Hello, I just made a new set of douglas fir woodies,3 shield cut turkey feathers 5 inch. With a field point they fly good,I Put a zwickey delta on and if I shoot cock fletch in they fly great,cock fletch out they don't. I shoot this spine arrow without broadheads and they fly great. Is this a tuning problem?

I seem to get better flight with cock feather in too.  Might be a tuning issue, but maybe not.  That with the Toelke?  All I've had seem to like them that way, most other bows don't seem to care. I just shoot it in on all of them and don't worry about it.

You may be very close to having to  weak a shaft. A broadhead will usually slightly weaken spine in some cases. In most cases it's not enough to matter unless you are very close to having a weak spine for your setup. What length, weight broadhead and spine arrow are you shooting?

Maybe just in my head, but I feel my Toelke shoots better cock feather in also.

Hen feather drags cock feather out. Cock feather in puts the hen feather further from the bow during paradox.

Hello, Its my shrew bow in question. I'm shooting 55/60 spine at 28 inches bop with 135 grain broadhead. I only draw 26 inches so my bow is around 45 at my draw. They may be border line weak, I may just have to shoot with cock feather in. Thanks

I have a bow like that.  Bareshafts are right on, so it isn't a spine issue.  I just roll with it.

When you shoot cock feather in you can also drop your nock point between a 1/8" - 1/4".  Rotating it allows the hen to not strike dead center on your shelf during the release.  Changed when I read that tip on "arrow by Kelly" website.

I guess it's the bow that likes cock feather in with just the broadheads since the field points shoot true with cock feather out and vice versa. Or as Buckeye said adjust knocking point. My bad.

I'd say the cock feather is on the stiff side of the arrow. The actual feather placement doesn't have a different affect on the arrow flight but the stiff side of a wood arrow does.

A couple guys mentioned that the bow might just like the arrow positioned one way or another....are yall saying that the fletching isn't clearing properly?   How does a bow "like" a feather in or out?  Not being a smartalec, just that I'm not following what you're saying.

I had a setup one time  that shot field points great but wouldn't shoot my broadheads right. I went up to a different spine and it cured the problem. That is why I felt he may have an arrow that is slightly weak at least on the cock feather out side.

During paradox, the arrow bends away from riser but with cock feather out, the lower hen feather will likely hit the edge of the shelf if the shelf is wide. With cock feather in, the hen points away from shelf reducing contact.

If the quill of the hen feather hits the shelf, it will affect arrow flight.  Turn the arrow around to cock-feather in and you move the offending hen out of the way.

If the quill of the hen feather hits the shelf, it will affect arrow flight.  Turn the arrow around to cock-feather in and you move the offending hen out of the way.

Could it be that it may be more pronounced with a short brace height?  The arrow (hen feather) never gets time to rotate away from the shelf or does the arrow not start to spin that quickly off the string.

Kelly Peterson (in business for many years as Arrows by Kelly) had an explanation of why shooting cock feather in is good.

I wish I could find it but after Kelly retired from arrowsmithing his great website disappeared.

Whatever his reason was I tried cock feather in and it worked well and I've not looked back.

Cock feather in not so good for double anchor of feather on nose.  So if you shoot in what do you use as a double anchor?

QuoteOriginally posted by Widowdoublelung:
Cock feather in not so good for double anchor of feather on nose.  So if you shoot in what do you use as a double anchor?

Thumb joint behind jaw bone, finger on first molar.  A double anchor isn't actually required anyway, just what some people choose to do.

Sent you a PM with photos the other day. I will repost pics here. If your RH, shooting RW feathers, the odd hen is down when nocked normally. Turn cock feather in, odd hen is "UP". Put LW feathers on, nock normal with cock feather out and odd hen is "UP".

I shot cock feather in for years now all my arrows are fletched LW when shooting my RH bows and right wing when shooting my left handed Fedora.

RW fletched cock feather normal. RH Shooter



RH shooter, cock feather in, notice the odd hen position changes from down to up.



RH shooter, LW feathers nocked normal. Odd hen already in up position.