Why does fletching hit my hand everytime i shoot? Im not shooting anything exotic, big fletching, or anything like that? I bare shaft tuned CX150 Heritage arrows, to a Black Widow KBX 45@28. The feathers are 5" sheild cut i cut myself on a lil chopper.

That use to happen to me shooting a Pittsley Predator due to the hand resting so high on the nice low shelf. Arrow basically sitting on top of the hand, which I liked. Love that bow. Just have to rember to locate my hand a smidge lower on the grip when I shoot that bow.

Right wing? I'm a right hand shooter and shoot left wing. I get the same thing if I shoot right wing.

Take a razor blade of exacto knife and trim the front of the quill so it tapers smoothly into the shaft. Apply a dot of fletching cement over the point of the quill and onto the shaft. That should solve the problem. You could also use an elevated rest as another option Chuck S

X2 with yellow dog. All I shoot is right wing, I turn my cock feather in and the issue went away.

RAISE YOUR NOCK POINT

X2 Dan

If you are shooting carbon,twist the nock for the cock feather at 1200 or a bit past.I do it on mine and it works.Doesn't affect the arrows flight.

X3. Dan

I have that trouble from time to time, I always blamed myself as I tend to grip my longbows really high up. I was talking to Dan Toelke the other day though and he said you should be able to shoot an arrow off your knuckle without getting fletch cut.

He suggested raising the nock point 1/2 above square to give the feathers clearance.

I do add drops to the front of the fletching, i did the turning of my nock feather, i havent done the raising the nock thing though. I will try that tomorrow......thanks guys, appreciate the help!!

took me a while to figure out, i actually have scare on my left knuckle from repeated feather cutsr

I cut the snot out of my bow hand shooting the Maddog longbow my son got me. I figured I was choking up on the grip. My longbow has the carved grip and shelf that makes this impossible. Now I just remember to grip lower.

If your bow is tillered and tuned right, you should be able to shoot right off your knuckle, no shelf, without injury. And no, the arrow doesn't have to be nocked an inch high

X4 rise your nocking point

I was test driving a widow and it cut me up bad. Trimmed the feathers, made sure they were glued down tight and didn't grip so high. Haven't had any problems since. Thinking about it that was with the standard grip. My widow has a asbell grip.

If nothing else? Then get into the silk thread and wrapping at the front of the feather???

Your problem is not how you grip the bow or your nock point if the arrows are not porpoising. the problem is the leading edge of the feathers. You need to blend them into the shaft as was said above, and a spot of glue added to the end of the feather, you can also burnish the end of the feather with the shank of a screw driver before adding the glue. That will stop the cutting of your hand.

Bob

I agree-- try raising you nock point.

I'm not even sorry to say some of you will probably never get it. Cstyles said it early and aromakr said it again, taper the front of the quill and put a drop of Duco on it.

Saxton Pope said the same thing. I say as somebody said years ago, those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I took no chances I did all the above although I don’t shoot left wing (right handed) for that reason. Back when, late 70’s, right wing fletch was hard to get. So my fletchers I use 99% of the time are left wing.

This is what i got going on w my fletching......

Run the ball of a finger over the leading end of the quill. You will find one or more that is sharp or abrupt.

Some bows just don't fit your grip. As bad as I wanted to keep a Bear green stripe at one time, I couldn't . Now matter how much I trimmed fletching or raised nock point. Still got scars.

Picorancher71: Study the picture you posted: THERE IS NO SAFTEY GLUE SPOT ON THE LEADING EDGE!!!!! PUT ONE ON EACH FEATHER AND IT WILL STOP CUTTING YOUR HAND.

Bob

How about a glove on that hand? It looks like the feather vanes are raking across your knuckle.

That drop of glue on the leading edge of fletch is the finishing touch on all my arrows.

x 100 times or more there's been mention of the dab of glue will do you.

Anyone who makes arrows and don't dab the ends with glue should not be allowed to make arrows anymore.LOL

Because someone who hasn't learned yet can really get hurt so dab the sharp ends.

Not every bow you just get is properly tuned and when you shoot a bow for the first time you find out quickly if your feather ends aren't glue dabbed.

Just be aware of this its very important to avoid some injury that could happen. Not always but when it does then you will remember to look next time.

unhinged and all the rest who think this. FEATHER VANES NEVER CUT ANYTHING. It's always, and only able to be, the quill.

If the vanes could cut, I would get cut on every shot, because my index finger is the only rest for the arrow. I never violate my bow handles by cutting in a rest.

Thats not a cut, it's an abrasion caused by friction. I get that all the time shooting off my knuckle. Feather vanes are barbed like velcro, it's how the adhere to each other. But you are likely correct in that they don't cut anything, they do abrade. I always glue down the leading edge of my fletching.

If a vane is abrading skin, then yes, the nocking point is too low.

The bows fine you shoot with low hand pressure so your fingers high. In the old days most did glue their nocks till after fetching. Then the nocks were turned for clearance. Either turn your nocks or shoot cock feather in for the same effect.

After all the trouble of tuning a bow why would you ruin the tune by moving your nock point. My Sentman does the same to me because of the way I hold it so I turned the nocks and it stopped.

I trimmed and dabbed, and I still got the familiar sting on my hand. I then checked my nock height.........Mr. Pope was wrong. problem fixed by raising the nock point.

Pope was talking about cuts, not pressure abrasion. I told you above to raise your nocking point if the arrow was abrading your skin.

Pope was wrong about a thing or two, but that wasn't one of them.

Im surprised noones mentioned raise'n your brace height I have a longbow i shoot off the bow hand and if the brace height is properly set i dont have any issues with fletchings even contacting my hand after release Just a thougt

I agree with changes in nock point and maybe brace height.

I have had this problem mysteriously raise in the past, with all of my bow and arrow combos. It had nothing to do with tuning, or the feathers. It was a form issue. I was putting too much of the draw weight on my top finger, shooting split. Once I concentrated on bearing as much weight as I could on my middle finger, the problem was solved. The feathers should not be contacting your hand, if they are it is because your tune has changed, do to deviation in form, or string stretch lowering the fistmele and/or nocking point.

Lots of good advice on tuning and the famous drop of glue on the quill. However:

- For me, raising the nocking point works well until I shoot broadheads, then everything turns sour. If you raise your nocking point, be sure to check with broadheads before you get used to it.

- Don't just casually trim your quill and put a drop of glue on it. trim or sand it until it feels smooth, then glue, them trim again; repeat until it feels glass smooth. It may take a while.

I have the same exact scar on my right hand being a left hand shooter. Has happened a few times. Mostly when I held my hand to high up at the rest. Hurt like a bxxxxx especially when the fletch comes alil loose at the bottom and stabs me.

I had a short high performance bow without a shelf that I occasionally had problems with. I could shoot 50+ arrows at a 3D with issue but if I had a bad release the fletching would put a nice cut on my hand. That bow just required perfect form. Unfortunately after getting cut the release would get in my head and I would get bit again. It was a fun little rocket of a bow when I did everything right.

sometimes the feather is cutting and not the quill? But as mentioned use an blade and shave it down elevate the rest more sometimes helps

I noticed the other day I was getting bit a lot. examined my rest and the "match stick" had moved allowing the arrow to rest lower and closer to my hand. a minor adjustment and no cut

It would not be possible to cut anything but warm butter with a feather. I have used my hand for a rest for more than 20 years and have only ever been cut by a quill that was not properly trimmed.

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