Hey Folks,

Please let me make a few things clear.

I was in no way implying that someone who shoots softball sized groups at 30 yards shouldn’t be hunting. I said that scenario was not a good indicator of shaft quality. However, I know that for myself and many other archers, the excitement of the hunt, added clothing and the rigors of the field tend to double the size of one’s groups. Now that softball is getting closer to a Kickball. I personally am not happy with that. That’s my own standard however, and I don’t hold anyone else to it.

I’m especially not happy if my equipment is limiting my accuracy in that way. Ask Rangeball about his experience w/ going from low-end carbons to A/C/Cs. He thought the problem was his own limitations w/ the mediocre groups he was getting out of his low-end carbons.

If I’m capable of shooting X” groups all day long at Y yardage and my arrows won’t allow me to do so, I’m doing myself, and the game I hunt a disservice.

And Yes, you can kill deer all day long w/ a low-end carbon arrow. Never said you couldn’t. What I am saying is that people are not getting what they pay for in cheap carbon shafts. The manufacturers are advertising X, Y, & Z but you are getting A, B, & C. You do get what you pay for w/ alum, A/C, and high end Carbons (for the most part). And until most archers/Bowhunters up their own game, the manufacturers are going to keep pushing the crap out there to sell. Once a carbon arrow is made..it’s made…they can’t do anything else with it. So they sell it, otherwise they go out of business from separating the wheat from the chaff.

And Black Frog, Yes! Spine consistency is KEY, and is the most CRUCIAL part of the problem here..not the straightness. If spine and weights are very consistent, then a moderate straightness (.008-.010 TIR or so) is not such big deal for most archery applications (except in Arthur’s case who is hurt even then because he requires such long arrows). But the cheap carbons not only lack decent straightness and weight tolerances, but they are all over the place for spine. You can have the straightest arrow in the world, but if it’s spined different it won’t group with the rest of the arrows in your quiver that are spined alike. W/ cheap carbons you are often buying what amounts to two or three different sizes of aluminum arrows in one dozen, though this is getting better every year.