Longbows, wood arrows

[PrimitivePete]

I recently picked up a Robertson longbow in a trade and I did what I usually do with a new bow, string it up and empty a bucket of arrows and start shooting it. Not by design but this bow seemed to have a preference with heavy wood arrows. It shot better, felt better and by a long shot sounded a whole lot better. I thought the heavy aluminum arrows would be perfect but the thump was a bit louder than the wood arrows. From what I can tell the bow is over 30 years old but it performs as well as it did yesterday I bet. So wood arrows it is for this thumper, now I have 2 months to get it all tuned for the thunderchickens.

[JohnnyBa]

Hate to start something, but are wood arrows worth the trouble, or are they not that much trouble? I just can’t see an obvious pro that sticks out over carbon stuff these days. Are wooden arrows just a personal thing or is there an advantage or is the advantage iffy with all bows/shooters, etc. I can’t imagine working up a set of woodies for many bows, but have always loved the look of a fine wooden arrow crested with bright paint.

[dnovo]

Well for me, they're worth the trouble. I really enjoy making a nice set of wood arrows.  They shoot well and are quiet. I make up a set, cut them to the length I want, put points on and shoot them.  None of the fuss I see with some guys trying to tune carbons. Now I know that will upset some and there are a lot of guys who have it down and it's easy. But so are wood arrows.
It really is a personal thing though.  Wood arrows go with longbows!

[GCook]

I'm not all that experienced with wood arrows.  However I've found that every now and then an errant shot is because I forgot to check one for straightness and it took a minute to correct that.  Yes they lack a bit in durability.  No, I cannot seem to get perfect bareshaft flight every shot.  But once I'm close, and they have feathers, I love shooting and killing with them.  I cannot explain why, just seems to have clicked with me.

[PrimitivePete]

Hate to start something, but are wood arrows worth the trouble, or are they not that much trouble? I just can’t see an obvious pro that sticks out over carbon stuff these days. Are wooden arrows just a personal thing or is there an advantage or is the advantage iffy with all bows/shooters, etc. I can’t imagine working up a set of woodies for many bows, but have always loved the look of a fine wooden arrow crested with bright paint.

Sir I would respectfully say that wood arrows can indeed do the job and if history is the answer, they have been doing so far longer than any other material known to man. The length of time is a given indicator. Yes they are not as durable on paper but I have used wood to stump shoot, hunt, and target practice and I don't see a limitation. While I don't hunt thick skinned animals, I do appreciate the energy per pound I get from wood arrows leading to great penetration on the animals I do hunt.
Is it more work to put them together, possibly but there is plenty of time in the off season for this. The main key is to buy the best shaft you can get your hands on from someone you trust. I bought Hickory from our Mike Yancey and man that is one tough as nails shaft.

[DGW]

I have shot wood and aluminum arrows for 30 some years , I shoot the aluminum when I have not taken time to make a good set of wood arrows.
Truly good wood arrows straightened before sealing weighed and spined to match are great hunting arrows,  I spin all arrows across my thumb when shooting to check straightness  if one of my wood arrows is not straight, most time it is the way someone pulled it out of the target.
Had one set of carbon arrows and gave them away.

[STICKBENDER98]

I have to agree with Pete, my Northern Mist longbows are quiet and soft in the hand with heavy wood arrows.  My bows are  50-55# and I shoot 60-65# spine arrows out of them.  I bought a test kit from Surewood Shafts and have done a fair amount of testing with them using different weight tips, and always come back to the heavy shafts.  I have also shot aluminum, and carbon out of them with same tip weight.  All this being said of late I have been shooting aluminum 2020 shafts out of my 3 piece Skanee with excellent results, and is my shaft of preference as of now. Give some wood shafts a try, you may be surprised..


Jason

[David Mitchell]

Oh yes, absolutely worth the effort.  The more I put into preparing my equipment the more enjoyment I get out of it. The sky's the limit as to what you can do with wood arrows.  Be as plain and simple as you want or crown dip, pin stripe, crest...you name it. the possibilities are endless. 

[Tater]

    Building a nice set of wood arrows is part of the hunting experience. Taking an animal with a arrow you straightened, stained, crested, fletched and tuned to your bow adds to the feeling of accomplishment.
    If you are not a hunter watching an arrow you built and tuned to your bow fly down range and hit your mark is also that extra feeling of satisfaction.
    For me building wood arrows is therapy for the frozen winter months it keeps me connected to the hunt.

