Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I made these arrow wraps from 3M Solas Reflective Tape[/b]. It’s available on the web at less than $2 per foot for use on life jackets etc. I can make 8 wraps per foot with the 2” Blazer Broadhead Vanes. I cut them to the appropriate size/shape, applied them to the arrow and put a tiny drop of glue on the corners of the tape. The vane epoxy does adhere well to the tape material. The first picture is without flash and the second picture with flash demonstrates the incredibly reflectivity of the material. A wrap-sized piece of this stuff is easily visible from a hundred of yards with a good flashlight. The tape has a square pattern that makes them sharp looking and acts as a guide when cutting the material. You can make these for a fraction of the cost of manufactured wraps and they will be very helpful when looking for an arrow or downed animal at night. I have been shooting them through a whisker bisquit with no ill effects on point-of-impact or accuracy.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Very clever indeed. Looks good. Is grey the only color available?

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

wow! that should work!

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Looks like the Solas Marine Grade is only available in Grey/Silver, Green and Red. Looks like some of the other companies offer yellow and orange. It's hard to tell from the pic but the silver does present a nice appearance. The stuff is incredibly tough and very easy to apply.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

My only question, how many arrows have you had to go looking for at night out of how many kills. I mean, like percentage wise? I mean, it's almost a never kind of deal. You shoot through the animal and it sticks or lays there on the ground. Sometimes it can hang and get kicked but it really is usually just sticking in the ground. Seems like an awful lot of fluff, time and cost for a non event. Manufactuer wraps aren't so much for finding an arrow as just decoration. They really serve no function in hunting.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I make my own wraps too. Go to local vinyl sign makers and get their scrap pieces in the colors you like. I get mine for FREE. It is 3M vinyl and I cut mine on a paper cutter. Measure 1''X 6""

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Arrow wraps and luminox help you see the flight of your arrow and point of impact;and they help you find your arrow after a shot. Also if you want to film your hunt the arrow shows up on film better. They also make your arrows look

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I have never looked for a lost arrow after dark but I will now.
KW

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

You folks must be hunting a lot later than I do.[8D] Do your bows come with spot lights or infra red?

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Actually I have a red light mounted on my stabilizer, and a laser beam too, great for hog hunting.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

lasers are not legal in my state . I wish they weren't because that seems like it would be cool with a red beam locked on to your target

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Then you are not a very experienced hunter. Crowned arrows have been around a LONG time and they are very functional. The cresting applied makes them pretty, adds personal touch - but the bright colors make the arrows more visible in flight, and easier to find after the shot. Also, a ****e crown will allow the hunter to better identify the type of blood on the shaft. They also make the feathers/vanes bond much better to the wraps than to the aluminum shafting.

If you shoot a camo shaft, green and brown vaes you lose a LOT of arrows hunting, stump shooting and 3D / practice. Also, you've been given a very easy way to help aid yourself inbowhunting.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

:D:D:D OK, if you say so. I guess I am a newbie. I've only been killing deer for 35 years with a bow. I started with recurves and killed a bunch with it. I then switched to compounds and only killed several dozen, like maybe 6 dozen with the compound, 81 overall. Yup, I'm as inexperienced as they come.[8D][8D][8D] Whatever you say Big Red..... whatever you say.[8D][8D] I'm sure you'll learn to find out more about the people on this board before you jump to conclusions with reference to the experience at something.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

So you've NEVER lost an arrow in 35+ years ? NEVER couldn't find the arrow after you shot it ? NEVER lost track of the arrow in flight ? NEVER had issues with feathers/vanes coming off ?

Becuase I believe you said something to the effect that wraps/crowing, and I quote


" They really serve no function in hunting "

So did you misspeak or what ? The advantages of them that I listed are obvious - or do you think not ?

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I lost AN arrow and my hunting partner found it a few days later. I watched the deer run 25 yards, stop and flop. It was a perfect shot and I wasn't to worried about finding the arrow at the time. It was under 6 inches of oak leaves. Sure I've lost sight of an arrow in flight, but always at point blank range before I could pick it up. I usually found it from the stand sticking in the ground. Once an arrow gets 15 yards out you should pick it up. I use high vis nocks and feathers. I've NEVER lost a fletching from a hunting arrow in the woods. That I'm sure is a result of proper preparation and materials selected and assembly. There's no reason for a fletching to come off.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I stand by my theory that you don't need a wrap for that once in 82 times lost arrow. AND, you wouldn't have spotted that arrow I lost with a beacon on it. My buddy found it broken at the fletchings. Probably the result of a kick when the deer jumped after the shot. I saw the arrow hanging by the fletchings out the offside when the deer took off. I always use white with something that shows up well in the woods, like pink, blue or high vis green. I don't need glasses to see except to read. After over 50 years of hunting in the woods alone I've developed enough skills to read the sign, find and arrow, track the deer and come home with meat. I don't see a piece of reflective tape tipping the balance.

