Vane Noise - Does it matter?

[slowelk]

Off-season pondering is in full-force. Bows these days are fast, and with most shots, the time between the "thump" of the bow, and the arrival of the arrow is minimal, so noise from vanes is not likely much of a factor is what I'm thinking. That said, I'm sure most of you, as I have, have heard the rather noticeable sound of blazer vanes ripping by. Is it worth a change-up to a reportedly quieter vane setup such as a flex-fletch, or something else?

 

[mfllood3800]

You would be amazed at how fast mule deer, white tail, or any animal on high alert is.
They can jump your string and make you miss badly.
I can hear my 2" blazers on some of my shots, and I am behind it, and human.
lol

I am in process of switching all my arrows over to a low profile 4 fletched set up to reduce noise of arrow, and I always make sure my bow is as quiet as possible, with a heavy arrow helping that. I immediately know when an arrow is loose in the quiver, or my sight has a loose bolt or my stabilizer has backed out a little.

Yes it will eventually bite you, if you ignore it.
The guys who disagree just haven't been in that scenario yet.
I have had deer at 30 yards jump me and I hit high.
I had an cow elk at 82, just stood there.
I had a very mature desert mule deer at 60 jump so fast my shot ended up high and back and missed him.
I had a spike elk at 45 never moved
I had a desert mule- at 70 yards, never moved

there is no rhyme or reason some times, but when it happens to you once- you will decide to make changes to something.

 

[slowelk]

You would be amazed at how fast mule deer, white tail, or any animal on high alert is.
They can jump your string and make you miss badly.
I can hear my 2" blazers on some of my shots, and I am behind it, and human.
lol

I am in process of switching all my arrows over to a low profile 4 fletched set up to reduce noise of arrow, and I always make sure my bow is as quiet as possible, with a heavy arrow helping that. I immediately know when an arrow is loose in the quiver, or my sight has a loose bolt or my stabilizer has backed out a little.

Yes it will eventually bite you, if you ignore it.
The guys who disagree just haven't been in that scenario yet.
I have had deer at 30 yards jump me and I hit high.
I had an cow elk at 82, just stood there.
I had a very mature desert mule deer at 60 jump so fast my shot ended up high and back and missed him.
I had a spike elk at 45 never moved
I had a desert mule- at 70 yards, never moved

there is no rhyme or reason some times, but when it happens to you once- you will decide to make changes to something.

What vane are you switching to?

 

[mfllood3800]

Blazer heat vanes, they are lower profile but longer.
So far my groups are as good if not better.

 

[slowelk]

Blazer heat vanes, they are lower profile but longer.
So far my groups are as good if not better.

Are you doing any twist, or is that straight?

 

[mfllood3800]

Are you doing any twist, or is that straight?

I am experimenting with straight A helical and an offset and the jury is still out on which one I like best

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[mfllood3800]

So far I am liking the helical

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[slowelk]

So far I am liking the helical

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

what degree helical can you get with a four-fletch setup? What diameter arrows are you shooting?

 

[mfllood3800]

I use the bitzenberger jig with a right hand helical- I don't even know the degree of it. Its noticeable by looking at it. I shoot Black Eagle X impacts- super skinny. I just make sure my vanes touch all the way thru the twist and call it good.

 

[slowelk]

I use the bitzenberger jig with a right hand helical- I don't even know the degree of it. Its noticeable by looking at it. I shoot Black Eagle X impacts- super skinny. I just make sure my vanes touch all the way thru the twist and call it good.

I've been too cheap to get the bintzenberger. What broadhead?

 

[mcmurder77]

I’ve been doing the same. Right now I’m playing with vanetec superspines in 2.3”, on victory vap TKO’s and 125g kudu point broadheads. Both 3 and 4 fletch with about a 4 degree offset. So far, so good. Also if you want a bitz check ebay. Just picked mine up for $60

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mfllood3800]

I am using the old faithful Montec 125 gr with Black Eagles Stainless Steel outsert to add more weight up front. It's only an extra 20 gr, but gets me a bit heavier up front as I also run nocturnal nocks so they add a bit more at the rear.

 

[kicker338]

Blazer heat vanes, they are lower profile but longer.
So far my groups are as good if not better.

