Question: I want to try two-inch vanes. What is the proper or best way to set the vanes -- straight or helical? David L. Shoaf, Mechanicsville, VA

Answer: I assume you are referring to high-profile fletching like Arizona Ar-chery Enterprise's Max Hunter or Boh-ning's Blazer. For shooting fieldpoints, straight fletching is okay, assuming your bow is well tuned and your shooting form is good. For shooting fixed-blade broadheads, I recommend helical with maximum offset, and that still may not be enough if your bow -- and your form -- are not well tuned. For shooting expandables, I still recommend helical with maximum offset. It will serve you well, even if you and your bow are not perfectly tuned. -- Randy Ulmer, Contributor

Question: I've always heard that moon phases can play a big part in deer movement, so what moon phase should you look for when trying to harvest a good buck? Thanks. -- J.B., Mason City, IA

Answer: Dr. James Kroll and Ben Koerth answer your question in their book, Solving the Mystery of Deer Movements. Kroll and Koerth conducted a trail-camera study that showed the following percentages of daytime activity for bucks and does per moon phase: New Moon (33.7 percent), First Quarter (26.1 percent), Full Moon (19.9 percent), and Last Quarter (33.5 percent). The authors concluded, statistically speaking, "Moon phase does not appear to predictably affect deer activity. Because the moon is such a noticeable phenomenon in our world, it seems almost intuitive it must have equally profound effects on the habits and lifestyles of animals as well, at least we all want to believe it to be so."

Then, for two years, Hellickson monitored only the daytime movements (6 a.m. – 7 p.m.) of bucks from October to January. He then compared these daytime movements to moon phases. For Year One, Hellickson found that bucks moved an average of 58.9 percent of daytime hours during the new moon (darkest phase) and 52.2 percent during the full moon (lightest phase). In Year Two, he observed that bucks moved 36.1 percent during a new moon and 36.7 percent during a full moon. Statistically, the difference is negligible. In short, during hunting seasons, moon phase doesn't have a significant effect on buck movements. My advice is to hunt whenever you can and don't worry about moon phase. -- C. J. Winand, Contributor

Question: How do you use a back-tension re-lease aid with a bow that has a very hard back wall? I draw, anchor, and start my "shooting machine," but I can't get any more travel with my drawing elbow, so I have a hard time getting my release to go off. Can you give me some advice? -- Howard Berger, via e-mail

Answer: You don't need to get "more travel" with your drawing elbow. Rather, as you pinch your shoulder blades together while at full draw (i.e., apply back tension) your drawing elbow should rotate inward, which will rotate your hand and, in turn, the release aid. To put it another way, don't think in terms of pulling your elbow back but in terms of pinching your shoulder blades together. That's the motion that will rotate your hand to set off the release aid. I passed your question by Randy Ulmer, who said, "If you shoot a back-tension release properly, your arrow should not move on the rest as you release. It sounds as if you're trying to 'pull through' as a clicker shooter would. The point of your string elbow should not move backward in line with the arrow but rather at a 90-degree angle to the plane of the arrow. If you continued this motion, your elbows would eventually touch behind your back -- impossible, of course, but useful for illustration. This motion forces rotation of the release aid, even with a 'solid wall' bow." -- Dwight Schuh, Editor