PRIMITIVE ARROWS

Don’t think for a moment that any old arrow will shoot well out of any old bow. Shooting the wrong arrow won’t do the job; it will not shoot consistently.

Every bow has a specific arrow that it just loves and that is why we spend so much time finding the ultimate shaft just as we do bullets for our rifles and pistols.

In our modern age the best shafts I have found are Port Orford cedar, especially compressed cedar if you can find it (unlikely). There are other compressed wood shafts as well, but as usual the cost is well over the top. My advice in this area is to stay with the equipment that is available and shooting rules and just have fun.

To purchase arrows I suggest that you buy them by the dozen. In this way you will know that you at least have a matching set. Almost without exception if you buy through mail-order you are going to find that only about nine out of twelve shafts will be straight. If you learn to straighten shafts you will still discover that at least one of the dozen will become a stick, good for doweling, perhaps. Bill Cunningham insists that the best source he has found for purchasing shafts is Valley Traditional Archery (VTA) which can be found on line, but if you want to order through a real person they are located in Silt, Colorado, phone or FAX 970-876-0170. Bill claims that in years of doing business with them he has had only one shaft that turned into a stick and that one they replaced free of charge and no arguments. And he buys lots of shafts.

The stiffness of the arrow shaft is called "arrow spine." It is the measured deflection, in inches, of the shaft when depressed by a weight at its center. An arrow shaft of the proper spine should not wobble when it leaves the bow—provided that the bow is properly set up and tuned (yes, even primitive bows need tuning). Something else you should understand about the spine of an arrow is that changing the length of an arrow will also change its spine. Making an arrow an inch shorter or longer will change it enough that it may not fly well out of your bow so when ordering you should get them cut to your draw length so the spine will be will not be for a longer arrow. You also want the proper spine so that your arrows are uniform in weight. They must all match for consistent shooting. The slightest variation will cause the arrows to fly differently from one another and cause you to grumble about not being able to "print" well on the target or to hit game where it counts. You should either purchase or make your hunting and practice arrows exactly the same. If you don’t know the shaft weight in grains you want when ordering shafts, if you give the weight of your bow to the supplier they will sell you arrow shafts spined to that weight bow unless you specify otherwise (not wise unless you are experimenting). There is no better way to prove an arrow’s worth than by shooting it. Have someone stand behind you, in a slightly elevated position, and watch your arrows fly as you shoot. They should be able to determine just what the arrow is doing, such as porpoiseing or staggering, etc. Bill can tell much about the arrow’s performance by doing a neat little thing with shooting an arrow through a sheet of paper and then studying the holes made by the fletching. A characteristic of arrows is that those that are too light for you bow tend to hit to the right of where you aim, and those that are too heavily spined go left.

Hunting arrows will differ from target arrows in that they are heavier shafts, have a longer fletching, and shoot a bladed broadhead that also could be heavier. I always try and shoot a 120 grain field tip and the same weight broadhead. My target tips are of 70 grains weight. Here I’m looking for distance. Bill tends to shoot field tips of either 70 grains (for distance) or 100 grains (to match the weight broadheads he makes and uses. The tip of your arrow should be seven to ten percent heavier than the shaft. This is important for good arrow balance and good arrow flight.

Being that most of my shooting is geared toward hunting, I shoot this equipment every chance I get. I’ll shoot field tips at home made targets and I’ll shoot broadheads at sandbanks at various distances. Keep in mind that the smaller the target the tighter your groups will be. And keep in mind that unfiltered sandbanks often contain rocks.

My 55 pound hunting bow shoots a 28 inch shaft (I will, however, add an extra inch for broadhead clearance). So I’m really shooting a 29 inch arrow with a spine rating of either 55 to 60 or 60 to 65 pounds. The fletching is five inches long and five eighths high at the tail for stability and twist. My broadheads and field tips are 120 grains. If I should get an arrow that flies consistently off the bull, I set it aside. It helps to number your arrows. Some shooting matches require you to number your shafts for shooting animal targets. You generally shoot three arrows and only the first arrow is your score.