grinding secondary feathers

[FOX SQUIRREL NUTS]

Is it worth having the secondary ground?  i have several hundred and wanted to know if it is worth the expense to have them done. they seem a little flimsy for a fletching.

[Rob DiStefano]

they work just fine for me, whether turkey or goose.  

it's real easy to grind yer own, too!  

from raw feather to completed fletch

[FOX SQUIRREL NUTS]

Wow rob that is a great thread.  thanks !

[Don Stokes]

Aren't the secondaries noisy in flight? I have only used primaries from mature gobblers because of that belief. I've found jake primaries to be noisy, too.

[stringstretcher]

Any turkey feather is worth grinding and using, IMO.

[joebuck]

longevity and oil line on secondaries is second to primaries. secondary stiffness is weaker than primaries. If you bow is not tuned well or for some reason or not you are getting some  shelf slap, your secondaries will show more sign of wear quicker than primaries.

Birds prune for several reason but one of the main reasons is to re-oil their feathers. primaries are thicker therefore they contain more oil than secondary.. one bonus of using smaller height primaries is that you can cut your feather totally out of the oil line..When feather gets wet, you can pop shaft several times against legs and most water will shake off for a usable shaft immediately.  secondaries will just lay there down on the shaft.

But yes secondaries make usuable feathers but lack the physical properties of the primary.

[magnus]

Use them. Robs tutorial is fantastic! Use them for stumping and 3d save the primaries for the hunt if you want. Noise doesn't matter in practice.

[americanhunter7]

Secondaries make great flu-flu feathers, and I have used them also on primitive arrows that I have with a lower profile cut. And like stringstretcher and Rob both say any feather is worth using.