just curious what others do. i love wood arrows, everything about them. not a big fan of carbons, yes i do use them becouse of durability and the ease to chance stumping points and broadheads. i got a new Kanati and i have a dozen arrows i wanted to use pretty much matched for it, ceder arrows. they fly good from it and i would be preety sastisfied HOWEVER i tried my carbons through it and they fly PERFECT! i just do not like the looks or feel of carbon but i guess i would be a fool not to use them. anyone else have this problem?
I feel the same. I really don't care for carbons. But they as well as those 2016's are shooting so much better then my woodies?? Think I have to go with alum. this year????
I was in this same pickle this summer... I have 2117's I can group in a 2-3" circle, carbons I could group into the vitals of my 3D pig at 30 yds and woodies that always made it into the kill zone, but did not group as tightly as the synthetic materials. Now, my buddy stood off to the side and watched me shoot each type of arrow from my tree stand and he noticed something significant. The wood made NO NOISE in flight and FAR LESS NOISE coming off the string. It was just a slight something and a loud THUMP into the target. The carbons made a high pitched whistle and had a whoosh from the feathers. The alums actually rang and 'zinged' all the way down range.
So, the way I see it is this... I love shooting wood. They quiet the bow and the shot. They hit the vitals within a few inches of where I am looking (and sometimes better than my synthetic arrows)... so I am hunting the woodies. That said, I may take one carbon for a longer shot if mr. big shows up and the shot feels right. And yes I do believe it is ethical to shoot trad equip past 20 yds IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE and ABLE.
Best of luck this season!
Folks talk about doing everything possible to make clean kills and showing respect to the game we pursue. To my way of thinking, shooting the best tuned set-up we can put together is a part of that. Looks are for beauty pageants, the woods are for hunting with what works best for you.
I like and use aluminum arrows. Always have shot well for me and are consistant.
QuoteOriginally posted by vermonster13:
Folks talk about doing everything possible to make clean kills and showing respect to the game we pursue. To my way of thinking, shooting the best tuned set-up we can put together is a part of that. Looks are for beauty pageants, the woods are for hunting with what works best for you.
I do agree with Davids statement here. But I would add that if you are shooting the woods accurately and feel confident that when the string drops that it will be a clean kill, then by all means use the woods if that is your desire. Maybe ther carbons are tuned a touch better. But if your woods are tuned and your setup is good, then use what you have confidence in. I myself shoot carbons, but have(and would again) hunt with woods if I decided to.
I use what works best! :thumbsup:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with shooting woodies that you have confidence in. Just remember a little off when practicing under controlled conditions can translate into a much greater difference when faced with the pressure of hunting shot under less than ideal conditions. Especially if you misjudge distance.
Er, I like them all, I tune them so they shoot well. Stu's DSC calculator, paper tuning, bareshaft testing gets me there and that's 9/10th's of the fun.
Shoot what you like, you're the one shooting the arrow.
I go with what fly's the best, and the most consistently with a broad-head out front.
Quotearrows, do you use what you like or what WORKS the best??
[/b]
I'd have to simply say, yes... I do use what I like because I like what works best for me. Just happens to be carbons for this guy... I've used wood and aluminum in the past and taken game with both, but time in and time out I'll put my confidence in the carbon arrow putting it on what I'm looking at.
I like traditional things. But it is hard to beat carbon shafts. to me they are superior in everyway.
QuoteOriginally posted by leatherneck:
QuoteOriginally posted by vermonster13:
Folks talk about doing everything possible to make clean kills and showing respect to the game we pursue. To my way of thinking, shooting the best tuned set-up we can put together is a part of that. Looks are for beauty pageants, the woods are for hunting with what works best for you.
I do agree with Davids statement here. But I would add that if you are shooting the woods accurately and feel confident that when the string drops that it will be a clean kill, then by all means use the woods if that is your desire. Maybe ther carbons are tuned a touch better. But if your woods are tuned and your setup is good, then use what you have confidence in. I myself shoot carbons, but have(and would again) hunt with woods if I decided to. [/b]
I agree with both in this, I'm still working on my wood arrow building & maybe next year I'll have it down to where I am confident in my abilities & my finished arrows to take out my Cedars but till then I'll use either my Aluminums or My Carbons because I know when the time comes it is just me not the gear that makes or breaks the shot.
QuoteOriginally posted by vermonster13:
Folks talk about doing everything possible to make clean kills and showing respect to the game we pursue. To my way of thinking, shooting the best tuned set-up we can put together is a part of that. Looks are for beauty pageants, the woods are for hunting with what works best for you.
I've never made a choice for any hunting item where "looks" was used in any way as a factor in my decision.
