hey guys. I'm built my 1st dozen POC and I broke my second arrow in a week and a half. 1st one I was bare shafting and it snapeed in the target, my fault. The other I just broke and was just looking down the shaft to make sure its straight and barely flexed it and snap!!!!!! How many arrows do you guys that shoot woodies go thru??? At one a week it sure could get expensive.... :banghead:
Joe
2 arrows in 2 weeks isn't bad at all. I tend to go through a lot of them, part of the reason is because I might not be the worlds best shot, but it is mostly because I seldom pass up a shot just because there might be a chance of breaking and arrow. I know that it is tough to see arrow break after putting all of that work into building it but life is way to short to worry about arrows. I think I broke 3 or 4 shooting 3Ds this weekend.
I order a couple dozen at a time and seem to be pertetually making arrows. POC might not be the best choise if you are looking for a durrable wooden arrow. If memory serves me POC didn't rate very high in Dr. Ashby's reports. Laminated birch or hichory might be better choises.
Brad
We used to go stump shooting and started with a dozen arrows each, we wouldn't go home until they were all gone.
Have fun.
Regards, Bert.
Brad are the laminated birch or Hickory a heavier arrow?? I'm going to see how the other 10 POC I have and take it from there. I knew going in that you go thru them but I didn't think I would go thru them as quick as I am. I like to shoot and shoot a lot so it might make sense to check out the Birch or hickory!
Thanks guys, I guess that makes me feel better... :cool: somewhat! :bigsmyl: At least I'm having fun bustin them!
I lost two of my Poplar arrows yesterday at a local 3D shoot. These were last seen floating down Limestone creek. :banghead:
My shooting was way off and I bounced several off the trees but didn't break any. I even had a complete pass through on a dead limb about 2" in diameter.
Dennis
Laminated birch, hickory, all hardwoods are heavier than cedar, and stronger, too. If you broke an arrow by trying to straighten it, it may have had very poor grain. There's a lot of real junk being sold nowadays with the grain running entirely off the shaft at its midpoint, for example. Such shafts should only be used for tomato stakes. Check your arrows for grain straightness. That is more likely the problem rather than the type of wood. Although, hardwoods with bad grain don't break as easily as cedar with bad grain.
I have had good experiences with Douglas Fir shafts. I don't spend a lot of time on my arrows making them all pretty now. Feels better when I lose/break one. The time I spent crowning and cresting, I use to make sure they are straight as they can be, and I still come out ahead time-wise.
Ron
Try Sitka Spruce, tough as nails
I just fix them and keep on shooting. I have five arrows in my shooting quiver that I've had for maybe three years. Some of them and some of the rest have been repaired one or more times.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jim in Maine:
I just fix them and keep on shooting. I have five arrows in my shooting quiver that I've had for maybe three years. Some of them and some of the rest have been repaired one or more times.
How the heck do you fix a wood arrow thats busted in half???? :confused: I think thats a bit much for me at this point, just trying to get the POC tuned and straight! :)
I shoot alot of arrows, woodies. I think I broke only one this year. I shoot alot of Lam Birch, cedar, hickory and forgewoods the cedars are the weakest but shoot great. I think if I was breaking cedars I would look at fir, a nice compromise in weight.
Bill
I may shoot for two weeks and not break or lose an arrow and then play havoc the next day. I have a good supply of arrows but man I hate to break or lose one but that's the fun of it. It's good that that one broke when you were flexing it to straighten. Good to find a weak spot then and not shortly after launch. I have two nice scars to attest to that.
Bareshafting wooden shafts is a useless experiment in futility. As for breaking them, it sound's like you had a bad shaft or had one of those nasty glance type hits. Cedar is more durable than given credit but you will break a few of them.
You not see those arrows that Rambow had? Just gotta be creative with the bungi cord. Either that or shorten up your draw a mite. Actually, a lot of my broken ones will work for the boys when we're out stumping. They don't need anything perfect for their bows then. Man though, they get one of those buried up, might as well be a super arrow cause we still gotta find it.
I'm looking to get a good and heavy hunting arrow. I have some Carbons that I got flying great and are very accurate but want to shoot wood arrows. I enjoy making them from the bareshaft!
Poplar and ramin are my two favorite arrow woods. Poplar makes a prettier arrow and is a lot tuffer than cedar. Ramin doesn't have as nice as grain but if ya looking something tuff; ramin is it!
