Anyone else use 5 1/2" feather just because they are easy to see in flight?

[Tedd]

Do any of you use 5 1/2" feathers on carbon shafts?
It's been so windy at my house all spring. And also I thought maybe I could hear the feathers hitting the shelf on the bow.  So I switched to 5" feathers from 5 1/2" for the last few months.
Tonight I had to refletch a few for this weekends turkey hunt and was out of the 5".
I refletched with the old 5 1/2". Holy cow they are much easier to see in flight and in the target. I can see them turning in flight.
I have a VPA 250 gr 3 blade up front. It probably doesn't hurt a thing to use the 5 1/2"
Tedd

[Panzer]

I use 5 1/2 parabolic feathers on my Carbons with 260 up front, my arrows fly great.

[Rick Wiltshire]

I use 5 1/2 for the stability of flight offered.  In my hunting range I find no appreciable difference in performance between the 5 1/2 and shorter.

[Sam McMichael]

I don't shoot carbon, but I do use 5 1/2 in feathers on my wood arrows, based largely on the way they look, as well as the stability.

[Ric O'Shay]

5 1/2 on all my hunting arrows for all the above listed reasons. Plus, I just like them.

[Whitetail Addict]

I use 4" parabolic feathers and bright yellow fletching. I seem to be able to see yellow better than other colored fletching. Actually, white stands out the best for me, but I hunt with my bow a lot of the time in gun season too, and white scares the crap out of me in gun season for whitetails. I've never used 5, or 5 1/2" fletching, but I can understand how they'd be easier to see, and any extra drag the larger feathers may create should be insignificant at hunting ranges.


Bob

[LongbowArchitect]

My arrows (field & hunting) fly fine with shorter feathers but I use 5-1/2" strictly for visibility in flight. I love to watch the arc of the arrow in flight.

[frank bullitt]

Yep, for over the past 25 plus years!

Wood and alum arrows.

[maxwell]

I use them because I had a load of them. I Like bigger fletch because they work well for me.

[reddogge]

From behind all fletching from 3' to 5" looks the same to me. I can only see the back of it in flight.

[IKEAboy]

My Easton Aluminum arrows have 5 1/2 feathers on them,
and my beman bowhunters have the really short plastic fletching that came with them.
i like watching the feathers spin something about it seems so... slow-mo or dramatic

"Those 5&1/2" feathers make arrows fall out of the air like a lead balloon." That is what he said, until we flight shot them both. If you print the word 'lead' on the balloon, that is about how much flight difference there is, but they do seem to group tighter and stabilize more quickly than 5" three fletch, four 5" are even better that way for me, with four 4" coming a close third. I find that generous fletching can get an arrow to recover from a dodgy release a little quicker, but how that bigger feather hits the bow shelf can be an issue, so do the rotation techniques for wood arrows and rotate nocks on aluminum arrows.

[arrow flynn]

Jerry hill is saying 6 inch featers even better Isaw a print of a Mongolian archerand thje feathers looked to be in excess of 8 inches also feathers onindian arrows are 6 inches or longer.

[ChuckC]

Remember, the feathers do a few things, stabilizing being one, but longer is not always better, and in fact, can make their own issues.

That said, I have used 5.5" feathers for many years, as well as 4" shields.    Lead balloons ? Not at 20 - 30 yards, and certainly not at my normal less-than-ten yard kill shots.

ChuckC

[halfseminole]

I use roughly 11" feathers on my Manchu arrows, for an arrow length around 39" total.  Stabilizing up to 500gr of head takes a lot.

[Pointer]

I'm with you Ted.. like the larger feather because I can see that bright orange ball of color so well even in low light conditions.

[DesertDude]

5 1/2 shield cut. Love the look and easy for me to see