Today crossbow arrow vanes usually come as stock with one degree offset. Sometimes it is hard to see the one degree offset. 

Offset fletching works fine with field points and mechanical broadheads that hide much of the blade. But as I have said before, not so well for fixed blade accuracy.

I was happy with the offset vanes and swhackers but I felt stuck in that nich with no flexibility. I pushed myself to break out of that nich and try some helical vanes.  I own a bitzenburger fletch tool that was set up for right hand helical fletch, and had some slightly longer green Bohning vanes in my cupboard. I tried them on a single arrow, and boy did they fly well! Same POI as the one degree offset. 

I used a magic marker to denote the downside cock feather like a barred feather. I shot at 20 and 30 yards and they had the same point of impact as my one degree offset but spun faster. My fixed blades flew a bit better but I am a stickler for accuracy. 

UPDATE PHOTOS  20 and 30 yards 

20 yard 1 inch group with field point and Swhacker 231 practice head

30 yard 2 inch group with field point and Swhacker 231 practice head

I get a higher level of confidence with the helical fletch as they spin a bit faster and allow fixed blades more forgiveness. As I said in an earlier article, experiment, experiment, experiment. 

Good Hunting!!

The bow has been with mankind for tens of thousands of years both for hunting, as a weapon of war, starting a fire, and as a musical instrument.

For hunters, the use of the English longbow and recurve for hunting held a special place in hunting big game. Many called it hunting with “stick and string.”

Today, there are still many archers that enjoy arching an arrow with a simple stick and string. I still do, for target.

Yes, I love rifles too, hence my magazine. 

It was many years ago that I made several hunting weight self-longbow/flatbows and recurves from hickory staves that I freed from New Hampshire trees. To my chagrin, a house fire destroyed many of them. I gifted my twin brother one of my self-bow’s and he shoots it to this day.

I have made a few recurves from hickory staves as well. I backed one of them with deer sinew and diamondback rattlesnake skin. Disappointedly,  I traded it with cousins and it disappeared.

But eurika, I own a stave that I originally cut into a longbow, and a work in progress. It sat in my closet for 20 years begging for me to finish it.

In 2018, I decided to make a hunting recurve with it, by steaming the tips and bending them. A scary process that can destroy many hours of work.  Well, I was quite proud of my new self-bow recurve so I backed that recurve also with whitetail deer sinew to increase its strength and made a flemish string for it.

At full draw, it is around 50 pounds. See it below. It throws a fast arrow! It is a work of graceful art as it has literally no deflex to this day.

I still shoot target with these bows.

In the end, I owe it to wild game to hunt with the most lethal bow I can handle thus most of my hunting is with a compound bow, rifle, flintlock and scoped muzzleloader or crossbow.

Good Hunting!