Lost wood arrow

[TooManyHobbies]

I caught the top of my block target and deflected the arrow into the woods two days ago. Heard it hit brush twice. Was hoping it lost energy and would be laying on top of leaves, but not to be. I've tried my metal detector and raked a good size area. No luck yet. How long before it's no good?

[Orion]

Depends on how well you have it sealed.  Should be good for a couple of weeks/months.  Look about twice as far back as you think it might have gone.

[Pat B]

It depends of the wood used. I have lost POC arrows and found them later with feathers rotted off and metal target point almost rusted off. I brought it in the house and laid if flat on my work bench and gave it a few weeks to dry. Once dry I sanded and resealed, fletched and added a new point and it shot as well as before. Other woods would have rotted but POC is very rot resistant.
 Now, finding lost arrows is another thing. 

[monterey]

I look for about 15 minutes max and then get on with it. 

[slowbowjoe]

I've found some that've been in the woods for about a year; refletched, straightened a little, and they were fine. That's in norther New England weather.

[Keefer]

   Finish matters and I had a few I soaked for 2 weeks in Danish oil but once I found them 2 years later the feathers were about gone and point rusted.
  The amazing thing is the oil soaked pretty deep in the shaft and kept the water from soaking in .
 Looked very good and straight still.
  Now others I have found and had different finish's but water had gotten in and ruined the shaft by swelling .
 I would think if you can find it in a month you should be good but inspect it very well.

[Pat B]

All of my POC arrows were finished with water based poly.

[slowbowjoe]

I use a few coats of Tung oil.

[TooManyHobbies]

Thanks all. Snag built the arrows for me, so I trust it will last. Just can't believe that white and chartreuse fletching isn't visible anywhere.

[George Vernon]

When you have searched the ground in the area and do not see it, don't forget to look 'up'.  I've seen deflected arrows stick in limbs and tree trunks.  One even came to rest laying on limbs of a big cedar.  I've also been misled a few times thinking the arrow went off to one side or the other when in fact what I was seeing was the side view of a shaft just after it was deflected.  Most of the time the direction to go is the one you were shooting.  It's also surprising just how far an arrow can go when it skips off something. 

[Slickhead]

arrows can travel a ways and turn wacky
years ago my buddy missed a deer and the arrows bounced thru the woods.

two years later in gun season Im looking down as Im walking the edge of a field and thought
that looks like my buddies 2219

how it ended there from where he shot is a mystery

[jsweka]

Arrows are supplies, not equipment.  If you got more than one shot out of it, it did more than its duty.

[Deno]

I look for about 15 minutes max and then get on with it. 

Couldn't agree more.   Like losing a baseball down a sewer...lol 

Deno

[M60gunner]

It won’t be the last time you shoot over. But the looking twice as far advice is what we have found to be true. I can feel your pain, a set of custom made arrows, hate to lose any. Been there done that and I make my own.

[BAK]

I hate it when that happens 

I have found wood arrows years after I shot them that I was able to rebuild.  Happy hunting.

[Gordon Jabben]

It's biodegradable !!   

 

[Pat B]

POC is very rot resistant. Most POC shafting, if not all, comes from either fire killed or otherwise dead standing trees. If it survives a couple of years under the leaves in our wet climate, long enough for the target point to rust off and still be a viable shaft after drying it is pretty rot resistant. Other shafts like poplar or ash will rot in the matter of a few weeks. I don't know about Doug fir or Sitka spruce. I imagine they would rot pretty quickly too.

[NY Yankee]

I did the same thing. Looked and looked and looked. Found it one day stuck in the side of a pine sapling 6 mo later, broadhead was rusted, feathers torn up, finish cracked and weathered (winter). I pulled it out, busted it up in pieces and threw it in the trash. Went in and started another 1/2 dozen arrows!

[Sam McMichael]

Dan Quillian once told me, "Don't fall in love with your arrows, 'cause you ain't gonna have 'em that long." How right he was! As you know, when you shot more as a beginner, you lost more until your form and accuracy fell into line. Even now , you lose/break a fair number - it's just part of archery.  Like some have suggested, look for a lost arrow for a while and then just leave it. However, when you do find an old one, it will generally be just fine as long as it is not cracked. Clean it up, reseal it, and shoot it. I have found them after a couple of years and resurrected them.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

That's why I love making wood arrow I lose them make more if I break them I fix them or make more.