Compounds, feathers and hunting ???

mobow · 08-04-2008, 05:44 AM

My hunting arras this year are equipped w/ 4" shield cut feathers. The flight of these is nothing short of spectacular, but......Feathers do whistle a little in flight. And my bow is shooting them @ 281 so they whistle pretty good.

Here's my question. For you guys/gals that hunt with a compound, and your arras have feathers, have you ever had a deer "duck" your arrow because of the whistle? And, even if you haven't, but have experience w/ it.....What are your thoughts?
And, I wonder what's it's impact would be on a farther shot, say, 30 yards.....

GMMAT · 08-04-2008, 05:48 AM

MO...

Before tx did my arrows.....I was gonna shoot feathers this year.I have only one question, myself. What do they (deer) hear FIRST? My thoughts are.....by the time the arrow is in flight (out of your setup)......the whistling sound would be the last one the deerheard......not the last oneit heard and reacted to.

wis_bow_huntr · 08-04-2008, 05:50 AM

Ive never had any problems with feathers whistling. Unless im not paying much attention to the sound. I would think by the time the deer heard the whistle it would be too late anyway.

mobow · 08-04-2008, 05:51 AM

Jeff, I think I understand what you're saying, but I want to make sure. Are you thinking they would react more to the bow noise than the arrow, or are you saying it won't bother them in the least and those feathers whooshing (hey ya'll, that's physics lingo right there. That's technical terminology, hope I didn't just talk over ya..LOL [8D]) would be about the last thing they heard on their way to the pearly gates?

gmil6184 · 08-04-2008, 05:53 AM

I hunt with feathers too, and although they are a little louder i don't think the difference amounts to much. I always thought that when deer duck it was because they were crouching to run from the sound of the bow releasing the arrow, not from the noise or the arrow. The deer aren't actually ducking the arrow, deer dodge the arrow is more of a side effect of them getting ready to run. I certainly could be wrong though. I can personally think of three times i've sailed arrows over their backs, but i think in all those cases it was my fault and not the feathers.

On a side note, you say you shoot shield cut feathers from a compound? what type of rest do you use? I have always thought that shield cut feathers look so cool on an arrow, but they are a little higher profile and i thought they would created too much contact on my whisker biscuit, but i don't know. If you had a picture of them i'd be interested to see them, thanks.

GMMAT · 08-04-2008, 06:01 AM

Quote:

would be about the last thing they heard on their way to the pearly gates?

That's what I'm saying.

Wis.....stand behind a bldg (safety first, by all means....seriously) and have someone shoot at a target. Place yourself so that you're 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down range. If your arrow/BH is making noise in flight, this is how you'll determine it. You likely won't be able to (God I hope not) hear it, from the standpoint of the shooter.

Again...I can't stress how careful everyone needs to be if you try this. Please.

mobow · 08-04-2008, 06:12 AM

gmil, I'm shooting a Trophy Ridge Drop Zone, and I've got mine fletched w/ hard helical. They do indeed look WAY cool. You're absolutely correct about the higher profile. I was shooting my Blazers cock vane up.....I need to turn my feathers a little because I was getting some contact w/ the cable. So now I'm shooting cock vane left, problem solved. I've got a pic of them around here somewhere, I'll see if I can dig them up.

txjourneyman · 08-04-2008, 06:17 AM

I shot aluminum and feathers for turkey season. ( I didn't actually get to shoot at a turkey

) I found that the shield cut were too loud for my tastes. Parabolic were acceptable. I know that has nothing to do with your question though.

mobow · 08-04-2008, 06:30 AM

Greg, I've had to refletch one of my arras already, and all I had lying around were parabolic. You're absoutely right though, they are a bit quieter. I really thought shooting at 60 yards, I could shoot the same spot....But apparently not.

HuntingBry · 08-04-2008, 06:37 AM

I hunted with feathers a few years ago, but I was using 4" feathers. The whistling was not that bad, but I could hear it. What bothered me was the upkeep. I was constantly dusting my feathers for wet weather hunts and they would still collapse in extreme wetness. I remember that year I passed on a decent 8 point at 35 yards because my feathers were wet and I was afraid it would affect my flight at that distance and didn't want to take a chance. I hoped the deer would come down the trail bringing him 10 yards away, but of course it didn't happen that way.

I switched to Blazers the following year and haven't looked back since.