[Maclean]

Yup, what Tater said.

[Bowguy67]

Anything like building arrows, depending how much you get into it such as cutting or burning feathers, marrying them together, that can work for any arrows btw but wood you stain, seal, crest, dip, etc etc. All part of a great sport immerses you into it, and things some would never change.
No different than sharpening a knife or broadhead, loading a quiver w those hunt tips, packing a daypack. It’s sorta like foreplay to in a sense to some towards the sport. Hope that made sense. Wood arrows offer even more of that if you chose. I personally don’t believe they’re any more problematic than other shafts but I don’t mind checking occasionally and straightening shafts. Again more time w my sport. 

[George Tsoukalas]

Is an ice cream cone in the summer worth the trouble?

Is building a snowman with your young children worth the trouble?

Is taking your kids sledding worth the trouble?

Is teaching your kids how to shoot a bow worth the trouble?

Wooden arrows are no trouble to me.

I hand plane white pine arrows from square stock. I also harvest shoots and wild rose shafts from nature.

It's a personal choice.

Jawge

[JohnnyBa]

A bit overkill, but point made.

Is an ice cream cone in the summer worth the trouble?

Is building a snowman with your young children worth the trouble?

Is taking your kids sledding worth the trouble?

Is teaching your kids how to shoot a bow worth the trouble?

Wooden arrows are no trouble to me.

I hand plane white pine arrows from square stock. I also harvest shoots and wild rose shafts from nature.

It's a personal choice.

Jawge

[Pat B]

I agree with George 100%.
 Building and shooting wood arrows should be in every archer's playbook. How else do you understand just how the bow/arrow combo work if you don't understand how they are made and how they interact with each other. And yes, I build my own bows and arrows and like George I build them from other than store bought shafting. If you love what you're doing it's not work.
 

[Tim Reese]

Man I really enjoy making woodies!!! It’s a hobby that I can do when season is over to extend the preparation and truly no one else will have the same arrows. But I shoot longbows and mostly ASL style so to me they go hand and hand.

[Brazos]

I only shoot longbows.  I bought a lot of different wooden and carbon arrows in the beginning.  Different type of woods, straight shaft, tapered shafts, different spines, etc.  I always blamed the arrow.  Then I figured out how to shoot, good release, and so on.  All those old arrows I thought were not right for my bow shot great once I got my act together.  I do like aluminum just because they are cheap and I can order the exact same shaft easily every time and they shoot great.  If I was forced to only shoot wood shafts I would be fine with it.  They are much more pleasing on the eye, smell great when building the arrow, and the best for stump shooting.

[GCook]

Is an ice cream cone in the summer worth the trouble?

Is building a snowman with your young children worth the trouble?

Is taking your kids sledding worth the trouble?

Is teaching your kids how to shoot a bow worth the trouble?

Wooden arrows are no trouble to me.

I hand plane white pine arrows from square stock. I also harvest shoots and wild rose shafts from nature.

It's a personal choice.

Jawge

And for me wooden arrow work is much better than some of this list. 

[BWlongbow]

My 1992 Great Northern longbow and my 2020 Shrew bow does best with wood arrows. I still prefer wood arrows over aluminum and carbon. I enjoy putting together wooden arrows. When tuned to a bow the wooden arrows shoot just as well as aluminum and carbon for me at hunting distances (15 yards or less) and my bows are a lot quieter too.

[Sam McMichael]

I got my first ASL in 2003 and have been shooting wood arrows almost exclusively ever since. I soon learned that they are not nearly as fragile as many had told me. They shoot more accurately than I can hold and are fun to make. In my mind, they are a perfect match for a longbow.

[Gunru]

I started making wood arrows probably 6 months ago. Found the entire process very enjoyable. Settled on Douglas Fir shafts from Surewood. Very good quality, surprisingly consistent weight and spine. Very durable and shot great. Unfortunately with my combination of draw length and the bow I'm using, I need very heavy spine arrows that are just too hard to come by. The weak spined ones that I have that are fletched group amazing and are fun to shoot but sadly, I had to move on. If I ever get interested in a bow that would permit a weaker arrow, I would definitely entertain them again. As long as you can get suitable shafts for your situation, I don't think you'll find them all that much trouble if you're buying shafts and making simple arrows for starters. You can get more advanced if you wind up liking. You just need a few tools and supplies to get started. Nothing terrible and I feel the reward was worth it.

Lou