Fletching color

[shaneharley]

#6828

In your opinions and preference do you like bright colored fletchings on your arrows to see where they hit and to find after a miss or more natural ones that camo up a little better?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#55206

Lately, at least for my hunting arrows, I’ve been going for a middle ground – yellow. Natural enough, but still easy to follow and find (sometimes 😉 ).

Target and stumping arrows I often use hot pink. They stick out anywhere.

[lyagooshka]

#55213

I went bright orange on my first set, all 3. Figured deer aren’t supposed to see it, but hunters do? Went bright yellow on my next set, 2″ feathers all 3 or 4. The last set of arrows I got I decided to try a bit different. I have 2 brown and one green barred. It’s on a Camo hunter arrow, so it might blend in nice. All I have to do is not miss. 😆

Be well.

Alex

😀

[Jason Wesbrock]

#55251

I am a firm believer in brightly colored fletching and nocks on hunting arrows. With target arrows I take the opposite approach, but that’s another discussion My eyes may not be as good as most, so I need all the help I can get seeing my hunting arrows in flight with my peripheral vision. That’s one of the reasons I use bright orange and yellow fletching on my hunting arrows. I’ve killed deer with my bow during gun season (legal in WI) while wearing the mandatory 500 square inches of blaze orange, so I don’t see how anything I hunt (sans turkeys) will be spooked by a few feathers glued to my arrows.

[Pop Pop]

#55257

I use real turkey feathers simply because I like the way they look!

[James Harvey]

#55287

I’m with J.Wesbrock. Bright or unnatural colours. I find black and white stand out quite well too (it doesn’t snow here). Maybe I’m optically retarded but any green, even fluorescent, disappear in grass for me 🙁

[grumpy]

#55441

White so I can find the dam things!!! Figure the feathers are small enough to not attract attention. The shaft is stained, don’t want straight lines to stand out in the woods.

[Terry Lightle]

#55963

Natural barred turkey and grey goose for wet weather

[Raymond Coffman]

#56017

I mostly use bright colored fletch for the reasons others posted. I have toyed with more natural/camo colors for turkey, but it is harder to track the flight well [see hit placement, mostly lack there of ]. My new idea is red & blue for turkey – if the fletch looks like a gobblers head maybe it will help toll them closer for an easier shot – haha

Scout.

[lyagooshka]

#56077

cyberscout wrote: My new idea is red & blue for turkey…

Not to tinkle on the parade, I would just be cautious about that choice of colors, for turkey in particular. I know most here are responsible and safe, but if you are out in the woods with gun hunters, you take a chance. In Hunter Safety Ed we teach to ID your target, but we also teach to not wear and red, white or blue because not everyone listens. 😡 And like most things, we wouldn’t be teaching it if it didn’t happen. 😳 Just a point to ponder. Be well.

Alex

😕

[Raymond Coffman]

#56085

Alex

excellent point, good reminder -but my remark was in jest -thus the haha

scout.

[lyagooshka]

#56089

Ah, sorry. I am moving at the speed of smell today. Not much different from most days. 😳

Be well.

Alex

😆

[Raymond Coffman]

#56093

Alex

Thanks – it is a good reminder -no offense taken

sometimes my humor is too dry – Southwest in drought has an effect on everything?! haha

scout

[Raymond Coffman]

#56109

Alex

at one time – the greatest majority of hunter injury [being shot] was turkey hunting [I was wondering if that was still true as to your hunt ed inst info]. This always surprised me, as all states I have hunted spring turkeys required the bird to be bearded. Which at least for me meant a pretty close look!

Like you say no red/blue is safety best for that hunt!

Thanks

Scout.

[lyagooshka]

#56130

Scout,

Without looking up actual data, I can tell you that spring gobbler is where we concentrate the most when teaching safety and target identification. Since there is no blaze-orange requirement, people are much easier to NOT see. There is actually a part of the class that is “shoot or don’t shoot”, which has a video aspect. There is more than one part with a “turkey scenario”.

The problem is, people don’t follow rules. If they did, the target ID part would be enough. But we also teach “defensive” aspects like sitting with your back to a tree, never carrying your decoy or downed bird on your back, etc.

You are correct about the beard. Not only that, but here in PA you can only hunt spring gobbler with a shotgun (or bow) and only through calling (no stalking). Fall turkey is pretty much “anything goes” (within limits, regulations and safety). So how could someone be mistaken for a bird if no one is moving and everyone is looking for a beard?

Answer is: not everybody follows the rules. Some people still choose to stalk, and if caught, they simply say they were moving or relocating. Still others shoot at any sound they hear and figure “if it doesn’t have a beard, just leave it for the coyotes”. Still others get shot while moving over a hill with a decoy on their back because the hunter saw the bird and did not wait to see if it had a beard (and forgot that you are not supposed to shoot with nothing but blue sky as a backdrop).

As usual, it is not the average, safe, law-abiding hunter that is the problem. It is the law-breaking slob. But many times it is the average, safe, law-abiding hunter that gets hurt.

The only other area we really concentrate on from a safety standpoint is tree stands. Hope this helps.

Alex

😕

[Raymond Coffman]

#57015

Alex-

thanks for the interesting response – it seems imho that there are a lot fewer people following the “rules” of outdoors decorum anymore unfortunately.

Took my first Hunter ed/safety class in PA. Many yrs later [in my 50s]took one here in NM –very well done, had prac test /w the written. Luckily I passed.

I encourage any of the old geezers out there to do it again. good reminder and fun.

Thanks Alex for giving up your time for the new hunters in your area.

scout

ps – most of my hunting arrow fletch is white/yellow & florescent orange {nocks} – easiest ones for me to track in flight.

