Aluminum arrows are cold and have no life in them .
Carbon arrows are just unbending and stubborn , have to do things there own way .
A wood arrow has warmth to it .
It has character and a personality .
It has life in it and seems to know what you want to do .
I just can't seem to explain all the attraction to wood arrows .
They have beauty and like a good women , they deserve to be respected .
In this cold mechanized world , it's nice to have something that is simple and comforting .
Why shoot wood ?.....
I shoot wood arrows because they are beautiful, they smell good and they are simple. Nothing like building a real nice set and harvesting an animal with them.
Last weekend I have been to a local 3D shoot and there was a father and his daughter right in front of me. The father was shooting the modern equipment but seemed interested in traditional.
The real thing was when I handed one of my arrows to his daughter and this arrow was treated and felt much different than when the daughter handled her dad's carbon with vanes arrow.
She handled the carbon arrow of her dad like a dead object but handled my arrow more like something alive. Especially the natural feathers she really liked. Lol.
Wooden arrows and bows from natural materials have their own spirit and differences...
QuoteOriginally posted by tecum-tha:
Last weekend I have been to a local 3D shoot and there was a father and his daughter right in front of me. The father was shooting the modern equipment but seemed interested in traditional.
The real thing was when I handed one of my arrows to his daughter and this arrow was treated and felt much different than when the daughter handled her dad's carbon with vanes arrow.
She handled the carbon arrow of her dad like a dead object but handled my arrow more like something alive. Especially the natural feathers she really liked. Lol.
Wooden arrows and bows from natural materials have their own spirit and differences...
I agree with this! Wood arrows, like one-piece trad bows, have a warmth and feel unlike modern "tactical" materials. Viva la woodie!
They shoot well, smell good when they break and are in a class all by them selves. While shooting last weekend I broke a cedar that was the last of 2 dozen I bought........in 1996. I bought my 1st custom bow [Green Mountain] and 2 doz. cedars at the same time. I love wood arrows....... :campfire:
Nothing more beautiful than wood grained arrows fletched with feathers and personal crest designs.
Also because no two are really the same.
Deno
I love the look and love wood arrows , but my bow doesn't.
I cant get them to shoot as well as an aluminum shaft.
But I think I was under spined?
Im shooting 2018's at 29 with 125 heads.
I love wood arrows because of the myriad of deisgns that i can use when building them.
And not just the cresting, the whole arrow.
Footed wood shafts are beautiful as well.
Can't say that about aluminum and carbons
wood makes a beautiful arrow, it's a renewable resource, and compliments a sexy recurve or longbow.
aluminum ... looks better as a beer can!
carbon ... the movie Terminator comes to mind
Graps, you nailed it....
Graps said about all you can say on the subject!
Terry
1. Out of Hill style longbows, the window that makes a carbon arrow fly right with someone with my less than 27" draw is very narrow.
2. Carbon arrows that need to be full length are a pain in the neck when using a Hill style back quiver.
3. Carbon arrows are more of a 'you do it' spine, 55-70 from one company is not the same as 55-70 from another company.
4. A deer was shot with bits of carbon shards found when they were boning it out. A very dangerous thing to eat, they threw out the whole deer.
5. There use to be many weights of aluminum shafts, this gave people the chance to choose specific arrow lengths when they could nudge the spine just a little by going to a 1918 from a 2016, and also had glue on one piece ferrules or screw on ferrules. those days are gone, I do have a large supply of those that work for me, but they are not replaceable.
5. With a little bit of work wood arrows can be sanded to hit exact spines and weights, all it takes is a drill and sandpaper, along with a grain scale and a spine tester.
6. Wood arrows are easy to predict spine wise and at optimum easy handling near net or net lengths.
7. The life in a wood arrow is forgiveness. I have had a number of people judge wood arrows as a category and fail to recognize that the ones they were shooting were completely wrong for the bow and were quite often improperly made considering the grain direction and end tapers, and often with lots run out.
8. Besides being quiet, wood arrows are fast handling, "getting that second arrow out of the quiver and onto the bowstring" has allowed me to kill game after an embarrassing first miss or a few times when I was not expecting a shot and had no arrow on the bowstring.
9. Wood arrows don't get knobs of ice on them when it is cold and there is snow.
10. Wood is purdy, but when you lose one, eventually it goes away and is not left for a millennia waiting in a farmers field to flatten a tire or get pickup by a combine. I believe in leave no trace use of the out doors. Arrows should rot away, and broadheads should rust away.
well i shoot wood and rivercane why? because i can and they are just Awesome. plus you can make an arrow out of any wooden item cant do that with aluminum or carbon in the woods :biglaugh:
Pavan
Wooden arrows just rock...
