vane questions

[Lefty]

With the weather getting better I am planning on doing some more tinkering. Bought a fletching jig and am going to try a few things. Wondering about real world experience with a couple different things. Arrow flight noise is one of them. Do arrows that are louder in flight make any difference to animals jumping the string? Have run across a couple references where this is an issue, but in watching you tube and people recording arrow flight going by with my hearing aid helped ears I can not tell a difference from one to another, and kind of thinking a deer would hear even quieter arrows easily? Have you guys noticed anything in your experience with this?

The other thing is vanes that weigh differently. Saw a you tube video and the person mentioned vanes can weigh different depending on the color of them as some dyes weigh more than others. I weighed mine and there is a difference of 1/2 grain between colors out of the three I tried. In real world does this have any effect on arrow flight or tuning with broadheads?

[3blade]

Noise doesn’t help. Certain combinations of vanes, and broadheads (fired from particular bows) can definitely be noisy enough to cause issues. But it’s very much determined by the individual recipe.

Different colors…that’s a new one. Different colors can certainly change the wear characteristics of the vanes (ex white tends to warp easiest). I would guess there’s more variation batch to batch than between colors but you’d need a large sample size to prove it either way.

Everyone has a different idea of what’s acceptable for SD and ES. Generally speaking, lighter and faster arrows are less forgiving of variations

[byronick87]

I did a very non-scientific test last season.
I went into my backyard, walked 70 yards away and grabbed my fairly expensive camera and external mic and had it beside my foam target.
I fletched up a bunch of different combinations of vanes, shot the all thru a Mathews Halon 32 going about 310 on a whisker biscuit (I know, bullsh!t, how can a WB produce that fast of a velocity )
Arrows were Victory VAP with either a 4 or 3 fletch from a bitz right helical 2 or 3 degree.
field points on a 29.5" arrow - 70lb draw
I yelled out every arrow combo before firing and then extracted the audio and processed it on the computing machine.

results were as follows in order of loudest to quietest

blazer 4 fletch
blazer 3 fletch
tac 4
tac 3
Q2I fusion 2.1" 4 and 3 fletch
AAE hybrid stealth 26
Q2I fusion 3" 4 and 3 fletch

I'm running the fusion 3' 3 fletch now.

Tac was severely overpriced and underperformed in my opinion.

in terms of heard audio there WAS a noticeable difference between blazer and every other vane but not enough between the TAC and Q2I (except price)

on the screen, audiogram wise, there was a noticeable difference across the board.

how deer perceive that compared to humans, only john dudley knows..or so he claims

[501s]

Thanks for posting your results. Very interesting. Makes me rethink my blazer 3 fletch setup.

[DiabeticKripple]

i switched from blazer 3 vane right offset to AAE max stealth 3 fletch left helical and i notice that the stealths are quieter and stabilize the arrow faster out of the bow

[byronick87]

Blazers have been around for decades now.
they work. if it works for you and the deer dont jump your string, stick with them.
the results weren't drastic enough to sheet my pants over but as diabetic said, they are noticeable if you look for it.
if you were starting from scratch or have a mental condition where you can't stop tinkering like me, check out the Q2I and AAE stuff.
you can find them both easily.
For what it's worth, Q2I was WAY easier to fletch. gluen em on and call it.
AAE was a huge fack around with the prep - primer pen, small glue beads, limited on time etc.
any other questions, let me know!