As I’m planning by gear for a 2020 moose hunt I’m curious why some folks choose wood arrows? I’ve got a beautiful set of Douglas fir built and also a set of front loaded carbons. Now I have to make a decision which way to go. I enjoy building and shooting wood arrows but have always reached for carbon or aluminum when the chips were down. State your case for your choice!

The smell , the feel, the tradition and bottom line they work. It’s why I shoot a recurve and long bow and not a mechanical, it’s why I choose feathers and not vanes, it’s why I like to sharpen my broadheads and not use screw on razors. There may be more maintenance and upkeep as well as breakage but that’s not why in this sport. There are enough conveniences.

I just made up a dozen tapered cedars. They just have "class." Carbons are great for "function". I don't think there could be any questioning that, but fail in the area of "form". Aluminum fall in between. Might not make any sense......but that's just how I see the world.

The tradition and stone points are much easier to mount on wood.

I don’t feel I’m gving up anything with wood arrows. That’s all I shoot and since they shoot every bit as well as my friends carbon arrows, why would I not use them? Wood arrows are the best.

I also shoot all different arrows but there is just something about having and taking big game with a wood arrow. For me it just adds to the entire experience.

I just enjoy natural material for my selfbows, bamboo or wood. Out of my glass bows it makes no difference to me.

The other day my grandson was over shooting a compound that he plans to hunt with this year. His carbons were not doing so well and I had him try some of my heavy woods. They flew great. Something about that wood!

All I needed to read was what Jerry wrote. He put it perfectly

X3 what Jerry wrote. Just naturally goes hand in hand with trad shooting...wood is good..JMO

I would test to see which ones stabilized the best when you make a weak shot. Stuff happens when shooting at big animals. I have read of many close encounters when hunting moose, getting an arrow aligned with the broadhead will give more reliable penetration. Speaking as someone that has been chased and dang near pounded by two different moose, I would also consider checking out disposable diapers. A douglas fir with a 190 Ribtec should do the job.

I like how quiet they are out of all my bows.

I shoot carbons in 3d but when it comes to confidence in a hunting shot I always go back to what I started with, wood. go figure

My present hunting arrows are wood. I do shoot wood for “shooting “ as well but when I miss I expect a broken arrow, rocks and more rocks in our desert. I also shoot carbons and metal arrows. I like making arrows, period. Whether I need more or not. Woods involve more care while making them but that’s OK by me, I am retired and have some extra time now and then.

I only hunt with wood arrows ( mostly cedar ), I used maple and birch for elk. I do shoot aluminum at paper targets or 3D targets sometimes. Why do I like wood arrows ? I started shooting a bow with cedar arrows back in 1969 so maybe that has something to do with it. I love the smell of cedar. I also love building my own wood arrows ( mostly cedar ). I've been building my own since 1988. Sometimes I build them fancy ( with different size and shape fletching, spliced feathers, double crowns, marble crowns, and cresting ) and sometimes plain. Wood arrows in the 9gpp to 10gpp shoot quiet off my recurve bows. I like the way they look and feel. If the mosture content in them is 7% to 10% and they are sealed well they stay straight. I have wood arrows that are 20+ years old and are still as straight as when I built them. Here a picture of some of my latest cedars. There is just something special about a well built wood arrow, to me anyway. :)

A few more I built through the years.

Because I like them.

I shoot all manner of arrows. The first ones I ever used were cedar because they were what I could afford in the 1960's. I still shoot the along with aluminum and sometimes fiberglass. An arrow is an arrow but wood does have that natural thing going for it. Of course aluminum is the most abundant mineral in the earth's crust too so it's not like a foreign substance. ;)

I’d love to shoot cedar but with a 30” draw and needing 31” BOP minimum I’ve had no luck finding a cedar arrow that’d work for me. Finally gave up and reluctantly made the switch from aluminum to carbon about 10 years ago.

I shot broadhead leagues with a bunch of guys that shot cedar and I was jealous. When they’d break an arrow I’d pick up the broken shaft and “snap and sniff”. The aroma was intoxicating to say the least.

Wood arrows are just plain fun to build. A labour of love i suppose?

