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Originally Posted by King Custard  I think its safe to assume that an arrow will oscillate till it runs out of energy, is it not?
In which case it's still bending until it disperses that energy into the boss (or the ground)...at which point rapid deceleration will negate that original 'bend' and impart another...
as said though 20 yards should the 'bendiest' part of flight out of the way. |
This must go back to the principle of conservation of energy - energy is never lost, only transformed (I'm ignoring relativity at this point).
As you let go of the arrow, you give it both kinetic (forward motion) and vibrational energy. Leaving out the kinetic part, the vibrational energy remains until it is converted into another form. The only transformations I can think of are the transfer of energy to the air (air resistance) and the internal flexing of the shaft generating heat.
I can't see either of these mechanisms reducing the vibration of the arrow very quickly, so I'm not surprised that slow motion shows the arrow vibrating all the way to the target.