I've been working hard at getting back to what for me has been normal shooting. So I have also been trying some stuff with my equipment just our of curiosity.

Four bows: a 56" hybrid that is 45# at 28", a 56 inch hybrid that is 56# at 28", a 66" longbow that is 44# at 28 ", a 66" longbow that is 52# at 28". The two longbows are R/D. All four bows are cut close to but not at center.

Four arrows: POC spined 45-49# with 125 grain points, POC spined 55-59# with 125 grain points, 1916 aluminums with 125 grain points, 2016 aluminums with 125 grain points. All arrows are 29" long to the back of the point.

I have shot all four arrows with all four bows. That is 16 possible combinations. In all cases when I get off a good clean release with a good follow through the arrows fly straight and hit where I am aiming. There are no obvious (to me anyway) problems with any of the combinations. I don't have and never will have any carbon shafted arrows so I can't enter them into my observations.

My conclusion is that bows (my bows at least) are more sensitive to my shooting than they are to spine and arrow material differences. I don't pretend to be a world class archer but I do try hard to shoot as well as I can.

Just curious if anyone else has seen the same or similar results.

Bill -

Fact is, with fletched arrows at spitting distances, the equipment has to be pretty badly mismatched for there to be any noticeable problems. As distances get longer and demands get tighter, then little things start to matter.

So yes, the weakest link is always the shooter.

Viper out.

Form is usually the weak that breaks down the shot. Steady at the shot bare down and follow through.

Agree that's it's more the shooter than the match of arrows to bows. However, it's also been my experience that most bows will shoot a range/more than one range of arrow spines well, particularly on the overspined side.

This is a 17.3 accuracy group. That is spitting distance. Viper can shoot at 70 meters.

Tony, would you post that picture?

Bowmania

I generally do almost all of my shooting between 15 and 30 yards. I can shoot farther in my yard but don't often do so. But I durn shure know I cain't spit that fer. I don't shoot any NFAA field archery any more with their 80 yard targets. As a matter of fact I don't know of any NFAA shoots near me. Everybody seems to stick with 3D these days.

Viper, I appreciate your comments. You have always seemed to keep the common sense and simplicity in this game of archery. I can certainly understand your spitting distances comment when compared to reaching out to 70 meters and beyond.

I just don't see some of the obsession with fine tuning spine to such a fine degree that people are trimming fractions of an inch off arrows. I think most of them are shooting at those spitting distances the vast majority of the time.

Bill -

I look at it this way… If I am tuned to the point where bare shafts and fletched arrows land in the same spot at 20 yards (to the best of my ability), then when I launch a shot 60 or 80 yards and it falls off-line…

No question that it’s operator error.

If you’re going to shoot Long, you have to be confident that errors are your fault - otherwise, excuses creep in and you never improve.

But it IS nice to know that you can grab a quiver filled with whatever you've got on hand and that it won’t completely crush your hopes of decent shooting.

I have had similar results with very similar bow weights and arrows. Out to 25yds., there is virtually no difference. Beyond that, things begin to change. To simplify my life, I have settled on 2114 and 2016 for all my shooting. My arrows are all 29" with 125grn heads.

Bill -

You're absolutely right, for most people if the fletched arrows appear to fly straight, the odds are the tune is close enough.

At 20 yards, the difference between a perfectly tuned right and an "close enough for gov't work" rig might be a small fraction of an inch in group size. Usually adequate for the needs of most shooters. Sure, you can tune more, but the odds are it's not going to buy you much.

Tuning is a necessary skill in your arsenal, but like any tool, you have to know when it's appropriate and how much of it to use.

Viper out.

I brought this subject up because it seems that much of the obsession with ultra fine tuning the spine of the arrow is way beyond what the vast majority of us need to be concerned about. If someone just thoroughly enjoys doing such micro-tuning more power to them. But if an arrow flies straight and hits what it is supposed to then let's go shoot.

Personally I am not a big believer in the bare shaft religion. I tried it almost twenty years ago with three of the four bows I listed. I firmly believe it leads to too stiff an arrow for many if not most longbows that aren't cut to center. I believe that to err on the weaker side of spine requirements results in a much more forgiving arrow. For those who are shooting many of the newer metal risers with ILF limbs or some of the other newer designs cut to center or beyond maybe it works better.

I have also seen where many carbon shafts are labelled with spine ranges like 35-55 and so on. That is a pretty broad range of potential compatibility. And if they are fairly skinny shafts being used on a shelf cut past center then spine is not as big an issue. I could be mistaken since I don't play with carbon shafts. Even my Olympic recurve uses Easton X7's.

At any rate I just thought I would bring up a bit of discussion on the subject. I am perfectly happy with the way my arrows behave and also getting happier with my own shooting now that I am getting back to working on it more often.

Bill, I have found the same, I shoot generally a number of different arrows that were tuned to different bows, but the biggest thing is that the different bows didn't vary much in poundage so the arrows won't make a lot of difference.

If you look real close you can see a little stiffness in some when shot or they will hit just left of the center at longer distances, but as Viper stated not enough for anyone to notice.

about five years ago Tony helped me get back on track with my shooting and I thank him for it, now physical limitations are getting in the way, but I am working on that.

Good luck on your shooting and keep at it, sounds like you are doing great.

To the OP, was your observations based on field tips or broadheads, would love to know if you get the same results with broadheads if your current results were with field points.

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