I like the beauty, the feel and the nostalgia of it all. I still remember the boxes lined up in the hardware stores. You could buy the whole box or individually. A lot of boxes were opened where 3 or 4 were sold. Cedar worked back then and it works just as good now.

Yellow dog call wapiti arrows. Their shaft are 33"

Wood is all I've used for many years, never shot a carbon arrow, and haven't shot an aluminum arrow in decades. No need. No interest. I've also never bought completed wooden arrows, but that's just me.

I like wooden arrows for all the reasons mentioned above. They're quiet, warm, organic, forgiving, classy, look great, are durable(I usually use hickory), and they just plain work, and have for many, many thousands of years. But basically, I love making stuff, especially when related to the hunt. Not only do I enjoy the processes, and acquiring of practical knowledge and experience in it, but it requires more personal investment, heightens the level of challenge a bit, and sweetens the rewards... and it's just plain fun.

I don't see a good reason not to.

They sure look good ! matched and straight they fly just as good, always seem a tad quieter, easy to tune without a lot of tinkering with point weight ect...

I rarely stump shoot, and if I missed the target a lot I probably wouldn't use wood. But truthfully my woodies last just as long as other arrows.

Used to be cheap was why I shot them long ago. POC at Rosecity was $40/100 then and they could be dipped and a bunch stuck in a leather back quiver. Nowdays folks like to create arrow artwork with their wood shafts, which I really enjoy looking at and think is fantastic.

I only shoot self bows these days so they seem to go together. My arrows are hand planed from pine stock. Jawge

Don't make the mistake and only take wood with yourself on this hunt. I take aluminum and carbon and wood with me on trips. I once had only woods with me on a trip and had wished i had aluminum and carbons. So from that time on I carried all my matched arrows to the bow I was shooting and on ready when called upon.

Do what you like but just a suggestion.

Because man, WOOD is traditional archery to me. I like aluminum. I like Carbon. But to me I just feel like cheating if I’m not shooting some sort of wooden arrow that I made myself. Wood arrows are just as accurate, just as forgiving (if not more) than other materials and just as deadly. In my experience their only deficit is penetration on big pigs- that is real and not perceived. Carbon will penetrate better from my set ups. Wood is QUIET from all my bows and in the quiver. Overall wood just feels RIGHT. I have contemplated on many occasion getting rid of ALL of my aluminum and carbon and screw in heads. My advice to you would be to make yourself a set of nice wood arrows, get them shooting well, and commit to them on your hunt. Seriously- if you succeed on your moose hunt using wood arrows you will probably NEVER stray from them.

WOOD IS GOOD!!

Let’s see some wood arrow -kills. That would be nice.

Here's a few Dendy.

Deer was shot with a cedar arrow. Bear and elk with a maple arrow.

I like wood for killing game, and I like it for grilling game. I've used all types of shafting for hunting and it all works just fine. I'm currently shooting woods again and that's mainly due to boredom with man-made materials. Some death-by- wood (and steel) photos:

Mr. Dill you are a big reason I bit the bullet and decided to make this moose hunting dream a reality. I’ll commit to hunt with wood arrows this fall and then make the final decision for the moose hunt over the winter. Thanks all. I just worry if my bow/arrow combination has what it takes. My arrows finish off at 630 grains with the 155 grain grizzly broadhead up front and my #59 Zipper Nitro gets right at 170 FPS. With them.

Great pictures! I’m tryin’ to talk Brad into taking wood arrows with him moose hunting. That moose picture is very inspiring. I’m hoping Darren H. sees this and posts his Meece. Mooses. Moosen.

Moose and spruce....or fir, as in Douglas...are a perfect pairing. The arrows below are Surewood Shafts and were built specifically for the moose in the picture above. One arrow and I watched him go down.

Sitka spruce

douglas fir...1st day of MD season couple years ago, sure glad he didn't go far was 90 degrees

douglas fir

I've killed elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, antelope, mountain lion, mountain goat, and missed shots at a big horn sheep and a caribou with wood arrows. When I finally draw a moose tag, I'll have some heavy hardwood arrows in my quiver then too.

If I lose or break a wood arrow, it just means I get to make some more! How much fun is that!!! Save the planet--shoot wood arrows!

