Over the past few months I've been using different shaft materials...all of which work and fly well, but I still favor wood. Maybe it's an old guy thing, creature of habit thing...who knows but wood just suits me better. To me all things being equal,the way wood reacts coming off the bow seems different...smoother in a sense in making the transition around the riser than manufactured materials such as carbon, aluminum, ETC. After trying and and shooting different materials of shafting, have others found wood to be there first choice as well?

I’m with you Paul. Wood is my first choice whether they are store bought or of my own making. Aluminum comes in second and I don’t have a carbon arrow in the house! Lance

Wood is also my first choice. I like bamboo as well. I do own some Bear and Browning Micro-Flytes, but they’re just for collecting, maybe shooting the fat ones occasionally.

Me too.

It's all just a personal preference. I shoot aluminum and wood ( hardwoods and softwoods ) but I do prefer cedar arrows the most. I like the way they shoot and I like the way they look. And I love making my own.

I like wood always have . I like cedar but have been shooting these bearpaw spruce and they are good . they have been in short supply so i guess i will have to shoot a little more carefully so i do not loose or break as many .aluminium is good it is my second choice . i only ever shot one or two carbons they are ok i just never got into them .

I shoot aluminum mostly but wood arrows are definitely quieter, at least to my ears.

Well wood was the only choice at one time. A well made wood arrow is as good of choice as any when hunting.

Wood (tapered Maple) is my go to shaft. Have hunted with aluminum over the years as well. Fiddled with carbons a bit, but never shoot at anything but foam. Wood just has soul and even if I have not made the arrows, it just feels right!

I too prefer wood arrows... I my experience I cannot afford wood arrows. I would dearly love to know where I could buy QUALITY wood arrows or shafts that have the same specs as carbons.

Around 6 years ago I ordered wood arrows all the same weight and exact spine. I still have over half of them but they are like treasures that I don't shoot often. The very first 3D I used them two got ruined buy another shooter. The other guy was a kid that I helped get started that's simply a natural GREAT shot.

A while back I bought a bunch of shafts that were all suppose to be the same spine. I actually spent a better part of a day grouping them by weight. A good friend asked if I had spine tested them, I said no that I paid extra to have them all the same spine. Well after I spine tested I soon realized that I had shafts from 40-70# spine. That was the day I stopped trying to get perfect wood arrows.

Can't compare materials. I never shot anything but wood.

Deno

I like wood too the best. Much better looking but my carbons are straighter and shoot and penetrate better and are harder to break.,

I mostly shoot carbon because of the butts our range uses. However, I love wood. My go to bow is Bear Montana. This bow with wood arrows is absolutely dead silent. The only thing you hear is the arrow hitting the intended target. Plus, like you folks mentioned, the are very nice in the eyes and have such a nice flight.

caughtandhobble, there are still suppliers who will match both spine and weight and in my opinion, the arrows are just as good as they ever were, just more expensive. I'm not in love with any particular arrow shaft material, but I don't shoot any carbons. I probably would if they had the mass like aluminum does, but they don't. I do have some old Microflite arrows that I use quite a lot nowadays. I have cedars and aluminum as well and shoot all three. Last time I bought German Spruce from Kustom King, they were very well matched.

When I started back in 1969/70, fiberglass, aluminum and wood (Bear cedar arrows) were the arrows that we could find. The first deer I killed in Sept. of 1973 was a full length 2018 with 5 and 1/2 inch feathers with a Bear Razorhead out of a 45 lb.Bear Kodiak Magnum. I still have the arrow. It was one of those Swift shafts that didn't have a finish, just bare aluminum. I have used all the different materials listed above as well as carbon. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but for me; wood is my favorite. Yes, carbon is straigher and more durable, but I still like my wood. Aluminum is the king for being consistent in spine, but I still like my wood. I love making them, shooting them, and hunting with them. They have their own unique personality and traits. To me, they are an integral part of traditional archery.

Port Orford Cedar forever.

Good thing we don't have to choose just one eh?

I prefer wood arrows also. They may not be as straight as aluminum or carbon but but they still always seem to fly well. They are unbeatable for quietness. Aluminum shafts fly well but can be a bit noisy. I've tried several brands of carbon shafts but didn't think my arrow flight was on par with wood or aluminum.

Once tuned they all fly the same, for my average skill level anyway. Wood is by far my favorite.

