let's hear your opinions and experiences on WHY you believe a certain fletch shape is the most stealthy and which one is loudest
Parabolic shape usually is the quietest for me. While Banana cut seem to whistle quite a bit.
Parabolic. It is low profile so it is stiffer and it tails off s not to leave a point to rustle in flight. God Bless
I think the low profile banana cut is pretty quiet.
Parabolic,that being said I shoot shield cut
A&A or low profile banana quiet.
Shields loud
Parabolic are probably the quietest because they don't have an edge....
The low profile shield cut I use is not loud at all, if it was I sure wouldn't use it. Loud doesn't always come from the cut, or length, it also comes from the height as well. 6 inch high backed bananas are loud...as are most 'high back' fletch cuts. I also have some high backed 3.5 inch feathers that are short, but I made them to be loud for shooting demos for kids....they are loud, like in the HH movies.
parabolic for me seems to be the quietest
I can tell you that Tradional cut is very loud...
I should mention the Banana's I shot were magnums.
3 rivers T-hawk is quiet.
P&Y= not quiet.
3" parabolic shot with a guy on monday that shot then... i didnt hear the arrow at all
Parabolics.
Parabolic 3 or 4 inch.
Perfect timing for this thread! I WAS going to order P&Y for my next batch of woodies and switch away from the parabolics, but not now!
Don't let me scare ya off Lou, The P&Y look the coolest!
How you been man?
CTT
I don't hear anything shooting three 5" low profile banana's that come from Magnus.
The quietest are low profile cuts that have well supported rear quills.
A low pro moon is the quietest I've shot.
Just not a lot of steerage there.
High profile "trad" cut is the loudest I've shot.
I've been liking a slightly modified T-hawk chop.
I use 4x4.5" that I cut a little low pro.
Pretty quiet with a good amount of steerage.
Lots of helical can make em loud too.
QuoteOriginally posted by fmscan:
I can tell you that Tradional cut is very loud...
Ditto that. But, I like the way they look.
4 inch parabolics for me. Really quiet.
I agree with most, parabolic is quietest. That said, I shoot shield because it works well and I want that look on my arrow. The sound with a broad head is louder still, but I ahve yet to have an animal jump until the arrow is through it. ;)
Bob.
2 inch razors on the left and home made 2.25 A&A shape on the right these make ZERO noise (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7686397768_aafdfaa974.jpg)
I like real feather cuts, 5 to 5.5 inch cause I also like for my arrows to look like trad arrows, not like those high tech compound arrows look today. Good arrow flight is paramount, and a quiet bow, and inside 20 yards is 99% of bowhunters shots, so I don't think you can blame a feather cut as an excuse. How silly would it sound if you missed your animal and you came back to camp and said, "if I'd have only used a different feather".
I'm not saying you should use some of the buzz cuts, but so make sure you use enough to stabilize in a myriad of situations. And, its better to use a little more that use a little less. Again, you aren't going to shoot the difference in 20 yards. Just something to think about.
LBM,
What is the "A&A" shape? I never heard of it before. Cool looking arrows. Can you pm me the "hows and whys" you went this route please?
Thanks,
CTT
Years back I placed a recorder at the target and shot from 20 yards to see how loud my bow was. I was very surprised when all I heard from the bow was a barely audible thump but the arrow which was fletched with vanes made a roar that increased in volume as the arrow approached. The sound was shocking to me and I'm sure it would scare the heck out of any whitetail. It made me wonder if the deer were jumping the string or was it the arrow sound that scared them.
My experiments also show parabolics to be the quietest in 4 & 5" fletching. The 2" razors are also very quiet.
hey it don't matter the dear don't hear anything when they are dead :biglaugh:
Low profile bananas, 4.5" long .5" heigh. Works for me.
I like parabolic, I tried shield cut and they were noisy and a little slower
I've always shot 3, 5" feathers.
I've shot both shield and parabolic shaped feathers when I was starting out in bowhunting and the quietest for me was the parabolic shaped. For this reason, I've been shooting parabolic shaped feathers for the past 48 years.
CTT, A&A (Ashby & Adcock) is basically a right triangle .5" high 2.5" long. Of course don't forget the turbulator. I usually shorten the numerous shield fletch I have to make them. Turbulator is a ring of 1/8" pinstripe one layer 1/4" in front of the fletch. Works well with high foc arrows. Hope that helps.
Thank you Kat,and the others as well.
CTT
Don't know which is loudest, but one of these days my shield cut is going to be the last thing an elk, deer or turkey is going to hear, I hope this day is tomorrow and it's an elk that hears my fletch!
I love the look of my shield cuts, but the parabolics are definitely a bit quieter
Is there any difference in speed between shield vs. parabolic?