fletching appears to be eaten

[longbow guy]

Has anyone had a problem with appears to be tiny bugs eating your feathers?  I have had arrows for years , and have never had a problem like this. Only one arrow box seems affected . i cleaned out the box and have not had a problem since. Is there a remedy to keep this from happening again?  

[lpcjon2]

Spray all your fletching with 100% food grade silicone.

[longbow guy]

yes it is ,thanks

[doctari]

I keep a box of mothballs in my fletching box.

[lpcjon2]

Longbow the silicone will keep them waterproof and protect them,I do all my fletchings and never had any problems.

[Gray Buffalo]

X2 on the mothballs

[magnus]

Moth balls which stink to high heaven or my preference cedar bedding chips. Smells much better and as effective. Works with wool too.

[4 point]

I watched a grasshopper eat part of a fletching while I sat in a antelope blind. Wrecked my fletching but it kept me entertained during the long sit.

[Tall Paul]

I've had the same problem many times over the years.  

I'd like to know what kind of bug that is.

[wapiti1997]

It is likely desmetid beetles, they can ruin a mount as well.  I had a display of flies that  a friend tied for me that were ruined by tiny desmetids.  

Mothballs are a great deterrent, yes they smell, but so do hunters...  The wind is your friend..

[AWPForester]

I would have watched that hopper too.  Then I would have fipped it in the head for flacking up my fletch.   God Bless

[JamesV]

I got a new package of feathers from gateway with bugs in it, some of the feathers had been eaten. They gladly replaced them.

[Bill Kissner]

wapiti 1997 is most likely correct. If you have the beetles in your house they can really play havoc with your mounts. Take it from someone that has been there. It can be very costly. Go to Walmart and buy some of those bug bombs. Set one off in every room and leave the house for a few hours.

[Charlie Lamb]

Mothballs will kill them. They are mites that come with the feather. They say raw feathers can be put in a freezer to kill them.

There are mothballs and crystals that have a pretty pleasant smell. After they air out you won't notice the odor anymore... deer aren't afraid of mothballs!!!
 

[tuscarawasbowman]

They are called feather lice and will ruin turkey feathers in a hurry. Back when I was turkey hunting all the time I learned about the moth ball thing the hard way. Had 3 good fans go bad on me because of those little buggers.

[Eric Krewson]

I hate moth balls!

I have an alternative treatment that is still in the test stage but has worked very well on my stash of wild turkey feathers for a bunch of years.

I use a gallon Zip lock bag, put a few table spoons of borax in it, insert the fletched end of 3 or 4 arrows, hold the mouth of the bag closed and shake the bag. This distributes the finer particles of borax on your feathers. Remove the arrows from the bag, give them a shake to knock off the excess borax and you are good to go.

I even bought a mortar and pestle to grind up my arrow treating borax extra fine, probably unnecessary but I like to tinker with stuff.

I have been using this treatment on my arrows about once every 6 months for the last year, no bugs even if I store them unused in a dark corner of my musty shop.

Boric acid kills feather eating beetles and repels any that may show up on your arrows for dinner.

[Zradix]

I've had mine eaten by some tiny little larvea looking bugs. Had a bit of a segmented body.
Light faded yellow color almost clear shell.

the borax treatment sounds pretty good since thats what a lot of taxidermist use to preserve bird skins with when mounting them, it poisons the skin and feathers so the mites and flies dont eat on them.

[Orion]

Lots of critters can chew on feathers, but as Charlie says, it's most likely feather mites. Freezing will kill them and most other nawing insects. I take all my loose feathers and put them in plastic bags and freeze them for a day or two.  Have never had problems with bugs chewing on my fletched arrows.  Lucky because I don't think I could get my arrows in my fridge freezer.  

[black velvet]

I go along with the freezing. Kills mites and no odors. Works for me.