August 22, 2011
By Randy Ulmer
Every hunting arrow in your quiver has its own personality, and it's going to go exactly where it wants to go when you shoot it. I figured out just how important this is to know when I was shooting target archery. I've since found out that an arrow's personality actually becomes more apparent when you screw a broadhead onto it.
If you make up a dozen arrows and put broadheads on them, I'll guarantee one or two of those arrows aren't going to hit in the group. The only way to figure out which ones are fliers is to number your arrows before you shoot them and keep a journal of where each arrow hits.
Once you notice an arrow is consistently hitting off to the side of the group, you need to rotate the nock to the next fletching and see if that brings it back into the group. If you're using quality arrows and broadheads, you'll usually find that you can get them all back into the group. If you can't get an arrow to come back into the group, at least you'll know which one to eliminate.
Obviously this will require some effort, but if you stick with it you'll see a big difference in your shooting. You won't be second-guessing yourself every time you shoot a bad arrow because you'll know it's you who's to blame and not the arrow.
