IMO, no. A couple of guys, tfox and littlechief, have done actual tests with wet feathers (4" parabolic) and have not seen any decrease in accuracy with them. You can do it yourself. Dunk a feathered shaft in a glass of water and shoot it with a dry one. If the bow and arrow are tuned you should see no difference.
wet feathers? I used natural fletching for many years. If it is a real soaker and the feathers are old, they will become water logged very quickly (natural water repellant oils gone). When fired, the water will be shaken from the feather; however, the question for me is: How much more do old, five- inch soaked feathers weigh than my two-inch Blazers with water on their surface and how much additional energy is consumed during the launch in propelling the soaked guys vs. the Blazers? I believe the Blazers will shed the water much faster. Try your testing with wet and dry, old and new and treated and untreated at forty yards and report back. Let ‘em freeze and everyone is having problems regardless of the material used. It seems to me this sort of testing would provide ample fodder for a good magazine article!
Don't take this the wrong way but I think you're agonizing over details that are likely to affect less than 5% of your hunts unless you make it a point to hunt in the pouring rain a lot. Your setup is good, your arrows are good and they will shoot where you aim. Relax .
if it really worries you, take an adventure over to the flyfishing section of any store, and ask for some Dessicant. Or some spray on floatant. good to go :D
nope no need to worry about it...ive shot feather pretty much all my bow hunting career till this year and never had to worry about waterproofing the feathers. they still fly straight even when wet.
As fast as that arrow comes out of your bow they prolly dry in an instant if you think about the concept...make sense?
