New to traditional archery. Bare shaft tuning

[Tegr0429]

As the title suggest I’m brand new to traditional archery. I’ve bowhunted since I was 11 with a compound and just recently went full in on the trad bow deal.

Im trying to bare shaft tune my bow for a perfect arrow flight. With that being said I’m having one hell of a time getting it to tune correctly. Im shooting a bear grizzly 55# @28” arrows are gold tip traditional 400s at 28.5 inches. I’m shooting 3 under and a tab . Im consistently having nock right and high. I have ordered a bear elevated rest so it’ll be slightly more forgiving if my form is faltering any hopefully. Sometimes I’m shooting a perfect bullet while others seem pretty bad, could this just be a form issue?

I have a FP test kit from 3 rivers and I’m going to mess around with this more. It seems a 200 gr FP does the exact same as a 150gr. Any help or advice for this newbie would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rob5589]

"Sometimes good" is usually a form issue. Your form has to be spot on and consistent shot to shot to achieve reliable bareshaft results. Short draw, probably stiff reading. Long draw, probably weak. Pluck it, who knows what you'll get. If you really want to see what the arrow is actually doing in flight, take slow motion video.

 

[Tegr0429]

thank you. Im shooting softball size groups at 20 and in consistently with feathered arrows. It’s a big learning curve with this trad stuff.

"Sometimes good" is usually a form issue. Your form has to be spot on and consistent shot to shot to achieve reliable bareshaft results. Short draw, probably stiff reading. Long draw, probably weak. Pluck it, who knows what you'll get. If you really want to see what the arrow is actually doing in flight, take slow motion video

 

[Jagger0502]

If you can check form off of your list, take a good look at the limbs and make sure they are not twisted and you are at the correct brace height then move onto the pictures below

 

[Tegr0429]

If you can check form off of your list, take a good look at the limbs and make sure they are not twisted and you are at the correct brace height then move onto the pictures below

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Thanks man.

 

[Solitude]

If you are softball at 20yds, you are well on your way IMO. You are going to fill the freezer, just need to get close which is the name of the game with traditional.
How does 30yds look for you? For me, I am always pushing for 30yds or less on live animals. I shoot a 3D at 30yds and 40yds to determine my gaps and pick apart form…helps when it’s go time and a chip shot. Much further and not overly impressive with my anchor and form. Have fun with it, and enjoy the hard earned successes, they will come.

 

[Solitude]

I should clarify, at 30+ I am all fletched not bare shafting.

 

[Huntsman52]

I chased bare shaft tuning when I was into TRAD archery. As mentioned above your form needs to be spot on and repeatable for each shot. Trad. archery showed me it is different than shooting compound bows. Muscle strength and back / shoulder pull, finger strength, constant finger pressure etc all come into play. If you have ability I would go to a archery range where Olympic or trad archers practices. You can have them review your form. I did compound archery for years before I changed over. Had to start with a lower draw weight to learn the proper form. I shot 3 under but gloved. Never really liked the tab.

 

[Tegr0429]

If you are softball at 20yds, you are well on your way IMO. You are going to fill the freezer, just need to get close which is the name of the game with traditional.
How does 30yds look for you? For me, I am always pushing for 30yds or less on live animals. I shoot a 3D at 30yds and 40yds to determine my gaps and pick apart form…helps when it’s go time and a chip shot. Much further and not overly impressive with my anchor and form. Have fun with it, and enjoy the hard earned successes, they will come.

Thanks, groups at 30 are sometimes in the pie plate range where others are not. I am limiting myself to 20 and in my first year trad hunting.

 

[Beendare]

You might be overspined…try the 300g tip…if you are RH your result indicates overspine. I think that bow likes A weaker spine.

It might just be your form has a hitch…but usually with that you can get a BS to work every once in awhile. Try shooting a BS and play with your grip pressure.
Thats all I got.

when it bare shaft tunes…its a beautiful thing!

 

[Tilzbow]

For what it’s worth, when my form was bad several years ago my arrows showed under spined and once I cleaned up my form I had to drop from a .340 to a .400 and increase the point weight 25 grains to get a clean tune. All that said I’d guess you’re over spined, because based on the group size you say you’re shooting your form has to be pretty good.

 

[Wrench]

"New to trad" and bare shaft tuning are not to be mixed. You'll waste a lot of money. We have all done it.

When you bare shaft, worry less about the attitude of the arrow and more about the arrow staying in the group. My bares will hit with the group to 50.

When you bare shaft for attitude of the arrow, it will be from 3ish to 10ish yards....to give you the spine results/nock height.

 

[oldgoat]

You can and probably will drive yourself nuts trying to achieve perfect arrow flight every shot when you are starting out, especially trying to start out at 55#. If you think you are close, and you don't see wobbles with your fletched shafts, screw on some broadheads and see if they fly well, if they don't, the problem will be magnified and you will have a better idea what to address!

 

[Patriot2]

Paper tune alone was always sufficient with my recurve. Buy one arrow each in 2 or 3 spine weights and start a couple inches longer than necessary. Glue on points and shoot each through paper. If tear shows weak spine, cut 1/2" off, retaper and installments points again. Shoot through paper again. Repeat until you get PERFECT paper tears. Can go to 1/4" increments if desired. Then select the spine and length that is most suitable and gives perfect tears. I have always had beautiful arrow flight with this method. Anyone sugesting you can "eyeball" and detect PERFECT arrow flight is full of **** if you ask me. Do the tedious work upfront and you'll have great arrow flight.

P.S. Always correct up/down on the nock first before chasing spine as discussed above.