Wind and its affect on arrow flight.....

[slayer1]

I was out practicing yesterday in 30 mile an hour wind gust....Man did it make a difference in the flight of my arrows. I shoot a 505 grain arrow out of a 56 lb long bow. The further the distance the worse it was. Anybody else notice this? After that experience I don't think I would try to shoot a deer outside of 15 yards.

[jhansen]

Slayer,
The wind influences an arrow just as it will a bullet except that the arrow is longer and has feathers at the rear end so the wind has more to grab onto.  A crosswind will push the arrow off course.  A tailwind can be just as bad.  I've shot arrows when there was a stiff wind at my back and I would have sworn that some of the arrows did complete barrel rolls going downrange.  I was wondering what was wrong with my bow until I figured it out.

John

[aromakr]

That is just one of the reasons a person should stay away from 5 1/2" high back feathers. The more feather the greater wind will effect flight.If a person needs that big a feather to stabilize the arrow then something else is wrong with it.
Bob

[Big Sneaky]

I would agree with the 5 1/2 feathers.  I have shot them for years and went ahead and put them on my Axis shafts.  I was getting some weird arrow flight when shooting outside(wind always blows in KS).  When I would shoot indoors they flew great.  Finally fletched some with 5" parabolics and the fly way better, especially in the wind.

[Aaron Proffitt 2]

Look at all posts for this forum and then go to page 16.You'll see a thread that was started by yours truly and went for about 4 pages.Alot of good info there.Good luck.
FWIW, being in OK I deal with the same wind issue.You either learn to deal with it or not shoot at all.

[Longbowz]

Well I wouldn't sacrifice basic arrow flight for slightly better wind resistance.  Any fletching combination will fly weird on a windy day.  

A year ago after a few of us scored on antelope we did a little prairie dog hunting.  Some shot compounds with carbon shafts and small vanes and some shot traditional bows with the usual 5 inch feathers.  All had trouble with the wind.  On one of my shots the arrow actually slapped the dog when it hit him sidewise. This really made him irritated!  He went scurrying down his hole chirping all the way.

On windy days you just have to wait for a lull in the gusts or hope it calms down.

[Ineoin]

Slayer1,
I love practicing on windy days. I live on top of a hill and get more than my fair share. More than once my wife and I have gotten a good laugh out of watching our arrows land more than one or two rings out when we shot in a wind gust.

I think that shooting on windy days teaches two lessons. Patience and getting off a good shot quickly. First you learn to have the patience to wait between wind gusts and then the ability to get off the shot in between with out choking.

The part I like the best is that the closer to the bow the wind the more the arrow gets thrown off course. So on a real distance shot the variable winds at different ranges make for some real interesting shooting and it also hones your observation skills!

Well anyway thats my take on it. So I use the arrows I like and work overall best in my bow and then I learn to shoot with in the limitaions presented.

Ineoin