Squirrels and Flu Flu Fletch

[paleoman]

#3559

Given that I’ve seen bushels of squirrels and few deer this year, maybe I’ll try to zing a couple later this fall. I’ve never shot flu flus and so, if I shoot at nutbrain from the ground to the ground do they tend to bury themselves? I would guess less so but hate to lose arrows.

[Doc Nock]

#21335

I’ve seen posts regularly of guys killing squirrels with bows. I’m not one of them.

Shot one once with a Muzzy head…broke a shoulder and it ran off on 3 legs onto posted ground and disappeared. Later that season, a heavy ash arrow with a bigger muzzy style head went into a rabbit and it also ran off, down a hole and I lost it too.

As FAST as tree rats are, I think I’d avoid shooting UP in trees… and I don’t think I’d use a noisy and slow flu-flu…put those springy things with arms on the shaft and shoot decent hunting heads… I sharpened a few Hex Heads, but have failed to loose an arrow always figuring that is when a deer will walk by…

Good luck. Post pics!

[mhay]

#21432

Wide and heavy blunts very rarely bury into the soil. Year ago I used the rubber type blunts that simply slip over the shaft . Would take a heavy field point and grind away the point to make it flat nosed . It adds weight and the rubber blunt lasts longer ,,,,of course I was shooting aluminum and without the field point the shaft would cut clean through the rubber in just a few shots.

I seems that I need to aim where the squirrel MIGHT be after the release . The last few I have shot at ,,,,all under 15 yards ,,,seemed to have changed zip codes and are missing some tail hair as well .

[mhay]

#21445

I forgot to mention in last post ,, the Hammer from 3 Rivers is absolutely amazing . I use the 250 grain . It is my small game thumper and 95% of the time my practice arrows . My main practice is walnuts , leaves , dandelions . Whenever I shoot at my regular target my form falls apart .

The Hammer is a super tough blunt . Fluted on the sides and recessed in the front , with a bullet point in the recessed center .

No foolin’ , a direct center hit on a green walnut at 20 yards will remove the green hull and do significant damage to the wooden hull inside , many times breaking into 2-3 pieces .

So far have only slain one squirrel with these heads . An adult grey , hit square in the head , and dropped right there .

[William Warren]

#21532

I let fly on a grey yesterday that was perched on a rock pile at about 15 yds. Risky, I know but that arrow flew perfectly to where it “was”. I think the squirrel had made me at the last minute. You have to catch them by surprise if you can. The ones I’ve taken with blunts did not have time to react which is hard to stay ahead of consistently.

[mhay]

#21571

So true ,Duncan. There are some that;ll constintly flip their tail as they do when they are suspicious , and there are those that seemingly ACT like they have never seen you .

In my experience the fox squirrel is an easier target but not my preferred meal. Whereas the grey is fine table fare and a trophy .They are QUICK!

[doug krueger]

#22164

I am not a squirrel guru but my small game head is a .38 special casing over my 300gr field point and electrical taped on. If I am really worried about losing arrows in deep needle cast I use tin snips to make a small washer out of plumbers strap. It goes behind the head of course. The plumbers strap already has the perfect size hole for your threaded field point to fit in. If you are shooting wood this obviously wont work. But it is cheap.

DK

[Ben M.]

#23947

I’ve posted these pictures before, but the subject has come up again so so have they. In my experience, a blunt like the Ace hex is the best way to go on squirrels (judos get hung up on twigs). Flu-flus are a must because you’ll miss more squirrels than you hit, and these are the best style of flu flu for the job:

I’ve lost track of how many squirrels (on the ground and in trees) I’ve killed with this style of arrow.

[William Warren]

#24973

Ben,

Are you using fletch tape on those fletching? We may need a tutorial on making those 😀

Duncan

[archer38]

#25025

I know I’ve posted this before but for squirrels and small game, I use a field point with a beer bottle cap and a washer from a roofing screw. They work great, they never bury in grass or pine straw and while they are a bit soft, they are easy enough to replace ! As for shooting up in the trees, I try to make sure to keep the trunk of the tree behind the squirrel so that if I miss, I hit the tree. With the bottle cap point, the arrow will bounce off and fall to the ground.

[Ben M.]

#29903

There’s really nothing to it. As always, clean the fletching area with denatured alcohol. Glue the front half of the feathers down with duco (of course, use a jig). Give the glue a few hours to cure thoroughly. Then, one at a time, apply duco to the back half of the feather and spiral it up the shaft. Hold each feather until the glue dries. Try not to get glue on your fingers because you’ll pull the feather off the shaft when you unstick them. I’ve used both duco and contact cement, but the duco works better for me. With contact cement, you have to hold the feather for a very long time before it will stay put on its own and it usually pulls back off after a few shots anyway. I had to tie thread around the ends of the fletching when I used contact cement. Here’s another view:

[Cameron Unruh]

#30279

Thats pretty neat I will have to give that a try…

[Ben M.]

#30853

I think you will find that these are best-flying, most functional flu-flus you’ve ever used. That’s my assessment anyway.

[Stephen Graf]

#37980

It’s interesting how different peoples experiences are. I can still count on my hands how many squirrels I’ve killed with a bow. But no idea how many arrows I’ve shot at them…

I found that flu-flu’s are too noisy and the squirrels are gone when the arrow gets there. I just use a field point with a washer behind it on my regular hunting arrows. Even then it is unlikely the squirrel will be there when the arrow gets to him.

I sure like the looks of those arrows though!

[Doc Nock]

#38141

Ha! No need to lock up MY wallet… I couldn’t pay for the safe deposit box, let alone a $3K camera!!!

I didn’t read thru all those ads, but I was told about 2 yrs ago they did away with the ability to use the older bayonet lenses…something about not synching with the DIGI camera light meters or exposure control, etc.

IF they reversed that issue again allowing older lenses to be used…that would be a great thing and perhaps I can find a market for these super quality lenses! That 80-200 zoom was the bomb!

[shirikahn]

#38279

I love those spiral fletched flu flu’s. I’ve always used the big feather type, or original spirals. I like the idea of using standard fletch, and wrapping them the way you did. thanks for the info!

Shirikahn

[Ben M.]

#38798

Well, don’t get me wrong here. Like everyone, I’ve shot at many more squirrels than I’ve hit. Their reaction time is incredible. They greys seem much faster than the reds. I have yet to hit one and I’ve shot at lots of them.

Shirikahn,

I use “Traditional” cut fletching for this style of flu-flu. The kind with the barb on the back like the blue and gold arrow in the picture below. Shield cut works too but doesn’t look as cool.

[Greg Ragan]

#50140

[William Warren]

#51566

two4hooking,

Is that a .357 casing? What is that point on the end? Thats a nice looking set up.

Duncan

[Greg Ragan]

#52028

Yup .357 casing with a nail in the primer hole cut off and ground to a short point. It is long enough to get penetration on tough squirrel hide, but short enough that it bounces off most trees.

Adds a little weight also.

[William Warren]

#53668

Do you drill out the primer pocket and shaft for the nail?

[Greg Ragan]

#55544

Duncan wrote: Do you drill out the primer pocket and shaft for the nail?

Yes, drill out for whatever size nail you are using.

[Author]

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