Poor arrow flight

[JoeDirt]

Bow: BTX31, 70#, 28.8", Hamskea rest, 300 spine 28" day six arrows

Last year I had a pro shop restring the bow with premium strings, after my second tuning I shot bullet holes in paper with fletched and bare shaft (at the shop)

However on longer shots I notice corkscrewing arrow flight. This is unusually visual after 50 yards the bow paper tunes fine though???

I used an Iphone with slow mo camera and it appears the arrow is launching tail low? The rest appears to be getting out of the way quick enough. Cam timing is good also? My bare shafts at 40 yards seemed ok but not perfect..... (not confident in my ability to shoot clean) The shop says my form and everything looks great.

Could I have a nock travel issues? The pro shop has the nocking point a little high where the bottom of the arrow shaft is at the top of the berger holes. Bowtech says the bottom the the shaft should run through the middle of the berger holes? Thats the only thing I can find that appears to be off?


I killed an elk with this setup last year but my arrow flight is my weakness this year.

Any tuning tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Samdemarais]

Have you shot fixed blade broadheads at 50 yards? If not I would try that and see where they hit compared to your field points. Have you checked to see if you have bad nock pinch? Take all the weight off the front of your arrow and draw it back and watch it, does it stay down on the rest or does it pull up? Try those two things and see if they both check out. Most bows will run straight through the Berger hole or 1/8” nock high. You could also just try lowering your rest a 1/16” and see if that corrects it.

 

[Rob5589]

You could try to level out the nock height. But I would guess it is just a visual anomaly, not truly corkscrewing. You'd be all over the target if that was the case.

 

[Sled]

I had a particular vane color combo that always appeared to corkscrew on one of my slower bows. I got used to it.

If your BH and BS shoot well then I'd leave it alone.

 

[tuk]

I had wrong spine arrows. Shot fine with field point. with a broadhead they did a. Serious curve ball was cool to watch. But finding the arrows was not. Got the right arrows fixed problem. i am new to archery. just something I learned.

 

[406unltd]

You say it’s corkscrewing but when you shoot any random distance are you hitting point of aim/where the shot broke or not?

In my opinion your vanes should have totally taken over and corrected any flight issue by 50 for sure, if it was caused on the shot. To have an issue at that distance with flight is beyond me unless your vanes themselves are damaged and causing it somehow.

If you’re not getting fletching contact and your BS is pretty damn good at 40, which isn’t easy, I’m not sure what it could be.

What does a Broadhead do at 50-60?

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I've had some arrows that appeared to corkscrew on the way to the target but tuned fine and hit where I aimed. I assume the apparently strange flight was just a trick of my eyes/brain, possibly related to lighting conditions and/or vane colors. If your bareshafts group with your fletched shafts and they all hit behind the pin, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[tuk]

On e i switched arrows down from 500 to 350 no problem. Go pretty close to where i aim. Or try to aim anyway. I mistakenly bought the wrong ones for my length and draw weight.

 

[Billy Goat]

If you can confirm your tune with broadheads I'm with the others thinking it's odd vane colors and lighting. I have experienced that myself. Swore that the back of the arrow was spinning around on the way to the target, but same vane color fixed it.

 

[takdrvr]

If your trying to take peek when you release that can cause bad habits. Since it appears to happen at longer distances I would say it’s your form. I would get your broad heads and field points hitting together and see what arrows do after that. Since the shop said your form looked good it could be how your executing your shot causing your arrows to cork screw at longer distances.

I bare shaft tune out to 40 yards and when I’m done broad head tuning I hardly ever get a perfect hole if I shoot through paper when I’m done. It usually is just a slight tear.

 

[tuk]

Appreciate all the feedback

 

[Marble]

Wouldn't hurt to put it on a draw board and confirming timing.

But I agree on form or process at longer ranges causing the issues.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[JoeDirt]

The poor flight seems the same with broadheads and field points. Broadheads seem to hit with the field points. Good enough to shoot out to 60-80 even 100 yards with a larger target (18"x18")

When I say corkscrewing the arrow looks like its all over the place and its not consistent. Its not just me that saw it, everyone I shoot with comments on it.

Edit: Vane color is orange on a Bohning reflective wrap

 

[JoeDirt]

Have you shot fixed blade broadheads at 50 yards? If not I would try that and see where they hit compared to your field points. Have you checked to see if you have bad nock pinch? Take all the weight off the front of your arrow and draw it back and watch it, does it stay down on the rest or does it pull up? Try those two things and see if they both check out. Most bows will run straight through the Berger hole or 1/8” nock high. You could also just try lowering your rest a 1/16” and see if that corrects it.

I shoot broadheads out to 80+ after 80 they are a little different.

I lowered my rest to where the arrow seems to be launching ok in the slow motion video. Thats as far as i've got so far, need to see what it looks like on paper and re sight in.

 

[JoeDirt]

You could try to level out the nock height. But I would guess it is just a visual anomaly, not truly corkscrewing. You'd be all over the target if that was the case.

My groups are not that great, on my best day im a paper plate at 60, I do get a flyer here and there

 

[JoeDirt]

Wouldn't hurt to put it on a draw board and confirming timing.

But I agree on form or process at longer ranges causing the issues.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

I built a draw board just to check it. I did make and adjustment with new strings. Had the pro shop check it and they said I was good.

 

[Sled]

Can you video the poor flight? I've had some badly tuned bows still shoot good groups if the arrows are spine indexed. Most errors, if consistent, will produce consistent results.

Fwiw, french tuning should show any real errors that crazy flight down range is producing. Again, the caveat is that you need to be doing everything the same way each time...consistent

 

[Samdemarais]

I shoot broadheads out to 80+ after 80 they are a little different.

I lowered my rest to where the arrow seems to be launching ok in the slow motion video. Thats as far as i've got so far, need to see what it looks like on paper and re sight in.

If your fixed broadheads group well with field points at 80 I wouldn’t care if your arrow looks like a drunk peacock flying with it’s eyes closed.

 

[406unltd]

If your fixed broadheads group well with field points at 80 I wouldn’t care if your arrow looks like a drunk peacock flying with it’s eyes closed.

Seriously. That’s a hell of a shot in itself. It’s not likely that there is any issue with flight if fixed heads are hitting at that distance.

 

[Arctic Hunter]

A couple things you might try:

1. Add an inch and a half to your arrow to weaken it a little.

2. Make sure you’re still standing up straight, pulling straight back with the release, and your bow is pushed toward the target when your at the range. The idea of actually trying to hit something at the range makes me pay attention to stuff other than my form. Shooting a blank piece of paper is always a little easier to stay tight.

You might also be mindful of parachute effect....