Mike

I simply like everything about them. They fly better than any of us can shoot, they are quieter, warmer and much better looking than any other shaft material. Good quality shafts can be obtained from many sources and I happen to use Surewood Douglas Fir, the quality and straightness is always consistent there's really nothing not to like.

They are heavy enough as is, pretty and fly so nice when matched to the bow.

they've been killing game for 20,000 years, I guess they work good enough.

What’s not to like about wood arrows? The feel of shooting a beautifully built arrow and watching it hit its mark is all inspiring .

All shot with cedar arrows that I built. I love a well built cedar arrow.

I really enjoyed shooting cedar arrows. Then got tired of how expensive they were and the quality went out the window. I'm ready to try some douglas fir. Any idea where a 31.5inch 2117 with 145 up front would fall in spine when ordering from surewoods

I have several hundred arrows of all makes and models to choose from every time I pick up a bow to go shoot. Nothing says "traditional archery" to me like a cedar woodie I've made or one that has been created by a friend. They are things of beauty. Objects w/ stories and worth. Not something just to be bought and then destroyed. A well made set of wood arras are as important as the bow you shoot. Life is too short to shoot an ugly arra.

I shot Port Orford cedar (which isn't a true cedar species at all) for many years. Chamaecyparis lawsonia is actually a false cypress tree. Anyway...I loved the flight of POC arrows but always thought they lacked something for penetration in tougher game or marginal hits. Call it a percentage thing. A slender (but strong) carbon out-penetrated my cedars...broadhead or field point mounted.

Nowadays I'm shooting Douglas fir. I still think my Beman/Easton shafts out-penetrate everything I've ever used. The fir shafts are very strong however, and much better for me than POC. They hold up well and penetrate very well.

And while I'm here: I personally found it very difficult to get a carbon arrow and wood arrow to perform identically during the shot and flight. I could shoot either one well, but they just didn't ever fly or impact the same...even when supposedly matched up for spine and weight.

I liked wood shop in HS better than metal shop. I still like working with wood much better. Cedar smells great, I like the sound and feel of wood much better. I also like wood baseball bats far more than aluminum ones.

Wooden arrows built from scratch for self bows is what I choose.

Remember all of those Ribtecs that got sold real cheap. I have put a bunch of those on arrows for friends, on a wood arrow the glue on real secure and fly through deer as good as any head and arrow combo that I have ever seen. I you are using those go with Surewood, if you are using some super extra expensive over priced head, carbon.

Hill Tembo,leather back quiver and wood arrows!!! Simplicity and Perfection,what's not to like????

Just a good match with my old Razorheads.

All very good answers. I love threads about wood arrows.

My wood arrows give me the weght I need to get pass throughs! and the feel of a matched weight arrow is better then the dry fire feel of carbon , for me that is. second is aluminum for me

First for me are hardwoods, seconds are any conifers, metals and synthetics don't rank, disqualified if ya will ;^) bllahahaha!

I just like them best,,

Here is a old picture of a small hog I shot with a hickory arrow.

Another hog I shot with a birch arrow. Sorry the picture isn't to great. It rained everyday of that hunt. Everything got soaked.

Ive shot everything. Wood is my favorite. More work imo, but I love em.

Those are impressive NEMO- it’s clear that you know what you’re doing. I hope to see some more good pictures here because I know there are some awesome hunters on the LW! Fall is approaching and threads like this get me going!

Me and a friend of mine.

I find wood arrows to be exponentially quieter when shot out of a bow ...

Dendy, Both you and your buddy's arrows look nice. What are they ? Cedar ?

That set is Fir. I think Jim had carbon that day.

I like wood arrows. I don't like carbon arrows. Really, that's what it boils down to. I don't like arguing obvious facts between the two. To each, his own. Use what you like and what you see as best for you. I like a solid, dense arrow. I like building wood arrows. Contrary to what the carbon guys will tell you, they are NOT always warped or bent. They are NOT always broken. If the archer pays attention to his equipment and takes good care of it, they never are. How did Pope and Young get by without carbon arrows? I think they did quite well. How did all the field archers get by 100 years ago without carbon arrows? Wood arrows worked back then and they do now. It takes a bit of work and attention to use wood arrows, but there are many benefits too. I use what I like. Everyone else should too.

