fletching position and arrow weight

Hi Rick (and everyone else).

I have all 3 of your dvds on the way but wanted to ask 2 questions if I could (this question is for any school graduates too).

I'm trying to get the fletching position on the arrow shaft correct and was wondering how far the feathers are fletched up from the nock valley on the shaft on average.
Because When I draw the bow to anchor with my thumb knuckle on my earlobe and turn my head to get my nose on the end of the feather, where my nose ends up along the shaft is 3 inches from the nock valley.

Is this way too far up the shaft, or is my nose too big (or do I need to find another anchor point not so far back)?

The other question is rick, is how many grains per pound of draw do you recommend for the arrows? I understand you use light arrows for increased arrow speed and flatter trajectory.

my blackwidow 45# @ 28" is recommend to have between 9-12 GPP (8 GPP minimum for warranty).

I hope to fly from Australia to the US to do your school some time in the near future.

Thanks rick and graduates.

I am replying as an Aug 2011 graduate and have had recent discussions with rick regarding arrow weight, etc... I am primarily a whitetail hunter drawing 50-52 lbs at a draw length of 30.5 inches. Concerning the GPI question, according to my recent conversations, you ideally want your total arrow weight to fall in somewhere between 435-475 grains. You do not want to shoot too stiff of a shaft though! You can alter the stiffness by changing the weight of your arrow point though(lighter will stiffen shaft, heavier will soften it and be more forgiving). As far as your fletching question, if your nose rests at 3" or so, fletch your arrow that way! Why not? fletch a couple up and test them. I do not believe you will have any negative impact on your arrow flight. I hope I have helped you out a little.

Joe

I'm with Barebowyer on the moving your fletch higher up on your shaft. If it doesn't work, move it back.
as far as grain weight, that's a can of worms. Everyone will have an opinion which probably falls into a few general groups. Heavy hunting arrows vs. lighter flatter shooting 3D arrows.
and then the happy mediums group that falls somewhere between the two. Now, if you wanna start getting really tricky you can start talking FOC, too. This is my philosophy, MINE,
which mean I like it and it works for me, only...unless you like it too I am by no means an expert, but I do spent a far amount of time experimenting with my arrows. Therefore, i'd call myself a student of "arrow" dynamics (pun intended). I like to get personal with my gear so i am constantly trying different shafts and GPI, different fletch patterns, different tip weights and different broadheads, two blade vs. 3 blade vs. two blade with bleeders, etc. Furthermore, 3 fletch vs. 4 fletch and different lenghts and profiles, whew...this is getting tiring. I have so many bare shafts laying around my house I can't keep track of them, ha! I keep notes in a journal, too, total archery geek. I approach all shooting from the hunting view point, so I like a heavier arrow. I'm now shooting 650 grain arrows out of my 67lb bow, and will be trying 700 grain soon. I mostly hunt pig so I want enough arrow if I get lucky and get into a huge boar. That said my philosophy is find a bare shaft that flys straight and as perfect as it can with the grain of head I want to use. I like high FOC, so I start off with 175 or 200 gr. up front (that's just the head, as most of my arrows without a head already have 100 grains up front) and adjust up or down from there for great flight. Off course the best place is to start off is with a shaft chart. For me I use full length shafts since my draw is 30.5" so I don't have much room to play with, as far as adjusting my spine by cutting down my shaft. actually, I have no adjustment, 3/8"-1/2" or so. My 30.5" draw plus 1" for broadhead clearance equals 31.5" shaft. I'm looking for 20% or higher FOC. right now I'm shooting about 25% FOC. but if my shaft/head combo at high FOC gives me bad "arrow" dynamics I'll drop or increase my FOC by way of tip weight for more efficient flight. I'll take 17% foc and great flight over 25% foc and just ok flight/spine. All else being equal I'll take 650 grains over 550 grains any day. The penetration speaks for it's self, remember, I'm taking about hunting. penetration on foam just has to be enough to stick in for scoring . I compared my 650 grain to 515 gr. arrows and I was getting about 8"of drop at 30 yards. At 20 yards it was negligible. Since I want 20 yards to be my outside shot this is very acceptable to me. I'm not trying to shoot any game from 50 yards out, although I did take an Elk from 42 yrds. But that was day 9 of a 10 day hunt and I was gonna get an Elk no matter what. It was a somewhat unethical shot as the elk ran 300 or 400 yards, or more, It took hours to find. It was shoot with a 525 gr arrow, penetration wasn't as good as I had hoped. that's what started me on my "arrow" dynamics journey.

To break it down these are my priorities:

1. Best flight from my bare shaft.
2. Good hunting weight 600gr or higher.
3. Highest FOC I can achieve without corrupting flight.

But my number one priority of all is SHOT PLACEMENT! a perfect shot with 435 grains is better the a marginal shoot with 700 grs.
so it's up to use as individuals to know our equipment and what makes us the most lethal, quickest killer in the woods, whether it's 435 grs or 850 grs.

Wow, I had no idea I was gonna write that much, sorry to whoever reads all of that.

there's my 1.75 cents. hope that helps or at least amuses.




To be continued, gotta go!