Combining the old and the new

[Dsotm223]

I had some pheasant feathers from a hunt the other day and an extra carbon arrow laying around so I decided I'd cut my own fletchings and put them on the carbon arrow. Its not an amazing job, not even that good, but i figure its good practice, and considering I did it with no jig Its not terrible. I just thought itd be a fun idea, and I do plan on trying to hunt with it provided it flys agreeably.

Any trad guys or guys that make and fletch their own arrows have any tips?

[Briarsdad]

I have never used pheasant feathers but turkey wing feathers work well. I would suggest buying a feather chopper so all your feathers will be uniform. If you want to use natural bird feathers you can split and sand them for a smooth even surface to glue to your shaft. A good fletching jig will make life alot easier also when it comes to glueing them on. Maybe I'm just lazy but those are ways of making it easier.

[05_sprcrw]

I would second everything Bill said, a good base on the feathers makes a huge difference when fletching feathers. I have had good luck with my cheap grayling fletching jig which is a composite made jig that is similar to the bitz.