To expand on Yankee's little treatise, good cedar arrows need little care other than keeping them relatively dry and just checking them now and then. I still have some very old cedars, some from the late 50's that came from Hugh Rich's shop in California, and they spin as true as just about any synthetic. People will defend their choices and that's a good thing. If you know what works well for you, then there is little need to experiment.

I use wood quite a bit or hunting, and this year, since I'm using my self osage bow, it will be cedar. I have this mental block that won't allow me to shoot anything but wood off my selfbows...it just ain't right, I tell you. ;))).

I have quite a number of arrows in my bow room (cellar) and use them all in my archery madness; but yes, the wood arrows do have an aura about them, and that is how it should be I suppose.

Here is a cedar arrow I've owned since the late 1970s. I have never straightened it and it is still perfectly straight. Like I said above if you make sure the mosture content is 7% to 10% and seal it good they don't take very much maintence.

Just a thought - if you decide on wood arrows I would also take couple of your carbons as well in case of a fall or some other accident that may break your woodies; you will still have the carbon ones.

I just got into making wood arrows two years ago and I will use them from now on. I like to tinker with my bows and right now I can shoot both 55/60 and 60/65 with the same point just by adjusting my brace height.

No matter what material arrows you use you can never have enough arrows. All of these are wood. Some are cedar, pine, birch, and maple. My last count I have around twenty-two dozen.

I've hunted in some rather steep and not so stable country in over fifty years and never once broke an arrow unless it was from shooting it into something I shouldn't have. I've fallen several times while carrying a bow with a bow quiver and each time I just pitched it out of the way before hitting the ground...something I learned early-on after hearing horror stories of guys falling on their arrows. Your just as likely to break a composite arrow or bend an aluminum by falling on them. I don't own any carbon either but do have a few Microlite composite fiberglass arrows. I like them because they have mass already built in.

I dont shoot wood because i cant hardly find a wood arrow that will spine correctly at my draw long draw length..

love wood...using grass now too. To me they are easy and simple and I can make them.

They work.

I still have a dozen cedar arrows from Feline Archery. Painted and crested, they are just as straight as the day they were bought. I still shoot them occasionally, couldn't begin to tell you when I got them. There are 2 missing from the dozen both from deer kills.

I find that usually the arrows that get broken are when I shoot a deer. Arrow material don't matter much, as they often all get broken or ruined from the kill.

Otherwise there hasn't been much difference in durability between wood, aluminum, or carbon for me. I don't target shoot into things that break arrows. lol...guess I'm to cheap to stump shoot.

Steve, I remember Feline Archery well. They were only about nine or ten miles from my house. I use to buy stuff there quite often when I was younger. Dotty Nelson use to work there, she opened her own archery shop when Feline Archery closed called Nelson's Arrows. I still remember all the animal mounts they had there and when you walked in the door on the right wall was a big show case and behind the glass was a full polar bear mount.

I have been using PO cedar for over fifty years in my selfbow hunting, I simply never had a desire or reason to change.

Successful bow and arrow hunting takes time, energy, and practice. I concentrate there, not in improving my equipment and abilities through technology. Having said that, my restrictions cause me some lost opportunity at harvesting animals. That is part of the traditional bow and arrow game, the best part IMO.

Some more I built:

Left: Maple

Right: Cedar

I love woods!!! I love making them and shooting them. First couple of deer I killed years ago were with aluminum, but all since have been with wood.

Here are a set I used elk hunting . . .

A set I used during 2016 season -

Stringmaker, Those are some beautiful arrows.

Thanks Frank! Those you posted look great also . . .

Lots of beautiful arrows posted here.

Michael

A set for my selfbow -

Michael

Very nice stringmaket!!! Good looking sticks.

This may not go down very well ... but ..... carbon arrows are an environmental disaster

Bump. For the woodies...Me and my future little hunting buddy.

I agree with you Phil!

Beautiful buck (and child) Sawtooth.

Shot this one with a wood arrow and 160gn Ace from a Wing Gull.

