Well explained from your experiences. After many years of building arrows for different purposes I’ve learned to use two different setups. One for hunting with fixed blade heads and the other for indoor and 3-d to 55 yards. Hunting shaftshave AAE stealth at 3 degree straight offset. The target shafts have Bohning mini-blazers at 1 to 1 1/2 degrees straight offset. I’ve found if a heavy helical is used it’s a little more noise and drops some after 40 yards. At 50 yards plus it is a 2” drop compared to 3 degrees straight offset. Which isn’t important for accuracy but the trajectory may be relative because of a higher arc in flight. A flatter trajectory can be important in certain terrain and vegetation. If a bow is super well tuned and the correct arrow is used it’s my experience just about any vane setup will work fine for 99.9% of the archers. Pro archers can readily see the difference because of their unusual skill level. Over the years I’ve attended so many 3-d events and have seen every combination of arrows,bows and the skill level of many. It’s very sad, but vane design and mounting is of little relevance because so many do well to even hit a 3-d target in the normal lung and heart area past 20 or 25 yards. Watch a CZcams channel called “1nestly”. Great slow motion vid with multiple vane configurations. Very little difference on impact points
So true. Everyone is so caught up in fps. Perfect arrow flight is the goal. Personally I've found that with a 30" shaft that I have achieved a happy balance in my arrow build paradox with this. A micro .166 shaft fitted with 4 two" plus vanes. I've always been a big Bohning nock & vane guy. I fit the shaft with the appropriate nock so it fits tight into the shaft with no bushing. FOC & ease of use is the goal. Then my 4 vanes r the low profile Bohning X3 vane in the 2.25" size, again another happy medium. My Valkyrie steel 50 grain insert with the Valkyrie 210 short Jag in steel. Ten days ago I took an animal that I watched since May & I have done more scouting from afar this year than hunting. A tough, smart & old whitetail is as hard as it gets. I had 2 cams on the spot I new I had to shoot it @. It put it's left front hoof down on this spot momentarily & I released the arrow from above @ 12 yards. The result was a humane dispatch in seconds with the animal impact on the front of the shoulder & it exited behind the opposite shoulder. U can see on the video that it & the other deer reacted only after the b.h. buried into the ground. 10 yards later it stumbled to the right & crashed. Continued to get video for over 10 minutes of confused deer closeby. I don't have many options when it comes to taking a buck here. Landowners have had problems with over browsing here so I adapted to their needs. This target animal was an old doe which dressed out @ 165 lbs. She dwarfed the buck running her around on trail camera video just days b4 this. This setup works great for the situation & u r right to have fun making something work while achieving your conservation goals. I know the bloodtrail which was short & 3 to 6 feet wide was fun for me👍.
AAE Max Stealths for most. However, if you are going to use a wide cut broadhead like an old school thunderhead or older model muzzy or something, than maybe the blazer over the max stealth. My go to is a Flex Fletch 360 3-fletched 2 degree helical. It'll shoot just about anything well and still maintain quiet flight.
Curious if you have ever used firenock vanes? I use them on my setup, and they tdo everything they say they would. Only issue is that not all.broadhead alike them due to how fast it spins.
Not just that, but the Firenock vanes are designed to reduce drag. If there's no drag in the back, there's no stability for a broadhead. They also require a high speed setup to function at their potential, but too light of an arrow has issues for hunting in general.
