This may seem a stupid question which deserves the insightful answer of 'well it depends!' but please let me explain.
I made 2 doz arrows at the beginning of the year. All the same spine and matched to me and my bow. Four of the arrows I fletched with different feathers ready to do some arrow drag experiments. Anyway, I didn't do the experiment for around 6 months of fairly regular shooting. Now despite getting several PBs with these arrows (so I know they are a good set) when I did the arrow drag experiment, the arrows that had not been shot, consitently grouped noticeably better than those which had been used.
Now bear in mind that there were only 2 differences in the two sets. One set had smaller feathers and had been shot less than the other set.
My hypothosis is therefore that wooden arrows must age with shooting and hitting the target (ignoring damage though missing). I can't (yet) prove this hypothesis so was wondering if any of you have similar observations before I think about another experiment.
I made 2 doz arrows at the beginning of the year. All the same spine and matched to me and my bow. Four of the arrows I fletched with different feathers ready to do some arrow drag experiments. Anyway, I didn't do the experiment for around 6 months of fairly regular shooting. Now despite getting several PBs with these arrows (so I know they are a good set) when I did the arrow drag experiment, the arrows that had not been shot, consitently grouped noticeably better than those which had been used.
Now bear in mind that there were only 2 differences in the two sets. One set had smaller feathers and had been shot less than the other set.
My hypothosis is therefore that wooden arrows must age with shooting and hitting the target (ignoring damage though missing). I can't (yet) prove this hypothesis so was wondering if any of you have similar observations before I think about another experiment.