What will it be, Mister?

Dave Richey checks carbon (left) and aluminum Robin Hoods.

Archery shop owners invariably ask the same question when hunters come in to buy arrow. What will it be, Mister?

There is very little discussion these days about arrow shaft construction. There are only three basic choices, and from there, several secondary choices to be made.

Aluminum, carbon or wood? Only some long bow and recurve bow shooters still shoot wood arrows although many have switched to either one of the other two choices. The secondary choices are manufacturer, size, weight and length.

Choose which shaft is best for your archery use.

Compound bow hunters are locked into a choice between aluminum and carbon, and there is little to discuss. Very few compound shooters still shoot aluminum shafts these days.

I still like aluminum shafts for bow hunting but much of the time carbon arrows are in my bow quiver. There was a time 15-20 years ago when aluminum arrows had a death grip on the  arrow market but times have changed.

In most archery shops, at least 90 percent of arrow sales are now carbon. Some other shops report 95 percent carbon over aluminum arrows.
Years ago there were plenty of arguments against carbon shafts, and many were unfounded. Some of the early carbon arrows were too skinny, some had ugly out-serts that attached to the shaft, and the broadhead screwed into the out-sert. Another argument that has passed by the boards was that carbon arrows would shatter inside a deer.

Believe me on this: some people resented carbon arrows and resisted using them. I told a friend he'd lose arrow sales if he didn't stock carbon, and soon I noticed that people were passing up his aluminum shafts and going elsewhere to buy carbon arrows. He soon learned he was losing money.

It took some time but he eventually began to stock carbon, and began shooting these new shafts. They flew extremely well, and that settled the argument for me. He now stocks and sells carbon arrows.

Carbon shafts, in testing, out-perform arrow shafts of other materials.

Why shoot carbon? One excellent reason is the arrows are extremely straight, and tolerance levels are much tighter (less than half of one percent) than with aluminum, in most cases. Several years ago Archery Business magazine found carbon arrows were more perfectly formed, more precise, and in most cases, stronger than aluminum.

The magazine said that Carbon Express shafts, and especially their Maxima and other shafts, had the tightest tolerances in the arrow industry. It means, that with practice, a hunter or target archer can become a better shot with these arrows.

Carbon arrow companies have relegated the skinny carbon shafts of yesteryear to the back shelf, and are producing shafts with much the same diameters as aluminum.

The bigger shafts help increase down-range energy, and this allows the arrow to hit with greater force. The down-range force produces better penetration, and with increased accuracy, this means a  chance for more killing shots.

Carbon arrows require a properly maintained and tuned bow. A bow that is out of whack won't shoot any arrow well.

This means the hunter needs a well-tuned bow, a quality bow rest, and a good mechanical release. They will help produce far more accurate shots than most people ever felt possible.

Most quality archery shops can do a fine job of tuning your bow, and it's common for people to bring their bows to any high quality archery shop for an annual tune-up.

A properly tuned compound bow and carbon arrow should be paper tuned. A properly tuned arrow will cut a perfect hole when shot through paper. Out-of-tune bows will cut or tear ragged holes with feathers or vanes cutting high, low, right or left when they go through the paper.

I've shot Carbon Express for years. No reason to change.

This requires further tuning, and when the rest, nocking point and other factors jell, there is a perfectly round hole. And, with the great line-up of bows which are now available, the straight-nock travel produced by these bows make for the most accurate compound bows on the market.

Some people continue to fight the trend toward carbon arrows. Some folks simply resist change.

A well-tuned bow, quality carbon shafts, a good rest, and a broadhead suited for that shaft, will make any bow hunter a much better shot at deer and targets.

Tough? A buddy of mine shot a black bear, Quebec-Labrador caribou and whitetail deer with one arrow. That's right -- one carbon arrow. He re-sharpened the broadhead after each kill, and the arrow was still straight after killing three big-game animals in one year.

One thing is that people who shoot carbon, or any other arrow shaft for that matter, must avoid shooting an arrow that has be dented or dinged by another arrow during practice. They could shatter. Check any arrow before shooting, and then shoot with confidence.

My belief in carbon shafts, with the proviso noted immediately above, puts a capital T and A on the two words -- Tough Arrows.