wood vs carbon vs aluminum arrows

[Morning Star]

My 2 cents, alum arrows will carry the tightest spine tolerances.  I'd put a dozen Easton Camo Hunters or Legacy's up against a dozen of ANY brand/model carbon arrows.  As far as consistency in spine....alums rule. That equates to consistent shooting!

[Diamond Paul]

X2 on what Morning Star said; most of the best open compound guys use X7 aluminums, or at least they did when I was still shooting that stuff, and not because they get paid to, either.  Aluminums are somewhat louder than the other two, if you ding one on the riser, which counts for something if you are hunting things.  I still use XX75 camo hunters, though.  Just a lot easier to work with, tune with, etc., at least for me.

[The Ole' Bowhunter]

My choice of arrow material is port orford cedar for both target shooting and hunting.  I shoot a Black Widow takedown which pulls 62 pounds at my 29.5 inch draw.  My arrows are spined for 70-75 pounds and shoot extremely well. I get pass-through shots on turkey, deer and black bear.  I choose to shoot wood arrows because I like handcrafting my own arrows not to mention taking game with arrows that I myself straightened, crown-dipped, crested, fletched and glued on and hand sharpened and honed a deadly zwicky broadhead.

[Knawbone]

If I shot competitively I would shoot aluminum or carbon.Since I don't, there are some advantages to wood that that are a big factor to their selection. First of all, I live in southern upstate NY where my property allows me to shoot outside year round....targets and stump shooting. The problem with that is the rocky ground. Literally stone everywhere. It doesn't matter what kind of material your arrow is made out of, if you hit a rock ( and your going to ) your arrow is broken. Therefore for me wood is the most economical to shoot.
 Secondly, for hunting, and all my hunting is done in a forest setting, a wood arrow bounced off a tree just doesn't spook deer like aluminum does. I don't know about carbon in this instance because Iv' never hunted with it. I'm willing to bet it spooks them worse than wood. More than once I have missed a deer first shot, had it hit a tree or branch and not spooked the deer bad enough that it fled from range. Needless to say, I find that fact persuasive since it has payed off a few times for me. Also with a little experience I find building consistent wood arrows close in weight and spine not that big a deal. I out shoot aluminum and carbon shooters quite often. So if your a good shot with your bow, shooting wood is not enough of a handy cap with a good set of woodies. Would you want to shoot against Howard Hill ? He shot wood! Of coarse I'm bias as I love the tradition of making and shooting my own wood arrows. Traditional and primitive.

[DaveT1963]

I stump shoot all the time in very rocky ground (Texas) and I use to do it in Montana almost daily  I destroyed dozens of wood arrows and at least a doz aluminums every year.  - I have broke ONE Gold Tip in the last 5 years.  And I don't even foot mine.  In my experience nothing holds up to stump shooting as well as carbon arrows - wood and aluminum don't even come close.

[wallybowman]

Yes wood takes dedication and patience. Aluminum shafts are the most consistent but they do bend quite easily especially the thin - walled ones. Carbons imho are NOT the be-all/end-all shafts they are perceived to be. I do own and shoot carbons but I don't use Gold Tip or Easton brands; not heavy enough as are the majority of carbons. But I do use Grizzlystiks. But in the end wood IS my choice even with all of the intricacies they posess.