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Cock feather orientation

I started doing that after I built my Ashby arrows. I experimented with 3 different positions...9, 12, and 3 o'clock (right hand shooter). Arrows fly good at each position, but it seems like the "in" position (3 o'clock) is more forgiving. With it at 9 or 12 I will occasionally get something funky but if my form is good, it flies well at each position.
BTW, There's a Black Widow video where they advocate shooting it at 12 o'clock.
 
I seem to get the best arrow flight with the cock feather at 12:00 but, @BTaylor is correct, I have heard Tom Clunn say he shoots a 3:00 cock feather. I think Aaron Snyder might also but, not positive.
 
Provided your arrows are of proper spine and tuned to the bow, it does not make any difference.


I used to argue this point with my father also and I agree that a perfectly tuned arrow with a perfect release and perfect form it doesn't matter. But, what I have come to realize is that I'm not perfect.

You can see in the video you linked that the clearance between the fletchings and riser or shelf is extremely small. It doesn't take much of a mistake in you release or form for this clearance to go away.

I personally have a quirk in my release or my form that causes a knock high fairly often even with a properly tuned arrow. This summer I tuned arrows to a new bow and it was shooting bare shafts perfect. I fletched a couple arrows with a 12:00 cockfeather and they shot broadheads perfectly. I fletched four more arrows and forgot to rotate the cock feather to 12:00. I went out and shot these four arrows with broadheads and got a severe knock high and all grouped 6 in low at 20 yds. I rotated the cock feather to 12:00 and immediately got perfect at arrow flight again.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it shouldn't matter, I just think sometimes cock feather orientation can help 'fix' or hide individual flaws in a persons form.
 
Are any of you guys shooting an A&A style feather? The low profile would seem to help with almost any orientation of the cock feather. It seems to me that you can achieve the same stabilizing effect as a higher profile feather if you make up the lost surface area of the lower profile by just making the feather a little longer. You can learn more about A&A feathers from Ashby.
The problem with A&A is you have to make your own...nobody sells them as far as I know. You have to cut your own.
I tried making some and I did not like how they seated on my small diameter shafts. I was using a Bitzenburger and tape but the feathers just wouldn't lay straight on the shaft. It could have been my method of chopping the feathers that deformed them slightly?? I don't know.
I ended up going back to 4" True Flight shield. They fly well but as I said earlier, if I shoot them cock-out they seem to be slightly more critical of flaws in my form than they do with cock-in. But it's not that noticeable. I would have no problem shooting with the cock at 9, 12, or 3. One issue, even with carbon, the spine (yeah, carbon have a stiff side) will be oriented 90 degrees from the 9 or 3 position, so you may need to position the fletching accordingly if you jig your own.
 
Start with your rest. If you are shooting a whisker biscuit then you want the cock vane in the 12 o'clock position (avoid the stiffer bristles). With most dropaway rest you will want the cock vane at 6 o'clock position. These positions provide you the greatest clearance, which is the point of the cock vane. Otherwise the position is a personal preference, based on your shooting form. The other important is to have your cock vane aligned with the strongest part of the spine. Arrows like Victory Arrows mark the spine so you align the cock vane to the strongest part of the spine for easy reference. This is for a compound bow. Trad bows usually point to the left.
 
Start with your rest. If you are shooting a whisker biscuit then you want the cock vane in the 12 o'clock position (avoid the stiffer bristles). With most dropaway rest you will want the cock vane at 6 o'clock position. These positions provide you the greatest clearance, which is the point of the cock vane. Otherwise the position is a personal preference, based on your shooting form. The other important is to have your cock vane aligned with the strongest part of the spine. Arrows like Victory Arrows mark the spine so you align the cock vane to the strongest part of the spine for easy reference. This is for a compound bow. Trad bows usually point to the left.
This is a trad thread. I doubt any of us are shooting a Whisker Biscuit, although many of us do have whiskers and we do eat biscuits! Some of us probably have bits of biscuits stuck in our whiskers.
 
I used to argue this point with my father also and I agree that a perfectly tuned arrow with a perfect release and perfect form it doesn't matter. But, what I have come to realize is that I'm not perfect.

You can see in the video you linked that the clearance between the fletchings and riser or shelf is extremely small. It doesn't take much of a mistake in you release or form for this clearance to go away.

I personally have a quirk in my release or my form that causes a knock high fairly often even with a properly tuned arrow. This summer I tuned arrows to a new bow and it was shooting bare shafts perfect. I fletched a couple arrows with a 12:00 cockfeather and they shot broadheads perfectly. I fletched four more arrows and forgot to rotate the cock feather to 12:00. I went out and shot these four arrows with broadheads and got a severe knock high and all grouped 6 in low at 20 yds. I rotated the cock feather to 12:00 and immediately got perfect at arrow flight again.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it shouldn't matter, I just think sometimes cock feather orientation can help 'fix' or hide individual flaws in a persons form.

By all means, shoot a 300 round for score first one way and then the other and see if the orientation matters.

I don't manage to find any differnce. Likely I'm not a good enough shot to notice.
 
Re-reading my previous post, it does seem a bit abrasive. My apologies for the phrasing that was not very polite.

No big deal. Tone is tough on the internet. I would actually agree with you in that I don't think I would see a difference shooting a three hundred round unless I did it with broadheads.

Shooting field points it doesn't make a difference as they are stabilized quickly enough that a little fletching contact doesn't matter. I only see it with my broadheads, and then it is mostly likely a flaw in my form but, cock feather orientation does fix it.

Like I said, I used to argue with my father that it never mattered and he would always respond that he knows it shouldn't but 35 years experience tells him it sometimes does. After enough of my own experiences, I finally had to agree with him. The reasoning I gave above is the only theory that makes sense to me for why it sometimes does matter.
 
I used to argue this point with my father also and I agree that a perfectly tuned arrow with a perfect release and perfect form it doesn't matter. But, what I have come to realize is that I'm not perfect.

You can see in the video you linked that the clearance between the fletchings and riser or shelf is extremely small. It doesn't take much of a mistake in you release or form for this clearance to go away.

I personally have a quirk in my release or my form that causes a knock high fairly often even with a properly tuned arrow. This summer I tuned arrows to a new bow and it was shooting bare shafts perfect. I fletched a couple arrows with a 12:00 cockfeather and they shot broadheads perfectly. I fletched four more arrows and forgot to rotate the cock feather to 12:00. I went out and shot these four arrows with broadheads and got a severe knock high and all grouped 6 in low at 20 yds. I rotated the cock feather to 12:00 and immediately got perfect at arrow flight again.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it shouldn't matter, I just think sometimes cock feather orientation can help 'fix' or hide individual flaws in a persons form.

I was trad bow only for years before returning to the compound, still have some nice 'curves.

It depends upon how much centershot your riser has. A bow cut to or past center and shooting a carbon has much less paradox. That vid is super old school.

This is the origin of the malarkey Black Widow was pushing years ago "our bows are so much more powerful than anything else, that you'll need stiffer arrow". No, they just had more center shot than most other wooden riser bows in the market at that time.

The best is an aluminum ILF riser with a elevated rest and cock feather at 9 o'clock :)
 
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