Friends, looking for your input to decide on fletching for upcoming hunt above treeline.

First, to set the conditions for this discussion; I am already very happy with my tuning process and fletching combo under most conditions in which I hunt. It has served me well for many decades. Bare shaft tuning for perfect flight, then fletching with 5.5" high back shield in Flo yellow full helical (Lets call it the Howard Hill method (as told to me by Dan Quillian many decades ago)).

But, that is for hunting in a phone booth (whitetail/hogs in thickets/swamps/heavy cover, and elk in oak brush and dark timber.

My next planned hunt is for elk above treeline in late summer. I am told to expect windy conditions. Under these conditions these heavy fletchings really catch wind, and in a cross wind can/will be detrimental. In past instances where surprise windy conditions arise, I just took a scissors and trimmed down the fletch on an arrow or two in the quiver to 1/2" or even 3/8" as many native tribes have done.

I see many folks in the higher tech archery world are doing carbons/high foc and doing fletching shorter (like 3") and higher.

For those who prep for hunting under windy conditions, which concept to you employ and why?

if good in windy conditions I would think also good in any condition.

If you want to cut through the wind load up the front of your arrow. You can easily test this by shooting fluflu arrows in a strong cross wind

Comparing flu-flu feathers in a cross wind, to expected reactions to wind with standard fletch, is a bit of a stretch. I shoot regularly in my side yard up to sixty yards. I have shot that in a pretty strong crosswind as well. At long distance, you can see some drift, but it takes a pretty steady wind to throw your arrows off course. In most scenarios, you won't be shooting sixty yards...although you could and even may.

Read some of the Bowhunter Magazines or TBM's and see what those guys use who live and hunt there all the time. Long before heavy fronts of center and small fletching, guys have been doing it well with all sort of equipment. Frankly, I wouldn't change anything if you are shooting well with what got you here.

Last season I fletched my aluminum arrows with low profile flex fletch 3” vanes and shot them off of the shelf and they flew perfect...water proof and cut wind well..also as mentioned above, lots of weight up front.

Not to go in the wrong direction but where would you be hunting elk above the tree line? Just curious.

By the way, you will likely hunt many days with little wind at all. Expecting and getting are not always aligned.

The fluflus just magnify the effect. The test works with standard fletch the same.

I shoot everyday under windy conditions with 5 1/2 shield cut feathers in foothills in Colorado. When you get above 25 mph it gets tougher. It's the gusts that you have to shoot around and work through. I would not change anything, may have to be patient on the shot. Good luck. Tom

JMO, the trick to preparing for the unexpected is to not do anything that will leave you poorly prepared for a more likely scenario....

Have you considered going with half of your arrows at 5 1/2” and half at something smaller?

I have not hunted in the area you are asking about, but I do hunt in, and shoot, windy conditions quite regularly. In experimenting, and in my own results, I have found smaller diameter arrows and the smallest fletching you can confidently use does decrease the amount of wind drag. As an example: Shoot a small diameter carbon shaft with heavy FOC and small fletching in wind ( as said above 25mph or greater) Take the same bow and well tuned arrow but 23/64 diameter shaft with the same fletching. The larger shaft does show more unstable flight as wind speed increases. Repeat the process with different fletchings and arrows. In the end, I completely agree with the above statement you may have to be more patient on the shot, and work with what you like. I still like my wood arrows, but prefer the 3" fletch. It works for me. Your results may very.

-Bones

Michael, I believe my answer to be easier and more to the point of answering your question. Since your rig is well tuned and bare shafts perfect.Don't go changing a lot of things. Simply reduce the fletching profile. A 4" fletch with a slightly lower height will be less affected by the wind. It will also have way more guidence than a bare shaft. Keep the same setup that has worked well for you. Not knowing what head you use just reduce the profile of you fletches but make sure the head is not overpowering them. You have already experimented with simply cutting the fletches down. It works. Best of luck on your hunt. >>>----> Ken

So you have a good tune. Do you think that less fletching will give you a bad tune. If it does you didn't have a good tune to begin with.

When I experimented with short fletching, I didn't have to change anything except the fletching. If the bare shaft impacts with the fletched, it's showing you a good tune no matter how much feather you put on to correct mistakes.

You're shooting 16.5 inches of feather, probably more than half the length of your arrow. I shoot two inch or 6 inches of fletching. If we're shooting the same point weight which arrow do you thing will be more affected by wind?

I wouldn't have two sets of arrows in my quiver. You don't know whether you'll get your shot on a windy or calm day. It's pretty hard to remember two sets of trajectory when you get excited. I'd stick with 5.5 before I went to two sets.

A work of advise, don't buy new arrows for smaller fletching. Once you try 'em you won't go back to 5.5. Plus I'd put turbulators on what ever I shot.

Bowmania

Todd nailed it. Less feather won't turn a good tune into a bad tune. Less feather means less wind deflection,less noise,and a tad faster arrow. What was the down side???? Good hunting.>>>----> Ken

I shoot 4 " four fletch in Wyoming and we have wind you wouldn't believe. Smaller fletch definitely helps with wind drift. Mostly get a tail drift and not as much on the broadhead end.

I'm using Victory VAPs, super skinny and you can really front load them and cut down on fletching required a great deal. I basically was able to stay in the same spine and add 100gr extra, using 2.5" shields. Haven't shot them with broadheads in a cross wind though. Not sure where your hunting elk, but I hunt tree line pretty regular here in Colorado and don't have near as much wind as I do on the Colorado plains. You'll have to buy a chopper for the ones I'm using. Only problem with the Victory VAPs is the 100gr inserts are expensive and their aluminum ones suck!

I have made 2 hunting trips to Wyoming never seen it calm. Does the wind ever stop blowing there? >>>----> ken

Ages and ages ago back when the PSE Technical truck used to travel around the country this was a topic of interest.

Then as now, the smalles diameter shaft, with the smallest parctical fletching produced the best accuarcy, in windy conditions.

High front of center has never been shown to significantly improve perfomance in wind.

X3 on Todd's response. Common sense tells you smaller fletching with less surface area will catch less wind as long as the shaft is tuned you should have 0 problem.

If you have a place to practice in those conditions that would be ideal. Then if a steady wind does develop during an outing you’ll have the information to deal with it. Like others have said and also for me the wind has little effect on my longer shots,but I’m not shooting fufus.

I think front of center does play a role in reducing wind drift. I live in the plains in CO where it is windy more often than not. I used to shoot woodies and would have a lot of fun trying to use kentucky windage to float my arrows to the target in high winds. When I started shooting carbons my FOC was greatly increased. Mostly due to the fact that I needed a lot more point weight to get the right grains per pound. I also noticed my arrows did not drift nearly as much in a steady cross wind. I could easily verify this by shooting my carbons back to back with my woodies of similar weight in windy conditions.

so I too would recommend a skinny shaft, a good amount of FoC and a smaller profile fletch if you are looking to reduce wind drift.

Flu flus

I hunt at high altitude and intermittently windy conditions most of the time. I use 5 or 5.25 inch fletch on heavy wood arrows.

More FOC and less fletch will indeed reduce the effect of wind on arrows. At a windy 3D shoot, with field points, that's a useful strategy. However, in hunting, we're concerned with more than hitting the target -- we have to care about clean arrow flight and a perfectly aligned arrow at point of impact. In my experience, if the wind is blowing too hard for a clean shot with big feathers, it's blowing too hard for a clean shot with small feathers. All you can do is pass up the shot and wait, or try to position yourself, for better conditions.

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