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Fletching questions

I am a fairly new bowhunter. This was my third year with a bow. I use Gold Tip Pro arrows with a straight helix. I have paper tuned my arrows and worked with archery pro shops and shot with experienced bowhunters. I was looking at some of the bowhunting forums a couple weeks ago and I ran across some posts saying that you should NEVER shoot broadheads with a straight helix. I did some research and there are quite a few articles and posts saying the same thing. That was a complete surprise to me after everything I have read and talked to other bowhunters about. This makes sense to me with my own experience. When I broadhead tuned my arrows I got them to be the same as field points out to 30 yards. 40 yards there were some differences but out at 50 and 60 yards my broadhead arrows went completely squirrelly and often missed the target. With the illuminated nocks I could see my arrows actually do a barrel role at longer ranges. My field points were spot on out to sixty yards. My questions are, is this common knowledge and I missed it? Do most bowhunters fletch their own arrows since arrows with a offset helix are hard to find? Lastly, I was about to re-fletch my arrows with a 2" blazer vanes with a three degree right helix but I also seen some videos and advertising about Starrflight FOBs. The FOBs have slick advertising but I have not seen a lot written about them but if they work as advertised, they look pretty good. Any recommendations?

Straight fletch isn't critical when shooting field points, however, when you stick wings on the front (i.e. broadheads), it's a disaster waiting to happen. Offset and helical fletch provide spin...spin provides stability. Same principal as to why a rifled barrel is much more accurate than a smooth bore.

Can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't know anyone that doesn't fletch their own arrows. It's cheaper and you can personalize your shafts however you want, including arrow wraps. I personally use blazers and apply them with an Arizona E-Z Fletch Mini, RH helical. It's inexpensive and puts an impressive helical on a short vane.

Some broadheads tune easier than others but you need drag on the back end and the greater the surface area of the vane, helical as opposed to straight, and the greater the offset, the more drag you get to guide your arrow.

I do the same as wyobullshooter, Arizona ez fletch mini right helical. Quick, easy, and cheaper to do yourself. Plus better broadhead flight.

Strong helical for me.

You didn't mention what BH you're using, but of course a big BH will need more controlling than a compact one.

I have fletched my own for 40 years;kind of like reloading your own ammo.I tried Blazer Vanes but had a difficult time getting them to stick(ended up using super glue.) There are better options out there;big cut on contact broad-heads really like feathers or longer helical vanes.

There is quite a lot to making fixed blade broadheads fly true out of the super fast compound bows available today. Arrow spine ,shaft length, total arrow weight including the head. It goes on and on . I build on black eagle bare shafts . I apply 2" blazer vanes with a slight helicle bitzengerger fletching tool. I had a similar problem for a while, Shooting pse radial weave shafts. About 3 out of every dozen would be consistently off . Same miss every time, even with a different broadheads. I just wrote it off as a bad shaft and put it in the junk box. A friend who is completely perfecti

Thanks, having a helical makes total sense. What I found amazing is none of the bowhunters I hunt with fletch their own arrows. It might be that most of them use mechanicals or that where we hunt a 30 yard shot on a Whitetail is about as long as you will ever get.

There is quite a lot to making fixed blade broadheads fly true out of the super fast compound bows available today. Arrow spine ,shaft length, total arrow weight including the head. It goes on and on . I build on black eagle bare shafts . I apply 2" blazer vanes with a slight helicle bitzengerger fletching tool. I had a similar problem for a while, Shooting pse radial xweave shafts. About 3 out of every dozen would be consistently off . Same miss every time, even with a different broadheads. I just wrote it off as a bad shaft and put it in the junk box. A friend suggested trying the black eagle shafts. He also suggested a more stiff spine and front of center weighting. I did a bit of research and ordered shafts and 20 grain insert weights. I also upped my broadheads to 125 grain from 100 . Also tried a different broadheads . Basically changed my whole arrow setup. The bow itself was already tuned well so I was pretty sure my issues were arrow realated . With the first launch I knew I had made good adjustments. The bow shot felt smoother , less shock in my hand , and was noticebly quieter.the best part was the consistency of groups . My bow has never performed better. Arrows out of a bow are similar to bullets out of a rifle. Get the right combo of components , use proper shooting form and you'll have good results. The broadheads I'm shooting now and am completely happy with are slick trick razor trick 125. Not trying to promote brands , just saying what is working for me. Always trying for perfect . Hope it was helpful.

Prefer to roll my own....lots of satisfaction and gives you the ability to repair damaged fletch. ALWAYS right helical.

"Prefer to roll my own....lots of satisfaction and gives you the ability to repair damaged fletch." Absolutely!

Well.... if in the southern hemisphere you should use left heli..... kinda keep the same directions as the toilets flush.......

yeah, something to spin em for sure. Adds drag which helps stabilize (yeah.... too much drag at 30 yards is a killer, good grief....) And the rotation evens out any planing effect from the broadhead. Say if it's going to plane right, the rotation can help bring it back into the target line rather than just continue right, more right, lots more right, etc.... Gyroscopic effect like with a bullet is minimal, just a fraction of the rpms, but there none the less.

I shoot 4 fletch. Right helical as much as I can get. Shot this group at 130 yards just for fun

FOB's do an excellent job of stabilizing broadhead flight. They make "Fletching" an arrow very simple and quick. They do require the use of a drop away rest. Some folks never get used to the FOB touching their cheek at full draw others, myself included, find the "Touch" helpful as a sort kisser button effect to aid draw consistency. I have used FOB's exclusively for 12-13 years now and have never considered a return to conventional fletching. Also...I have no connection of any sort with the manufacturer of FOB...I'm just a very satisfied customer.

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