Ken, I have switched to carbons and am happy for many reasons, the main one being the toughness of carbon shafts. 95% of all my shooting is stumpshooting. I am never afraid to take ANY shot with my 55/75 GT's and this has made me a better shooter. I will take any shot, anywhere, anytime, at any object,without fear. So now I can do real practice in the woods.
Carbons, they are what works best for me.
I've never shot carbons; however, in this case, where you already have both sets of arrows, and one set is working better than the other, I think it's pretty much a no-brainer!
I like what I shoot and I shoot what I like well so I guess I am a yes/yes answer. I like wood arrows and real turkey feather fletching, it feels right to me and I tinker with them till I get satisfactory groups. Im sure I could get good groups using carbon or aluminum or ACCs, Ive used them all and all have advantages and disadvantages. I do owe it to the game I hunt to be proficient and accomplish clean and quickly lethal shots but that being said if thats all I wanted to accomplish I was straight deadly with my compound. I use woodies because I like them and I can put the arrow where I want it within my comfortable range, nuff said.
I like what works best.
You can make any arrow fly as well as any other if with a little understanding and work. It is a lot more work with wood arrows but for me making my arrows and making them shoot well is part of the whole archery experience. I shoot cane and hardwood shoot arrows and can spend many hours making and setting one up. I make them one at a time. I can make enough good shooting arrows from these materials between the end of one hunting season until the beginning of the next one to get me through the season. Then I start over on next years arrows. I use these same arrows to shoot 3D in the off season.
Vermontster. . . I agree to a point. Only to a point.
If all I was concerned about was the cleanest, surest, faster kill I would put down the bow and use a .270. period.
There is a bunch more involved.
A sharp arrow in the vitals is a dead deer, don't matter if the group in 2" or 9".... dead.
Looks and feelings and personal satisfaction are a very large part in my choice of what arrow, what broadhead, what color fletch, what bow, what camo (or plaid) I will be wearing.
That's my thoughts anyway.
ChuckC
I have had the same experience as a earlier post mentioned. I shoot my wood arrows very consistantly and usually in the kill zone. I do this even with arrows that are less than straight, practice that is not for hunting. I use only good straight arrows if hunting. I shoot GT 5575 @ 29.5" with 50 grain inserts and 175 grain tips 3 5" feathers helical. The carbons are very tough and consistant but I love wood and still shoot wood often. I had a friend also stand behind a tree about half way to a target 25 yds away and shot carbon and wood arrows. He said that he could hardly hear the bow and the arrow was basically on target before he heard it, that was wood. With the carbons he said the bow was almost as quiet but the noise from the arrow was detected sooner. I group wood more consistant myself don't know why? They both weigh about 535 grains.
hey Bro i use what works best out of my royal crown and out of the selfbow i use woods :thumbsup:
I decide what I want to use then make it work...if your choosen arrow material is spined wrong then change points or get another size till you find what works.I had a set of 75-80 surewoods that wasn't quite right so I bult a set of 80-85's and they are great.
Wood, primarily cedar, works best for me. Been using it for about 50 years. :deadhorse:
I try to tune what I like but ultimatly I use what shoots the best.
After lots of experimenting and going thru many different woods, I've settled on douglas fir. Heavier than cedar,just as straight, and maybe more importantly, they stay straight in all kinds of weather, hot, cold, wet and are tough - altho you can destroy any wood arrow! And my brother is an excellent arrowsmith! Carbons, I'm sure are more consistent, but to me just aren't visually appealing. My two cents worth.
I love shooting my own woodies. End of story for me. :archer2: I shoot carbons at the Techno hunt only.
I use what I love and works best......and that's wood. Experimented with carbon and aluminum but I can make wood fly oh so sweet!
Shoot what works for you. This statement by Ken says it all to me.
"HOWEVER i tried my carbons through it and they fly PERFECT!"
To shoot wood for aesthetic reasons makes no sense to me. If you can tune them to fly "PERFECT" then they are the way to go.
I have carbons, aluminums, ACCS and woodies so I shoot what ever flies best from each bow personally.
Aluminums are so consistant I have learned to like them.
Now THAT's a stupid question Kenny!!!
You know me, If they've still got feathers..... They FLY!!!!! :archer:
I have used carbons up untill the last 2 years, just because I didn't know any better. Not only have I made the switch to all woodies, I'm even making my own shafts as of this afternoon from square stock. I probably said it a half dozen times this weekend, while stup shooting at a friends cottage, "that's alright, I can make more" after I bounced one off a tree, and either snapped the point end, or cracked the shaft. And you cannot beat the smell of fresh broke cedar.
For my stick ,cain ,cherry and oak home made . for the recurves carbon.
How did I miss this?
Ken, I've got both cedars and carbons for ya'. If the carbons give you better flight, use 'em. I love wood, but if I had a set of carbons that flew better than my Surewoods, I'd use 'em. It may not be much of a difference, but it could make a world of difference out in the field.
