For the past three months I have been trying just about everything I can think of to tighten up my groups and help me to shoot better. I've tried half a dozen or more different releases and ended up buying two different back tension releases to hopefully get better. I ended up buying seven easton full bore arrows off ebay this week to help me pull the line on the twelve rings that I have been barely missing. They came with four fletchings and I was just going to strip them off and refletch them to match the other five full bores that I already had. I decided to try them out before I refletched them and turns out they shot better than the five I have with three fletching. So I modified my fletching tool to do four fletchings and refletched a few of my fatboys to see how they would do. I've seen a lot of the pros using them but I didn't think it made that much difference. Well maybe it does. What do y'all think?

The yellow arrows have four vanes and the orange have three vanes. This group was shot at 50 yards with the carter attraction release. Wind was left to right.




The yellow arrows have four vanes and the orange have three vanes. This group was shot at 50 yards with the tru ball sweet spot four finger release. Wind was left to right.

You have a tuning issue. Possibly a spine issue. The 4 fletch stabilizes flight faster thus resulting in better groups.Either that or your form is really bad.


I'm not as informed about compound tuning but with a stickbow,if you are tuned perfectly and have great form,you can shoot bare shafts without any fletching to the exact same spot as fletched arrows. The fletching just helps correct errors in form or tuning.

Can you bareshaft test a compound like you do a stickbow? If so that's where I would start to see what's wrong. Lots of online info about bareshaft tuning.

4 fletch arrows will fly better than 3 fletch, no doubt about it. Been thinking about trying it myself.

interesting. ive never shot a 4 fletch

4 fletch flies better because it will stabilize more. What I'm saying is that there is some reason you need that extra stabilization.

I understand what RH is saying but I agree the 4 seem more accurate
Than the 3 ,,,,my biggest problem is proper form shot after shot
Still not bad with wind blowing

Any of those shots kills a deer. I wouldn't worry about it.

if I could shoot groups like those at 50 yards, I would not care if I had 1-vane or 5- vanes, I would be happy !!

Gold Tip is 4 fletching some of their arrows

Makes sense that it would. Today's arrows carry such small fletching your not to far from shooting a bare shaft as it is. Try it with a fixed blade BH. Good shooting by the way.

Saw them at the ATA show. I think it's the Valkrye series. Interested in trying them.

I hear the Goldtips are solid shooters
Sluggun looks to be a solid shooter as well

Just wanting to sell more arras. Yes, they stabilize faster, but if you aren't missing deer why worry? Unless you are shooting competition. Deer don't care about the vanes, it's the broadhead that annoys them.

I rechecked the bow today to make sure it was paper tuned and it shot bullet holes in paper. It does bare shaft tune about an inch left was the best I could get. I don't think that four fletchings is stabilizing the arrow quicker as much as it is giving it more spin. Kinda like throwing a football.I think that's why the four fletch hit the mark while the three fletch drifted to the right. This group I shot after rechecking the tune on the bow. It was raining and wind was blowing harder than when I shot the other groups. The one low left lost a fletching on the way to the target.

Yes I was Right ! Sluggun is a solid shooter!

Since you have checked your tune,I would just shoot the 4 fletch if they shoot better for you.They are stabilizing the arrow better even if that is because they give more spin. They should do better with broadheads too but I would try some before making the final decision.

jmxinc I am by far not the best shooter on here. I just do what I can to get better and give me an edge on the other shooters.
R H Clark this is strictly a tournament rig. This is for what I do when it's not hunting season.

I'm interested in seeing how they fly with broadheads. This is 50 yards with field points with my hunting rig.

Man! Shaw that's dead on! your a Killer!

See there. My group doesn't even compare to Shaw's group. Why is it that on nearly every group whether four or five shot groups it seems like you'll have one that will tail out of the group? And no it's not the same arrow every time.

Good question,,it amazes me that in completion shooting
Your 12 ring or not happy at all! Is that correct?

For some people maybe. For me if it's an easy shot, under 35 yards, and I don't pick up a twelve then I feel like I'm giving up points. If it's a long shot 40+ and I can stay a ten then I'm satisfied. If I get a twelve then it's a bonus. In ASA in the known 45 or 50 yard classes if your not shooting for and hitting twelves then you're loosing. It truly amazes me how good the pros can shoot.

