Thursday, June 19, 2008
Whatâ??s Your Arrow Choices, Sir?
There is very little discussion these days about arrow shaft construction. There are only three basic choices, and from there, several secondary choices.
Aluminum, carbon or wood? Only some long bow and recurve bow shooters still shoot wood arrows although many have switched to either one of the other two choices. The secondary choices are manufacturer, size, weight and length.
Compound bow hunters are locked into a choice between aluminum and carbon, and there is little to discuss. Very few compound shooters still choose aluminum these days.
I still like aluminum shafts for bow hunting but much of the time carbon arrows are in my bow quiver. There was a time 10 years ago when aluminum arrows had a death grip on the arrow market but times have changed.
In my Buck Pole Archery Shop, at least 90 percent of my arrow sales are carbon. Some other shops report 95 percent carbon over aluminum shafts.
Years ago there were plenty of arguments against carbon shafts, and many were unfounded. Some of the early carbon arrows were too skinny, some had ugly out-serts that attached to the shaft, and the broadhead screwed into the out-sert. Another argument that has passed by the boards was that carbon arrows would shatter inside a deer.
Believe me on this: I resented carbon arrows and resisted using them. My buddy Dave Richey told me I’d lose arrow sales if I didn’t stock carbon, and soon I noticed that people were passing up the aluminum shafts and going elsewhere to buy carbon arrows. That was like throwing away money.
It took some time but I eventually began to stock carbon, and began shooting these new shafts. They flew extremely well, and that settled the argument for me. I now stock and sell carbon arrows.
Why shoot carbon? One excellent reason is the arrows are extremely straight, and the tolerance level is much tighter (less than half of one percent) than with aluminum, in most cases. Several years ago Archery business magazine found carbon arrows were more perfectly formed, more precise, and in most cases, stronger than aluminum.
The magazine said that Eastman Outdoors’ shafts, and especially their Maxima shafts, have the tightest tolerances in the arrow industry. It means, that with practice, a hunter or target archer can become a better shot with these arrows.
Carbon arrow companies have relegated the skinny carbon shafts of yesteryear to the back shelf, and are producing shafts with much the same diameters as aluminum.
The bigger shafts help increase down-range energy, and this allows the arrow to hit with greater force. The down-range force produces better penetration, and with increased accuracy, this means a chance for more killing shots.
Carbon arrows require a properly maintained and tuned bow. A bow that is out of whack won’t shoot any arrow well.
This means the hunter needs a well-tuned bow, a quality bow rest, and a good mechanical release. They will help produce far more accurate shots than most people ever knew was possible.
Most quality archery shops can do a fine job of tuning your bow, and it’s common for people to bring their C.P. Oneida Eagle bows to my Buck Pole Archery Shop in Marion for an annual tune-up.
A properly tuned compound bow and carbon arrow should be paper tuned. A properly tuned arrow will cut a perfect hole when shot through paper. Out-of-tune bows will cut or tear ragged holes with feathers or vanes cutting high, low, right or left when they go through the paper.
This requires further tuning, and when the rest, nocking point and other factors jell, there is a perfectly round hole. And, with our great line-up of bows which include the Extreme, the straight-nock travel produced by these bows make for the most accurate compound bows on the market.
Some people continue to fight the trend toward carbon arrows. I know I did, but I’ve seen the light.
A well-tuned bow, quality carbon shafts, a good rest like the Bo-Doodle that we install on our bows, and a broadhead suited for that shaft, will make any bow hunter a much better shot at deer and targets.
Tough? A buddy of mine shot a black bear, caribou and whitetail deer with one arrow. That’s right—one carbon arrow. He sharpened the broadhead after each kill, and the arrow was still straight after killing three big-game animals.
That puts a capital T and A on the words Tough Arrows.—The Whitetail Wizard