Wind and Arrows

[Nomis]

Been shooting outside and noticed some arrow kicking. shot inside and everything seems fine. I'm going to take a guess that this is the wind effecting the arrow? I shoot a 45 lbs bow, if I upgraded to a heavier poundage, would that help cut through the wind?

[TradBrewSC]

Wind is always going to have an effect on arrow flight in my experience. I have to same issue at #55-#60.

[Caughtandhobble]

The only defense that I know of is a well tuned bow along with good form. Smaller feathers will help a little in high wind but they could cause less stability in flight in other situations.

[Miles Bate]

Wind does have some degree on any projectile. This can include bullets to arrows. If you know you weight of your arrow is good, and you have a good percentage of FOC then your good. Also higher profile fletchings can move your arrow. Its is good to practice in that condition so you will know where your hitting in a hunting condition where you cant control variables.

[ChuckC]

Wind does all sorts of things, especially when, as is typical, wind is fast right here then slow over there then fast again.  

I have had arrows (albeit very windy day and with 5.5" feathers) turn nearly sidewise on their path to the target.  They recovered, but if the target was closer, they may have hit on their side and not their point.
ChuckC

[Orion]

Wind affects arrows just like it does bullets.  To lessen the effects, use more FOC, skinnier shafts and smaller fletching.  More poundage won't do anything.

With my target bows and BWs with sights and taking long shots, the effects of the wind was more measurable.    The direction of the wind on a particular arrow can have different effects.   I had one set of arrows, 2018s,  that had 160 grain Hills and 160 Magnus heads.  With a quartering tail wind, the wide head would do two side steps in 60 yards.  A tug of war between the head and the feathers.  With the Hill heads, just a little bit of drift and the arrow seem to be flying fairly straight without tacking very much.   Out of the same bow with 2016s and Bear heads and 125 grain target points, I did not see much of anything.   We tested to see how much a 15 mph cross wind actually moved arrows sideways off line.  It was not as far as we expected at 60 yards, just a few inches.  An arrow set up for a heavy point and the wind tacking became more obvious.  More balanced, as in less foc, show less wind tacking than high foc, high foc with larger feathers really tack into the wind.  The amount that arrows move sideways is a variable, but we were surprised that it is not as far as we thought.  When taking long shot with a longbow, if I ever think about how much the wind will shift my arrow, I will always miss on the up wind side, over compensating.   The arrow will move sideways with the wind the distance that the wind can move that arrow for the amount of time that the arrow is in the air.   It makes no difference how fast the arrow is flying, only the amount of time.   Years ago we played a game target dropping arrow off of a high silo.  Our original intention was to shoot from way up there.  It was windy and we could see the slow falling arrows move over as they fell.  On the ground shooting in the same cross wind that same 100 feet, we could not detect any wind drift, our bows shoot much faster than the speed 100 feet of gravity can provide, less air time equals less wind drift.

[Bowwild]

I don't worry about wind much at bowhunting distances unless of course it is big time, 15mph+.  I don't even practice on such windy days because, when I have a choice, I don't hunt those days either ... high winds in the woods makes deer jittery -- vision and smell are impacted.

I shoot very skinny shafts (FMJ Deep Six Eastons)with 4" feathers.  But, the wind will bump them around a bit.  Impact isn't changed much unless shooting past 20 yards.  I shoot the skinny shafts for increases penetration not because of the wind though.

These do penetrate a bit more in foam. I can't tell on beasts though because a pass-through is still just a pass through, no matter the shaft diameter.

[McDave]

Interestingly, wind doesn't have as much effect on the POI of fletched arrows as you might expect.  It has more effect on bare shafts than on fletched arrows.  When the wind blows sideways on a bare shaft, it moves the bare shaft sideways accordingly.  When it blows sideways on a fletched arrow, it is a little more complicated.  It blows the fletched end more sideways than the point end, since the fletching acts as a sail.  Because of that, the arrow points in the direction of the upwind side of the target.  The arrow then tries to recover by moving in the direction it is pointed, offsetting to some degree the sideways movement caused by the wind.

Although a fletched arrow may hit closer to the point of aim than a bare shaft, it's still hitting at an angle, which will be detrimental to hunting penetration.

[Hud]

Light arrows are affected more than heavy. If you can add more weight to the tip, reduce fletching height, check spine and nock point by paper testing, or try a different/smaller diameter shaft.

[Longtoke]

How much does broad head size and design affect wind plane?  

For example how would a shorter 100 grain vpa 3 blade compare to the larger longer 300 grain version? any noticeable difference in wind drift at 30 yards? what about 60?

What about vented heads, I have heard they make noise but how much do they change the impact of the wind?