Does anyone shoot vanes off the shelf. I was curious because i was thinkin if my feathers got wet and matted down, would it be possible to keep an arrow fletched with vanes in my quiver and it fly good enough to shoot at deer with. Just a thought, but i'd like to hear some ideas everyone has. My arrows are tuned great bareshaft so would the rain spray off the feathers soon enough for good flight with the wet feather?

I have a friend that shoots a Treadway. He shoots noththing but vanes off of it and they fly great.

Unless you hunt in a pouring rain, silicone spray will keep your feathers in good shape.  I hear of folks getting decent arrow flight off the shelf with vanes, but I would personally like to see it while standing behind them.  If you can get the vanes to clear, you should be okay.

There was an experiment on here a few years ago, where a guy got good flight by raising his nocking point to an absurdly high point.

According to O.L. Adcock, matted feathers should not be a problem with a perfectly tuned setup.

Just reporting what I have read, never tried it myself.

It'll work, try moving you nock point up about 5/16" - 1/2" higher.

Mike, the whole problem with that is i dont wanna shoot vanes on a regular basis. I just wondered if i could keep one in my quiver just in case. I will try the silicone spray, i used the powder before but i remember hunting in a misting sort of rain all day and eventually they matted down.

My advice is to stick an elevated rest on your bow and then shoot vanes.  

Confidence plays a big role in hunting (for me at least).  If I only get a couple shots at game each season, I want to make sure that my arrow goes where I expect it to go, not hope that my one 'special weather' arrow will function properly.  I'm shooting blazer vanes this season but I'm also using a magnetic flipper rest and a plunger.  I hunt some seriously thick swamp land along the coast of NC so I like the durability and weather-proof aspects of vanes, ymmv.

Scott

I have never had luck with vanes off the shelf. However off a stick-on elevated rest I can go back and forth between vanes and feathers no problem.

And, no matter what folks tell you, an elevated rest won't interfere with so-called instinctive shooting.  I've used on on my recurves for five decades now.

Yes,  they do fly good.  I shot with a guy today and he shot both 4 flech feathers and 3 fletch rain vanes from 3-rivers, out of a longbow they ALL flew awesome. very handy too.  I'd say don't listen to anybody and buy a 6 pk and try them for your self.  Just a note you may need too raise your nocking point a little.  Have fun,  ron

Raising your nocking point can alter the tuning of your bow. The higher you go, the lower the spine that will tune. You are losing energy input to the arrow when you do it. You also introduce another force vector to the dynamic spine equation, and if you're not perfect in your form or release it has more effect. I wouldn't do it- do as George said, and use some spray on the fletching.

Hunting in the rain plays hell with blood trails... I don't do that either, unless there's just no choice.

One other option to consider is using some of the "waterproof fletching powder?"  I think Gateway makes what I currently use. one bottle will last you many seasons.

I have sat through some miserable downpours and the stuff worked great for 3-4 hours of steady rain.  About half way through the day I would switch with an arrow out of my cat quiver and be good for the rest of the day.

For me the powder didnt seem to "stiffen " the fletching as much as the spray I used did, but that may have been the kind of silicone I have used.
just a thought - Brad