Will goose or sandhill crane feathers work for fletching arrows as well as turkey feathers? Living in North Dakota I shoot plenty of geese and crane in the fall and would love to be able to use the feathers for my arrows.
Goose feathers work great , cant see why crane wouldnt as well .
Goose is a bit softer than turkey but do have natural oil to prevent moisture issues.
Like Ted says, I've found Goose to be pretty soft. They do work, and they have the added bonus of being naturally water resistant too. Never tried Sandhill Cranes though..
What about swan? Hopefully this year I can fill my swan tag and using the feathers on my arrows would be pretty cool!
Any large birds feathers will work.
goose feather fletching is awesome!
did you give a look at the how-to forum? oops, guess not! :)
canada goose feather fletching (http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000106)
I like goose better then Turks. I use the Turks for my primary though.
I have no research to back this up, but I would think that turkey feathers are more popular because of the popularity of turkey versus geese as table fare in america. There are simply more of them available. When you read old stuff about archery in England they talk about grey goose feathers.
Goose feathers are slightly less durable but work great. The water proof factor is outstanding. I used a goose feather fletched arrow on an all day hunt in a major down pour. The fletch stood up to the test. At the end of the day they were still like new.
In our area goose feathers are sure easier to come by. I use and like both and only prefer turkey because of the look.
after all this talk I got to try me some:), any self respecting MD boy has some goose feathers lying around!!!
When I am hunting there is always at least one arrow in my quiver with goose feathers on it.
Jack