Hunting fletching colors and why?

[Twanger]

I use 2 green and 1 yellow fletching, 5 inch feathers, on my hunting arrows.

The rational for the two green fletchings is that I can turn the arrow in the quiver (it's typically hooked to my tree stand) so that the green arrows shield the yellow ones from view so they are not all that visible. Also, in the early season I try to climb high enough so that I'm just below or in the leaf canopy and the green blends in well. We also have cedar and bamboo here that I occasionally try to use as a cover backdrop, and green also blends in well with them.

Yellow fletchings are pretty easy to see, yet the color occurs occasionally in nature, so it's not totally out of place. Once the arrow is shot the yellow helps me find the arrow if it buried itself and I'm scratching around in the leaf litter.

What do you use, and why?

[ncboman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/AAAA0009.jpg

I like 4" yellow barred because they match my teeth. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/AAAA0002.jpg

I also wrap thin strips of red reflective tape. Sometimes helps to find em in the dark.

ncboman

[dave-t.]

I use two yellow and a white. That's the way they were fletched when I bought them.

I've thought that all white stands out too much.

I've also seen all black fletches, and it looks cool, but man it would be hard to find the suckers.

[GF.]

I recall posting the same basic question a while back and didn't get much of a response, so let's hope for better luck this time....

I used to shoot 2 yellow and a red, then switched to all yellow for a while. The idea was that all-yellow would be easier to see, so that I could be sure where I had hit. Somehow, now that I'm shooting 4" vanes at 50% or more higher velocity, the 'need' for 3 yellow, 5-inch, high-profile bananas seems less compelling ;)

But at least that much yellow all in one place was fairly easy to find, most of the time.....

Black & gold were the school colors in college, but I've had a few '2 yellow & a black' arrows over the years, and they're fairly easy to lose... I experimented with 2 yellow and a barred white cock feather for 1 set, but the barred white really kinda disappears on the ground and the yellow/gray/white just doesn't look that sharp on a carbon shaft anyway. I do like the looks of a white, barred cock feather with red hens, but that's a hard color combo to locate in a bunch of downed leaves, at least once the leaves have lost their color (they're mostly yellow up here, until those dry up and the red oaks start dropping some of their leaves on top; then it's all brown, all the time.... ). And red goes dim real fast after sunset...

So my 'new' favorite combo over the past 6-8 tears or so is 2 yellow and a purple barred cock feather (using 5" shields for the recurves). The yellow shows up well against green or brown backgrounds, and with the purple being complementary to yellow (I just threw that in so DaveHawk will give me credit for not being a total Art Ignoramus ;) ).... um, so... yeah... with purple being complementary to yellow, that 'pops' it against the October gold leaves on the ground and makes it a lot easier to spot... As does good blood sign, of course....

The vanes on the new shafts are kind of a washed-out purple and flo yellow, but I think I'm going to switch to feathers on the next bunch. Actually thinking about 4" shields, just to be a little more Trad about it :rolleyes:

I don't know if I should get the next dozen from the local shop (and suffer his verbal abuse about feathers let alone what he'd have to say about shields ;) ) or if I should just order them from one of the trad dealers who'll be happy to take my business without busting my chops over my goofy aesthetic sensibilities :D

As to other combos....

In the beginning (talking about 20-odd years ago) the local shop in Denver stocked 2016s with 2 black and a hot pink, so that's what I shot. The pink wasn't bad for visibility, but the black was pretty worthless.

And a while back I saw something on ebay where a guy was selling off some arrows he'd had fletched up with 2 bright blue and a bright pink cock feather (that sounds so much more polite than 'a hot pink cock', dontchaknow :eek: ). Anyway, according to that guy, there is nothing better for stumpshooting than pink&blue, because they're the hardest to lose of any combo he's tried. Add a white dip underneath, and he's probably got a point..... Neither of those two shades are often found in nature, but then maybe there's a reason for that ;)


How about 2 hot pink & a flo chartreuse? :D

I can guarantee that would be my wife's #1 pick, 'cuz those are her colors. And you think about it... You've got 2 shades not found in nature, plus the fact that deer apparently can't see hot pink anyway, except as a soft gray... (as a matter o' fact, some say that we would all be safer and sneakier wearing hot pink than hunter safety orange)....

But I'm thinkin' I'll stick with my yellow & purple barred. The fletchings are all but invisible in the catquiver anyway, and as long as the arrow is pointed at the deer, there is almost no visible surface area...

[ncboman]

Deer seeing the feathers is over rated.

The fluorescent green nocks are what sometimes draws their attention. UV glow I think. :rolleyes:

ncboman

[GF.]

How 'bout a red Lumenock? :grin:


I can't imagine deer noticing a fletching, myself, so I shoot colors I like....

Is that red reflective tape that you're using as part of the 'cresting'?

[ncboman]

Some of the prettiest feathers I ever used were a barred blue. Doesn't sound so hot but they looked really good. The blue was more like violet. I bought em in some archery shop along the way and never have been able to find more exactly the same. :(

ncboman

[nodakker]

I use 2 green and 1 white. That's how the arrows were fletched when I bought them.

[Hink]

I never would use red, blue or white just as a precaution when hunting one of our mountain counties in the fall. That turkey getting nailed on the roost in the tree might have been me. I stuck with brown/green and yellow, orange, or green nock. It was probably a silly thing but I had lost a friend in a sping season shooting and it made sense at the time.

I also got into an all white fletched and nocked arrow as my number one for a while. I could see it better than the other colors. I never did fletch up a quiver full though.

These days I'm just orange/green and pink nocked. I hang my quiver so I don't think color is a problem but I still shy away from red/blue/white combos. Using the carbons now it seems like a little more work sticking a fresh set on at my whim.

[GF.]

Very good point.... red/white/blue for a turkey hunter is like a deer hunter wearing a brown sweatshirt and strapping some horns on his head :eek:

Sorry to hear about your buddy... :(