Brother your well on your way!
You have made me reset my goals!
Keep shooting!!!

From my experience, it's operator error. Reason why I always hated shooting spots. Pissed me off that I couldn't drill that X every time from 20 yards. It was always a loss of focus, fatigue or a combo of both.

Yeah Shaw once I throw one out in the blue then I can drill the rest of them.

Either one of those groups are better than 99% of people who shoot a compound bow can do at 50yds. Saying that it's out of tune or he has "really bad form" is dumb.

Slug, I've tried 4 fletch but can't tell a difference on my rig. I'm shooting x cutters. Of course, my average groups aren't that tight, so it may be helping and I just can't tell.

What kills me, is dropping low out of 12s. I shot a known course the other day, and shot 7-8s in a row. 1/4" below the 12. Everyone of them would have smacked a penny right below the 12. Every now and then I'll do this, makes me want to throw my damn bow in the woods.

I'm sorry,I'm just not as smart as you think you are.

Yeah that will get in your head and mess the whole day up. Just have to shake the second one off and start adding a yard to everything else.

Sluggun
I never meant anything as an insult,especially about your form. I actually missed the yardage on my first post. I was thinking more along the line of 25 rather than 50. Instead of really bad form,I would have been closer to what I thought had I simply said inconsistent form.

Glad you found your tune OK and good luck this year on the tournaments.

R H Clark I didn't take it as an insult but it did get me to thinking about was it the bow tune or the extra spin it gives the arrow. I took it to the pro shop because I wanted to make sure it was still tuned. I just got this bow about a month ago and before I set it up I had the strings and cables reserved so I wanted to be sure that hadn't stretched or something. After all they don't charge me for labor. That's why I let them put their name on my shooters shirt. I'm sure there's a lot of room for improvement on my form as well. And I'm definitely not satisfied with those groups and won't be until they're all in the x every time.

All you need now is to drop the wheels and practice until you can shoot a stick like that. It will readjust what you thought was good before, and your new level of good will be even more satisfying. No,I'm not saying I'm that good,I just enjoy my good shots even more now.

I shot Tuscaloosa on April 22 in the traditional class. I had a whopping 96 points on 20 targets. We had a good time though and didn't loose any arrows. I was using a longbow and the other guys had recurves. They kicked my butt. Johnny had a 128, Larry had a 127 and Chester had a 114.

What was the possible? What kind of percentage are you scoring? If I ever see you at a trad shoot (Howard Hill Possibly) you need to try one of my target ILF recurves. I have one with 25" riser and riser weighs 5 lbs. Anyone use to compounds should shoot it very well.

It was a 3d shoot with 240 possible points. I missed 7 targets and didn't shoot any 12's. Shot a few tens though.

Good deal.Maybe I'll see you at a shoot sometime. I'll be the big fat bald guy,or at least one of them.

There are only a few things in life more enjoyable than loosing a great arrow from traditional gear! Maybe because they are elusive to me, but in the 40 years I have been watching the flight of the arrow (from both traditional & compounds) I am still enthralled with its simplistic beauty!

I went out this afternoon to give my fullbore arrows a test run with the four fletchings. They shoot better than the fatboys. The first group from 40 yards all four were touching. I moved back to 45 hoping that would be far enough not to tear anything up. The second arrow destroyed the first one. I just quit and went back inside.

Slug that the moment you know your. A. Game is On !!!
And it cost $15 a shot to play!!!
Great shooting my friend!

You're going to have to make some quarter sized dots and just shoot one arrow per dot. Shooting groups starts getting expensive and focusing on each individual dot will help you in competition.

I hardly ever shoot groups unless I'm trying something new and even then I won't shoot under 40 yards. This is the first one of my arrows that I've done in the last two years. After your first few robinhoods it's just annoying and expensive when it happens.

Yes sir, I totally agree. I shoot dots even with my stickbows. I've only had a couple of complete robbinhoods but destroying knocks and feathers is still annoying.