What core materials are affected most/least by heat/cold?

[Zradix]

We've had quite a heat wave here for the last week.
100˚+ temps.

I was shooting my bow yesterday and noticed my well tuned arrows weren't flying near as well as normal.

So I decided to paper check them for fun and saw I was getting about a 1.25" weak tear.

I'm drawing the same length etc etc..

My bow has slim limbs with deep cores of action boo with glass back and belly.

The arrows are spruce. I figure there's more change to be found in the bow than the arrows with heat anyway.

My thoughts are a deeper cored bow would be subject to more change with heat/cold than a wide limbed shallow core bow.

Also, action boo has a lot of glue in it that I can understand might change in the heat.

I'm not changing a thing with my arrows right now to compensate as I hunt in much cooler temps ( typically 50˚ to 0˚)

This finding begs the question...which cores are the most temperature stable?

Thanks  

[TxAg]

I have no clue, but I would think if it affected your bow, it would also affect your wooden arrows.

[Tim]

I will be watching this thread....      Real interested in what folks have to say.

[Huntrdfk]

Me too Tim, I have to think foam cores are least affected, but that just my first thought


David

[kennym]

I'm not sure, seems the arrows would be stiff if the heat affected the bow.

The selfbow boys heat their bows to make em pliable enough to bend em.

Maybe your spruce is more affected by heat than your bow limbs?

[A.S.]

Originally posted by Tim:
I will be watching this thread....         Real interested in what folks have to say.

Tim, wasn't I just talking about this the other night??  

[Gen273]

[riverrat 2]

I bet it has to do with the arrows as well. Bob Morrison told me a while back,foam core is least affected by heat. My money is on the arrows.

[JimB]

I know squat about building bows but have been lately reading "Traditional Bowyers Encyclopedia".

John Watson of Mountain Man Bows,speaking of laminations says:"I prefer maple.Yew stiffens up in cold weather.Because of maple's consistency in any weather it is used in the finest musical instruments.I want that consistency in my bows."

[WESTBROOK]

John,

Those spruce shafts have dried sap/pitch in them, on a good hot day that can soften up. Would have been handy to have a carbon or 'Lumnum arrow handy to try also.

Eric

[Zradix]

You know Westbrook that's a pretty good point about the pitch..it's gotta be there.

I wish I did have some tuned in carbs or Al arrows to play with right now...haven't shot one in a few years now....keep thinking about carbs though....

[Sixby]

Foam cores
God bless, Steve

[rastaman]

I've looked at this thread all day long. I can honestly say i've never thought whether or not the heat could affect my bows performance when I'm hunting. I hunt hogs almost every weekend and we have some pretty hot and humid days. Deer season down here is pretty hot also. I can't think of a single instance when I missed a shot and thought "now how did that happen. I wonder if the heat affected my shot." I have friends who have spent hours in a ground blind in the sweltering heat to get a shot at an antelope and never had a second thought about the heat affecting their bow or arrows performance. I guess maybe if I was a 3d archer shooting for scores I might concentrate more on that.  For me the mental aspect of releasing that arrow at an animal is about as important as the physical aspect. If its 110 outside I don't want my mind having doubts or second thoughts about whether or not I can make the shot because i think the heat is affecting my bow or arrows performance.
I think you guys think too much. Keep it simple. Go hunt something..  

[Zradix]

Fact is my arrows didn't fly as well in the high heat as they did when   it was 30-40˚ cooler.

It's real and measurable.
I didn't make this stuff up for something to talk about.

20 yd shots were about 7" right of normal...with field points.
Didn't try it with a broadhead.
Corkscrewing arrows...the setup was no longer tuned.

I want to go hunt something.
I just want to learn how to minimize my chances of gut shooting or otherwise maiming an animal.

Surely that isn't "thinking too much"
   

[rastaman]

Let me apologize...I have never seen or heard of this happening from any of my "hunting" buddies, I have never experienced this phenomenon myself. I still can't wrap my mind around it with all the hunting that we do in the heat and I've never seen or heard of it being an issue..again no offense intended..

[rastaman]

Double post...sorry..

[cahaba]

I noticed my arrows the past few days too. I would think that heat expands material whether it be metal, wood or just about any other material. The wood on the arrows become less dense due to expansion therefore they fly a tad weak which is what my arrows were showing. Just like Zradix mine were corkscrewing. I have an adjustable nock and I tried messing with BH alot to no avail. It wasn't enough to cause me to miss the kill zone up to 20 yards. During cold/cool weather they shot better but when its warm/hot I have to get a near perfect release to get optimum flight. My arrows are a tad stiff to start with so that may be the reason.. Mr. Hill liked his arrows to err on the stiff side and since he hunted in Africa alot that may have been one of the reasons he liked them that way. One reason he stated was that a tad stiff spine was less critical of minor shot mistakes. He felt like he had a better chance of getting a kill shot with them a little stiff if he didn't get a perfect shot off.

[Tim]

Obviously you've got to have a really good eye to notice ant difference in a fletched shaft.  Just for giggles and following a conversation with tuning guru Allen (AS) I shot my bare shaft inside our cool air conditioned basement and it flew slightly stiff (nock right).   I went outside in our lovely PA weather (98 degrees and very humid).   After several shots I grabbed the bare shaft and got a totally different read.   The arrow showed nock left.....weak.  

Whether or not I can use this as an excused miss is questionable and I doubt I would aim either left or right of my spot to offset weather conditions but it's about having fun and figuring stuff out, not over analyzing.  :rolleyes:

[Broken Arrows]

I wonder if you used Hex shafts if the out come would have been different gluing 6 pieces of pine together then making the shaft dose create a very strong and straight shaft.

[Orion]

Temperature and humidity, high and low, does affect wood.  Generally the higher the temperature and humidity, the more "elastic" it becomes, the lower the temperature, humidity, the stiffer it becomes, all within reason, of course.

Selfbows would exhibit the greatest effect of temperature/moisture changes.  Glass laminated bows not so much.  Though great temperature/moisture fluctuations can also affect properly sealed wood arrows, the effects are likely negligible. For example, I have seen my woodies gain 5-15 grains weight in the very humid temperatures of summer, and lose the weight in the dry air inside my home in winter. The overall effect of a heavier arrow is to somewhat weaken the dynamic spine and vice-versa.  However, my experience parallels Rastaman's.  I've never seen temperature/humidity changes affect arrow flight enough to matter, and I've been shooting wood for more than 50 years.

Temperature/humidity can also affect the string, shooting glove/tab, maybe even one's form, draw length, etc.  A combination of factors may be causing your result.  Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.