Fletching

[Bar_BN]

Thought about trying some short 4 fletch , runnin 5" 3 fletch now just curious bout yall experience with 4 , pros n cons

[M60gunner]

I use both sizes. I do not see any real difference just shooting paper or foam. I do use the 5" for hunting arrows. It might not be needed but gives me some "peace of mind" especially if it rains and I am not prepared.
But, it has been written here and other sites that if the arrows are tuned correctly you do not need all the feather.

I don't have any experience with 4 fletch,  but I do use 3 - 4" parabolic feathers on all my arrows. If you are well tuned, have good form, and have a fair amount of FOC, you don't need as much fletching.

Btw, I hope your bow fit in that new bow case you got OK.

Bisch

[Bar_BN]

Originally posted by Bisch:
I don't have any experience with 4 fletch,  but I do use 3 - 4" parabolic feathers on all my arrows. If you are well tuned, have good form, and have a fair amount of FOC, you don't need as much fletching.

Btw, I hope your bow fit in that new bow case you got OK.

Bisch

[Bar_BN]

Originally posted by Bisch:
I don't have any experience with 4 fletch,  but I do use 3 - 4" parabolic feathers on all my arrows. If you are well tuned, have good form, and have a fair amount of FOC, you don't need as much fletching.

Btw, I hope your bow fit in that new bow case you got OK.

Bisch

It fits great Bisch exactly what i was looking for , those cases are just lil long but i throw lotta stuff in my truck when headed to the deer camp n i like the extra protection vs the soft plus i can carry two bows unstrung in it !! "Bonus"

[Shadowhnter]

Im a three fletch 4" guy too. In configuration of three, Ive used 5.5", 5", and 4, and for my arrows I like the 4". I would give serious thought to using four 3" though and would be the same inches of fletching.

[Ric O'Shay]

Try them all. If the arrows are right for your bow, most any will work.

[m midd]

I shoot 4 3" shields on occasion. They fly good but I shoot mainly 3 4".

[Rob DiStefano]

what i want is maximum steerage and paradox correction as quickly as possible as the arrow leaves the shelf.  i like full helical for either a 5-1/2" high shield 3 fletch or 4-1/4" high banana 4 fletch @ 105x75 or 90x90.  

all that will matter is testing out the fletchings with a broadhead on the pointy end and seeing how they will fly the shaft during hunting-like conditions.  it's not just the fletchings, it's the whole package that matters, which also includes you, the shooter.  and that's why individual testing is required.  go with whatever works best and don't be concerned about aesthetics, as it's function that will matter most.

[J. Cook]

My personal experience is that the limited amount of benefit yielded by short fletches, does not out weight the known benefits of the maximum fletching for hunting situations.  

I hunt 4 fletch 4" or even 4 fletch 5", and even some 3 fletch high back bananas (big ol' suckers!).  I have messed around with 4 fletch 3" and had no issues ...but...I like the confidence of KNOWING I have plenty of feather to compensate for any issues I may encounter while hunting.  

The speed gain is negligible - may 1 or 2 fps which will not affect anything.  Let's face it, deer have been scientifically proven to have the ability to duck a compound arrow at well over 300 fps if alert.  So us shooting 150 - 190 fps won't have an impact if we gain 1 or 2 fps.  

And lastly - I really like the look of the bigger fletching.  I don't want my arrows to look like my compound arrows did all those years ago.  I've even tried a shaft with blazer vanes on some of my recurves with elevated rests and they shot great.  Just can't stand the look of them.

I would never give someone grief for shooting the short fletching or blazers, but for me - I like a lot of feather back there, even though all of my set ups have been bare shaft tuned.