I know what you mean. I have shot wood arrows for many years. I just weigh and spine them in groups and shoot them. I don't worry mush about what weight or spine within reason as long as they are grouped. Works for me.

what are you confused about?

Been shooting woodies for about 60 years. Never a problem. Very forgiving. Can shoot a range of spines out of any particular bow. Of course, need to make sure you have good well matched wood to start with and that the point and nock tapers are true and points and nocks are put on straight. If all that is done, it's almost impossible to not get good arrow flight out of a woodie.

Sir- if I may, wood is as easy as pie. Wood is the perfect arrow material. Very forgiving and quiet and beautiful in flight. Aluminum and carbon are consistent and very precise. Most people cannot shoot good enough to appreciate the degree of refinement that synthetics offer. Done right, wood will shoot right there with them. I’m my opinion you are missing something- probably something minor.

“ still cannot shoot with Aluminum or Carbon”

I’m not exactly sure what you mean by that… Are you saying that they shoot to a different POI? Or just that they don’t group as well? Because I think if you think that high end carbons are expensive, you should try to get your hands on an equally well matched set of Woodies.... and for sheer consistency, it is just really, really difficult to keep up with aluminum.

I will freely confess right now that I have never shot a wooden arrow with a broadhead on it; that’s on my list.... But I have always found them to be extremely forgiving with field points and Judos... One thing I really like about them is that they seem to shoot straight even when you can see that they have a little warp to them. Conversely, with aluminum I have sometimes been completely unaware of a bent shaft until it jumped off of my riser in an unexpected fashion…

If I were in your situation, though, I’d trust a handful of the guys here to point you in the right direction. That’s a great thing about having full-time wooden arrow professionals around....

I think I have it pretty easy, though, because I like my arrows at just a hair under 28”....

Woods are great arrows. Shot them for years. They are just too expensive for me now that I am retired.

Sawtooth nailed it. AMO posted the solution years and years ago, it's free and it works every time.

Sawtooth is bang on. Wood, be it cedar, spruce, ash, d.fir, what have you, is the easiest shaft material to deal with. Now if you're the kind to mess about with 200++++ grain broadheads then you might have issues. Keep it simple and life is better. I shoot wood exclusively from 2 cut before center flatbows off the shelf, and 1 recurve cut to center with an elevated brush rest. Easy to tune. Very forgiving. The quietest shaft material.

I love wood. 60 years shooting cedar, ash, Sitka spruce. I have found that out of any matched dozen (see below),there will be at least one that seems to not want to fly with the others. But that's okay because there will be others in your future that are the same. Never killed a deer with anything else. Mounting broad heads can be tricky, but experience will have them flying the same as other points. I have aluminum and like them, but most of my shooting and all my hunting is with wood. The last several years my shafts are from Wapiti. They care about old growth cedar. Actually, their spine and weight matched shafts do often give you a perfect 12.

I struggle myself but it’s worth it, keeping with my traditional journey I just had to jump in with both feet, It wasnt pretty for awhile but it’s coming together nicely

I can see me shooting wood as my primary arrow material going forward but I’ll have the others around as well.

To me carbons and aluminum are a breeze to set up and tune.

I have seen, several times, where guys are shooting arrows they think are matched to the bow but in fact, are really not. Many people look at what the bow is marked and say "OK I'm shooting a 50 pound bow" when in fact, the bow may actually be drawing a different weight. Throw in a different draw length and longer or shorter arrows and you really have a puzzle. You can mess around with point weight and arrow length and you may stumble on to the right arrow, but you will not know why it is so. I feel it is absolutely mandatory to know your actual draw length and what the bow is drawing at that length. Add an inch or inch and a half and you can pick your arrows and be close, if you are familiar with spine. Only then should you change point weights to see what the effect is on arrow flight. Get measured and weighed first. Then you can have a good start. It really is not that difficult.

Spine may well be, today, the simplest aspect but the least understood aspect of archery. Problem is no one has to learn about it, rather they defer to interactive charts or cyber opinion on archery forums. Neither would be bad if they at first understood the concept and function of spine as it applies dynamically. The information glut, that is the internet, has misinformed thousands of people and flat out confused thousands more.

