One fletch, two fletch, not so new fletch.

[David Coulter]

#4010

I have my arrows set up with a 4x fletch and the other day one of the feathers tore off as the arrow blew through a stump. I just kept shooting it with three feathers, as I’ve learned they fly fine that way, even though it’s an odd order. This afternoon I pealed off a second feather so I had two opposing. Wouldn’t you know it, the arrow flew just fine. Anybody using just two on a regular basis? Dwc

[Doc Nock]

#25966

You got soft stumps up alone the DE, dude! :shock::lol:

I used to hang around a “primitive” site where 2 fletch was a norm…

jason S shared his tests on EFOC bare shaft with broad heads… if you get em tuned right, fletch is there primarily to help correct “operator error”.

You must be shooting better’n you think! Congrats!

[David Coulter]

#25976

It’s nice not to be shooting into an old rotten stump that’s frozen like iron! thanks, dwc

[Stephen Graf]

#26365

I carried a 2 feathered arrow this past season. I have tried them in the past with compounds and not cared for it. But after reading the article in TB magazine I thought I’d give’er another go.

It worked ok. I noticed it took a bit longer for the broadhead arrow to stabilize.

On the whole, I think I prefer 3 for 4 feathers.

but I have done as you did many times, and left them that way for a while…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#26846

It’s always interesting to me how little fletching a well-tuned arrow really needs. How long are your feathers, David?

[David Coulter]

#26880

It’s pretty cool. These are 3″ parabolic. Sometimes I’ll cut them to 2 1/2 with the AA style. The arrows weigh about 630-635 with just over 28% foc. They fly nice and will usually fly right through small twiggs, like white pine, and still hit the target. Of course, that’s not something I would bank on in a shot at an animal, but it’s neat to watch how they behave under duress. Dwc

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#27694

That’s cool that they flew well with only 2 x 3″ fletch! I remember reading an interesting article on 2-fletch setups a while back, though I think the author was using 2 x 4″ or 5″ fletching, which is still pretty minimal in terms of overall surface area. It really makes me want to go back to the fletching jig and do a little more experimenting, even though I should probably just leave my current set up alone and quit messing with it!

[David Coulter]

#27700

Aw, go on, mess with it. Here’s the deal. Think about how your arrows fly bare shaft. Dang straight, right? So really, except to make up for any planing a broadhead would do, do we really need feathers? Yeah, I’m sure we do. That was rhetorical. I know there are plenty of variables we are trying to stabilize in a shot and we try to minimize. Reminds me of another thread… thanks, dwc

[Doc Nock]

#27702

B,

Some o f those links you posted to “old tyme” thoughts on archery, suggested that cane arrows were more spine tolerant, if I read it correctly, and other readings lead me to believe a lot of the 2 fletch native arrows were “cane” arrows or willow shoots or the like.

That Primitive site I mentioned was a hoot to follow. Those guys would make stuff outa nuttin and it worked!!!

One guy, for fun, whittled a hole in a cane arrow large enough to insert an Lumi-nock…what a hoot that was. He posted a video of a 2 fletch, tied on natural turkey feathered arrow, flying at night with a Lumi-Nock…hysterical, but to be sure, there was some dancing but it hit where he wanted…

Living off the land, precision is likely not the first concern. I still believe that fletching, on a properly tuned arrow, is there to correct imparted error on the shooter’s part, so 2 fletch working doesn’t surprise me much…

[Doc Nock]

#27708

dwcphoto wrote: Aw, go on, mess with it. Here’s the deal. Think about how your arrows fly bare shaft. Dang straight, right? So really, except to make up for any planing a broadhead would do, do we really need feathers? Yeah, I’m sure we do. That was rhetorical. I know there are plenty of variables we are trying to stabilize in a shot and we try to minimize. Reminds me of another thread… thanks, dwc

I don’t have the link, but Jason Samkowski(?) (the guy with the pod casts) posted his shots with bare shaft and BHs…or was that another site? I only do 2 and the other only occasionally, but I’ve heard all my life NOT to EVER shoot bare shaft with BH… EFOC changes things and he did it successfully… maybe because of the EFOC?