Good luck with those heat vanes, A bunch of guys over on AT including myself tried them and gave up on them. The vanes were noticeably quieter than regular blazers shooting field tips. Put on broadheads and the heat vanes were inconstant.

 

[mfllood3800]

Good luck with those heat vanes, A bunch of guys over on AT including myself tried them and gave up on them. The vanes were noticeably quieter than regular blazers shooting field tips. Put on broadheads and the heat vanes were inconstant.

So far the heat vanes are really consistent. I have already refletched a couple arrows from stacking them.
It's not uncommon to stack 3 and being forced to stop, or risk more damage...

But I tried the newer ice vanes from blazer, and had very inconsistent results

Didn't like them at all

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[slowelk]

has anyone shot the flex fletch silent knights?

 

[5MilesBack]

has anyone shot the flex fletch silent knights?

Yep, both the 2" and 3". It's funny, I hear guys saying that they are the quietest vanes they've ever shot, yet they were the only vanes I've ever heard while shooting them. Maybe they have a different frequency that my ears pick up better? Or others have shot some really loud vanes before them. Don't know. I shot Quick Spin 2" Speed Hunters for 10 years and people always talk about how loud those are, but I never hear them from the bow.

I also didn't like how permanently wrinkled up the SK's got when burying in or passing through targets. I've got plenty of other vanes that work as well or better than the SK's that fletch up much easier, don't wrinkle, and stay on my arrows. But lots of folks seem to love them. To each their own.

These are what I'm using now.......all Q2i Fusion Xii vanes, 3", 2.1", and 1.75". Both the 2.1" and 1.75" are in a 4-fletch. But after quite a bit of testing recently, I've settled on the 2.1" 4-fletch as my do everything fletching. They'll shoot fixed BH's out to 100 accurately and consistently, and work great for 3D as well. They keep their shape, no prep to fletch, and they stick like crazy. I refletched some 3-vane arrows to 4-vane and it took some effort to get the old vanes off. I tried pliers just to see how well they stuck, and the pliers tore the vanes while they stayed stuck. I like that. QS's used to be like that until they started using a smaller base.

 

[Trial153]

Honestly I find shield shaped vanes to be the loudest. Might just be my hearing which stinks anyway. I the grand scale of things vane noise isn’t really even in my list of worries.

 

[OR Archer]

Animals are going to react to the sound of your Bow long before they hear your arrow. So I’d be more concerned with Bow noise than your vanes.

 

[slowelk]

Yep, both the 2" and 3". It's funny, I hear guys saying that they are the quietest vanes they've ever shot, yet they were the only vanes I've ever heard while shooting them. Maybe they have a different frequency that my ears pick up better? Or others have shot some really loud vanes before them. Don't know. I shot Quick Spin 2" Speed Hunters for 10 years and people always talk about how loud those are, but I never hear them from the bow.

I also didn't like how permanently wrinkled up the SK's got when burying in or passing through targets. I've got plenty of other vanes that work as well or better than the SK's that fletch up much easier, don't wrinkle, and stay on my arrows. But lots of folks seem to love them. To each their own.

These are what I'm using now.......all Q2i Fusion Xii vanes, 3", 2.1", and 1.75". Both the 2.1" and 1.75" are in a 4-fletch. But after quite a bit of testing recently, I've settled on the 2.1" 4-fletch as my do everything fletching. They'll shoot fixed BH's out to 100 accurately and consistently, and work great for 3D as well. They keep their shape, no prep to fletch, and they stick like crazy. I refletched some 3-vane arrows to 4-vane and it took some effort to get the old vanes off. I tried pliers just to see how well they stuck, and the pliers tore the vanes while they stayed stuck. I like that. QS's used to be like that until they started using a smaller base.

You use the 2.1" four fletch for your hunting setup as well? I keep reading that they are a target/3D vane.

 

[5MilesBack]

You use the 2.1" four fletch for your hunting setup as well? I keep reading that they are a target/3D vane.

Yep. In fact in 2016 I shot my bull using the same 2.1" vanes but in a 3-fletch, but after a lot more shooting (especially BH's) in the last year, I have found the 4-fletch to be more consistent.

Here's my bow and quiver loaded and ready to go......target, 3D, hunting......just put BH's on, it's good to go. And these are 532gr arrows going 289fps.