Hopefully the answer to this question is "One and the same" what shoots the best is also what you like.
With that said, my carbons are faster but my cedars are more accurate and like a few others have already mentioned.....they are extremely quiet. My dad was watching me shoot and with carbons he could hear the resonance of the shaft all the way to the target, with the woodies he only heard it thump the target. My woodies shoot absolutely awesome now that I found my correct spine and they definitely have sound dampening properties like no other material......so even though they are slower...I'm going with wood this season!
It's not like an extra 20 fps is going to make any difference anyway, and my 500+ grain woodies thump my 3D target with authority! Lot's of KE lumbering along with these broom handles!
Aluminum arrows for me. I love their straightness and their consisency of weight between each arrow shaft before I transform the shaft into an arrow.
I agree with ChuckC's comment from a few days ago.
The alternative to "what works best" in the subject line was not "what LOOKS best," but rather "what you LIKE." To me, if the ONLY thing I was concerned about was maximizing efficiency in putting meat on the table, I would skip hunting altogether and head for the grocery store.
I like and use wood arrows. I have no idea whether carbon or aluminum might perform slightly better for me; I am just not interested.
I've been making Cedar and Aluminum for so long and have so many I have no need for anything else.all the years of experimenting and shooting and my knowledge of these two is great for me.With all the new wraps etc I can dress em to suite anything.
As others have said, whatever works. I think Vermonster nailed it back in the first few posts.
QuoteOriginally posted by mrpenguin:
so I am hunting the woodies.
Best of luck this season!
And... I correct myself. After much toil and trouble, I have found that my bow really like the 2117's with my broadhead of choice, the Red Feather Archery Phoenix (single bevel 3 blade made by a sponsor here!). That said I have a new set of chundoos that are flying nicely too. Finally, I plugged them into Stu's and got a almost perfect match with the 2117's... I WILL have some wood in the quiver, and I will knock the arrow I feel confident in for that hunt.
QuoteOriginally posted by vermonster13:
Shoot what works for you. This statement by Ken says it all to me.
"HOWEVER i tried my carbons through it and they fly PERFECT!"
To shoot wood for aesthetic reasons makes no sense to me. If you can tune them to fly "PERFECT" then they are the way to go.
I have carbons, aluminums, ACCS and woodies so I shoot what ever flies best from each bow personally. [/QUOTE ]My sentiments exactly (especially now). I love wood, but aluminum and carbon just works a little better for me. That said the wood is well in the kill zone with as much consistency as the composite materials...
I shot alums for years and swiched to carbons about a year ago after talking to someone older and wiser than I.
He suggested to me, and it is completly true in my opinion, that for all the years I was shooting alums and had one fly wierd or miss its mark, it was always in the back of my mind, could the arrow be bent after that stump I shot at a few shots ago? Those kinds of thoughts of coarse were just 1 more thing that might weigh in on my confidence in my next shot.
More often than not after coming home after a practice session and rolling my aluminum arrows across a counter corner, one would have a slight bend.
That will not happen to a carbon, either it is shattered or it is straight, just one more variable you don't have to worry about when shooting carbons. I'll never go back for that reason alone. DK.
David, you nailed the beauty of carbon arrows right on the head. I couldn't have said it better, and that's why that's all I shoot in my "Other" bow, the fact that they are always straight and fast.
But, I have learned to like woodies because they are very quiet and maybe I just like the traditional look for my longbow and recurve?
On a side note, I just came back in from my garage testing some different spine weights in my longbow and I'm either fighting with spine issues or fletching contact?
The fletching contact seems like a non issue now because my woodies are whipping, but the carbons are straight as they can get? Problem is, the woodie is spined correctly for the poundage of 45# @26" and the carbons are spined for 65#....what gives? So now I'm trying a full spine cedar shaft without taking any spine off of it and see what that does.
If I can't get this worked out soon, I may be shooting carbons out of my longbow for crying out loud!
My vote is for what works best;I like wood but carbon is hard to beat
I have become very good at finding and making arrows that match my bow, so no I do not have a problem. I can shoot woodies or carbons as I can get either to fly perfect out of my chosen bow! Shawn
Carbons for cast (great for long 3-D shots), metal for consistency (unbeatable tunability), woods for the woods. If the spirit of bowhunting tradition is what's most important to the hunter then wood is clearly king. Killing efficiency? With tuned arrows and CLOSE shots there's no difference between materials...and if anything wood may just be a tad better (see comments on reduced noise in above posts).
I like the fact that when I hunt with woodies they make me think about getting 'more close', about being more patient, about reflecting more on the 'why' of bowhunting vs. the killing part. Wood is to bowhunting as Santa is to Christmas...it may be 'corny' but it keeps you grounded in the spirit of the occasion. We could use more of that these days.
