have the correct arrow for your setup, and you tune your broadhead to the arrow, helically fletching is not needed. It doesn't hurt anything to have it, it just isn't needed.

Again, I don't use short vanes. I spin test each broadhead on the arrow, if it has any wobble at all I try a different broadhead until I come up with no wobble. If I can't get the arrow to spin with no wobble, I don't use that arrow with a broadhead. I hunt in all kinds of weather, rain, snow, wind, whatever, I have no issues with poor arrow flight. I must have been having 25+ years of good luck ehh? :huh:

And, if you read my first post, I did say that I fletch straight, with a 3 degree offset. oke:

Shoot whatever you like and whatever works for you, I'll do the same.

:beer:

huntin1


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