Arrow is hitting my hand on the way out

[varden]

I have a problem. Fletched arrows are tearing my hand up to the point of blood flowing. I'm a right handed and shoot a 62" Assenheimer that's about 54lbs at my 29" draw. The bow has a calf hair side plate and rug rest. I've tried 340 and 300 carbons thus far.

When I shoot one of the hen feathers hits my left hand, right where my index finger connects to my hand. There are also marks left by either the arrow wrap or manufacturer's logo right above my hand that seem to be left my the arrow rubbing against my hand and the riser as it leaves the bow. The first arrows I tried were the 340's, which ended up being weak and I figured that was the cause of the unwanted contact.

I thought that a stiffer arrow would solve the problem. I bought a 300 test shaft that bareshafts just barely stiff. After fletching it up yesterday, I found it's still tearing my hand up. What's going on here?

[crandog]

Try a 12,4, 8 o clock orientation.  Sounds like a 400 shaft might be in the ball park.

[swampthing]

You should be able to turn the cock feather down a little bit and get that lower hen feather a bit away from your hand's web don't go o far just a bit at a time to maintain clean arrow flight.
I was shooting 30.5" axis 500's with a 29.5" draw 50# toelke chinook recurve.

[varden]

I forgot to mention that my feather orientation is the traditional cock feather out. Won't having the feathers contact the shelf mess up my arrow flight?

For some reason, this bow seems to really want a stiff arrow. Maybe because the string is FF? This is my first trad bow and my first foray into tuning and I'm learning alot. I cut the 340's as short as I could get them and then even with aluminum inserts and 100 grain heads they were weak. This whole thing has turned into a debacle of rookie experimentation. Thanks for the help.

[chuckbow]

i had the same problem with right wing tried left and completley solved my problems!

[varden]

What kind of bow were you shooting chuck?

Changing my feather orientation didn't help any. What do you fellows think of adding a layer of 3M foam tape under my rug rest? I thought maybe getting the arrow a touch higher off the shelf would help.

[30coupe]

This is just a thought...maybe your arrow is too stiff already. I've had that problem at times when shooting too stiff an arrow. It doesn't flex enough to clear the shelf/finger on the way out of the bow. You can sometimes fix it by changing the feather angle, but it didn't work for me.

Try adding some point weight to the weaker arrow and see what happens. You can always build the sideplate out a bit if it shoots too weak.

Another thing that will cause this problem is your nock position. Try moving it up or down a bit and see if that has any effect. If spine isn't the issue, this might help. When I switched back to 3 under, I was getting some contact on my bow hand until I got my nock point raised up about 1/8 to 3/16" higher than before.

[varden]

I'm shooting three under as well. I wondered about the possibility of the arrow being too stiff, but the 300 with an aluminum insert and a 125 is the first combo I've tried that doesn't impact the target showing a weak shaft.  

I didn't know the trick about building the sideplate out to compensate for a weak arrow. Do you suggest the 3M doublestick foam stuff?

How much can I play with the nock position before the nock starts impacting either up or down in the target?

[30coupe]

I only had to raise mine about an eighth of an inch, but it depends on where you started. I'd try 1/2 inch above the shelf and move up or down from there until you get the arrows hitting where you want them and stop bleeding! I'll go check mine a minute, but yours may be way different depending on your bow.

Some use toothpick, match sticks, leather, foam. I only had to do it on one bow and I used leather shoelace trimmed about in half. A little bit can make quite a difference.

[30coupe]

Okay, my 52# Kanati is at 3/8", maybe a hair over.

My 46# Kanati is at 1/4". I don't know that that means anything to your bow, but those both shoot well and I don't have an contact with my bow hand from the fletching.

BTW: I am right handed and shoot 3 X 4" left wing (helical) out of both of these bows. If you are shooting right wing/right helical, that may also be a factor. I have heard that some guys have that problem with right wing feathers (righties anyway).

[varden]

I got it! I cut a piece of the double sided foam and pasted it underneath the rug on the shelf, and then raised my nock point up 1/8th. My hand is safe and arrow flight seems pretty good. I'll have to have someone watch my arrow flight to make sure though. The arrow angle in the target indicates just slightly stiff, so I may try a 50gr brass insert. Then again, I may just call it good since from what I understand slightly stiff doesn't hurt when shooting broadheads. Thanks boys!

[30coupe]

Good!

If your bow is cut to center, slightly stiff won't hurt. On the other hand, unless your arrows are getting really heavy, another 50 grains up front wouldn't hurt either.

Glad to hear you got it working.    

[wharvey]

Look like you have a solution. I had the exact same problem with my Martin Hatfield. Shooting with the cock feather in solved it but after so many years nocking the arrow the other way just didn't seem right. My brace height was set a bit so so I increased it about 1/4 inch. The arrows started flying a bit better and it also solved the problem with the fletching hitting my knuckle.

[cjgregory]

I had the same problem with a bow that I owned a while back.  In fact I didn't realise it but part of the feather was imbedded and I couldn't figure out why I was not healing.

It finally worked its way out and I pulled it out with some tweezers.  A little over an inch long and I didn't even know it.