Deer and arrow noise

[Butch Speer]

Has anybody ever had a deer spook because of what you believe was noise from the arrow. Heads whistling or feather noise? I know a lot of folks say they don't want to hear the arrow, I don't care for it either but, what about how it affects deer?

[Stumpkiller]

Not with wood arrows and rug or fur rests.

When I first tried bowhunting in 1980 & 1981 I spooked a few drawing an aluminum arrow over a metal rest when it sung like a violin.  

I've never had a Zwickey, Magnus II, Rib-Tec or Stos make a sound in flight.

The larger Pearson Deadheads could whistle if they were mounted crooked or in a strong wind, but they always whistled right through the deer for me.

[pumatrax]

personally I don't think there is a bow out there that a deer can't hear upon release (especially if the deer is within "traditional bow range" ) Some bow set ups are quieter than others but in my opinion NONE are totally silent....

[pumatrax]

I don't know if arrow noise or bow noise makes a difference ; guess the dead deer (or elk) were all hard of hearing or maybe just slower or stupid....I do think helical feathers are a bit noisier than straight but then again.....just sayin' ...

[archer66]

I agree with the above statement that bow noise made upon release is more of a factor than the noise an arrow makes in flight.  To me the biggest thing when it comes to "string jumping" is how relaxed the deer is.  Deer that have been pressured a lot especially toward late season are VERY jumpy and might jump the string at the first hint of noise which would be the bow itself as the string is released.  If you are hunting unpressured deer and they are relaxed and totally unaware of your presence they often don't react to the shot at all.  But take that same unpressured deer and let them wind you or see you and become suspicious and they will react immediately at the first sound and your right on target arrow may be a bad hit or a miss.

So what can be done:

--Take close shots so they don't have as much time to react.

--Do everything you can to remain undetected....scent, sight (silhoette), movement, and sound so that the deer aren't alert.

--Don't shoot at nervous deer.  If a deer is in your wheel house but is bobbing it's head at you, stomping it's foot, holding it's tail up....any of those body language queues that say "I KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE"....don't take the shot.

[chanumpa]

Archer66 is right.Ive seen deer and elk both jump the string.Love the big snuffers and the massive hole they cut but dont love the buzz they make.Have seen a bull elk literally wheel and dodge an arrow before.It was string jump and motion of course,but afterwards you were just asking yourself "how the hell did he do that".Like archer66 says,you need to be close,and patient.Wait untill their head goes behind a tree or something.You just have to be conservative of the shots you take.

[MR BILL SHORTY]

What Archer66 says x2

[twistedlim]

Originally posted by MR BILL SHORTY:
What Archer66 says x2

x3
The deer I shot this year was a bit edgy when she came by and even though she was close she still was able to drop a bit and turn.  Thankfully she only made the shot better for me.  Way back in my compound days I have had deer come by totally relaxed as if on a strole throgh the woods.  The last one I shot did not even know she was hit despite the loud noise from the bow.  Her head came up she looked around, took a step and fell over.

[Biggamefish]

There is a cool video on the sit that is talking about the go pro camera.  The video lets you hear a arrow coming at the camera.  I think the deer hears the bow more than the arrow.  The arrow pushes the sound sorta like a train does and by the time you hear the arrow I think it is to late.  jmo though

[Biggamefish]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=123900#000000  

 The video is on the 2nd page

[LV2HUNT]

Arrows definitely make noise traveling through the air. If you want to know how much put your phone in record mode (audio or video) on or next to your target and shoot an arrow.

I have definitely had them react to bow and arrow noise even on calm completely unaware deer. My rests and clothing are dead silent and my bow is quiet as well.

Then again, I deliberately held a couple of inches under an old buck this year and he did not flinch an inch at my shot. That is like the third animal I have shot under in 20 something years!

[Terry Green]

Feathers flying are much more natural sounding cause bird feathers make all sorts of sounds....a quiet bow in more important IMO.

How about this....go to TX....hunt over feeder....shoot over the feeder bout 10 feet with an arrow with NO FEATHERS and see if the deer move.

[Butch Speer]

Appreciate all the posts. I was more concerned about feather noise than anything else. I modified some feathers using a banana fletch chopper & they're noisier than I was used to. Again, thanks for the replies.

[Terry Green]

Butch....Didn't know you had 'noisy' feathers....I don't like noisy bows or noisy feathers....less I'm shooting in front of kids....they love whizzing arrows.

So, arrows are like the bows...both make noise, but the quieter the better for sure.

[Bama Recurve]

shoot at your phone or video camera.
you'll find your answer.

[LimBender]

I had a doe I'm almost certain jumped due to the arrow and not the bow (pushed backwards away from arrow) - but could have been either the sight of the arrow or the noise, or both.  Was shooting the big 1.25" VPA Terminators and was told my arrows were noisy on a range, so going back to the low profile ones next year and maybe 4" feathers. All the emphasis is on bow noise (mine is very quiet), but at the 20-25 yard range seems like arrow noise can be a big deal with jumpy critters. Some will say don't shoot and I did learn that on a jumpy deer it either needs to be real close or focused on something else.

[MCNSC]

I missed one deer because it dodged, I am satisfied it dodged the arrow. It was on edge when I shot and it rolled away from the arrow, if it wasn't dodging that arrow it was the luckiest deer in the woods that day.

[Terry Green]

MCNSC ....they also will do the same from bow noise...they duck n roll AWAY from the noise....like I said earlier...you can shoot an arrow with no feathers or just pull the string back about 2 inches and let it go and watch them so the same with NO arrow.....they almost always roll away from the bow or noise made from the stand.

[Knawbone]

I used to hunt with aluminum when I hunted with a wheel bow. Alum. bouncing off a tree will send them over the hill for sure. Bouncing wood off trees is a little more of a natural sound. Iv' had deer become startled by bouncing wood but not always spooked as such. Not sure about carbon,never have used it. Maybe a little off subject, but you were talking about arrow noise.Just a thought.   :D