All stickbows should be respected and shot with wooden arrows. Afterall, we went trad for a reason..
I guess I'll be the dissenter on this thread!
The only time I will ever shoot wood arrows is so I can shoot another class at a 3D shoot, or when hunting with my selfbow, which does not happen very often.
Bisch
Just for that, you can't play on my yard. A musical smiley face
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaXkCnAyGsc
QuoteOriginally posted by Tree Killer:
wood makes a beautiful arrow, it's a renewable resource, and compliments a sexy recurve or longbow.
aluminum ... looks better as a beer can!
carbon ... the movie Terminator comes to mind
Amen buddy!!! :thumbsup:
Tracy
They make arrows out of something besides wood? Huh who knew? :)
I'd start a thread about carbons but those guys are all out shooting...... :biglaugh:
wood arrows are simply more traditional to me. Carbon & aluminum, not so traditional to me. A primal feeling comes over me when I am blessed to take a animal with a wooden arrow that I made from a raw dow like looking shaft. It takes me about a week , from start to finish a dozen wooden arrows, about 2-3 hours for a dozen of carbon or aluminum arrows. It takes patience and time to make a batch of wooden arrows. No two are the same as well because they have personality, unlike carbons and aluminum. Just my 2 cents.
Because they are more traditional and rewarding. They require time and care and are a piece of art. Plus they are less likely to hurt you in case of failure.
I hate checking carbon arrows for damage after slapping one up against another one.
Also all of the wood grain carbons that I have seen look like crap.
The ones I have seen in person have missing parts that are not painted with the wood pattern, have a seam in the middle, they look like plastic crap...lol.
I am switching to wood this year. My reason is I like the weight for my bows setup. I like the simplicity and love the looks of a well crafted wood arrow.
Shot side by side wi High FOC carbon and aluminums and shot them just as good so had no reason not to.
QuoteOriginally posted by kennym:
I'd start a thread about carbons but those guys are all out shooting...... :biglaugh:
Unfair, Kenny! :(
We wood guys just don't happen to go out much after 6:30.
Graps, your initial post says it well. I can't imagine shooting anything else.
I really like wood, period. I don't know why, though. It just seems to fit in with my longbows and screams "TRADITIONAL". I do sometimes shoot aluminum but only out of certain bows.
For me the most important thing is that I can make the arrows within 3 gr of weight and 1 pound of spine. (Sometimes closer) Pavans number 6! I can shoot a carbon arrow out of most of my bows but they are not "elk arrow" weight without WAAAAYYY front loading them or adding something to the inside of the shaft. Which makes them noisy or gives them poor flight. I can make a 450 grain arrow @ 55 spine or 600+ gr arrow of the same spine. It's quite incredible. And I've had massive luck with the guys at surewood. Ive become a huge fan!
I've never shot an arrow I didn't build myself. Aluminum, Graphlex, Cedar, Sitka spruce, Carbon, Douglas fir...all of them have passed through my crester, fletching jigs and bows. I mainly shot POC shafts for 20+ years with an occasional foray to aluminum starting back in the '80s. I've had good hunting success with all these shaft types.
Somewhere around 2006 I had grown quite bored with building and shooting wood arrows. I decided to do some serious experimentation with carbon (thank you Bob Morrison) and I made a full switch. I loved everything about the carbon shafts for hunting, and I made them as custom as my woods. I've never owned a set of any shafts that out-performed those carbons for durability, straightness, consistency, and penetration. I shot a lot of game in those years and never had a problem r/t shaft material. So why shoot woods?
Boredom again. I grew a bit tired of carbons and their predictability. Maybe I need drama in my life, lol. I definitely enjoy a challenge and woods offer a bit more of it than man-made materials. A well-made wood arrow is obviously more classically beautiful to behold than the finest carbon. I consider them higher maintenance and a bit finicky, but worth the effort for some of us. I'll be honest and say (for me) their performance doesn't precisely match the carbons I used, BUT their performance is extremely good and certainly enough to confidently use on the game I'm chasing.
I love the aesthetics of wood, but aesthetics aren't enough to sway me. I demand good performance and I want one heck of a hunting arrow in my quiver. When I returned to wood shafts I went to the men at Surewood and they made it happen. I have nothing but praise for their quality and service. I also have nothing but confidence when I look at my quiver.
