Broad Head Flight Funk???

[IL Trophy Hunter]

When I switched to my broadheads this year, they were hitting a good 3-4 inches lower than my field points, this has never happened in the past. My field points seem to be flying good, but I' ve noticed a little arrow flight funk w/ my broadheads. My setup is the same except I had a new string put on over the summer, and a new rest (the same type of rest I had before however) Does this sound like the nocking point is messed up, and which way would it need moved to fix the problem. I shoot feathers and fingers, and have been told that there is no way to get perfect arrow flight w/ fingers, however I believe it needs to be a little closer to perfect than what it is right now. Thanks for any help you may offer.

[ijimmy]

Sounds like you need to lower you nock point slightly , try 1/16 of an inch and go from there . Let us know if it works for you .

[RacHunter]

ijimmy is right on the money,
try lowering you nock point and you may want to paper tune since you put a new rest on that way you can see what the arrow is doing as it leaves the bow. Make sure if you paper tune to only get about 6 feet from the paper so you can see what the arrow is doing before it has time to correct.
My broadheads always use to hit low and right so this year I really worked on tuning my bow and now the broadheads hit right with the field point. This sure helped my confidence.
Have a great day!

[Arthur P]

I shoot feathers and fingers, and have been told that there is no way to get perfect arrow flight w/ fingers....

Some people can' t get perfect arrow flight w/fingers and want everyone else to believe they can' t either. Some people are in the business of selling releases and it' s in their best interest to talk about how ' hard' it is to shoot fingers. A dealer makes more profit off mechanical releases than he does on tabs and some will only recommend what gives them their highest margin. And then there are a lot of people running around that have never once shot a bow with anything BUT a release and will swear on a stack of Bibles that it' s impossible to shoot fingers.

Any questions about the myth you heard?

I' ve never been one to subscribe to the idea that broadheads and field points MUST have the same point of impact. I think some lateral difference in group location is acceptable, but I do think they should at least be on the same height. First thing I' d do is check for string/cable creep. If that' s okay, THEN I' d tweak the nock point lower. If you have to go below square to get the groups level, then you need to adjust your tiller.

[c903]

This year I have returned to the " recurve" and " finger release" after years of strictly using a compound and mechanical release. It has been a while since I have shot a recurve and used fingers to release. However, I have found that I have not lost the knack.

What I recall about certain tuning aspects regarding finger releasing is beginning to return. However, I will relinquish the floor to those that are up to date on finger release should my following analysis be recalled incorrectly or the application is not the same for shooting a compound off a center-shot rest.

What I recall, and what I have successfully applied when shooting in this year with fingers, is that there is the basic recommended nock height, but that the nock height will differ from person to person depending on how the string comes off the individual' s fingers. That, rather than lowering the nock height for low hitting shafts, it is just the reverse; you raise your nock height in small increments until your grouping stabilizes.

I don' t know about shooting a compound, especially with a short ATA, with fingers and not being able to obtain consistently good arrow flight, but that prophesy does not apply to a recurve if your arrows are properly matched and your release is always clean.

[Arthur P]

IMO, C - that applies more to shooting a recurve or longbow off the shelf than it does to elevated rests. Nocking too low and having the feathers slam into the shelf can bounce the nock end of the arrow up and make it nose dive at the target. That problem is easy to isolate using bare shaft tuning. Bare shafts will be hitting higher than the fletched shafts.

Shooting a good elevated rest, one that either gives you fletching clearance like the Star Hunter, or one that moves out of the way like a flipper, that problem is practically non existant. I doubt there are very many folks still shooting those old rubber stickon rests on their wheelbows any more, and I guess I' m one of the few boneheads left that' s still got a bow set up with a springie rest.

Still, a fingers shooter will generally need a slightly higher nockset than someone shooting a release. And, I think, it' s just as important for a fingers shooter as it is for a release shooter to pull into wall and then try to pull thru it on release to make sure the back tension is right and there is no creep. It really makes for a clean release too. I' ve got my draw length adjusted so I' m right at the edge of the wall when I' m at anchor, then a little extra back tension and my fingers just quit holding the string when I hit the wall.

[c903]

Art:

Makes sense since I have never shot off the shelf and 3-under. Therefore all my tuning has been applicable to a raised rest. Presently, I am using a slightly elevated rest (self-made) that gets my shaft off the shelf and provides sufficient clearance for the low feather.