"Rogue Unit"

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Captainkirk
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"Rogue Unit"

#1 Post by Captainkirk »

A while back, I read an article in an aircraft maintenance magazine discussing the "rogue unit". now, I had never heard that term before, and when I scanned the sidebar I busted out laughing when I realized what it was about...aircraft components that would fail time after time, be sent back for eval, testing, and overhaul, pass the required tests and be put back into the rotable pool with fresh certification...and go on to fail yet again. "Oh, come on!" I said aloud to the magazine, "You don't expect me to actually believe there are such things...next you'll tell me they have gremlins or boogeymen inside them!"
The article was quite serious, though..documenting years and years of Air Force and other military research that backed up the story, to the point where the Air Force, having identified such "rogue units', was actually destroying them rather than having them continue to wreak havoc.
"OK, interesting, Cap'n...and this has to to with archery HOW" you're asking?
Patience, Grasshopper.
I was shooting tonight with the half-dozen arrows I generally use (saves me from walking and wearing out the grass). I would shoot a group and consistently would have a couple arrows be kissin' cousins, with one or more flyers way the heck out in Zulu Land, as is oft-times the case. It was frustrating. I was concentrating on good form and release when I noticed one of the half dozen doing the dipsy-doodle and smacking the outer edge of the block. "Odd", I muttered, and when I pulled the arrows, I looked that one over, but good. Nothing appeared amiss. I marked the nock with a Sharpie and shot another group. Same deal; dipsy-doodle and high this time.
Hmmm...
So I took that arrow and stuck it's nose in the dirt. Next group I shot five. Three arrows in the bull touching each other with one nearby and a flyer.
Hmmm...
Stuck that flyer in the dirt.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
There were three arrows that were sticking together like fish in an aquarium. I pulled the fourth and stuck IT in the dirt.
All of a sudden I'm shooting 3-shot groups you could cover with a baseball. Am I on to something here, I wondered?
Just to mix it up, I strung up the K-Hunter and shot the three arrows with that bow. Yep. Same thing. Try as I might, I could see nothing out of kilter with the other three arrows except that weird, snaky dipsy-doodle thing.
Could those arrows actually be "rogue units", I wondered?
Now, bear in mind that carbon and even aluminum arrows go through much testing and manufacturing checks for uniformity. But wood arrows...them be another critter altogether!
Bottom line; whatever it is, both the K-Mag and the K-Hunter (and probably my Grizz as well) like only half my arrows. It doesn't matter why, they just don't. I've marked the 'good arrows' and will be shooting 3 shot groups using those arrows for the time being.
Food for thought for all you woody shooters out there.
Aim small, miss small!

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Graps
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#2 Post by Graps »

Yeah, every once in a while I get a self guided arrow with wood.
As long as you have the grain oriented properly with the nock, it is something with the wood.
I have been suspicious that the arrow doesn't have the same spine the full length or possibly it has something to do with moisture content. Who knows.
As my retired school teacher friend used to say in a case like this " Tis the pity of it all. " :?
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Longtrad
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#3 Post by Longtrad »

who knows every one of those wood arrows is going to be different, you can also only test static spine, dynamic spine may pull out some tricks of its own.

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Grizzly
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#4 Post by Grizzly »

revenge of the cedar tree. :roll:
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.

Captainkirk
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#5 Post by Captainkirk »

Longtrad wrote: Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:00 pm who knows every one of those wood arrows is going to be different, you can also only test static spine, dynamic spine may pull out some tricks of its own.
I did not build these arrows so can't testify to grain orientation, spine, etc.
What my observations concluded is this:
Do your best when (woody) arrow building to match spine, weight, grain orientation, etc. After you are finished (I have taken to building in half-dozen lots), shoot the entire lot, then cull out the rogue units and maybe designate them as stumping arrows, fodder for friends and relative to shoot, etc. This is probably even MORE critical when choosing which arrows to hunt with. Choose the ones that are bunched in a cluster in the middle of your target block.
Us 'Woody Freaks' have yet another set of limitations self-imposed upon us by choosing to hand-craft imperfect natural materials...much the same as self-bow or primitive archers have handicapped themselves (by choice). We just need to be more aware that weeding out the rogues is part of the process.
Aim small, miss small!

Longtrad
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#6 Post by Longtrad »

I bet you could add some more point weight or shorten them a bit and get the rogues to fly well too

stumper
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#7 Post by stumper »

Actually Kirk, I am so glad that you mentioned this. The other night, I grabbed just three of my six arrows and started to fling three shot groups. Immediately I realized that one arrow was impacting way off, while the other two were stacking. I notice a little snake in the arrow and corrected it with my hands. After that, I flung the arrows careful to note the odd arrow's position. It is now flying straight but is hitting noticeably lower. Interestingly in the hand, it feels noticeably heavier in the hand, however, I have not verified with the scale. After correcting the snakyness, all three are still in a pie plate at 20, so I just chalked up to the game and said that that arrow will not be one of the broadhead arrows this season.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Captainkirk
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#8 Post by Captainkirk »

Flemish Dave wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:18 pm Actually Kirk, I am so glad that you mentioned this. The other night, I grabbed just three of my six arrows and started to fling three shot groups. Immediately I realized that one arrow was impacting way off, while the other two were stacking. I notice a little snake in the arrow and corrected it with my hands. After that, I flung the arrows careful to note the odd arrow's position. It is now flying straight but is hitting noticeably lower. Interestingly in the hand, it feels noticeably heavier in the hand, however, I have not verified with the scale. After correcting the snakyness, all three are still in a pie plate at 20, so I just chalked up to the game and said that that arrow will not be one of the broadhead arrows this season.
By all means I am not suggesting that these rogue unit arrows can't be corrected, or shouldn't be shot. What I'm suggesting is that they have some quirks and will throw your game off if you don't keep them segregated from the "cream of the crop" arrows. I went back out tonight taking the K-Mag and only my CoC arrows...and the first group at 15 yards measured 2-1/2" with two arrows touching. It's not that I'm shooting better than last week; it's that the arrows are going where they are supposed to.
Aim small, miss small!

stumper
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#9 Post by stumper »

I’m just glad I’m not the only one with rogue arrows.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

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Graps
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Re: "Rogue Unit"

#10 Post by Graps »

On the flip side, a rogue arrow can be handy in a hunting situation. It could hit the mark on an animal that could jump randomly..... 8-)
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

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