Like I said above I shoot aluminum and wood now. And I've shot carbon a few times to try them out and they all shoot good off my bows. But for me there is just something special about a well made cedar arrow. Specially one I made. :)

Always wood. A Meigs Hill style bow and wood arrows. Made for each other, and I like making them.

All I have ever shot is wood, all the way back to the seventies. I actually know nothing about the numbers assigned to aluminum and carbon shafts. I have left plenty space in the hard drive in my head for loftier issues. Life is much simpler shooting wood! TLM

All my arrow are wood - mostly Doug Fir, but Sitka Spruce and cedar also. Tried carbons for year or so... they're definitely not for me. Would still like to try some aluminums just to see what they're like, but pretty sure I'll be sticking with wood regardless. Simple, natural materials, few parts and they don't move, quiet, easy to tune... plus I enjoy building and tweaking them.

Man i just love woodies,,,.not better,not nothing,,,it just feels good to me,,,makes my bow happy too...which in turn makes me a better shot....

I love wood. It just seems to fit. I like shooting all arrows but wood is and probably will forever be, my favorite. I introduced a little piggy to some Douglas fir just this past Thursday.

Shoot my first Cedar arrow 35 years ago n never looked back now I’ve been restoring old 40-50 year old arrows i can find man are they nice

Me three.

I shoot wood arrows because I like them, that's all. I don't give a rat's rump how durable or straight or whatever a carbon guy argues about their arrows. They can have them, it's a free country. We use what we like, right? I like to build wood arrows. I like to shoot wood arrows. I like how they look, feel, sound, and shoot, and I like glue on points and nocks. I like materials that grew from a tree. I like the responses I get from people that know the difference when they see wood arrows in my quiver and ask why I don't shoot carbon arrows. I like to talk with them about it. I do not have that interest in carbon arrows. I'm done now.

I enjoy makin' 'em up. They're more versital than the other choices. Taper, taper both ends, make 'em any color you want easily, so many varieties of wood. What i like most is that you can get different weights in the same spine.

I love wood arrows first and foremost. So far I like POC best but have tried a number of different woods over the years. I do have aluminum arrows in my arrow bucket and shoot them occasionally just because the urge hits me. I don't have a single carbon arrow and have always sworn that no carbon arrow will ever touch my longbows. It is just a me thing. I think carbon arrows are just too cold and unappealing.

Wood arrows are the coolest! That being said, all arrows are pretty darn cool. It definitely requires more work to shoot wood over carbons. I don't really have any experience with aluminum.

I like the Douglas fir Surewood Shafts. Those guys are always nice to deal with.

Yes.

Wood arrows. Wood bows. Simple. Effective. Grow on trees. Nothing more than I need. And not anything that I need done for me.

Have come full circle back to woodies..! Just feel right on a traditional bow. I detest losing an 11$ carbon while shooting foam. I crown dip..crest and fletch my own arrows. Not leaving wood again..

Yes, I prefer wood also. Really enjoy making them.Just posted pictures of a set I am working on on the Arrows of thread.

Michael

Back in the 70s my brother Spiro of eternal memory hunted with fiberglass arrows and recurves. We also shoot po cedar.

Now I only wooden arrows. In fact, I hand plane my own shafts from mainly white pine. Just seem to go with shooting self bows.

Jawge

I tried aluminum (too many damaged on stumps) and have used carbon. Even tried some fiberglass shafts. Carbon shoots very well and is rugged.

I like wood better than aluminum and carbon would be great if the wood supply dries up. But as wood is available and I like fashioning tapered arrows from it (PO C and D. fir) that will be what I use in the foreseeable future and likely what I finish up with.

You mean to tell me there are arrows not made of wood? Who knew? Wood is the best.

Robbie 59. You have not found the right Carbon that is tuned correctly.

I miss making my own with wood shafts, Heck i'm not even sure where to buy a good wood shaft anymore... Havent even thought about it till this post. I do miss a well made wood shaft

Hutch

While ( have tried aluminum, and various types of wood, I’ve never been comfortable with anything but my arrows made from POC shafts for over 35 years.

I have hundreds of arras. I can reach and get most any type of arra material I want to shoot. I can tell you that I use wood for mass shooting w/ the public. Cheaper arra. So many get broken or lost. I use carbon when teaching instinctive shooting where I can spend time w/ the student. Aluminum sets for long draw folks and kids where I can actually match the arra to the bow. All of this is simply making use of what I have on hand. As for me.........I shoot wood. POC is my choice. All of them will shoot. But the POC is what I like best.

Wood for self bows always, but carbon for glass recurves, and long bows.

