Walk a straight line?

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Longtrad
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Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:26 pm

Re: Walk a straight line?

#11 Post by Longtrad »

I did my last dozen with a straight clamp, left wing feathers and a very very slight offset. I havent noticed any difference. They are a little easier tl fletch though as you dont have to fight the quill to wrap around the shaft.

The dozen before that i fletched up high back sheilds with as mucb helical as i could get out of my jojan. They fly great but i did notice they are a little more noisey and drop faster than i expected.

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Grizzly
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#12 Post by Grizzly »

Jamesh76 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:40 am I typically shoot rw with a slight offset. I have some autumn orange 1816, I shoot out of 40# bows with straight fletching. I cant shoot good enough to tell any difference. I do think properly spined arrow is more important than fletching orientation. Alot of you have seen some.of the 4x4 straight fletch I shoot. Now I can tell you without a doubt I shoot those better than any 3 fletch orientation I have.
I agree also. Great combination. I probably need to pick up some more 1816s

Spine trumps fletching all the time. Just try shooting in the rain with laid back feathers with the wrong spined shaft. You'll not want to even finish the coarse. Then let that happen with a perfectly tuned, proper spined shaft. You can prove your setup by shooting one bareshaft along with the same batch of fletched shafts. The proper spine should shoot into the group from decent distances. 20 yards at least - 40 is even better - more will blow your mind. I've never tried this with wood, though I'm sure the principal holds true. Just have close cropped grass to find the bareshaft that sails off and misses by a mile. Never, ever try that with broadheads on. The broadhead will steer and plane off and be very unpredictable.

Everyone should try a field coarse and learn how to set up for the long 50 to 80 yard shots along with the very close ones. That knowledge would come in handy when you walk a coarse with club members when no one else is on it. They'll say, lets try the ram up on the hill over the trees...........or the bear way at the end of the approach. Great fun. Large feathers and great helical hurt you on long distance by slowing the arrow and decreasing your range.

Most today will not take a long shot at an animal. But back when Fred Bear was doing it on tv, I imagine alot of us were launching some long shots to our targets...just in case.
Jesus replaces the old covenant and speaks to the believer the moral code of God by His Spirit directly to the heart. He is the eternal, everlasting revelation of God to mankind. In Him is both the knowledge of righteousness and the power to live right.

Lowcountry
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#13 Post by Lowcountry »

2 fletch, 3 fletch, 4 fletch, LW, RW, 2", 3", 4", 5", straight, offset, helical, extreme helical - I'm sure there is a "best" combo, but I'm also sure the majority (definitely myself) of archers probably can't shoot well enough to tell the difference.

I could be wrong, but I believe Olympic archers (presumably the best archers in the world) shoot 3 small straight or slightly offset fletch. Maybe even vanes.

Captainkirk
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#14 Post by Captainkirk »

If one can believe the author's theories, it would seem that straight fletch might give an advantage in a target/3D scenario. But I can't buy the idea that it would be better in a hunting scenario. But that's just me.
Aim small, miss small!

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dhaverstick
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#15 Post by dhaverstick »

I saw that article but skipped over it because I knew I wasn't going to change from my left-wing helical setup anyway. I shot straight fletching when I first started out and switched to helical when I was told that it would make my arrows more stable. It is a proven fact that an item spinning about its longitudinal axis is more stable in flight than one that is not spinning (bullets, footballs, etc.). That being said, do I know that my helical fletched arrows spin faster or more than my old straight fletched arrows? No I do not. Nor am I going to spend any time doing a detailed study on the question. I have so many issues with consistent release and good form that it would take me years to isolate whether or not one form of fletching was superior to another.

All I know is this: 1) I shoot a heavy (700+ grain) arrow with left-wing helical fletching and a single bevel broadhead. 2) I consider my effective range at 25 yards and closer. 3) I consistently kill game with these arrows. Everything else is inconsequential.

Darren

Captainkirk
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#16 Post by Captainkirk »

All good and sound points, Darren. Like you, I was not about to let one article change the way I've been shooting since I took up trad hunting, though I might be tempted to give it a whirl in a target-type setting "just because".
The author claims that rotating about the longitudinal axis with a long axis (i.e. an arrow) is different than a short axis object such as a football or bullet. I think this is so much speculation on his part. However, he is correct that rockets or missiles don't need to spin to stabilize, and though he didn't mention it, neither do darts (the throwing kind) to hit their mark. A meaningful experiment would involve photography and chronograph equipment I don't have, so I will leave that for the thinkers among our ranks.
The main reason for discussing this article is that I was surprised that TBM would print such an article based on subjective reasoning and the author's credentials as a NASA scientist rather than as a winning target archer or one with a reputation like Howard Hill, Fred Bear or others. Anyone can come up with a theory, the proof and documentation is the hard work. And thus, I was a bit surprised that TBM printed the article with little in that regard.
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Aim small, miss small!

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dhaverstick
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#17 Post by dhaverstick »

I can only guess what their reasoning was behind publishing the article. Maybe they just wanted to mix things up. Controversy gets people talking like we are doing which gets people to buying more magazine copies to see what all the hullabaloo is about. If someone wrote a letter to the editor voicing their opinion about the validity of the claims, I bet they would get an answer.

Darren

dougedwards
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#18 Post by dougedwards »

Lord, I remember back when I was doing compound bows at 3-D shoots and hearing the diverse arguments concerning everything from the proper grip to the physics of an arrow in flight. Everyone was an expert except the guy who consistently beat the heck out of the rest of us. He just focused on shooting.

Doug
"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."
Ephesians 4:25

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dhaverstick
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#19 Post by dhaverstick »

Okay, so I went back 3 issues and read the article in question, "The Case for Straight Fletching". I actually found the author's arguments quite compelling. The evidence he sites, other than his own, seemed grounded in science. I was especially moved by physicist C.N. Hickman's claim that an arrow would have to spin millions of revolutions per second to achieve the same gyroscopic stability as a bullet due to its large length-to-diameter ratio and low density. That is all math which can be reproduced. The claim that an arrow is more like a missile than a bullet also made sense to me and, being an aerospace engineer by schooling, I learned a long time ago that the fins on a missile are there for flight stability but do not make the missile spin. The meager evidence the author had to support his claim was just that; too small of a sample to make any claims one way or the other. Still yet I found the whole argument compelling enough that I just ordered a straight clamp and straight nock receiver for my Bitzenburger jig. I am in the process of making my arrows for the coming season so this will be interesting. The author claims that drag is decreased and speed is increased by shooting straight fletching and if I can speed up the logs I shoot just a little bit then the experiment will be worth it.

Darren

joe harrod1945
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Re: Walk a straight line?

#20 Post by joe harrod1945 »

why did you not post my comments

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