I shoot a ton of wooden arrows at stumps, targets, groundhogs, etc.
I actually counted how many arrows I broke or lost in 2007. Total was 142.
I'm still grinnin' from all the fun I had! :)
I especially like it when you can smell the cedar as you walk up to the stump. Yeah it broke, but man that is a great aroma!
Dave
just think of it as motivation to be a better shot!
For some reason i am incredibly tough on arrows. I when though six gold tip carbons in two weeks. Everyone told me they were tough. Right now I have 5 of 6 cedar arrow that i got 3 weeks ago. broke the nock off the sixth yesterday.
When it comes to wooden arrows...
1. you have to know what your shooting at. that way to dont end up hitting a rock or something like that.
2. you have to love shooting them. If your looking for the best most accurate arrow, then you might wanna look at an alternative. However, of we all tried to get to the most advanced equipment, we would all be shooting weelie bows wouldn't we?
Joe
The hardwoods are deffinately heavier. The last 2 dozen laminated birch I got were 525 to 550 grains. The finished arrows are about 740 or so.
I've had pretty good luck with fir as a good affordable compromise. They are not quite as tough as some of the hardwoods but much tougher than POC.
I have to agree there is something to be said for the smell of a freshly borken cedar shaft!
I used to spend a lot of time finishing, crown dipping and cresting all of my arrows but it got to be to much work for the volume. I still do pick out some of the straighter grained shafts and make a some fancy ones, but most of them are just finished and fletched.
Brad
Cedar arrows will not hold up to shooting from a heavy bow. Period.
I stopped using cedar 20 years ago, and now go through W-A-Y fewer arrows per year.
Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, or any of the hardwoods make great, durable arrows-----and they penetrate better too.
If you read Dr. Ashby's reports, you will notice his studies show that good, hardwood arrows experience far less breakage when striking heavy bone than carbon arrows.
I first noticed this on a stump shooting outing with Kelly Peterson (Arrows by Kelly) in the Stanley Basin. He wanted me to try some of his heavy carbon arrows, and in less than 15 minutes I had broken three of them. He was shocked. I went back to my strong, durable compressed lodgepole pine and didn't break a single one for the rest of the weekend.
The durablility of cedar arrows is zero. The durablility of carbon arrows is a marketing myth. If you disagree, closley read Dr. Ashby's reports, then buy some high-quality Douglas Fir or hardwood shafts. You will see the light. . .
I hear ya Brad, I spent so much time into staining them 2 tone and finishing them it just hurts when they break! I'm glad I didn't put to much time into the crest, I just put a single white stripe where the 2 different color stains meet, kinda plain janes if you will! I think I get a batch of Fir and Birch to see how they shoot for me. These POC are taking some tweaking to get them to group well. Could be my form, I'm thinking I need to can't my bow more for the woodies than the Carbons! The wood arrows are a different beast than the carbons thats for sure!
Thanks again guys! I hate this rain, I'm shooting between downpours!..... :smileystooges:
Last Sat shot the 1st foam of the season & broke 3. One was able to be fixed. Once I get more practice one/shoot is about average. Frank
Hexshaft wouold bemy recomendation.
I love shooting wood, but pretty much only do it target shooting now in the yard. Where i stump shoot, I would break several in a few hours. It di get exspensive. I would go through several dozen in year. I shoot carbon now and once footed break very few. Shawn
When talking expense of busted arrows,let me put it in perspective for ya.
A box of 10 bismuth or tungsten-iron shotgun shells sell for around $23 a box.$2.30 a shell.Booom!! there goes $2.30.
Cedar shafts are around $26 a dozen.About the same as the shells a piece,but they can be shot over and over.
That's what I have to keep telling myself. :)
when the squirrels are down, I have gone through 30 in a day, lost and broken. I make mine from the cheapest materials, and have about $1.25 in an arrow.
It seems lately I have plowed through a bunch, mostly from dumb occurances. For instance, I shot at my box target in the basement. It fell forward and snapped my arrow. I have had the stumps take their share from me too. I'm down to 4 cedars and a few overspined alumiums. I have 8 carbons but am holding out on those for turkey if I can't get some new wood shafts.
Chundoo was a strong performer when I had them.
Been shooting cedars for a long time, and I must say I don't seem to have the trouble with breakage many of you are reporting here. Yeah, I break some when stump shooting, usually by glancing off of stuff, or sometimes hitting a hidden rock. I look for dead/rotting stumps, clumps of dirt, etc. to shoot. A direct hit on oak, hickory, ash, etc. is hard on the arrow and often breaks them.
