Curious fletching color question

[Sam McMichael]

I don't think this is a major factor. As previously stated, movement is a likely cause for being busted. I have used very drab and very bright fletching. If I sit still, the deer don't react, but if I move, they quickly run away.

[dnovo]

Some of the combinations I use. The white splice makes it easy to see in flight but not as noticeable in the quiver

[woodchucker]

Keep going Boys!!!

I'm liking it!!   

[MnFn]

Hmm,  I don’t want to take a chance on spooking deer, but almost as important is I want to see my fletching when I shoot at something so I can see better where I hit.

I thought yellow was a bit of a compromise from white, but maybe not.  When I was thinking about this a couple of years ago, I looked up Barry and Gene Wensel’s site to see some success photos, and saw some yellow fletching (and maybe white), so I figured if it worked for them... good enough for me.

[Pat B]

Here is a set of Sitka spruce arrows I made with natural turkey feathers and the rabbit zonker tracers...

[Steelhead]

Not sure what deer see or what if any color might draw their attention more to you while hunting.

I make my choice of color based on seeing the arrow in flight,where it strikes and also that its easier to find on the ground if its not still in the deer.So I like Chartruese,pink and white.They stand out in flight,where they strike and on the forest floor in the Fall.Right now I am using 3-5 inch Chartruese fletchings for this Season.Pink is probably the easiest to find in the Fall amongst leaf litter.

[blacktailbob]

Thanks David.
 I think I'll use the hot pink from my ladder stand and others from the ground.

[mj seratt]

Pat B., we call those Muppet arrows.

Murray

[Pat B]

 Muppet arrows?

[woodchucker]

When I got back into this "traditional" thing about 20 years ago....
I wanted to relive the days of my youth. When we were simply "BowHunters"
Papa Bear got most of us started with his "Be a 2 Season Hunter" campaign...

I've collected a bunch of old Bear recurves. A Hill "Mountain Man" longbow (that I LOVE but can't hit squat with)
A few custom longbows, and my favorite Kodiak T/D, Red stripe A-handle with #1 limbs (56" Bow)

Our arrows are wood. Wood is Good! LOL
They are made by my youngest son Tyler. We buy pre-finished shafts from 3Rivers and he fletches them up.
Most are a combination of "Fall" colors. Yellow, Orange, Red. His favorite is 3 natural barred with a black nock.

Remembering back to to my youth, natural barrred feathers were cheaper than dyed feathers.
Hence most "store bought" arrows had 2 barred hens and a dyed cock feather. In that "tradition"
I'm having him make me a dozen new hunting arrows for my Kodiak T/D. 2 natural barred hens, with a solid red cock feather, and a black nock to match the black cresting on the pre-finished shafts. Tipped with the old green razorheads I've been using for years, I think they will be a beautiful set of Traditional Arrows!!

[D. Key]

Now that Sir...Are some mighty fine looking arrows.

[MGH]

Thank You D. Key!  Turkey I called-in this Spring for my son. 

[Kokopelli]

I'm getting ready to start calling coyotes to the pointed stick. I like bright colors, white, hot pink, chartreuse green etc.
Rather than have one big quiver blob of color, I put a couple of each in. Breaks up the blob a bit and in situations where more than one arrow is shot it makes it easier to figure out what happened. 'Ok, the white one was shot first so the pink one should be over there........'
Regardless, Camo is Good .......... Stillness is Golden. 

[slowbowjoe]

Interesting thread for me. I have a color blindness which I've never had analyzed, but same as, or similar to McDave's, which he explained really well. I most always use white, yellow, or a combination of the two, for visibility.
I know a young doe watched me (very slowly) draw one of those from my side quiver last season and didn't spook.... not that that's a definitive take on what the deer see.

I've also considered how that white might appear to another hunter if I were out in gun season (which I sometimes am).

[mj seratt]

Pat B., when they are point down, the "hair" looks like Muppet hair.  Or maybe I just have a weird sense of humor.

Murray

[Pat B]

I can see that.   

[Sam McMichael]

Many years ago, even before the florescent orange requirement, there were many discussions about highly visible safety related colors. Red was the big favorite, but some recommended yellow. Then I read that , under certain low light conditions, yellow often appears white, indicating that it might not be as safe as first believed. It makes me wonder if yellow is just as visible as white.

[McDave]

Yellow is one of the primary colors most visible to deer (and me).  I usually fletch all of my target arrows and roving arrows with 2 yellow feathers and something else, often a yellow barred feather, because yellow really stands out for me, even better than white.

Orange feathers might be a good choice for hunting arrows, because while humans can see orange about as well as yellow or white,  they might not stand out quite as well to deer because you're mixing one color they can see, yellow, with one they can't see, red.

When I first started hunting, using a special wash to get rid of UV was the rage, because UV supposedly made your clothes stand out like they had a spotlight on them.  Isn't that also what they mean when they say fluorescent?  Haven't heard too much about that lately.  Is that a fad that came and went?

[RedShaft]

I still use that stuff for every wash. ATSO brand I belive is the name. It does get rid of the UV light reflection. Tested it with a black light myself.

I just use it really cause it free of dyes and perfumes and has that uv killer.

[SlowBowKing]

McDave, it is very interesting to have your insight on this since you have a different perspective than the average Gang member. Thanks for sharing!

While I’m definitely no expert on this, keep in mind that screens (like the phone screen I’m looking at right now) emit certain frequencies of light, primarily blue light. That’s why they say to limit screen time within an hour or two of bed to get better sleep. So a color you perceive on a screen—like those hot pink feathers from earlier in the thread—might appear differently than they would in person. That could affect the perception. I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed this, where something appears one color on a screen and then you see it in person and it looks slightly different?

This is a fascinating thread!