P.S. Welcome to the board.[8D]

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Come on now davidmil.....you know it's not how GOOD you are......It's how good you LOOK doing it..:D:D[8D][&:]

I agree w/ you, and at the same time disagree. Do you absolutely NEED an arrow wrap.....nope....They fly just fine without them. But with my white wraps and white blazers and a lightning fast UltraTec....it does indeed make the arrow much easier to pick up in flight which of course helps in determining where the animal was hit.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Yep, mobo my words too except omit UltraTec for TryKon. By the way Dave, cool last name; same as mine. No wonder you are so damn good looking.:D

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

As long as one Miller is posting dead stuff.... fox with a Hoyt XTec

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

davidmil - you then are the rarest of bowhunters in that you never lose arrows, always know exactly where the arrows hits, never miss, never have vanes/feathers come a bit unglued etc etc.

for the rest of us ? Crown the arrows, or wrap then, your fletching will bond better, you'll see your arrows better in flight and they're easier to locate after a hit/miss. Those are all 100% positives and the effort put into aquiring them isn't a great deal.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Awe come on fellas, you know I just like to stir the pot now and then and play the contrarian guy. Some call it being a Crotchetty Old Fart. I just call it being a pain in the AZZzzzzz.[8D][8D][8D] I can see where someone might see an arrow flight a little better, but at that point you've already done it right or wrong and must suffer the consequences. And as Steven A would say, Quite Frankly, most people can't read sign, blood on an arrow or crap after the shot. You still, no matter how visible your arrow flight is have to read the sign and track the critter. AND, I learned a long LONG time ago one critical thing, "What we see or think we saw is not always the case". I can give you examples that are a lot more frequent than not finding an arrow. If I had played what I saw and not what was on or missing on the ground I'd have been screwed. Maybe one of the reasons I don't loose arrow fletchings is I don't ware them out. The first thing I do when I buy new arrows is fly them all with field points and then broadheads. The great flyers keep the broadhead, with new inserts installed, and are not shot again until a deer is in front of them. I will occasionally throw on an old insert and check them out during the season, but for the most part they aren't fired until they hit whitetail. They're virtually new except for tuning/testing. I have no problems saying I never lost a fletching off a hunting arrow in the woods. I shouldn't happen or they were piss poor to begin with.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

And that's why you're our favorite non-mod!! ;)

Speaking of the sign after the shot, that's yet another reason I like my white wraps and white blazers. I get a true feel as to the color of the blood. It always seemed to me that blood always looked darker on my carbon arrows.

I'm not sure what you mean by I suppose you are referring to watching the arrow instead of the target, thus pulling your head and not having a proper follow through. I guess that's what you mean anyway. And I say yeah, maybe to a point, but for me anyway, there aren't really any consequences. Even if you keep your eye on the target you should still see the arrow at some point, unless you just miss terribly, oh, by say a tree jumping in front of the deer. That never happens to me...[&:] Anyway, it certainly does aid in seeing where you've hit the animal. But like I said earlier.....as long as I look good doing it...;) Hey, I need all the help in that department I can get.

As I am confident you know, archery is an extremely personalized sport. I mean, back in the day when you guys started ( I don't mean that in a negative fassion, I feel those of you that shoot traditional and killed deer when deer were scarce have a wealth of knowledge I could only dream of) there just weren't nearly as many options as there are today. Today, at least for me, I like to stand out and be a little different than everybody else. I've started several "trends" at the shop and that somehow forces me to be constantly changing, but thanks to bowmanhunters arrow wraps, I've been able to keep my arrows this way for quite some time. Besides, since I work at the shop building arrows, people pay more attention to what I shoot. And hey, if I can sell a dozen wraps that wouldn't have been sold, good for us, huh. :D;)

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Aaah, the grasshoppers will learn not to jump into David's webs he so wonderfully weaves! ;)[8D]

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

??????????

No web was woven. HE misspoke about the benefits of crowning arrow shafts and thats about all there is too it.

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

I put wraps on all my hunting arrows and will be shooting lumenoks come season as well. I lost 4 arrows in the last 2 seasons. Where I live there isn't an over-abundance of tress, so I spend my archery season on the ground, spot an stalk in CRP, cattail sloughs, corn fields, etc. After my arrows zip thru a deer, there is about a 10% chance of finding that arrow. The 2 deer I shot last year with my bow, first one was shot at 10 yards on the ground, took me 6 hours to find my arrow which went thru the deer and 30 yards after that. Only way I found that arrow (metal detector didn't pick it up) a lil varmint found my arrow an pulled it out of the grass/stalks enuf and chrewed on my vanes. Second arrow is officially MIA.

I guess it all depends on your hunting style, and how "blingin" you want your arrows to be! hehe

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I'd use wraps if I hunted at night too.[8D][8D][8D][8D]

RE: Homemade Reflective Wraps - Success
 

Hey, don't you know the really big ones come out at night? [&:]:D