OK,
whats the current consensus today over fletching for hunting arrows?
I'm from 'old school' where 5" helical fletches were the rule for best control. Now I see today that virtually all arrows being sold today are slightly offset or straight fletch. So whats the deal? I've been in college full time for the last 4 yrs working on my RN degree and just haven't had time to read bowhunting articles, etc.
Do we really NEED helical for hunting arrows or not?
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Mike Urban, RN
Iron Cross Tattoo
Old School, New School,
Tribal, Celtic & ***anese Tattooing
Some things never change , 5" feathers set on a helical still stear a fixed blade equiped arrow well , some of the latest fads are just that , and some of the popular small straight fletch used today are a pain to tune or imposable to tune . Seems like pepole like to make things dificult on themselves . Use what works , you'll be happyer .
I pesonaly use 5" feathers on a 4 degree offset with fixed and mecanical heads. Helical is not a must but I belive useing it or offset helps , others on this board will say its not nesicary . Like I said before useing small fletches with no offset or helical , and fixed heads , your just beating yourself up .
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Wear a full harness and tie yourself to your tree !
Take a kid hunting or fishing .
Nocks , the most overlooked component .
Most everyone on here that is fairly technical has tried and likes blazers which are very short but a high profile. They are probably the most durable vane on the marketand work well with both fixed blades and mechanicals. If your curious to see how they perform, I would be glad to mail some to you for free to try out.
So what IS the advantage of using a short higher-profile versus a longer-lower profile vane?
First of all, I really think the real advantage to a blazer is the material they are made from. It is incredibly durable, even moreso than regular vanes. Also most rests a shorter higher profile vane will allow easier total clearance for. What kind of rest do you shoot for hunting?
I am wrecking nocks and arrows and vanes with my broadheads at 40 yards with short 2" blazers on my arrows so they do steer quite well. 4" feathers work great too though and look fantastic, I recommend treating them though to be water repellent so they are a bit more durable.
2" Blazer vains work exceptionally well with a Whisker Biscuit. It would seem that they were almost developed for it. I made the switch 2 years ago to Blazers and have not looked back at all. Some people have reported a problem of having a vain ripped off going thhrough the biscuit, but I believe that is an installation problem, too much glue, not enough glue, or that they tried to install them with a helical twist, or the biscuit is not set to a center shot. I say that because I have my blazersinstalled as offset, and my set up is clear, and I have NEVER lost a vain. They fly true, and I group great.
IMO, nothing has changed if you're talking aluminum arrows. Carbon arrows are a different beast. Lighter and smaller diameter, Ithink they are easier for the fletching to spin, so they don'tneed as much fletching to stabilize. Which is good, because the smaller diameter really causes headaches when you're trying to get fletching clearance with the rest. (Why do you think dropaway rests have gotten so popular? )
But clearance issues are why most arrows are sold with 4" fletch in either straight or slight offset these days. IMO, 4" vanes are plenty to stabilize most broadheads on carbon arrows, if fletched with a decent offset, but 4" helical feathers aremuch better - again, if you can get rest clearance.
Of course, if you shoot a whisker biskit, then clearance isn't possible.
I was staff shooter for a local shop whenBlazersfirst came out. The ownerwanted me to test them so he could decide if he wanted to stock them. Frankly, I was very skeptical going into the test. I couldn't see how a 2" vane could stabilize broadheads. I came awayimpressed.
When fletched on ACC's with a healthy offset, according to Bohning's instructions, I got very good results using vented blade broadheads up to1 1/8" diameter. Largerheads or heads with unvented blades, Blazers didn't do quite as well. No clearance issues on a GKF Golden Premier prong rest.
Now, I don't know how they could possiblywork on low-end carbons with poor straightness (horrificeven with 5" helical feathers). I doubt they'd work as well for someone using a fingers release either. But I almost agree with Rick on this point (same selection, different order)... If I were using a whisker biskit, Blazers would be my second choice, right behind 4" feathers.
Fletch Confusion
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