OK Guys, You have me shooting a Hill style bow. You even have my bending my elbow while doing it, shortening my 31" draw. Now you're going to get me to shoot wooden arrows. How long can I get them ? I never liked the idea of pieces of carbon in my meat. The wood arrows I see here look fantastic. I hope this wasn't a hi jack.. Thanks Guys
For most of the same reasons already mentioned.
I don't run into other bowhunters very often, but when I do, they don't ask me why I shoot wood, they just look at me in a strange way.
However, I have to admit that I do sometimes shoot aluminums I have remaining in a size they no longer make... so I guess that's "old" too now, LOL!
this is like the old heavy bow thread, it is about 'why shoot wood', not 'Why shoot wood, when etc. etc." I need to add a reason. When arrow loss is a real issue, as in small game hunting, the price arrow starts to count up. A net length blunt made with the cheep grades, do it yourself shafts, or older dinged up arrows makes for shooting at fast small game more about the shot and less about the cost of the shot. Also, when arrow loss is higher, you are only leaving some sticks behind.
QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
this is like the old heavy bow thread, it is about 'why shoot wood', not 'Why shoot wood, when etc. etc." I need to add a reason. When arrow loss is a real issue, as in small game hunting, the price arrow starts to count up. A net length blunt made with the cheep grades, do it yourself shafts, or older dinged up arrows makes for shooting at fast small game more about the shot and less about the cost of the shot. Also, when arrow loss is higher, you are only leaving some sticks behind.
good points here, a quiver full of woodies with blunts or cheap broad heads is perfect for small game.
I do need to admit that I carry expandable carbon walking sticks. I have arthritis and torn muscles in my low back and landing gear, sometimes the Super Male Vitality gives me more super boy vitality than I should have. Dang pheasants and bunny hoppers don't make it easy. They are handy for picking through weeds when looking for a lost arrow, besides making the hills a little more doable. I should maybe make myself a takedown bamboo stick.
I love woodies for my selfbow. But for all-around use, it's still carbon for me. I'd do wood all-around but carbon is way more available due to the local proliferation of compound shooters. I shoot them full length so no special tools are required. POC, after shipping, can run pretty comparable in cost to carbons. Doug Fir and other woods require a disc sander & jig. Net of all costs and hassle, carbon still has its advantages.
Our ancestors didn't use wood because it was the best tool for the job, biodegradable, aesthetically pleasing, smelled good, etc. They used it because it was available everywhere and easily adaptable. I still love wood. But sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth.
I moved away from wood about ten years ago if I had to guess. I had bought about 200 of them in the mid nineties when there was a shortage going on. Shot them for 3D and hunting. For the Muzzy Stump shoot I shot aluminums since the wood just wouldn't last with hitting rocks are even the foam target and breaking with the torgue.
When carbons came out I tried them first for the Muzzy shoot and the ease of them just took over. I liked that if I had 3 of an original dozen left over they were the same grain weight as a new dozen I just bought. Loved when I went to florida on my annual hog hunt I could practice in the sane pit with field points and then quickly screw on some broadheads. Also loved how I could change from different style broadheads with ease. Noticed that penetration was better too.
Would I shoot wood for 3D and deer, sure and I just might.
'Cause I like to. I like making them and shooting them. They satisfy all my needs as an archer.
Sure, carbon and aluminum both have superior qualities over wood. So do magnesium risers and carbon fiber limbs. Not knocking them nor those who choose to take advantage of those qualities, it's just not my cup of tea. I used to hunt with compounds once upon a time...I went trad to relax and smell the forest around me. Woodies and vintage bows just seem to fit.
I shot some indoors today. My Groves recurve and a longbow. Normally these two bows will shoot the same shaft in wood and aluminum. I tried a friend's carbons, they were, of course, ungainly long, but they flew good out of the recurve. Out of the longbow it was a hell of a carnival. I think that bows that are not center shot are better wood shooters.
I love shooting wood arrows. But I also love shooting carbon and aluminum. Just depends on what bow I am shooting. All wood bows I shoot all wood arrows. Fiberglass bows I shoot woods, aluminums, and carbons.
