Anyone notice quite a bit of arrow noise with 5" shield cut feathers? My arrows seem to make a bit of noise as they are heading to the target. The guys I was shooting with noticed the difference as well. They were shooting with plastic vanes. Any ideas?
I shoot 5" parabolics with a full helical and my bear hunting arrows have 5.5" High Back shields with a full helical and there is no feather noise coming from any of my arrows.
Arrows due have a slight noise down range just before hitting the target and thats what deer react to but arrows making noise off the get go....never had it happen.
I shoot 5.5 sheild helical and they are quiet as a church mouse.
Might be a tuning issue. Just a guess. I have no problems at all with mine.
Stiks
Shield cut feathers are noisier than parabolic feathers of the same length. This is why I fletch my arrows with 3, 5" parabolic feathers.
Thanks for the info. I'll do some experimenting and see what I can come up with.
My Dad shoots his own pattern shield cut and they could wake up the dead. His hearing is not as good so he looks at me like I'm a clown when I try to tell him. Hes a damn good shot though.
.....its like the whistling snuffers, its a "soft noise" and doesnt seem to effect deer most of the time. But if a deer is on high alert any noise is likely to make it drop and run. I shoot snuffers and high back 5 1/2 shields and never had a deer react to the shot. Usually the jump from the arrow hitting he other side(hit or miss).
Stand behind a tree next to your target and have somebody shoot your bow, you wont hear much of anything besides a thud when it hits your target, even with what you consider your "loud" bow. Its safe as ever if you do it right, Im not just crazy!
My experience is I cannot recall many dozen batches of three 5" shield fletched, especially high profile ones where there were not some plain noisy arrows in the mix, sometimes half or so. On the other hand I honestly have never found three 5" parabolics to be noisy save a couple of carbons one time that had a gap in the middle of the glue line. My friend Rod Kelley (Mountaintop Traditional Arrows) in Kalispell, MT. has burned some low profile shields for me and these have all been quiet.
I used to have a batch of cedar shafts ordered and they came with a custom shield with profile higher than those I got from 3Rivers. Those high profile feather made a lot of noise. Guys shot with me at the range said I was shooting rocket propelled arrows :-)
Lower profile shield, parabolic or banana don't make sounds.