I have an opinion to share but do not wish to sway yours, mine is no more valuable than yours. hehe.

Just switched from aluminum to wood. Have only shot recurve for 12 years and when I started I bought a custom bow and was told here is the arrow you should shoot. I learned how to reproduce that arrow and shot it for 12 years.

Recently I bought arrow milling equipment from a defunct shaft maker. (paradox archery). I have started milling my own shafts from lodgepole. I have found the best arrow to shoot from lodgepole, and I am making tons of those. I have all my aluminum arrows in a bundle and looking for the right person to hand them off to. Once I change something, I am an all in guy.

So my opinion, Wood. And a hope that as more technology saturates our sport that more people go back to the roots and start shooting wood.

oz

I shoot and like all arrow materials besides old fiberglass (don't own any), but it seems whenever a hunting season is coming up, out come the woodies. Shooting a longbow again now and wood just seems to go with it like PB&J. I must have at least 200 arrows made up nowadays. Got burnt out making up woodies for a while, then made up a six-pack mid-season while chomping at the bit to get back out in the woods. Working on a home-made arrow tapering jig now in my spare time, next shoot or show I make it to I plan to stock back up on shafts. Good way to kill time when I can't make it out after the small, furry stuff after deer season ends

There will always be purists, and there will always be wood. I shoot alum, never had a carbon, but i would go to wood before carbon.

A few years ago I wanted to make a small wood drift type boat for fly fishing rivers and found a wood boat forum for ideas. Plenty of purists there too. They would say "If God wanted us to have fiberglass boats he would have planted fiberglass trees!" wow. Guess same could be said for arrows too :)

I can't shoot aluminum's anymore because of lengths of size, now shooting carbons because I can get 32" shafts, may go to wood just because. I have no issues with the carbons.

Past few days just finishing up a few of Kevin Forrester Mahogany hardwoods and today...finished up the last of my Quillian Superceeders. Used up all my Bohning Flo Pink and white paint. From now on..hot pink feathers over a Rustoleum crown dip.

Arrow rack all filled...L to R...Mahogany arrows, Doug Fir and the fully dipped Sky Blue 2117's.

Nice boat, Mike T! If this works from my phone, these are the Hunter orange cedars I made up mid-season.

Dangit! Anyway, the cap is actually florescent orange, much brighter than the pic shows.

Thanks wooddamon. Lots of nice looking arrows. There is something about the warmth of wood.

Wood is good! I have tried aluminums and they worked fine. Tried a dozen carbons and traded them very quickly. Just weren't for me. I prefer Port Orford and Douglas fir for more than 30 years.

Stealth, Those sky blue are really nice. Is that Rustoleum or Bohning? Thanks TLM

Woodies for my longbows but my widow likes carbons more for some reason but yes I prefer to make my own cedars. Sry rewarding taking animals with your own arrows. Great looking boat !! I love a wooden canoe too but can’t afford one :(

Woodies for my longbows but my widow likes carbons more for some reason but yes I prefer to make my own cedars. Sry rewarding taking animals with your own arrows. Great looking boat !! I love a wooden canoe too but can’t afford one :(

Five years ago, I bought about 500 used arrows, arrows that were ordered and never picked up, old arrows, new arrows; aluminum, carbon and wood arrows. Then I started buying bows to match the arrows :). I like shooting all the hodge podge stuff I have, but out of my longbows, ONLY wood will do.

And, I recently got my hands on POC shafts, and began staining and cresting my own arrows. Never did that before. I tell ya, a new satisfaction, a great avenue that you won't find with carbon or aluminum.

While switching from compound to a Big Horn Recurve I was shooting aluminum, then shot with a chap who had a Meigs Longbow with woodies. I shot them with my recurve and have never looked backed. That was over 30 years ago.

I have some 25 year old fir that still amaze me when I shoot them. When you get a wood arrow that flies great nothing IME is quieter, has better recovery and flight then wood shafting.

However, the problem I have always encountered with wood is the absolute inconsistency of the material, even with tightly matched spine and weight - each arrow will have its own character and for me personally, it is 1000 times easier to get a well matched dozen from aluminum or carbon. If you have the time and patience you can put together a dozen good arrows - but then you'll probably wreck a lot of them stump shooting or hunting over the course of the year. I just don't have that kind of patience and time.

I have used PO Cedar for around 55 years. I tried aluminum in the 1960's and it was fine too, but did not have the quietness of wood in the back quiver.

Yeah, they sound like a bag of empty beer cans.

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