Very nice pictures guys. Wooden arrows are my choice too, for over fifty years.

I shot wood for several years, and tried carbons thinking they'd survive my stumping habit a lot better. They still mushroomed, broke, nocks popped off, seemed loud, got lost just as easily, and I started accumulating all sorts of inserts and nocks due to lack of compatibility between brands. Had a much harder time tuning them. Didn't want to get a cut off saw to shorten them, and didn't like the non-renewable aspect. Back to woods (Doug Fir, especially). An 11/32 point and nock for whatever wood I'm shooting. Glue 'em on and done. They're quiet. Most point breaks repaired with RepArrows. Worse breaks used for kindling. Less carbon intensive. Cut to length with a pocket knife. No heavy FOC to accommodate tuning. Etc.

I like the versatility of wood. You can get different weights and diameters in your spine of choice a lot easier than with aluminum or carbon. I like tapered shafts for the little amount of forward weight it offers with out having to use real heavy points. Making them up in the cold winter months after hunting season is over helps with the winter blues. I do have some aluminum shafts and would choose them over carbon any day, for me they're easier to tune and come in a wide variety of spine and price.

For all the reasons given above and then some... Been shooting wood since the '60s and making my own since the '80s. Mostly POC but Doug fir, Ash, hickory, couple others. I'll be making some from Red Oak soon and a friend that's been building selfbows has some cherry he cut down he's going to give me. I've shot some of his oak and cherry arrows and they flew beautifully.

These I just recently finished for my oldest grandson, sporting Magnus 125s for this season. Nothing fancy, just basic cresting and no splices on the feathers...he goes thru them too quick. ;))

More of his arrows. The white feathers with field pts, the rest have Ace blunts and Judos.

Great post! Keep thinking about going back to woodies, make a crester, and have some fun. Really enjoy looking at everhyone's art work.

Been a long long time since I used them. It was so far back in time, they were $40/100 for POC shafts at Rose City. Solid laquer dipped them an used them for all types of hunting, from rabbits to deer, or for simple feather wrapped flu flus to scare the squirrels. Might just make up some soon. An encouraging post. Hope some more folks post photos of their woodies.

Dang mike! You have a plethora of arrows.

LOL yea that was back years ago when you could get 100 shafts for around $165 or so. Also had 40+ bows, I have since come to my senses. Four bows and three different spines. Probably have about 100 arrows or so.

I only ever shoot and hunt with wood. I shoot an ASL bow and wood just feels "right" out of those bows. Carbon was very difficult to tune and just never felt "right". HEAVY wood arrows out of an ASL is the quietest possible arrow. I have never had a deer jump the string.

I went moose hunting in Quebec in 2013. I had an ASL with wood arrows, my brother had his latest greatest compound at 65 lbs and carbon arrows. His arrows had these little steep angle broadheads with total carbon arrow weight of 450 grains. I told him, right bow, wrong arrows. He hit a good bull moose on day 2 and heard a LOUD crack (bone) got really poor penetration and we never found the moose. I felt bad for the poor animal. So did he.

I followed the Ashby recommendations. Heavy wood (douglas fir) with a 200 grain grizzly 2 blade single bevel. 650 grains total arrow weight. Everyone in camp laughed at me when I shared the Ashby info about a heavier arrow, higher FOC, and slower overall flight. They really laughed at my wood arrows for moose. My ASL was only 54 lbs draw.

Day 4 I hit a bull in the heart. Great arrow flight, quiet shot and great penetration. The single bevel 2 blade made a mess out of the heart and lungs. When we field dressed the moose, everyone in camp looked at the damage inside the chest cavity and wanted to see my arrows and broadheads. "There's no way that 'toy' did all this damage". They actually looked through my quiver to see if I was lying. They were all crossbow and compound guys.

Don't underestimate heavy, high FOC, heavy 2 blade broadhead wood arrows. That's been killing animals for a loooong time. LOVE WOOD.

Carbon arrows are an environmental disaster waiting to happen, Wood and feathers biodegrade

I didn't, they chose me. 'The wand choses the wizard'.

I didn't, they chose me. 'The wand choses the wizard'.

I like mostly to shoot them out of longbows. Here are some of mine.

