Arrow Wind Drift Calculator

[BRN]

Hi all. New to the the forum. I been viewing all the great information for a while just haven't posted anything as of yet. I live in Alberta and fortunate to draw an archery antelope tag this season so trying to practice at longer distance.

Have any of you found an online calculator for estimating wind drift on your arrow? I searched and could not find anything. This morning I was shooting out to 60 yards with a about a steady 10mph wind with a few gusts. My arrow was impacting about 8inchs to the right. The other day the arrows dead on so I am assuming it is the wind but thought that seemed like a lot for a 10mph wind.

I normally hunt elk in the forested areas so don't often have to worry about wind but my for antelope hunt I am guessing we will have more windy days than not. Thanks alot for the help and again, great forum with lots of information.

 

[RosinBag]

There is no calculator for arrow wind drift, it is experience. Arrow diameter, fetching length and profile, FOC and speed all determine how much wind drift.

If I take into account wind drift when shooting tournaments, I bubble over for the wind. Meaning I still hold my pin in correct alignment and will hold my bubble a 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 off depending on wind speed and direction.

Best way to determine for you is to shoot and practice in the wind. Big help in the wind is to relax, and then relax. Supple muscles seem to absorb the wind better.

 

[RosinBag]

Here is a longer explanation taken from another:

Simple....on a calm day, or on a level target in the trees out of the wind....start dead level...you are good at that. Now, without touching the site or anything...cant the top limb...either left or right....about 1/4 bubble and keep it there....AIM DEAD CENTER...and shoot GROUPS of arrows at that same bubble "setting"...you will see a change of impact point....to the left or right depending upon the "bubbling"....MEMORIZE how far that point of impact moves from center...THAT is data.

Now do the same thing...only 1/2 bubble cant...and note the impact point for that as opposed to center...remember ALWAYS AIM DEAD CENTER...but cant the "bubble" as close to the same every time so you learn the change in impact point.

You gotta do this more than once and for BOTH SIDES of cant....top limb left and top limb right...because all of us have a "natural cant"....some tune their site bars to it and some don't..

Once you know how far 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and a full "bubble" either side moves your impact point; you now know, in the wind, how much 'bubble" to give for "wind effect"...but you aim DEAD ON with the site...or you lose the "data" and you are back to guessing again.

One word of caution if you choose to "aim off" instead of "bubble"....you are used to aiming dead on...centered up...right? Well, the subconscious tendency if you are aiming off...is to get that site back to center just as the shot goes off....and you will blow it out the OTHER SIDE if you aren't careful. Do this all day long in the wind by aiming off...and you get to spend the next few days learning how to not jerk the bow around! Just a word of caution about aiming off and a possible pair of side effects.

Fairly good explanation for practice.

The Aiming Off is tough as your sub conscious is more powerful than anything else in your body. So don't be surprised to miss on the downwind side doing this.

When shooting into the wind, bubbling over also works better with faster bows. Slower bows run out of bubble faster. Remember top limb is canted into the wind and bubble will move out to the down wind side.

Good luck

 

[BRN]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to see if there was something similar to the ballistic calc's on line...provide a guide at the various wind speeds(with your setup inputs). But you are right best to get out and shoot in the wind and get real info. Thanks again.

 

[vcb]

Thanks Doug nice little read

 

[SDHNTR]

Don't over think this. If its that windy, don't shoot. That simple.

 

[DA5H]

I'm looking into this question, as I'm planning to do the total archery challenge soon. This bubble method is really interesting. Have you found that at longer ranges (past 60) it affects your elevation? I'm a physicist, and I can assure you all that a relatively good approximation can be made for wind drift if one knows their flight time and wind speed. There would be a bit of work up front to figure out flight times, but If the bubble method works, then putting that effort in may not be worth it.

 

[Beendare]

We have a strong crosswind at our range in the spring, and I can tell you Doug’s information above is right on the money.
Experience is key.

To SDs point, i’ve had days where my recurve arrow with feather fletching was actually vectoring about 10° at the target In a 15-20 mph cross wind. When that happens, you can hit the target but it kills your penetration on animals.

Very high FOC makes it worse. The BH tracks well but the fletch end kicks out more In a cross wind Since the balance point is so far forward.

....

 

[dkime]

We have a strong crosswind at our range in the spring, and I can tell you Doug’s information above is right on the money.
Experience is key.

To SDs point, i’ve had days where my recurve arrow with feather fletching was actually vectoring about 10° at the target In a 15-20 mph cross wind. When that happens, you can hit the target but it kills your penetration on animals.

Very high FOC makes it worse. The BH tracks well but the fletch end kicks out more In a cross wind Since the balance point is so far forward.

....

I want to echo everything that has been said here but add a bit more of my experiecne to this. When I have had arrows vector this much in a cross wind, I ultimately see a VERTICAL POI shift more so than a horizontal. When the arrow vectors it is decreasing it's cross section to the wind and increasing its cross section to the target. In shooting prairie dogs in 30deg winds I have added as much as 5 yds to my sight in order to kill them at 20yds because of the increased amount of drag. Fortunately we were filming in high speed that day so we could watch the arrow react the entire time.