Cedars aren't as durable as hardwoods or Doug Fir or Ramin, but they're quite serviceable if shot with a modicum of care. I usually use the shafts with poorer grain, or those I've been shooting a while at targets and 3-D shoots. Doesn't hurt as much when I break one of those.
Bowhuntingfool, are you cedars straight grained? I have had a set of POC for 2years, only broke 2 from missing and hitting concrete.
They are 11/32" however. Also out of your shafts, do you have bare shafts to see your spined right? A way out of wack spine can really be hard on your arrows. do you see them flipping left or right in the air?
Guess I'm the odd one again (so what's new?). I bare-shaft my arrows, and can easily shoot them 20 yds with no fletching (as long as I don't pluck, etc.). I shot Douglas Fir for a while, and they were a little more durable than good POC, but not much.
I break an arrow occassionaly, but most of the time I know it's going to break before I shoot it--most of the time the shot is preceeded by "hey ya'll--watch this!" or "I bet you can't make that shot".
Even shooting lots of tournaments every summer (and some of the folks that set out targets are sadistic, have stock in an arrow business, or both), a dozen arrows easily lasts me a year (I don't squirrel hunt with a bow--yet).
I am picky about my shafting, but that's not rocket science. I shoot 66@30.5, but I used to shoot 82#. Didn't see squat difference then either. Ash is definately tougher, but not worth the aggravation of trying to keep them straight.
I plan to stick with POC, at least as long as I can get decent shafting. It works for me.
Chad
BC, got them from Rose City, 11/32, straight grain and weight matched, 55/60. When I made up my first one, I shot it bareshaft to make sure the spine is correct, snapped it in half in the 2nd shot! I was informed not to bare shaft wooden arrows. I finished up the others and fletched them, messed with nock point and point weight and they're flying like darts! They weighed in at 541gr, the shafts were 330gr + 160gr tip + finishing came out to 541gr, I have 1 arrow at 547gr. I have found out, at least for me they are are lot more finicky than my carbons!
Why did they tell you not to bare shaft? I always have. Or shot thru paper.
Just not sure why you have so many breaking. But as long as your sure they are not fishtailing, then they should be good.
I'm with LBR-Hap
I agree.
Bareshafting may not work quite as well with wooden arrows as it does with carbon, but if you arrows are flying bad enough that they will break when shot without fletches, somtingwong.
Brad
I do bare shaft carbons and shoot thru paper but with the woodies I was probably to close, at about 10 feet or so, and my arrow was hitting way nock high, tried it again just to make sure and I found out for sure it was hitting way nock high, snapped my arrow! Adjusted my nock point. No fishtailing at all with my POC's, kinda scared to bareshaft them again...... :knothead:
I don't blame ya. It gets expensive. I won't bare shaft any closer than 15 yards. Haybales are good for that IMO. Foam is bad.
I was getting cocky the other day and decided to move out to 30-35 yards and bareshaft, and bent an aluminum. It did fine up to 15 yards, but out there, it was almost completely sideways.
It hurt my feelings more than anything, my 1st wooden arrow, I had to wait for tips, glue 2 tone stained them and I hand tapered them, sucked! :rolleyes: :D Foam is bad, I was shooting into the "block"! I need to get a bag of some sort for practice and keep the Block for broadheads! All said and done, it sure is fun!
Oh, I see. Yep, the block will break em. I use a yellow jacket back. The more wore out the better.
You gotta love the smell of a broken woody.It also gives you a good excuse to buy more shafts to make up. :thumbsup:
BowHuntingFool, I sent you a pm.
Thanks Jim, got it, pretty cool stuff! I might have to look into it after I break a few more!!!!!!!
I've used those reparrows, primarily on shafts that I've broken right behind the head from hitting rocks and such. They work really well and extend the life of an arrow.
The 2 arrows I broke, they broke well up the shaft. I don't think they would work. Very cool deal though, I will keep them in mind, thanks again Jim!
I like cedar lam. Birch is a little to heavy for the poundage I shoot, fir and poplar are nice. Some days I don't break any but others I ask myself why I shoot wood, if I just break the tips I use Reparrow's they work good I have shot a lot of stumps with some that I fixed with them and they have lasted for a couple years. If they break in half well at least they smell nice, life's to short to worry about the cost when your having some fun.