Humidity and arrow flight

[NeilM]

I have a good friend who shoots a trad bow with wooden arrows. He is new to archery, but has already started to shoot well and is now using a 45lb recurve.

I shoot compound and use carbon arrows and I occasionally detect that the air is a little 'dead' and that my arrows are falling a little low, but on two separate occasions, when conditions are warm and damp and the air in the woods was pretty still, my mate has found his arrows falling short.

I have watched this and they just seem to die in mid air, and not just on long shots. It seems like the arrows / feathers are taking on moisture and therefore slowing down badly.

Is this a recognised phenomenon amongst Trad archers?

We are both field archers BTW.

Any input gratefully received.

Neil

[Macbow]

Trad legend Byron Ferguson mentions that weather/climate can affect arrow flight which is why he uses aluminium arrows but that is more about straightness.
I've just recently switched to carbons but I've shot woodies for years and I've never experienced anything as noticeable as what you're describing and I shoot in all weathers. Quality of light however does affect my shooting - I tend to shoot slightly low as it gets darker.
I'd suggest your mate uses smaller feathers, checks his shafts are well sealed and that his bow is OK but I doubt that an arrow could pick up more than a few grains of extra moisture to affect overall weight enough to affect trajectory. My 40# recurve will rocket a 500 grain arrow downrange so 45# should be blasting them out. What bow is he using and how old is it?

[Mad Archer]

I've noticed over the years a phenomenon for which I've never heard a satisfactory explanation. When shooting in the evening, after the sun goes down the group drops a little - just a ring or two at 60 yards. I used to see this with my recurve. Can anyone suggest why this occurs?

[NeilM]

Macbow, the bow is a brand new Ragim one piece and it shoots well. I wonder if it is a light issue, that is a thought, especially as my mate is still very new to archery. He has considered alloy arrows, but this would change his NFAS class and he's not sure of he wants to do that or not.

MA. I have spent many years air rifle shooting, and many times cooler air (which is more dense) will make an airgun pellet drop. This can be as the day cools or early in the morning or any other cool, damp situation. I think this may be part of the issue with my mates arrows.

Before I'm jumped on, I know an airgun pellet is a tiny thing, but it is travelling at around 800 fps, an arrow is bigger and heavier, but much slower and air is air.

[Macbow]

Neil - perhaps as it gets darker it gets cooler which may account for my slight arrow drop but the difference is very slight and arrows certainly aren't falling out of the air. With 5" shield feathers and a tight helical I can fall a yard or so short on the 80 yarder compared to my 4" parabolics.
Your mate could get flatter faster arrows without going down the ally/carbon path by using lighter shafts and lighter points with smaller feathers.

[NeilM]

Yes, we were discussing that last night, but still trying to work out why on certain days he can put in a good score and on others he has a hard time reaching the same targets.

It's beyond me I'm afraid, that's why I use sights and a blinkin great compound!

[Macbow]

Originally Posted by NeilM

Yes, we were discussing that last night, but still trying to work out why on certain days he can put in a good score and on others he has a hard time reaching the same targets.

It's beyond me I'm afraid, that's why I use sights and a blinkin great compound!

Tell him welcome to the trad side. I put in just enough good scores to keep me hoping that one of these days I'll do it consistently!

[steve58]

Usually by the time we get up the field on an archery evening it is quite cool. I have noticed that shooting competitions through the heat of the day (on those occasions when that has been a factor this summer!) I have had to shoot higher than when practising. I have tended to put this down to conditions. Now I think about it maybe it is me drawing a little shorter in tournaments? Some advice about this is given in "Become the Arrow", I think to the effect that we tend to draw short in pressure situations, although the author was thinking of actual live hunting rather than GNAS target!

[NeilM]

That's an interesting thought, as he always shoots pretty well on the practice butts. So it could be that he is hunching a little.

Whenever this situation occurs, I always watch his form very carefully, and apart from the usual HT/ barebow / trad mistakes, the arrow flight is always good, but the arrows just fall short.

Thanks for that thought.

[saint]

Should have located this thread earlier so that I won't need to start my own and the answer is pretty much all here, this thread also proofing that this effect at the end of the day is very real, no matter what real reason it could have been. Now, dropping by 2 ring colors is a very significant change and ought to be seriously noted.