I haven't been shooting wood very long myself. I got a wild hair to try some last summer after flinging a few cedars a friend had. I was blown away at the difference in them and the carbon and aluminum arrows I'm most familiar with. The thing is I'm on a pretty tight budget and therefore look for cheaper routes to the same out come or quality of the gear I choose without simply just adding it to an online shopping cart. I decided to go looking for a nice straight grain spruce board that I could hopefully reduce to some nice well tuned and deadly arrows. I won't go into full detail of building them however what I ended up with was five beautiful all natural wooden arrows on my first attempt complete with real turkey feathers which I two fletched with my own feathers from gobblers I'd taken myself. They turned out way better than I had ever imagined and were extremely close in weight and spine too! Their total weight came in at a smudge under ten grains per pound of draw. I skipped the field points and applied some razor sharp Magnus two blades on them. They literally flew like darts! I was ecstatic! They flew so good and were so quiet the carbons sat on the bench when deer season started. I had to hunt with these new to me special arrows no matter what. And hunt they did!! The first three of four whitetail tags were filled with these special arrows. No doubt in my mind no carbon or aluminum arrow could have performed any better or been any more lethal than these cheaply made fine tuned death rays!! I cannot believe I waited so long to give them a place in my quiver. There's something special about having one of these nocked on the string, bow held close, while tucked in a special little hiding place on the ground anticipating the arrival of a beautiful whitetail. It's hard to put those feelings into words. There's no way I'll ever experience those emotions with carbon or aluminum. That's why they'll always be special to me! They're soft to the touch, dead silent in the shot, and fly where I'm looking. I've already got more made up and they shoot just as good.
Why shoot wood?
Never occurred to me to shoot anything else.
Why not shoot wood?
That's what I'm talking about .
QuoteOriginally posted by Captain*Kirk:
Sure, carbon and aluminum both have superior qualities over wood. So do magnesium risers and carbon fiber limbs. Not knocking them nor those who choose to take advantage of those qualities, it's just not my cup of tea. I used to hunt with compounds once upon a time...I went trad to relax and smell the forest around me. Woodies and vintage bows just seem to fit.
I agree with you friend.
Carbons might perform slightly better and magnesium risers filled with lead might be more "forgiving" along with clickers, stabilizers, and other add on's but if someone is going to got that far why not just go all the way and shoot a compound?
I know one thing and that's that Howard Hill was a hell of a shot and he used wooden arrows they have to be pretty damn good.....
I'm of the opinion that the more natural materials you use in terms of shooting archery the more rewarding it comes because it becomes more difficult as well since you are starting to do it the way they did it for 2000+ odd years.
As an example anyone can shoot well with a modern Olympic recurve but hand them a one piece longbow or recurve and things are going to get really challenging for them without all of those crutches they are used to.
Carbon has no soul!
QuoteOriginally posted by YosemiteSam:
Doug Fir and other woods require a disc sander & jig.
Not sure I understand? Woodies do not "require a disc sander", any simple taper tool will do, though some are better than others...
http://www.3riversarchery.com/traditional-only-taper-tool.html
What sort of jig? A fletching jig? All shafts require that, so no different than aluminum or carbon. Carbon & alum also require a dedicated carbide cut-off tool while you can use a coping or band-saw on wood.
Please clarify if I missed something, Sam...?
I was under the impression that Doug fir needs the disc sander, but I have been told that there are tools that will do a good job on the fir shafts. One area hunter said, "all you need is a sharp blade and then don't force it." He also said some taper tools work better than others. I would like to get one of the taper tools that works better with fir, but I do not remember what kind he used.
I used a taper tool for douglas fir for years...i got a used woodchuck disc grinder a couple years ago...but still use hand held pencil sharpening style Tru-Taper more than not.
I have used a handheld taper tool on just about every wood arrow material and had fair to good results but for the past 5 or more years haven't tapered with anything other than a disk sander. There are never any just ok tapers with the disk sander. They all come out perfect every time.
QuoteOriginally posted by meathead:
I have used a handheld taper tool on just about every wood arrow material and had fair to good results but for the past 5 or more years haven't tapered with anything other than a disk sander. There are never any just ok tapers with the disk sander. They all come out perfect every time.
Not arguing the point, but I wouldn't consider it a requirement, especially for POC shafts. And an el-cheapo disc sander can be purchased from HF for roughly the same as a cut-off saw.
Here's one reason.....
(http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p380/gdickey_10/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-01/5F327E65-7B34-4EEE-843B-B6B0125CC9C2_zpsiufht7oz.jpg) (http://s345.photobucket.com/user/gdickey_10/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-01/5F327E65-7B34-4EEE-843B-B6B0125CC9C2_zpsiufht7oz.jpg.html)
Good luck making an aluminum or carbon look this good!
