I like speed bows and always have,I was one of the first in my area to have a new re-curve bow and aluminum arrows some 42 years ago and talk about the trash talk from the stickbow guys with there wood arrows. It never changed with the compound to the overdraw era and even thru ever-year since,someone always don't like what anyone else does...everyone hates change. I took my old flintlock out to the range and you should here the guys moan and groan about why would you shoot that old thing... everything changes doesn't it.
Justin should sell this thread to Easton and mathews, give each of us a free T-shirt and retire.......well at least retire. That T-shirt thing was probably way out of line.
No, a rudder on a plane is for steering. The vertical stabilizer it to keep it going straight. The bigger the rudder the faster the tail comes around causing it in turn to steer faster. The bigger the the vertical stabilizer the straighter it flies in normal wind conditions. Not so much in a cross wind. There is more surface area for the wind to come in contact with in turn pushing the tail section from one side to the other. This in turn causes the plane to vier off course. The same thing happens to an arrow if it gets hit with a cross wind. That is one of the advantages of a short 2" vein over a fletching.
That short, high 2" vane has the same surface area as my 4" feather but is stiffer and less forgiving in that crosswind. The feather is not one solid piece of material like your 2" vane and it reacts much less to the crosswinds which allow it to steer very effectively under those conditions. The bigger the feather the more forgiveness in unforgiving conditions. That is just one of the many advantages of feathers over plastic. The only advantage a plastic vane has over a feather is durability and, IMO, that is real shaky. I don't know about boats either. If I had my way I would never get on another plane or any boat bigger than a 2-3 person fishing boat.
What about pouring rain Bruce? As you know I shoot 4" feathers like you and love them. I've never tried it in pouring rain but I've read in "expert" papers that feathers will not operate correctly when very saturated. Is that another advantage to plastic? (FTR, I would not take a shot in pouring rain anyway so it really doesn't make a difference to me. I'm just curious.) I would not give up my 4" feathers for anything else.
Feathers work just fine when soaking wet. The next time you are shooting take a glass of water and dunk your fletching. Let us know how it goes. Those are probably the same experts that claim the rage is more accurate than a 2 blade BH.
This was written by Randy Ulmer. I believe I will stick to my opinion on this subject. http://www.bowhuntingmag.com/2011/02/16/tactics_tips_for_shooting_in_the_wind_021611/ Read this. Specifically this part: The Arrow: You can dramatically reduce the distance your arrows drift simply by selecting the right shaft, broadhead and fletching combination. Drift is proportional to the side load applied to the arrow, fletching and broadhead by the wind. The smaller these components are, the less surface area the wind has to push against. As a result, the side load goes down and the arrow drifts less. The amount of time the arrow is in the air also affects how far it will drift. The wind operates against the shaft at the same force whether the arrow is in the air for two seconds or half a second. The longer the wind can push on the arrow, the farther the arrow will drift. If reduced wind drift is your goal, try to achieve a total arrow weight that is roughly six grains per pound of draw weight (I shoot a 438-grain arrow at 70 pounds draw weight). The IBO standard is five grains per pound, and most of today’s bows will handle arrows this light without undue stress. However, if you get too light, stability and downrange speed retention are affected. A finished arrow around six grains per pound is a good choice. In other words, for a 60-pound bow, your total arrow weight (with broadhead installed) should be 360 grains or more. I used to shoot typical fixed-blade broadheads, aluminum arrows and 4-inch fletching. Now, I shoot compact heads (Rage 100-grain), small diameter shafts (Easton A/C/C) and short fletchings (AAE 2.3 inches). Based on data I have gathered from many hours of testing in windy conditions, my arrows now drift only one-third as far as they did under comparable conditions with the larger arrows. By changing all my arrow components, I have reduced wind drift by 66 percent!
I've read a lot written by Randy Ulmer. What distance was he making these comparisons? How far was the drift? Was he comparing feathers to plastic vanes. While I don't doubt what he said there is a whole lot of important information left out. Like you, I'll stick to my opinion. It's based on things I have tried, done and seen.
Here's what I get out of it... If they get 450 fps out a bow... here's what it would mean to me... Back that sum beech down to 50 lbs, shoot a 500 grain arrow 300 fps... now we're talking about something ! ! ! !
Rob and Bruce, quit making so much damn sense already!!! When Is It ever going to be enough for some of you guys? Shooting a 500 fps bow, you won't need them close anymore. Is this bow hunting? Not In my eye's If this happens.
NO, NO , NO! What would be next?... I know... we can fly little drone airplanes from the comfort of our living rooms with these little smart self guided electronic arrows that we can launch at the deer when we see a "shooter" on the video screen of our cell phone. We can do that without even getting out of bed... Don't we have enough mechanical advancements aready? The whole idea of archery hunting and "real" blackpowder hunting is the challenge of doing it the old way. Getting close, aiming small, missing small and savoring the excitement and the memories of both our failures and our successes.
The great thing about it is, we can all decide for ourselves! Also, I do love a good argument between someone that read a few things, and someone with over a 100 years of experience.
When all you have is things that you read, thats how you think. Sorry, thats just how it is. Especially when you are reading something from someone that is famous due to his experience doing it. Personally, I will believe what the man who has years of experience and gets paid to write about his experiences until someone who is on a forum with no other credentials can prove it wrong or at least prove his is right, I will not believe it. That being said, most of my information has came from a bunch of you guys on this forum along with confirmation from actual credited, published sources and I am not talking about just this subject. There are not many things, I will argue with anyone on her about. You guys know more than I do about most of this stuff but, when I have read and read things about a subject and from the amounts of shooting I have done in everything from 0mph wind conditions to 45mph gust with 20mph+ steady winds and have used 4" fletchings and 2" fletching in those conditions and have witnessed the confirmation of what I believe, yeah, thats what I am going to believe. Now as with everything else on here. Opinions are Opinions are Opinions. I have mine Bruce has his. This does not mean I completely discard everything else Bruce says as I believe he is a knowledgeable experienced bow hunter. I still have the upmost respect for the man in every aspect and mean no disrespect in any way to him by disagreeing with him. I take no credit from him and have not intended to try. I just do not agree with him on this subject. To each their own.
