nock point tuning and fence posts

[greenfish13]

I have 2 questions.
I have a 45 lb take down recurve I am shooting. I am trying to determine the nocking point, but I am unsure how to tell my nocking point. I have easton st axis 400 arrows tipped with 125 grain points. I have brass nocking points and the pliers to put on the string, but for now I am temporarily using scotch tape wrapped around the serving. My arrows tend to be to shoot consistently higher than I want them to. Is that a result of my lack of aiming ability for now, or is that a result of the nocking point either being to high or low?

Next question, for a field point that is about a 1 inch long head excluding the screw in tail and is stuck in a fence post do you have any idea how to get the field point out, with out breaking the arrow? I unscrewed the arrow from the field point, but the point is still there. Honestly I find this kind of amusing,  but want the point back. Thank you for bearing with me.

[alaninoz]

How are the arrows flying? If they're not porpoising or smacking the shelf then it's probably your aiming.

To get your point out of the fence post you might try driving a screwdriver into the post next to the point and working the screwdriver side to side across the grain while pulling on the point.

[Bladepeek]

Depending on how long your arrows are, that .400 spine sounds awfully stiff for a 45# bow. Of course if your drawing 30", then your bow is a lot more than 45# and a full length shaft might work, but 125 gr point on a .400 spined shaft just screams "too stiff" to me.

I'll bet if you add some particulars, draw length, weight of bow at that draw length if you know it, and length of shaft, you will get some good suggestions.

As for the point stuck in the fence post, when you get it out, let me know how you did it. I have one buried in a pressure treated retaining wall. I guess I could screw a nut on the threaded end that I can still reach, lock onto it with some vice grips and put a pry bar behind them. It's not really hurting anything in there and I like to have a variety of extra points around to experiment with, so I just bought a pack of points and replaced it.

[moebow]

I take it you are relatively new to this,  Set your nocking point about 1/2 to 5/8 inch above square and just shoot.  Later as you gain experience, you will be more able to tell if you need to change the location up or down.

I would suggest that you ditch the brass nock locators and use a tied on one.  That will be easier on your fingers, glove and or tab.

I agree with the suggestion that .400s are too stiff, but if that's all you have just shoot them.  Again, you will be able to tell later whether they need changing.

Points getting stuck in things happens!  Get some extras.

Arne

PS.  This would REALLY be better in the Pow Wow rather than here in the FORM forum.

[McDave]

Get yourself a Saunders Point Puller tool from Amazon or other places.   Fits easily in my your pocket. Wouldn't go stump shooting without one.

[reddogge]

X2 on a Saunders point puller plus a good knife.

[TomatoLane]

Originally posted by McDave:
Get yourself a Saunders Point Puller tool from Amazon or other places.   Fits easily in my your pocket. Wouldn't go stump shooting without one.

X3

I have never shot myself with an arrow,(knock on wood)

Before I got mine,sheesh,I cant count the number of scares I have on my inner thigh from nock punctures shooting in shorts  

ADD

And some where way way to close to the family jewels  

[greenfish13]

My bad for not getting back to this post sooner. Had a ton of things to do for a while.

I found getting the arrow out of the fence post was easy with an old cracked aluminum arrow. I was rougher with the old aluminum arrow in getting the field point out.

As far as nocking point goes I think have established a good spot. How does a tie on nocking point work? Do I just serve a thinner thread of a different color above and below where I want to nock my arrow on the string?

As for the arrows, I wound up buying them based on the arrow selector found on easton archery's website. My drawlength is 29 inches, so the arrows are 30 inches. I find sometimes in shooting either my arrows are to high or to low and other times both are the case, the arrows appear to fly straight from what I can tell. Is this a form and/or aiming problem?

I have been shooting on and off for several years, but not with any dedication or consistancy until last year, but am now back into archery to spend time outside and ultimately get dinner. Thank you.

[DaveV]

Tying nocking points isn't hard at all. If you can tie an overhand knot and square knot, you have all the skills you need.

The reason you use knots instead of just wrapping another serving layer is simply that you want to build up extra thickness in that area.

Take a foot long piece of serving thread and tie it around the bowstring at your nock point location using an overhand knot. Bring the two ends down and around to the "back" side of the knot you just tied and do another overhand. Bring the ends up again and repeat the process 4 or 5 times. When you're done you'll see a pattern of overhands on one side of the string and a matching pattern on the other. Finish the last overhand with a square knot, trim and melt the ends and you're done!

YouTube has many good examples. Here's one of them.
 

As far as your arrows flying low and high, I'd look at your form instead of the arrow, possibly inconsistent hand pressure on the grip, or an inconsistent string hand or anchor placement.

[Sam McMichael]

One thing I try when a field point is stuck is this: Pluck the nock end of the arrow so the end  bobbles up and down. (envision the cartoon arrow hitting a target and going "BOING" as it quivers in place). Do this several times, then grasp the shaft near the point and carefully wiggle the arrow while trying to pull it out. Continue to do this till it works loose. This is fairly effective but sometimes you just have to sacrifice in the name of the game.

[mike g]

greenfish13
    Try using the field points called easy out.
They have a bigger dia. towards the front and taper down, If stuck, just wiggle them a little and they come right out....

[greenfish13]

mike g,

I've using saunder points, not sure why I probably thought they looked the best, but am thinking a smaller field point would be better than the longer saunder points I have. Thanks for suggesting that.

I appreciate the help on everything and will also look into tying on a nocking point in the future.

[mike g]

Also, 1/4 inch chisel works great.