I love wood arrows, everything about them. A beautifully crested wood arrow and the feathers give them a certain mystic feeling as they are flying toward an animal. I have never met another hunter in the woods or on a range that didn't stop and admire my wood arrows. Animals hate them!
QuoteOriginally posted by Westkyhunter:
I haven't been shooting wood very long myself. I got a wild hair to try some last summer after flinging a few cedars a friend had. I was blown away at the difference in them and the carbon and aluminum arrows I'm most familiar with. The thing is I'm on a pretty tight budget and therefore look for cheaper routes to the same out come or quality of the gear I choose without simply just adding it to an online shopping cart. I decided to go looking for a nice straight grain spruce board that I could hopefully reduce to some nice well tuned and deadly arrows. I won't go into full detail of building them however what I ended up with was five beautiful all natural wooden arrows on my first attempt complete with real turkey feathers which I two fletched with my own feathers from gobblers I'd taken myself. They turned out way better than I had ever imagined and were extremely close in weight and spine too! Their total weight came in at a smudge under ten grains per pound of draw. I skipped the field points and applied some razor sharp Magnus two blades on them. They literally flew like darts! I was ecstatic! They flew so good and were so quiet the carbons sat on the bench when deer season started. I had to hunt with these new to me special arrows no matter what. And hunt they did!! The first three of four whitetail tags were filled with these special arrows. No doubt in my mind no carbon or aluminum arrow could have performed any better or been any more lethal than these cheaply made fine tuned death rays!! I cannot believe I waited so long to give them a place in my quiver. There's something special about having one of these nocked on the string, bow held close, while tucked in a special little hiding place on the ground anticipating the arrival of a beautiful whitetail. It's hard to put those feelings into words. There's no way I'll ever experience those emotions with carbon or aluminum. That's why they'll always be special to me! They're soft to the touch, dead silent in the shot, and fly where I'm looking. I've already got more made up and they shoot just as good.
:bigsmyl:
QuoteOriginally posted by Yewbender:
Here's one reason.....
(http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p380/gdickey_10/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-01/5F327E65-7B34-4EEE-843B-B6B0125CC9C2_zpsiufht7oz.jpg) (http://s345.photobucket.com/user/gdickey_10/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-01/5F327E65-7B34-4EEE-843B-B6B0125CC9C2_zpsiufht7oz.jpg.html)
Good luck making an aluminum or carbon look this good!
Beautiful! :clapper:
What stain did you use?
QuoteOriginally posted by Captain*Kirk:
QuoteOriginally posted by YosemiteSam:
Doug Fir and other woods require a disc sander & jig.
Not sure I understand? Woodies do not "require a disc sander", any simple taper tool will do, though some are better than others...
http://www.3riversarchery.com/traditional-only-taper-tool.html
What sort of jig? A fletching jig? All shafts require that, so no different than aluminum or carbon. Carbon & alum also require a dedicated carbide cut-off tool while you can use a coping or band-saw on wood.
Please clarify if I missed something, Sam...? [/b]
I am under the impression (maybe the delusion) that standard razor-blade taper tools dull too quickly on doug fir shafts & that they end up shredding the shaft rather than shaving it in nice flakes as happens on cedars. The jig I mentioned is just a simple angle jig to set the right angle against the sander.
Sounds like others here have had different experiences. That is encouraging. For those of you who use a taper tool (not a sander & jig), what taper tool have you found that works well with doug fir & doesn't require too frequent blade replacement?
To be honest, I've only used POC shafts so I can't say how quickly Douglas Fir would dull a sharpening tool. Obviously the disc sander would be the better setup in the long run.
Anyone here remember Skyline or Treeline camo? The originator of that is a guy named Greg Haskell. Back in the '80s Greg once sat down with me and showed me how to turn a parallel shaft into a 9" back-taper using a palm plane and bit of sandpaper. I made a few dozen tapered cedars using that method and killed some deer with them.
Later I constructed my own tapering jigs and did back, point and nock tapers. I wouldn't say I loved the results, but I kept on killing game with no issues. I also bought a Woodchuck unit and found it to work well but of course only for point and nock tapers. I sold it after realizing I didn't need it.
About this time I realized it was simply better (in all respects) for me to know exactly what I wanted in wood shafts and order them cut to length and with all tapers completed. Any time I've ordered woods in the last dozen or more years it's been that way. I don't miss the sanding, dust and occasional screw-up I used to experience.