Most archery nuts like to wish they could shoot their arrows and have them hit the target like this one.  It’s all our dream and some of the better people can do just that, or at least get close to it.  For the rest of us our dream is a little bigger than that.  I like to just hit the target….anywhere.

If I could do as good as this target shows I would be very happy.

My problem of late is the fact that I can’t seem to get the right arrows for my bow.  I’m learning a thing or two about arrows in my attempt to find ones that fit my bow and my type of shooting.  You see, most people shooting bows and arrows use compound bows.  They kind with wheels and strings going everywhere around the bow.  They have sights and long stabilizers sticking out the front, the sides and the back.  They are rock solid when it comes to shooting and the arrows fly straight and hit very hard.  The targets down range don’t have a chance.

Me, on the other hand, have a recurve bow, with no sights, no stabilizers, no wheels….just a stick with a string on it.  That’s all OK….I like it that way….simple.  And to hit the target is all on me to make it happen.  BUT, I need the right arrows.

There is a thing called “Archers Paradox”, you’ve no doubt read about it on here, or seen videos about how it works.  You nock the arrow, pull back the string and let it fly down range.  Upon movement toward the target, the arrow has to overcome the “nothingness” of being resting on the arrow rest.  You know, resting.  When that resting arrow is interrupted by the string and power in the bow’s limbs, forcing it to fly somewhere away from the rest, the arrow actually bends and it bends around the handle of the bow.  Once cleared from the bow handle the arrow wants to bend back the other way and then fly toward the target with ever smaller and smaller bending from side to side.  Like a fish tail.

So, what I have learned so far is that the stiffness of the arrow has everything to do with that bending process.  In order to achieve the correct archers paradox, the arrow has to be able to bend properly.  That bending must be proper for the draw weight of the bow.  The more powerful the bow, the stiffer the arrow shaft has to be.  My bow is considered a light weight.  It is only a 30 pound draw weight and so to find an arrow with a light weight stiffness is my latest problem.  I have contacted two different archery places and asked them to provide me with proper arrows for my 30 pound bow.  Both of them have provided me with arrows that are too stiff.  Experts?  I’m sure they shoot bows and arrows all the time and in my mind they sold me arrows that worked for them at some time or another when they began shooting bows.  But they probably started out with what they considered light weight bows in probably 40 to 50 pound draw weights.  I’m guessing.

Well, if I were their boss’s I would commend them on a job well done.  They sold me some pretty expensive arrows and I’ll be back to buy more.

Now, I have been researching arrows and spine weights and what can be done to make them work for my bow.  My buddy and mentor Lynn told me that the 500 spine weight arrows I have been using are too stiff and I need 600 spine weight arrows.  He also told me I could add weight to the front of the arrow to make the 500’s work with my bow.  His words were something like this:  Add weight to the front of the arrow to make it bend more.  Add weight to the back of the arrow to make it bend less.

When thinking about this theory, or law, or whatever it is, I like to think in extremes.  So, to add weight to the front of the arrow to make the spine weaker, I will add a huge block of lead, maybe 5 pounds of lead, melted to the point of the arrow.  I’m going to teach this arrow spine to bend and it will bend damn it!

Try shooting that one!  When you draw back and let that string go, the only thing that is going to happen is the arrow is going to break in half and teach the shooter a lesson on broken arrow shaft penetration!

On the other end of the spectrum, adding weight to the back or the nock area of the arrow will make the shaft stiffer.  Add that same 5 pound chunk of lead to the nock area and try shooting it.  The first pain will be in your bow holding hand, the second pain will be the doctor bill and the cost to replace the bow.  There is a lot to be said about “the stiffer the shaft”.

So, there is definitely something to be said about “compromise” when it comes to adding weight to either end of an arrow.  Try cutting the weight of that lead block down by half.  And then half again, and half again and half again.  At some point in time, your experimenting will arrive at the right amount of weight to be added to get your arrow to fly straight as a dart and end up where you desire it to be in the target.  That is, if all other things remain the same.  Remember form, draw, stance, bow straight, anchor points, release and follow through.

Well, I’m not the first person shooting a bow that has come across this issue of finding the proper arrow for my bow and this is what is so frustrating to me at this point.  Why on earth can’t I go to a store and buy the arrow I need?  How hard can that be?  They should be over stocked with arrows that will work for me and my bow…but NOOOOO!  The store guys always say the same thing, they must be taught it when they begin working at the arrow department….We Don’t Gots your arrows….

Let’s look a the following charts and try to figure this out on our own:

You must know the parts of the arrow first of all in order to properly fit your arrow to your bow.  This chart shows you just what you need to know.

Next you need to know what size the arrow is and how much it weighs in gpi (grains per inch).  Then the flex in the spine in inches.  And don’t forget what we have already said about the weight in the front of the arrow and the weight in the back of the arrow.  Both of those will affect the flex…If you have too much weight in the front it will flex more and if you add weight to the back at the same time you will take that flex away and maybe even make it stiffer.  So the weight of the tip and the weight of the nock have to compliment each other.  And with that it is a good thing there is a distance between those two worlds.  “Hey tip, you sure are a cutie!”  “Nock it off bucko or I’ll reverse the archer paradox and have you hit the target first”!

 This chart is tossed in here just so you can see that someone made a chart about arrow drop vs distance shot and how much energy is still left once the arrow reaches that distance.  Nothing more and besides you are not really interested in these charts anyway.  You just want Bears Butt to find the right arrow and get on with shooting perfect scores, right?

This chart is to show you how you can be nocked up.

This picture shows you how not to miss the target.

And the last one is me trying to figure out what arrow I need.

Bears Butt

February 22, 2015