Why is bare shaft tuning so important? I know that if bare shafts fly right into a group at 15-20 yard that the bow/arrow combo is tuned correctly but if I can shoot my arrows with my hunting broadhead into or really close to the spot I want to hit why does it matter if my bare shafts with field point hit to the left? Im getting consitanly good (at least as far as I can tell) flight from my fleched arrows with field points and broadheads.

Basically to get your arrow flying as straight  into the target (animal) as possible. This will give you the best penetration, if the arrow is not tuned properly the arrow fly's a little sideways until the fletching straightens it out.
My .02
Terry

Bare shafting with field points get you close. getting broadheads to fly straight and where you look is the key. A true flying arrow hitting where you look is the goal. It will penetrate better and more than likely be in the right spot barring our uncommon mistakes....


Blueline

It's not necessary but some people like to do it as it seems to work for them.  I build an arrow with feathers and tune it the same way you do a bare shaft, except I don't have to put feathers on afterward.  Never had any trouble getting my arrows to fly well with field points, blunts or broadheads. But I could have been wrong for the past forty years.  

It's not that bareshaft tuning is important...it's just tuning that is important.

As long as you do some form of it...whether it's bareshaft, paper, broadhead or just trying to match an arrow's spine by looking at charts to your draw weight and draw length...you will improve your potential accuracy by having equipment that is tuned to each other.

Facts:

A tuned arrow can be more forgiving.
A tuned arrow can help an archer be more consistantly accurate.
Arrows with broadheads can fly better when they have been tuned to the bow or vice versa.
A tuned arrow can penetrate better than one that's not.

The level or degree you tune is based on your ability and/or desire.

Some of us are very anal.
Some of us believe good enough is good enough.
And than there are some of us like George who have been doing it for so long...just know what arrow will shoot good out of their bows          

Ray      

I'am with George! I have always tuned my hunting arrows with broadheads and feathers on. Anything I put on after that seems to fly just as well.    As long as what ever I put on has the same weight. 160gr broadhead, 160gr fieldtip, etc......

Good Luck!!

It's important for all the reasons listed above.

George,I think bareshafting became much more necessary with the introduction of carbon arrows to trad shooters.With most makers only offering 3 sizes to cover all bows, bareshafting became nearly the only way to tune an arrow.

I think folks who have used wood and aluminum for years have learned which spine to choose for nearly any combination.Thoes shooters such as yourself can pick a shaft and then with minor adjustments to either the bow or arrow ,have a fine shooting set up.

The same thing is happening now with carbons as more people get more experience with them and the shafts get more consistent.

I believe that bareshaft tuning for trad bows is important especially with carbon arrows.And important with bows not cut to center rto find the right dynamic spine for your bows.Carbon arrows do not come in as many different spines as wood or aluminum.With bows cut past center,they can shoot a wider variety of spines.

"Why is bare shaft tuning so important? I know that if bare shafts fly right into a group at 15-20 yard that the bow/arrow combo is tuned correctly but if I can shoot my arrows with my hunting broadhead into or really close to the spot I want to hit why does it matter if my bare shafts with field point hit to the left? Im getting consitanly good (at least as far as I can tell) flight from my fleched arrows with field points and broadheads."

Yep, covered very well...It's not neccesary as long as you do your tuning with WIDE broadheads, then use any matched weight broadhead you want. If you try to tune with any ol' narrow BH, you can still have tuning issues that'll rear it's ugly head with a poorer then normal release, wet feathers, ect....Bare shaft tuning by itself is the way to go for someone that's not intending to shoot broadheads, like for 3D only or doesn't have an assortment of wide broadheads to tune with.....O.L.

I do what George does and it works for me, but then I don't use carbon. I haven't found any that fly the way I like them and they are too darn expensive to keep fiddling with. Wood is very forgiving and aluminum is easy to tune and cheaper than carbon, so it works for me.

-if your arrows are flying fine the way they are, I bet if you cut the feathers off, and bareshafted, that shaft would fly pretty good.
I look at it this way...if I can get a bare shaft to fly straight, just think how it would fly with feathers. I just tuned some Gold tips 55/75's to my Widow, and found I needed to cut almost 3" off for perfect flight.

QuoteOriginally posted by BLACK WOLF:
It's not that bareshaft tuning is important...it's just tuning that is important.

I bareshaft my woodies just to be sure there isn't an odd ball in the bunch.  Usually 9 out 10 are fine but wanna be sure I don't put a broadhead on that 1 bad one.  Builds confidence too, for me anyway.