[mhay]

#57352

3 solid yellow ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,shows up good in flight .

[wahoo]

#57783

yellow or lime green . easy to see

[Ben M.]

#58105

Two yellow & one blue for stump shooters; Two wild turkey & one yellow for hunting. Same reasons as everyone else. Never once had trouble finding a yellow & blue arrow until the cottonwoods dropped their leaves. Then I lost three. The whole ground is a carpet of bright yellow in this area in autumn; I expect it’s the same in aspen country.

[lyagooshka]

#58461

Scout: just as an aside, the general “Hunter-Trapper Safety Course” is, as you said, well worth a retake if your card is dated circa 1800s 😆 . But another thing to consider is the bowhunting course now available. Even if you have your original HTE card, some states require the additional course to get an archery permit. Unlike HTE, there is a $20 cost, but that is “administrative” and we do not see any of it. It differs a bit state to state, but as long as it is the “certified” course, it is accepted anywhere. Just a thought. Thanks for the post. Be well.

Alex

😀

[Ripforce]

#58663

I have at least one Chartruese on all my arrows now, usually 2 on most of them and any color barred feather for an accent! i like the high visibility also prefer flo green nocks they show up no matter what fauna or light! I have some interesting combos of color combos these days but they work for me!

[Stumpkiller]

#58802

ShaneHarley wrote: In your opinions and preference do you like bright colored fletchings on your arrows to see where they hit and to find after a miss or more natural ones that camo up a little better?

I keep reverting back to either red cock and yellow hens or natural turkey cock and chartreuse hens. Both show up well and look good on my stained yellow crown & pecan stained wood shafts.

I need to see the arrow in flight. I have made up some brown & gray with gray shafts and I always wonder where they went after release.

[Hubertus]

#64130

My vey first set of arrows were fletched yellow and brown. I thought the yellow would render them easily seen. But I quickly discovered that when trying to find a lost stumping arrow, everything in the woods looks 31″ long, perfectly straight, and attached to yellow and brown.

When I took the hunter safety course, the instructor said that hunter orange is the most visible colour to the human eye. I then went to all orange fletch, orange crest wraps, and orange nocks.

(Now, everything on the forest floor seems 31″ long, perfectly straight, and attached to something ever so close to neon orange :?.)

[Wexbow]

#12173

Yellow and orange as my profile pick shows. But I can’t help but wonder if “unnatural” colours work better such as pink, Fred Eischler’s preferred colour I notice.

[Hubertus]

#12187

Wexbow wrote: I can’t help but wonder if “unnatural” colours work better such as pink.

I’ve heard the same said for blue.

[ChumpMcgee]

#12213

Hubertus wrote: [quote=Wexbow]I can’t help but wonder if “unnatural” colours work better such as pink.

I’ve heard the same said for blue.

I use a two blue and one white but my arrows I use are camo….why they make camo arrows I don’t understand 🙂

I can’t say that I see they arrow light any better with blue fletching but have notice that you can catch the arrow flight much easier with the tracer fur on it. I am going to try that out on a few of my stumping arrows.

[David Coulter]

#12462

I started with two yellow hens and a barred yellow cock feather and now I’m all yellow due to being cheap. The arrows have the bright green nock. They are pretty easy to find, but it’s amazing how well they can still hide, even right in the open. Give me some dappled sunlight in the woods and the arrows practically evaporate. I tried painting a shaft yellow once and I’m not sure that helped a bit. A good dog that can sniff arrows is the biggest help. dwc

[TSCHMED]

#61696

I shoot 2 white and one blue. 5 inch. I’ll also say that a bright crown dip or wrap is a must. I use white. And also a white nock.

I see the white well during flight or when the arrow protrudes from a fleeing deer.

But it’s amazing, to me, how often that it’s the blue that I see first when searching for an arrow buried in grass of leaves.

BTW I’m a newbie here.

I switched from compound to recurve in 1992 and haven’t looked back. I love this stuff:P

[Col Mike]

#61729

Welcome aboard–enjoy the great information, and fun:D

Semper Fi

Mike

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#62558

I’m a fan of all yellow. Especially now that I’ve switched to much smaller fletching and ditched the wraps.

But I’ve been know to dabble in orange as well.

[Ralph]

#62563

I’ve been using chartreuse quite a bit on my stumping and 3D arrows . My buddies seem to see that color better when we’re looking for my arrows. 😀

I use orange a lot and here lately have been doing white for some reason. Guess I just like to dabble.

If you hunt into the wind does it matter:?:?:? LOL

[Etter1]

#62591

So far, I’ve used two red barred with white barred cock feather, but my greybark widow was just screaming for all white.

With that bow, I fletch with two solid whites and a white barred. White may not be the best color for all the public land hunting that I do, but they’re easy to see in flight and easy to find on the ground.

[Brennan Herr]

#62881

I use fluorescent orange nocks, fletch, and wraps. I can see them so well in flight and in the weeds beyond the target!!!

[William Warren]

#62916

I have used a variety of colors on my hunting arrows. Orange and yellow combos remain one of my favorites along with red barred. I mostly use white nocks but sometimes I use flo green. Lately I’ve become partial to grey barred cock with yellow hens. I also like grey barred with orange barred combos.

[Goraidh]

#10961

My hunting arrows are fletched with a natural barred cock feather and two white hen feathers on a white crown dip. Seem to work fine. My stumping arrows are fletched with two blue and one white, and they work well, too. As mentioned above, I usually see the blue before seeing the white.

[Greg Ragan]

#11341

Here are some I like:

[archer38]

#14036

Just a thought about blue; Some studies have shown that while deer are mostly colour blind, they can see parts of the blue spectrum.

[Author]

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