RedTX: "Why on earth do you fellas need that many???"
Many of us shoot numerous styles and differing poundage bows. I personally shoot, wood, aluminum, and carbons, from selfbows, longbows, and recurves that vary in weight from 43# to 75#’s. When I started making selfbows I had a set of test arrows made at my draw length that spined from 45# to 75#’s. This allows me to grab an arrow and test how they fly from the new bow, then order a new set for the bow. I like to keep a specific set of arrows for each bow so that usually accounts for fifteen to twenty dozen. I won't get into the varying types of wood available. Also, when I break or lose four or five arrows from a matched dozen, another dozen are ordered to replace them. After building over fifty selfbows the number of arrows tends to build up. In addition, I have several hundred aluminum arrows from my compound days that haven’t been out of their boxes in almost twenty years (note: I really should get rid of these, but not to many people shoot 26” arrows any more). Then you have test shoot all the new carbons that come out every year, just because they are new. And the old ones can’t be replaced because they don’t make them, or their parts anymore, resulting in additional arrows. I guess the prudent person would sell many of them and buy a couple of good bows with the money, but then he would need more arrows for the new bows wouldn’t they? Besides, I think they look really neat stuffed around the archery room.
Now let's not get into the effect broadheads have on all these arrows. When you start combining the three variations above (Type, spine weight, bow weight) with the types/styles and weights of broadheads and the numerous combinations, it can get confusing. I think there is a need for me to get a few dozen more arrows.
Oh ya, back to the original question, I have in excess of five hundred arrows, and that is a conservative estimate. My wife gave up asking how many arrows, broadheads, and bows I need several years back. Now she avoids the archery room and just shakes her head and smiles when she does go into it.