Pennsylvania Game News - February 2013 - 57

SHOOTING through a piece of butcher paper can give the archer valuable insight about arrow flight. For example, if the ﬂetching tear is to the left of the hole made by the shaft (#1), the spine of the arrow may be too stiff. Correct by increasing the bow’s draw weight or using a heavier hunting head. Tear #3 shows the ﬂetching passed through the paper with the nock end slightly low. This problem can be corrected by slightly raising the nock point on the bow string.

may not open properly or penetrate deeply enough to make a quick kill. To determine if an arrow is leaving the bow properly “paper tuning” is the way to go. Paper tuning an arrow involves shooting it through a piece of paper mounted in a frame. Using either newspaper or butcher paper, stand approximately six feet from the target and shoot the arrow through the paper, but be sure there is a bale or target behind the paper to stop the arrow. By carefully looking at the tear in the paper made by the arrow and then evaluating how the ﬂetching passed through the paper, a shooter can gain valuable insight as to how their arrows are ﬂying. If the tear in the paper indicates the arrow passed through with the ﬂetching high, low or to either side, steps can be taken to correct the situation. This system may not be perfect but it will work well enough to correct any serious arrow ﬂight problems. For example, if after shooting through the paper the tear indicates the arrow ﬂetching is passing through either high or low, then the arrow will likely “porpoise” and ﬂy downrange moving up and down along its vertical axis. This phenomenon is usually caused by a bowstring nock point that is set either a tad too high or too low, and can be corrected by raising or lowering the nock point on the bowstring accordingly. If porpoising is noted it’s important to correct this problem ﬁrst. If the paper tear shows the ﬂetching is above the hole made by the shaft then lower the nock point; if it is below the shaft then raise the

nock point. Make these adjustments 1/32 of an inch at a time and continue shooting and evaluating the tear made by the arrow passing through the paper. Make minor adjustments until the problem disappears. A high nock tear might also be corrected by decreasing the weight of the hunting head or increasing the spine weight of the shaft. Conversely, if the tear in the paper is low then the arrow ﬂight can be corrected by either raising the nock point, increasing the tip weight or using a shaft with a weaker spine. Keep in mind most arrow rests are adjustable, and they can be used to correct the problem as well. If the nock tear is high, move the rest down one graduation at a time, and if the tear is low, raise it by the same amount. “Fishtailing” occurs when the nock end of the arrow moves left and right along the horizontal axis. Arrows that are under spined or over spined for the draw weight of the bow can cause this problem. A good way to correct a fishtailing arrow is to shoot several ﬂetched arrows and several unﬂetched shafts into a target and then compare the results. Begin by shooting three ﬂetched shafts at a distance of 10 yards or less and then shoot two identically-

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2013