birch..or Sitka spruce?

[Brian Krebs]

Being a new member of the 'can't shoot carbons whilst hunting group'; and not wanting to shoot cedar; and if your arrows needed to be 70-75 pounds & 11/32  -- which of the two woods most closely matches cedar; what would the weight of the arrow shafts be expected to be in comparison to each other?
 Are there other considerations- like is birch or sitka so hard its tough to taper; or is one harder to hold straightness over the other.. and other words of wisdom..    
      Thanks.

[AkDan]

Sitka spruce is soft like cedar, light like cedar.  Very similar properties to cedar.  It does have a really nice grain!

I've never shot birch, I dont think I would shoot birch.  Technically birch is not a hardwood, but if I were to go to anything else it would be ash.   Used to shoot barrel tapered ash from silent pond shafts...it's great stuff.  If you dont have a belt sander it's hard to taper, so order it tapered or buy a belt sander make a jig and taper it yourself.

Ash is also a bit tough to do nock and point tapers being hard.  Either buy a belt sander with a disc attachment or go to a woodchuck.

I might ask why you wont shoot cedars?

[Falk]

I shoot birch - european Betula sp. of course. 70-75# spine is no problem. Birch has a good weight. In my case, 29.5" shafts can be matched with 145-160gr points to fall between 650-700gr. No pronounced grain or tendency to seperate rings (like pine). Quite durable.
I feel that birch recovers not so fast from paradox as cedar would. Use more fletching.

[smoke]

I'm shooting Birch, Ash and Sitka these days.  Birch and Ash are much heavier than Sitka but I am a tad more accurate with Sitka.  Because of the weight issue, I think Sitka is a good choice for quick, modest-sized game like whitetails.  If I were hunting elk or moose, I'd go with Birch or Ash.

[SlowBowinMO]

I've used Birch and liked it (non-laminated) but your description just screams Douglas Fir to me.  Really good Douglas Fir is amazing stuff, it fly's wonderfully, is easy to straighten, makes a stunning arrow in appearance and is stronger and heavier than cedar.

A finished arrow in the spine you need should easily break 600 grains, I'd expect even more than that though.

Just a thought.  PM me if you want to know my source for the really good stuff.  Tim

[Bjorn]

29" Birch with 160 point will be about 700 grains. 29" Sitka with 160 grains will be 560 grains. Plus minus 40 or so for both. Why wontcha' use cedar; heavy cedar is ideal and will be about 600 grains ?

[stump man]

I agree with slowbowinmo. Your description  "SCREAMS DOUG FIR" and the "good stuff". By all means follow up on this one.
stump

[WESTBROOK]

I like Sitka, my bow likes Sitka. Got some 400g shafts from Hildebrand 65-70. Arrows finish up around 620g w/160 on the tip.

Eric

[aromakr]

Doug (Stump):
Now why would you recommend "Doug Fir"?

Bob

[Ted Fry]

Good to see you still out there Stumpy

[NY Yankee]

I agree with the Douglas Fir. Best wood arrows I ever had!

[stump man]

Bob:
 I must have fir sawdust mixed with my blood  to survive.

Ted:
Like a bad penny, just can't get rid of me.

stump

[Brian Krebs]

Bjorn
  I have a long draw; I shoot a 31 inch arrow; and I like 11/32 diameter. I have used cedar in the past; and getting 70-75 pound spine is not only more money now; but I have had problems getting 12 shafts out of a dozen- that I can get the twists and turns out of; or have other things wrong that make them undesirable.
 I have shot ash - but they are pretty heavy and drop off within my shot comfort range- then too they are hard to taper.
 There are two factors that concern me. One is the arrow tradjectory. This year I was given a dozen really well made and high quality carbon shafts. I got scary good with them; and was really happy with them shooting them on my target range.
  They did drop faster than my cedar shafts; but with practice; the consistancy of the carbon was really really impressive.
  However; shooting them on game; I had a bad time with them. Not the fault of the arrows; it was that over 30 years of shooting arrows that were pretty close to exactly matched; and hunting everything from bears to deer and elk- I kind of had an 'automatic tradjectory' picture in my mind.
  I made some shots that I regret; in fact several ... I kept shooting low.
  After rolling down a mountain side I broke all my arrows but a rubber blunt; and I was tracking a deer I hit - low. I got the deer; but now- I have to get ready for Decembers elk hunt; and I want to go back to wood arrows again.
  Thus the inquiry.
The carbons are tough and so consistant; but I feel like I practiced on game this year. Something I am not at all proud of: and was entirely my doing.
  I am though trying to match the characteristics of cedar arrow flight- which I find nearly perfectly matches 2216 flight.

 I have shot Doug Fir before and liked it. Which of our sponsors sell it ??

[AkDan]

Brian,

Barrel taper those ash, you'll love them!!!!  I believe mine were 5/16ths on each end and 21/64ths in the middle.

[Bjorn]

Brian, Gotcha; I have gotten excellent tapered Doug Fir from Raptorarchery.com.

[Bill Carlsen]

Brian: I would be happy to send you a dozen white birch in 70-75. I have plenty of it. When I was making custom arrows I used mostly ash and birch. I liked birch the best and you can use hand tools on it to do tapering for points and nocks. As a wood it is pretty boring, not much grain to it. But it has nice heft and I had customers tell me that they were able to penetrate deer shoulder blades with them and two blade Magnus. My experience with Sitka is that it is lighter than cedar and I doubt that you will find it in 11/32 for a 70# spined shaft. It shoots really well but one problem I had with it was that is is hydrotrophic...it likes to absorb moisture. It needs to be sealed really well and I found a solvent based polyurethane to work the best. The doug fir and birch, were, to me, very simialr in weight to spine ratio and the fir is very pretty wood and makes a very nice looking arrow. Fir I found to be brittle if it is too dry, but it is a very nice arrow wood if you can get it. And I know you can get that in 11/32 in the spine you want as I have some 11/32 that are over 100 spine. All that being said, I would settle on the birch...which I can send you some to play with.

[Bill Carlsen]

Actually, Brian, I do have a dozen Sitka Spruce in 70-75 right here next to my desk. Want a dozen of each?

[Jeremy]

Which sponsors sell quality birch shafts?

I've been shooting ash, but just went down slightly in draw weight and want a lighter arrow.  I have some chundoo I still need to fletch but was thinking of going with birch ultimately.  Of the shafts I've made myself I liked those best.

Bill, define "plenty" !  :D   70-75 is probably what I'm going to need  

[Brian Krebs]

Bill - yes!! My computer has a glitch in it; and I cannot click on your name and get an email address though ! I assume my profile still has the email address-   thanks..  Brian