If I had to choose I would shoot nothing but wood arrows. My experience has been that it is almost impossible not to shoot wood arrows good. I have found carbon and aluminum to be much more dependent on a clean release but I guess to each his own!!

Woods are the easiest going. Nothing to figure out unless your caught up in fake news and what others spin on ya.

What weight is your bow and choose a spine in your perspective. Now with this said learn that some bows like a heavier wood arrow also and they seem to even shoot quieter with some cases.

If your properly tuned with brace set right and nock point set right you should be able to shoot multiple spines.

Do not listen to building out shelves or the many things that are started on this or any sight.

Learn for yourself and do your own research to see what works. Because what others say works or is thought by some is not necessarily correct for you and that's why I call it fake news. Simple as that.

Learn the KISS method! Keep it simple stupid! That's what it stands for.

George is correct. Its also good to have a spine tester. I have 2 of them myself and spine every arrow wood, carbon and aluminums and fiberglass. I want to see what they are.

Again, all you need to do to match wood arrows to a bow is to go to the AMO manual and follow the instruction that are there. It is deceptively simple.

Spine is no where near as precise as folks make it out to be, and every bow made will tune with a variety of spines.

I shot a compound for a few years that drew 72# at my draw length of 26". The only arrows that would fly straight were 2016's with a 125 grain point. Nowhere near the right spine according to the charts or recommendations from the 'pros'.

I will add that all I make and shoot now are wood arrows. Cedar, Poplar, Hickory, et al.

I was fortunate to have a lot of free advice from David Ellenbogen, who made really wonderful cedar arrows, and was a great target archer to boot. He was always steering me towards a higher and higher spine, to account for things like a longer draw, a faster bow, cut to center sight windows, and so on...and then he would usually give them one last bump-up just for good measure, because he firmly believed it was better to be over-spined than under-spined. Which is why 75-80# spined cedars seem to fly just fine from my 50-55# factory spec bows.

This is a sincere question, not an argument. IF a person was shooting arrows that were not the right spine, WHY is it better to be overspined rather than underspined? I’ve heard that before just never heard a reason why.

Spine is no where near as precise as folks make it out to be, and every bow made will tune with a variety of spines.

Very, very true but it gives him a reference to begin. I have a large variety of spines so I can see what bow likes which better. If your a Woodie guy you will need a spine tester to grade your arrows when making.

Continuing to work on my form with my new Black Widow- just can't seem to get the carbons to fly as well as I'd like.

The other day I was at the trad bow shop here in Des Moines, Tom pulled a random wood shaft off the shelf and it flew like a laser beam.

I'm done trying to tinker with carbon, and am just going to bite the bullet on wood shafts.

42-43# at my 29" draw length-what spine Surewood shafts should I order? (The ones I shot at the shop were footed, and just way heavier than I'd like, otherwise I'd shoot those).

Thanks!

Call the folks at Surewood, tell them what you are shooting and what you want to accomplish.

Then order what they suggest.

I have found wood very forgiving. And quiet. May not be as durable but work well.

Hey S.C.C.- yes sir the carbons I'm shooting are full length 400's, standard insert with 200 grain points. For some reason I get a porpoise every so often-I didn't have that issue with the wood arrow I shot for some reason, they were perfect each time.

I'll take Surewoods advice on arrow spine!

S.c.c- thats what I had assumed. Its strange that the wood shafts don't show that.

Wood arrows are the best out there. I’ve been shooting nothing but wood for many years. I enjoy making a nice set of matched arrows and they will shoot with most any out there. I outshoot most of my friends who shoot carbon and aluminum.

I primarily shoot wood. Have shot aluminum and carbon. At 20-25 yards they all hit in a clump, the other difference is aluminum holds that group for another 5-10 yards and carbon still groups for another 5-10 yards. If I match the weights of my wood, aluminum and carbon this grouping is fairly consistent from 25-35 yards. Wood Rules!!!

"Kinda' makes you wonder with all the PRO's don't shoot wood arrows"....it really doesn't.

I buy cedars spined 40 to 45 #. I shoot 40 to 45 pound bows and it works for me. Using a spine tester and getting the stiff side of the arrow against the bow took care of my poor arrow flight. Those arrows work out of my bows that pull 38# to 44#.Easy peasy

That shaft had severe run out in that area and break followed the grain.

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