Does rain change your shot much? Or does the force of it taking off blow all the water off your arrow and make it fly pretty true? I cant say that I ever practiced in the rain but I will sit in the stand while its raining. Just wondering if itll make much of a difference, should I limit to like 30 yards in the rain or does it not really have an effect.
I think it's a great question...furthermore, does the arrow traveling through rain get effected by it...regardless of the rain that is already on the arrow upon release? I just don't know the answer.
There was a mythbusters episode that dealt with walking through rain vs. running through rain and trying to ascertain if running equated to not getting as wet...but I don't completely recall the results...seems that I remember the runner didn't get as wet.
A light rain would not affect the flight of the arrow. Whether it affects the shooter is another story. A driving rain probably would not affect the flight but it would definitely affect the blood trail which is a good reason not to shoot in the driving rain. The weather affecting the blood trail is my concern not the weather affecting the arrow flight. Contrary to a common misconception wet feathers do not affect arrow flight either. I only say that because it will probably come up . Want to see if water affects your arrow flight? Dip the arrow in water, hose it down, get it soaking wet however you want, then shoot it. Hose your whole setup down, get it real wet and then shoot arrows. Come back and tell us what happens.
You will typically hit lower in the rain but not for the reason that most think. Yes,the arrow might be slightly affected by the rain but the real culprit is a wet string. When the rain soaks the string,it gets heavier and therfore,slows down. This is why you want a good string that is waxed properly with a high quality wax and no build up of wax. This is what I have always been taught and when shooting 3-d nationally,we would shoot in the rain. I would snap my string before each shot and the effects of the rain was minimal. I wouldn't worry too much about it because it is minimal.Probably to the point most can't tell anyway. You should already be decreasing your max distance in the rain.Your shots have to be absolutely dead on because your blood trails will be washed away very quickly.
I would imagine that water that is sitting on the arrow before release would be instantly shed as soon as you release before it even leaves the string. I cant say that I can say one way or the other once its in the air. As for the Mythbusters thing the result was that the runner got more wet because of the water hitting the front of him rather than just the top of his shoulders so that comparison is pretty much irrelevant.
Gotcha, that makes sense....it's the only thing even remotely similar that I could think of... wait...is it irrelevant? Or does it indicate that the arrow would run into MORE water and there for be effected?....just seems like something as heavy as a rain drop (as it relates to the weight of an arrow) hitting a fletching during flight would have to impart some kind of effect... String wetness makes tons of sense...
Yes I didn't think of the string...good call there. I do keep it waxed but never thought of that. Good to know forsure.
Yea that is possible. We could argue this question for hours, there are tons of factors such as the way the broadhead you are shooting channels air around the arrow. It is possible that due to the way the air is passing over the arrow the water would never touch the shaft or fletchings. But if that were the case then the water would most likely slow down the air passing over the arrow in turn slowing it down. Im no scientist but these are just things that spring to mind. The only true way to tell is in controlled experiment with high speed video footage. But until then. Go practice in the rain! haha
I don't factor in rain when aiming. I've heard that if your string does get wet, to let it dry thoroughly before waxing it so you don't seal water into it.
