Derekg359

Today was a very sad morning for me. I spent endless hours and money in the off season getting ready for this archery season. I got food plots ready, I scouted, I got cameras everywhere and know exactly where the deer are going and which I want to shoot. I bought expensive arrows some of the most used for hunting, the carbon express red maximas, and kill zone broad heads so I thought I was perfectly prepared for my hunt. I've been keeping cameras on these two scrapes for two weeks now and the buck are just nailing them every morning. This morning was the coldest so far, the moon was full and bright, I got in an hour before dark, I was ready, and excited. A buck came in early to hit the scrape but it was not legal shooting light and i couldnt see my pins yet. So that was a bummer. Well finally shortly after that all that hard work payed off and one of the shooter 8s came in, beautiful rack perfect shooter.i range it at 30 yards and take the shot. My arrow flys all wacky and misses, one of my fletchings fell off as I shot. Brand new arrow never shot, i did use 3 for practice and noticed their fletchings didn't last long either but this was a first shot for this set. Not only did I miss one of my bucks I worked hard for, now it's scared half to death. Just wanted to share my experience with everyone.
Thanks blazers

bronko22000

First off you can't blame the Blazers for falling off your arrow. Its the person that put them on. Secondly during practice you noticed your fletching didn't last long. That should have been a hint that you'd better check all your arrows.
It is very likely that whoever installed the vanes did not use enough glue or used glue not designed for carbon arrows. A little tug on each vane would show if it would come loose or not.
BTW - if that buck did not see you after the shot and you did not hit him it is very possible that he will come back. He may have gotten scared but don't know what it was that scared him. If he saw you then he may now become nocturnal and you might not see him again until the rut.

super_hunt54

Pretty much what Bronko said is 100% spot on. Whoever fletched your arrows may have used the wrong glue or may have used regular alcohol to clean the arrows off rather than denatured alcohol or may not have ruffed them a bit. It wasn't Blazer's fault whatsoever.

I've been using Gorilla super glue gel (Blue cap) for a few years now and the only problem I have had was stripping vanes off when it's time for a refletch!

Derekg359

Well I bought the arrows already in a pack at gander mountain and they just cut them for me. They felt pretty tight not loose so I'm not sure what happened. The buck didn't see me I don't think, It's a pretty covered stand so I hope that he will be back. It's not all because of this experience but I think I'm going to try the nap quick fletches. Thanks for the replies

super_hunt54

You can do what you want but I can tell you from 60+ years of fletching my own arrows, as well as hundreds of arrows for others, that the problem you had wasn't from Blazer. It was from installation. Improper prep or wrong glue. No question about it. Those pre fletched packs you get from box stores are usually done well BUT you do sometimes get a goof. Nature of the beast when doing volume production.

Champlain Islander

After reading the original post I have to say after a lifetime of shooting bows with the early years and sub par equipment to later years with more advanced..I never had any problems with vanes falling off. I have fletched arrows and also bought pre fletched at times over the years. It struck me his problems could have been the rest especially if the OP was new to archery and wasn't aware of a rest being out of adjustment or vanes improperly aligned to the rest. A problem like that would account for altered arrow flight and the skinning off of a vane. Just a thought.

Derekg359

My rest was a brand new this year nap drop away rest put on by an older gentleman that has been working with bows for years. But then again, it is a drop away rest anything bad could happen but not usual for it

Champlain Islander

I agree it is a good rest and if properly adjusted should provide good release and launch. I just had to add my thoughts of that possibility. Good luck with the vane issues.

WV Hunter

Years ago blazers had a run where they were all falling off. It was something in the chemical makeup of the fletch. But that was like 10yrs ago, and only for a short period.
Agree, it was something in the fletching process... and unfortunate for you. I fletch my own, and the majority are super hard to even cut off. I really like Blazers, they just work.

Keep after him... good luck next go around! Sounds like you've done your homework well, maybe you'll get another crack. Unfortunately murphy interfered this time!

cjclemens

I would blame the person that fletched your arrows, too. I had a batch of arrows done by the local bow shop - they didn't fly funny, but vanes started popping off left and right during my first practice session. That was my cue start fletching my own. The equipment isn't all that expensive and the quality of the job is all up to you.

Some folks like to use acetone for cleaning the arrow before fletching. However, I just use plain rubbing alcohol on mine and I've had no problems at all. I do make sure to clean both the arrow and the foot of the vane. I think that's the key to making the vanes stick really well. For glue, I use either loctite control gel or gorilla super glue gel - whichever one is on sale when I'm at the hardware store.

Get those arrows re-fletched and get back out there! The season is just starting. You'll have more opportunities to get it done.