Truth be told I do like you do, Biathlonman...time to hunt I go for the carbons or my trusty 2016s. Still, for years I had this sort of tradition where I would usually make a dozen or so wood arrows every season. I used to put a good deal of effort into making them up right...weight, spine, straightness, correct nock and broadhead alignment...I really made sure they were going to be as good as I could make them. I generally only shot them with a longbow...usually a mild r/d like my Mohawk or Big Five. I did actually hunt a couple times with them but it was usually just for a day or two out of a season. Maybe when I was feeling nostalgic..lol... I'm honestly not sure.

I think though that I want every advantage I can get when I'm planning to shoot at an animal and the aluminum and carbon are more consistent. I'm more than sure I don't shoot well enough for it to matter...the arrow is more capable than I am...but why chance it

Some fine looking arrows Reddogge.

Thanks Steve. The bottom ones were done for grandsons. The top two were made from Port Orford cedar shafts I found in my basement from the early 80s. Some real "new old stock."

fletched up some forester red balau 5/16 to shoot out of my Border. It loves these heavies. I realize this is heresy, don't care, this with a tuffhead on the front is my elk setup.

When I first started shooting again almost 6 years ago, after not shooting for 40 years, I had to get bows and arrows. I wanted wood b/c they are wood. I have enough plastic, carbon and metal stuff in the rest of my life.

I wanted to be able to shoot like Jeff Kavanagh, put out two swinging candles with one arrow. Mentors told me for that kind of accuracy I needed carbon. I resisted. I finally found some fletchers who would make arrows matched to 1-2#s, and grain matched +/- 5 grains. As good as or better than most carbons.

It's too windy where I shoot to shoot at swinging candles, but I've done pretty well with woodies. These arrows were made for me for this 28#, 64" Kodiak Deluxe by Suzanne St. Charles. This is is what woodies can do. 70 yards instinctive shooting.

Shooting wood arrows from a wooden recurve or longbow is what is meant to be....to me.

Love working with wood, and love the smell of cedar. Fletched these up this week while watching ALCS, World Series and football.

I made them various configurations, so I can tell them apart. Nothing fancy, just basic stuff. Marked one with CC Sabbathia's last pitch, this is the one I finished just as he went out hobbling with his last professional appearance with the Yankees. He's probably done. This arrow is dedicated to him.

I use wood arrows for the same reason I don't own an in-line muzzleloader. It is not traditional.

I use wood because nothing else feels right out of an ASL style bow. I remember getting a test kit of carbons over 10 years ago. I was excited about finding the right spine and switching over to an arrow that i thought would improve accuracy and broadhead options.

The arrows never flew right, never felt right, and just sounded bad out of traditional longbow. Matter of fact...I hated them. I remember taking those carbons into the garage, fed up, grabbing my cedars, going back out to the yard and putting three arrows in the center of the target. Arrow flight was perfect, the bow was perfectly quite and the bow was free of any handshock or shot vibration.

For me the experiment was over right there. Well made, properly tuned woodies are killer, literally.

I love this thread. Good choice to send to the top RW.

I'm a tapered Ash and Maple fan.

This buck taken with a Port Orford Cedar arrow through a JD Berry built ASL. Pretty trad combo, and I love to shoot wood (mostly cedar) through the ASL bows and self bows. Very traditional and cool feel. JW

Aluminum makes a great arrow and carbon does what it does pretty well BUT to this redneck, nothing is like working with and shooting wood. It just fits.

Shot with a cedar arrow.

Cedar arrow.

Cedar arrow in my longbow days.

Another one with a cedar arrow.

They just work n no need to change that

Making my own arrows since the 60s. Never shot anything but wood.

Deno

nostalgia/tradition/just because/.......aside,

is there a reason that wood arrows seem to fly so well?

i recently got a DH hi speed,

tuned it with heavy carbons and was getting very good flight.

then, got some tapered woodies in a trade, tried them, and they fly so incredibly straight, without even the slightest bit of wobble.

flew so good im going to order a dozen more tapered shafts this evening :)

I have been making and shooting POC for over 50 years. As others have stated, the romance of shooting a traditional bow is better fulfilled by shooting traditional arrows., and I don’t feel that I’m giving up any shooting performance. Making my own arrows is an important and enjoyable part of the experience for me. With +90% of my shooting consisting of hunting and roving(stump shooting), the Idea of breaking or loosing an arrow is inconsequential. I happily make some more.