Really good video. Very very well explained. I would just add that if someone is shooting a fast arrow eg 320fps then I find less helical is needed (assuming bow is tuned, form etc is ok). Also to much helical on a very fast arrow will drag lots of energy out of the arrow and increase noise much more than need be. At slower speeds I prefer a bit more fletching and more helical. Hey Ryan, if you ever want to shoot some very very different vanes just let me know and I will send you some for free. This is an ultra light vane I am testing/working on at the moment. czcams.com/video/pMpP-M-lXIA/video.html
Well explained from your experiences. After many years of building arrows for different purposes I’ve learned to use two different setups. One for hunting with fixed blade heads and the other for indoor and 3-d to 55 yards. Hunting shaftshave AAE stealth at 3 degree straight offset. The target shafts have Bohning mini-blazers at 1 to 1 1/2 degrees straight offset. I’ve found if a heavy helical is used it’s a little more noise and drops some after 40 yards. At 50 yards plus it is a 2” drop compared to 3 degrees straight offset. Which isn’t important for accuracy but the trajectory may be relative because of a higher arc in flight. A flatter trajectory can be important in certain terrain and vegetation. If a bow is super well tuned and the correct arrow is used it’s my experience just about any vane setup will work fine for 99.9% of the archers. Pro archers can readily see the difference because of their unusual skill level. Over the years I’ve attended so many 3-d events and have seen every combination of arrows,bows and the skill level of many. It’s very sad, but vane design and mounting is of little relevance because so many do well to even hit a 3-d target in the normal lung and heart area past 20 or 25 yards. Watch a CZcams channel called “1nestly”. Great slow motion vid with multiple vane configurations. Very little difference on impact points
Great video. I learned a lot from this. Much appreciated Brother!
Thanks for the video. That was very educational.
Well explained sir 👍🏻
Thanks for your explanation. I haven't heard it from anyone else this way and I am a beginner. Your video really helped out
Glad it was helpful!
So true. Everyone is so caught up in fps. Perfect arrow flight is the goal. Personally I've found that with a 30" shaft that I have achieved a happy balance in my arrow build paradox with this. A micro .166 shaft fitted with 4 two" plus vanes. I've always been a big Bohning nock & vane guy. I fit the shaft with the appropriate nock so it fits tight into the shaft with no bushing. FOC & ease of use is the goal. Then my 4 vanes r the low profile Bohning X3 vane in the 2.25" size, again another happy medium. My Valkyrie steel 50 grain insert with the Valkyrie 210 short Jag in steel. Ten days ago I took an animal that I watched since May & I have done more scouting from afar this year than hunting. A tough, smart & old whitetail is as hard as it gets. I had 2 cams on the spot I new I had to shoot it @. It put it's left front hoof down on this spot momentarily & I released the arrow from above @ 12 yards. The result was a humane dispatch in seconds with the animal impact on the front of the shoulder & it exited behind the opposite shoulder. U can see on the video that it & the other deer reacted only after the b.h. buried into the ground. 10 yards later it stumbled to the right & crashed. Continued to get video for over 10 minutes of confused deer closeby. I don't have many options when it comes to taking a buck here. Landowners have had problems with over browsing here so I adapted to their needs. This target animal was an old doe which dressed out @ 165 lbs. She dwarfed the buck running her around on trail camera video just days b4 this. This setup works great for the situation & u r right to have fun making something work while achieving your conservation goals. I know the bloodtrail which was short & 3 to 6 feet wide was fun for me👍.
AAE Max stealth vs blazers? Which would you pick for a hunting setup?
AAE Max Stealths for most. However, if you are going to use a wide cut broadhead like an old school thunderhead or older model muzzy or something, than maybe the blazer over the max stealth.
My go to is a Flex Fletch 360 3-fletched 2 degree helical. It'll shoot just about anything well and still maintain quiet flight.
Can't beat feathers. Imo
Curious if you have ever used firenock vanes? I use them on my setup, and they tdo everything they say they would. Only issue is that not all.broadhead alike them due to how fast it spins.
Not just that, but the Firenock vanes are designed to reduce drag. If there's no drag in the back, there's no stability for a broadhead.
They also require a high speed setup to function at their potential, but too light of an arrow has issues for hunting in general.
What glue do you like?
Really good video. Very very well explained. I would just add that if someone is shooting a fast arrow eg 320fps then I find less helical is needed (assuming bow is tuned, form etc is ok). Also to much helical on a very fast arrow will drag lots of energy out of the arrow and increase noise much more than need be. At slower speeds I prefer a bit more fletching and more helical. Hey Ryan, if you ever want to shoot some very very different vanes just let me know and I will send you some for free. This is an ultra light vane I am testing/working on at the moment. czcams.com/video/pMpP-M-lXIA/video.html
Interesting stuff!