Sometimes wood, and sometimes carbon and aluminum. Its according what mood Im in.
I've tried cedars(woodies), and carbons in all my bows and it seems for me, that my older recurves all shoot cedars the best. But my Predator Classic, on the otherhand, seems to favor the carbons.
Ken : I keep going back to try wood but always end up back at carbon. I shoot the beman mfx classics that look like wood . Drew
play around with differnt woodies and you will find that you can get the same results as the carbons.wood is not as durable,but you said they are still hitting the kill zone.i have both.i like my cedars way more.good luck this season,steve
Good one, TSP.
I like carbons, and that's what I shoot.
QuoteWood is to bowhunting as Santa is to Christmas...
You mean something made up that has little to do with the real meaning? Good call TSP.
I started with aluminum went to carbons for awhile and am back to aluminum. I think they just work better for me.
The one exception is stumping. I haven't found anything better than my bomb proof arrow (footed carbon).
My answer is what works best for me.
I like them all, but still find aluminiums to be the easiest to tune. I think alot of beginners could save themselves alot of headaches if they started with aluminum. Carbons are great once you lean how to tune them, but they can be difficult for a person not used to doing this.
If Sweetland Forgewoods were still in production I would shoot nothing else. I do have 3 doz stashed. But I shoot AD Trad carbons mostly now.
Nice one SteveB, so now you hate traditional archery AND wood arrows AND Santa Clause. What's next, the Easter Bunny and Howard Hill? Help for StevieB, please, he has a complex and he can't get up. :laughing:
No thanks on carbon ...I have made my wood arrows for many many years and will stay with then...Is carbon or aluminium better, perhaps. it simply seems the right match to me, wood arrows with the wood bow. :archer:
Santa Clause was fun when I was a subteen - pretty sure Christmas was about someone's birthday - at least originally and still is for many. Santa doesn't define Christmas.
Wood arrows are a part of "traditional archery", but do not define it either.
Toniii - please let me in on what "complex" you have diagnosed me with. I do admit being a little concerned having you fixate on what whether I can get up.
Bowhunting to me is accepting the limitations of my equipment. If I limited myself to only the "best", it would have to be a compound or scope sighted HP rifle. I've spent 25 years studying and learning how to make good wood arrows, and have absolute confidence in my quiver. I feel the only thing I give up with wood over carbon is a bit of durability, time and effort. The personal satisfaction I gain is more than worth it.
My arrows don't have to match ,they have to hit the mark! Its no longer the high tech fashion show for me. :archer2:
All spring and summer I mess around with wooden arrows. They are a romanic piece of archery that I love.
But about this time of year, I start getting my bow/arrow/broadhead combo PERFECT. And I always fall back to aluminum or carbon.
When it comes down to making killing shots, I use the best shaft possible. Sadly that is rarely wood.
My issue isn't really the shot.....it's the durability that a long, wet, cold season requires.
A few years ago I killed a doe with carbons, and the next day, from the same tree, killed another doe with a wooden arrow. It was almost an identical shot on a similiar sized deer. both had complete penetration, the deer died just the same. The only difference is that the wooden arrow broke, which I do not consider a negative. I rarely use a kill arrow again.
I'm with Fletcher 100%.
I shoot what I want... homemade wooden bows and arrows. For me it's more about the journey in making the best wooden bows and arrows I can make, shooting well with them, and dealing with their real bowhunting challenges in pursuit of prey. In all honesty, I don't feel 'handicapped' at all by my equipment. It suits and serves me well, and I'm perfectly content with it. I'm an effective bow-weilding predator as it stands. No other hunting equipment(or their advantages, real or perceived) interest me in the least.
When I started making and hunting with them, my effective range was much less, but I accepted it as a matter of course and never reached beyond my capabilities. My range has since grown with hard-won learned and honed skills, no yardage 'bought'. I don't care what others do, but for me, this is 'best'.
The farthest I've taken a deer with wooden bows and arrows was just over 25 yards... perfect dead-center lung shot, complete passthrough. That's MORE than far enough for me. What more is a carbon arrow going to do for me? Allow me to shoot farther? Why would I want to do that? Is that 'best'? In my mind, if I can't make an effective killing shot beyond 25 yards without a carbon or aluminum arrow... then I must get within 25 yards. Simple.
I accepted long ago that getting within pouncin' distance is a basic, defining bowhunting challenge, skill, and part of the journey. As a competent bowhunter, bowyer and arrowsmith, wouldn't I do myself a disservice to use what OTHERS deem 'works best'?
If someone uses stone-age tools to make a primitive bow and arrow, and uses them to effectively hunt prey, at even just 10 or 15 yards or less, who am I to tell them they didn't use what 'works best'? Why would I... I don't know, I guess I just don't understand the whole point of it.