I won’t recommend it, but I still believe as you say, fletch is for correction, of either shooter errors or poor tune.

[Col Mike]

#27950

Doc,Steve

Some where I saw a video from Dr. Ed showing some of our ancestors shooting arrows that where about 4 feet long with some massive points and no fletching.

Yesterday started a new book “The Unconquered” In search of the Amazon’s last Uncontacted Tribes. Scott Wallace. One of the tribes is known as the arrow people. Only one picture of one who came in (because the search was bounded by the rule that they couldn’t contact–good ole guns,germs,and steel), it appears that he is holding some very long shafts with no fletching–points not visible.

Will let you know if I learn anything from the text once I get into it. But this does offer some food for thought and some further experiments.:wink:

Doc, Wose, will answer your PM’s tomorrow the downstairs computer is involved in our anti-fracking fight for the rest of the evening.

Mike

[Doc Nock]

#27973

Thanks, Mike. Looking forward to your reply.

I remember that article of Doc’s… can’t remember where: S. America or S. Pacific tribe… they ARE 4′ long…

what intrigued me in chat with Doc was that each member of the tribe, had found metal and an abandoned air strip and it was their first experience with metal heads…

Ed said they weight approx 1000 gr!!!

Each bowman cut his arrows till they flew right, being natural fiber shafting… with these humongous heads!

He commented that it looked like each guy had mis-matched arrows as the quiver was full of varied length arrows, but EACH was tuned to that man’s BOW!

Guess when survival and food depend on shooting well, you spend what time needed to get good results, huh?! 😯

I did NOT pick up they were also unfletched, I was more intrigued on the fact each was a different length as I was tuning some GT 7595’s at that time and had 3 requiring a different length from the rest…which was consistent with another gent from here’s findings that in a given dozen of commercial carbon, 2-4 would be out of spine tolerance… so I tuned EACH one individually. Lot of shooting, but I knew they all flew the same when I was done!

[Ed Ashby]

#28705

https://www.tradbow.com/public/310.cfm

Ed

[Doc Nock]

#28830

Thanks for postin that Ed.

I don’t think now that I read the article, I ever did read it before. I am pretty certain you “TOLD” me about the content, so since I sometimes “stutter” when I listen, I may have concluded and burned to memory wrongly.

I thought for sure that you’d shared that they all were tuned to the individual shooter and some would be way longer then others, looking like a hoge ponge in their arsenal, but the table does show such data, not the story…

You shoot any of them bows, Doc? Hit anything? 🙄

[Ed Ashby]

#29788

How could I not try those bows? I was ‘passable’ for accuracy with them. Hardest thing was getting use to the wide, flat string and no nock. It would take a bit of getting accustomed to but I think I could learn to hunt successfully with one.

Doc, you remember correctly; each individual arrow is tuned by shortening the shaft until it “shoots straight” and, thus, as no two ‘broadheads’ seem to be anywhere near the same size and weight, and there’s no ‘standard shaft’, each arrow ends up a different length.

Ed

[Doc Nock]

#29877

Thanks, Ed, for that clarification and addition…

I’m sure a flat string, no nock on the arrow would blow my mind, too, but more than that… would be trying t o even BUDGE a 80-ish # bow!!!

I’d be also thinking that string attachment gizmo would let loose and I’d get that slab of bamboo bow in the kisser!

You did point out that was only ONE area of their country…other tribes might have very different set ups.

That was an interesting inference you drew on the difference in shooting 4′ arrows and using a spear… One would guess when starvation is the end game, or use what works, your speculation may have very strong validity…the arrow, regardless of length, was more efficient on thos wide open spaces, than a spear…

Look like danged Atlatyl (sp?) shafts!

[Author]

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