I may have to try this with my setup. I just started shooting tac vanes last season and being quiet is one of the selling points they mention in the adds I have seen. It’s got me very curious. I know some people have trouble with adhesion but I have not had a single issue with any of mine sticking. I used to shoot blazers and still have a few arrows may do a comparison. Intriguing stuff!! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Here's another point to think about when it comes to bow noise. The sound of a bow going off is relatively quiet - especially if you're not the one shooting it. Watch the videos that these guys posted - the bow is far quieter than the arrow speeding toward the camera. Now, imagine the sound of the bow alone without any arrow to accompany it. Would you anticipate a deer ducking and spinning out of the way if there was ONLY the sound of the bow going off? I liken that to the reaction you'd get if you dropped your release out of the tree and it clanged on your climbing sticks while a deer was 30 yards away. I would expect the deer to react, and maybe even run away, but it would not be the same reaction you get when you're shooting at the animal. How many loud noises does a deer encounter in its life? Whether it's a tree falling down, a crack of thunder, a car horn, or any number of things, they don't duck and spin every time something loud startles them. Heck - most of us have seen deer stand still and look around when there are gunshots going off in close proximity. The only time you see a deer perform the evasive maneuver of "ducking the arrow" is when an actual arrow is being shot at it. We even call it ducking the ARROW, not ducking the BOW. Having a quiet bow is nice for us as the shooter. Quieter bows usually have less hand vibration and are simply more enjoyable to shoot. However, it's my belief that the difference in bow noise is negligible at best when it comes to a deer's reaction when being shot at. This is where the argument of speed versus weight begins to come into play. Heavier arrows tend to quiet your bow down due to their greater absorption of energy, but are they actually quieter in flight? I haven't looked into this, but I would imagine the components on the arrow (vanes and broadhead) play a larger role in arrow flight noise than the weight of the arrow does. It would also stand to reason that an arrow moving faster, even marginally so, will give the animal less time to react and duck out of the way. When we're talking about fractions of an inch determining a clean kill from a wild goose chase or a wounded animal, the speed advantage begins to hold more weight. (see what I did there?) Hence the reason I've long advocated for a balanced approach of both speed and weight. Much like politics, being on the far end of the spectrum in either direction usually doesn't yield the optimal results. As for vanes, I've had good luck with the AAE Max Stealth with both fixed and mechanicals, and they're nice and quiet.
I want to agree with you Justin but to prove the point I would like to see you draw on a doe and dry fire.
Well, a dry fire is quite a bit louder than shooting with an arrow in the bow. I can always sky one way up in the air and see what happens. May get lucky and stick a Booner.
Ive never noticed any noise from blazers but i guess ive never tried to compare them to anything else.
Astute observation! A bow may make a thunk or thud from afar but the intensifying whiz of an arrow flying at an animal is sure to trigger a flight response. Im unaware of any studies that measure noise in relation to archery products. Would be interesting to see.
Great point. Mass cannot compensate for, what shall we call it??? Arrow flatulance? . Aerodynamics are a very intriguing topic when it comes to this issue. You wouldnt think a stick with a point on the end and a few strips of material on the other end would cause such a ruckus!
I’m no expert by any means, but I would think that the faster an arrow is moving the louder it would be. One bit of info I left out concerning the video I posted was that the first two Blazer fletched arrows weigh 530 grains. The second two arrows weigh 450 grains. Probably not a huge difference in speed but neither are light arrows. My bow is set at 65#. I don’t know the actual speed of the 530 grain arrows but I know the 450 grain arrows are moving right at 283 FPS.
There's some science/engineering in there... Doppler effect and a bunch of other egghead stuff... General observations others have made : A heavier arrow is generally quieter, but also slower. Sound traveling at a relatively constant (lest we forget that standard temperature & pressure, do have some effects)... All that, but it's still awesome how dang fast a deer can react.
Without hard data, but likely both... While you're right, most probably tired to the bow... However, a heavier arrow will travel slower. I would suggest noise off the vanes, are aleast in part, a function of speed (likely also resistance and other factors related to shape, aerodynamics and doppler effect).
From my experience, I switched to Heat vanes from Blazers before increasing arrow weight, the arrows were quieter from just the vane switch. These arrows were about 480 grains at the time. Since increasing arrow weight to about 570, the bow is quieter as well.