That’s good to hear Craig. I can’t wait to see them. I like the skull.

Some sweet arrows and nice animals, guys! If this pic shows, these are some turkey arrows for this coming season. Probably gonna get some spliced feathers. Thinking green barred/grey nock end.

Craig, awesome hunt story... just AWESOME! Brought back memories. I shot a buck with a stickbow on a deer drive too... and watched him drop... a little non-typical... can't even remember how many legit points he had now, 7 or 8, don't matter. Great day, just like yours was. Congrats.

Nemo, I like your style. Those look like most of the bucks I've been grateful to bring home. I'm gonna have to break out some old 'hard copy' pics one of these days and post em here.

I buy arrows by spine weight 50,55,60,65,70,75,80,etc..., not deflection. Plus I want then a certain length so I buy aluminum and wood. In my mind wood just goes with longbows. Call it nostalgia. For recurves I shoot aluminum. W the at is your bow weight. Under 50 I'd advise the carbons, 50+ wood.

I remember the first dozen I bought in the mid 80s they cost me $26 shipped to me

They look good :^)

And they work very well on dangerous game.

The many reasons above is why i only shoot wood! Just a few pic’s of many dozens i built.

I started shooting woods many years ago...mainly to prove to myself I could kill big game with them. After proving that for decades and too many times to count I had nothing left to prove. So I shot them for aesthetics. When the aesthetics no longer mattered I still shot them because they were all I knew by then.

And when all I knew no longer mattered I shot carbons.

Jerry, you could't say it better!

I was shooting a new bow the other night, I've been using carbons most of the year and was shooting 400's out of it around 200 gr up front.

I had some douglas fir spined about right for that bow so shot a couple out of it. My first impression was wow they fly nice and they were a tad quieter, not a huge difference but enough to notice.I've had woodies impress me more than once, nothing new there.

it could have been because they were heavier possibly, but at any rate. Why choose wood arrows? answer....why not?

Craig, Love those blue ones, and your story. Yewbender, same for the orange ones and the red and white. Nice!

All my turkey are taken with wood.

Never shot a carbon or aluminum arrow out of the only bow I have shot since 1985, a Meigs longbow. I hare hunt with it and ran out of 40+ arrows a while back that disappeared into the 4-5 feet of snow. Come Spring I will go searching and start making up shafts for next winter. I don’t think I could afford carbon for snow hunting. My homemade woodies are cheap. I use wild turkey feathers, shell casings, and local birch. Nocks are all I buy. For deer hunting I splurge on Douglas Fir shafts or ash, though ash is getting scarce, but I have a few on my wood lot. My longbow likes wood, but it’s all she knows.

I'm just a bad person I guess. I have lots of arras. Allllllll kinds. Shot them all. But when I see a quiver of aluminums or carbon, I just shrug. Good performance but no romance, no magic. When I see a quiver full of quality wood arras...now that is something that screams the traditional experience. Just the way I am.

Just finished these

They're beautiful, stout, very traditional, and quiets my bows. Love'em! I've tried the others, no go fo' sho'! POCedar and fir are my favs! Wyatt

I can make them myself, as above, and lots of fun to boot!

aeronut & Jerry hit it right in the bull's eye !!!!!!!

I guess because I love how they look I love how they feel, which is hard to explain I love how they fly. I do love my Douglas Fir.

I like the feel and they don't clank around in my quiver the way carbons do. Also just finished making 32 poplar shafts. Cost $0.29 each shaft plus work. Making shafts is a good winter time activity. Chuck S

Wood is good. That’s all I shoot.

Wooddamon1, I like your green marbled crowned arrows. Very nicely done.

A few more of mine.

There is no reason a wood arrow can't do anything a carbon or aluminum arrow can do. They are just more work. Carbon and aluminum are the easy way out and they have no soul. Longbows and wood arrows just belong together. No carbon arrow has ever touched any of my longbows.

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