Is Wood really the most forgiving arrow choice?

[Red Beastmaster]

Mo. Huntin

Two years ago I conducted a little experiment. I wanted to see just how good I could get. For an entire summer I shot my Hummingbird recurve exclusively. And I used my really well made sitka spruce and cedar arrows. I had not shot another arrow material in over 20 years. To me, trad archery meant wood arrows. Period.

By not switching bows all the time my accuracy improved to the point where I could tell if a flyer was "me" or not. I was pretty happy with my shooting.

Then on a whim, I made a batch of aluminums. This was not easy for me. I was the one teasing others about the hypocracy of shooting "beer cans". I was absolutely blown away by the immediate improvement in accuracy! My groups got noticably tighter, and I could count on every arrow to fly exactly the same. Wow!

I am now the one taking the teasing. But I'm grinning all the way to the target to pull my arrow from the 10 ring!

Try wood if you like. Nothing wrong with them. But I certainly shoot better with aluminum.

Good luck.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Originally posted by George D. Stout:
Wood arrows can be extremely accurate, but they must start from good stock, that is consistent from shaft to shaft.

And thats my biggest problem!  I've nearly given up shooting wood shafts because I can't find good stock.   Maybe its just the POC shafts that I'm getting.  Thinking about switching to spruce.