Wind and Arrow Flight?

[Etter]

So I've always noticed that a crosswind will cause my fletchings to wag in flight.  They seem to only dip once and then regain a straight flight.  It looks to me like they do this at the end of what I would think would be the paradox.  Without wind, they fly like darts out of all of my bows.  

Today I was up in the mountains and noticed that this would happen every single time I shot if I was on a ridge top.  The thing is that the wind wasn't even very strong.  5-10mph.  When I got home, I switched bows and shot with the wind on my left side.  Every time the breeze would blow, the same thing would happen.  

I believe both bows to be tuned perfectly and the POI may not have even changed during these "odd' shots but it bugs me.  I'm currently shooting three 5" helical fletching.  


Is this normal for you all as well?  I can't imagine too many days in the midwest that you could hunt if arrow flight gets messed up so easily.

[reddogge]

I never judge arrow flight with any kind of wind from any direction. It affects my arrow flight quite a bit. I can hit what I want but the flight is poor.

[Coach Jones]

I can't remember the last time I shot when the wind wasn't blowing 20 mph.  Always windy here.

[Etter]

Anybody switched to four fletch of 3" vanes?  Has this helped you and did it affect your broad head flight at all?

[ChuckC]

I have lots of arrows with lotsa different fletch.  Yup, smaller fletches catch less wind, but the problem is, smaller fletches catch less wind... in other words, it works both ways.

I have had some of my 5.5" highback shields arrows go almost sidewise when they hit the wind just right, then straighten out.  But they almost always straighten out.

The little fletches. .  well I know they work well under good circumstances, but I am just not totally ready to use them for broadheads / hunting.
ChuckC

[Jake Scott]

I absolutely agree with Chuck.  I'm a fan of four big feathers.  It helps the arrow recover a lot quicker, this decreasing the effects of wind.  I have hunted some, and shot a lot in high winds (20-30 mph).  As one would suspect, heavier arrows are affected much less by the wind.  I shoot heavy, four fletch arrows, but to be totally honest with you wind was never really a concern when I developed my setup.

One mans opinion, I hope it helps.

Jake

[McDave]

One interesting thing to me is that I don't think fletched arrows are as affected by a crosswind as, say, a bare shaft.  What I have observed is that the fletches act almost like a rudder on a boat and help keep the arrow moving in the direction it was shot.

This is the way I think it works:  the wind blows the fletch end of the arrow sideways more than the point end, so the arrow goes downrange at an angle.  But as it's going downrange, the air it's passing through is also exerting a force trying to straighten it out, but it can't, because of the crosswind, and the combination of the two forces actually helps keep the arrow on course, albeit at an angle.

A crosswind will move the POI in the direction the wind is blowing for any arrow, fletched or unfletched.  But I don't think it has as much of an effect on a fletched arrow as it would on an unfletched arrow.  At least, I've noticed that when I shoot in a crosswind strong enough to make the arrow fly downrange at an angle, I still hit pretty close to the mark I was aiming at.  Of course, when the crosswind gets strong enough to blow the arrow off the shelf, then all bets are off.

[Etter]

Yeah, I don't think my POI was affected.  Just don't like the fishtailing, but I guess it can't be avoided.

[M60gunner]

I first read of this in C R Learn's book " Bowhunters Digest" from about 1970. He had another man shoot an arrow in a crosswind. It was fletched wit 3 5in feathers. He noted the arrow wigged but hit the target straight. He then had his friend shoot arrow that was fletched with 4 3in feathers. According to him there was no movement by the arrow side to side. His point was the arrow that moved side to side was losing energy even when hitting the target in the kill. I wonder also, wonder if any one has tested his theory?