Ever try those personal touches?

[JeffG]

In my search for graphine arrows, I got some good advise that a solid color would be fine, that I didn't need to have camo arrows.  I picked out yellow and purple vanes to make the somewhat visible, and for fun I added a flourescent green nock.  Hey those colors work on snowmobiles.  :lol:
Well, when I shot them in the woods, POOF!  They were gone, and I didn't see them go, and they were hard to find, despite the goofy colors.  

I was watching a bow hunting video a while back, and saw the hunters used white fletch and white paint in the back half of their arrows.  HMMM!

I thought cresting might be the answer, so I made an arrow turning jig out of a cordless drill, and started with flat white spray paint.  Pretty plain.  Then I used hobby and model paint to continue the yellow and purple colors onto the shafts, a little black and gold trim, and they looked ok.
 Didn't really cost much and you can tell they are MY arrows.  
Any one else do this stuff?
I will send anyone the pics of the jig if they want..
 
The picture I posted, includes a "before arrow", so you can compare.
.JeffG

[wolfslayer]

jeff...
  hi.. the point is to use a color that is not naturally occouring
in your particular forest or vegatation.. so that it stands out from it..
  these new arrows with camoflauge are NOTHING MORE THAN A VERY
SNEEKY MARKETING SCAM BY THE ARROW MAKERS... JUST STOP AND THINK FOR A MOMENT.. HOW DO THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY... BY SELLING ARROWS!!! AND IF THEY COULD ACTUALLY HELP YOU TO LOOSE
YOUR ARROWS, YOUR GOING TO BUY MORE ARROWS!!! DUH! NOW..
 WHAT ARROW IS GOING TO BE THE EASIEST TO LOOSE..AND THE HARDEST TO FIND...??  THE ONES THAT BLEND INTO THE FOREST THE BEST...CAMOFLAUGE!!!!!    if you dont want to loose arrows..dont shoot them where you cant find them... its that simple...  as for colors..
 your on the right track!!!  a good rear end paint job of white..with day glo
fletching like red or green.. or yellow.. will definatly help you find yours better !!!!!!  do an internet search on  cresting arrows... you will find tons of stuff!!!!   and stay away from the camo arrows.. they are just a SCAM..
to sell you more arrows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coltfan]

Jeff,
Last year I was talking with an old friend who lives for archery season. I believe at last count he has taken over 125 bucks, most with a bow. A while back he saw where Ted Nugent paints his entire arrow white. Not only is it easier to find the arrow in the woods, but it helps you get a better feel for where the arrow hit the deer by allowing you to better see the color of the blood on the arrow, as well as determining how far the arrow penatrated. He has been painting his arrows completely white ever since. I needed new arrows this year, so I decided to try painting the back half white. I also use two white vanes, and one yellow. This year almost all the deer I saw were within the last 30 minutes of shooting hours, so it was getting pretty dark. Attempted two shots this year, somehow I managed to not see some branches on both shots, and had the arrows deflect on both. The white helped tremendously to see the arrows in flight, made the arrows easier to find, and also confirmed that there was no blood on either. I will continue to paint my arrows in the future. Maybe now I should consider painting the tree branches white.  

[JeffG]

That's why we love our sport though, it is never a sure thing.  We don't have brush busters or big bores.   The biggest reason for my light/dark vanes is so I can easily nock one in the dark before morning light.

[L-Roy]

Hey Guys,
Painting arrows as well as cresting does add weight to arrows.  Be sure to practice with those arrows after you create your color scheme as the added weight will affect the flight characteristics of your arrows and may cause them to impact differently than before coloring!

[sweet old bill]

I also had to find some way to identify my carbon arrows, so I made them up just like my traditional recurve cedar shaft. I did a 10 crown dip in white gloss, then I crest ( with my homemade crester from walmart a $7 hand mixer and rubber band) and then I fletch with 3 white 5 inch feathers and I also made a 1/2 doz up with vanes and they were two white and one blue vane. blue and white seem to be the best color for finding your arrows.

[DoC]

Good looking arrows.
I haven't tried the markings yet, but have been painting the back ten inches of my cedar arrows white and fletching with two white and one blue with broadheads and all white with field.
Years ago, I made my first bowhunt with some bright gold Easton aluminum shafts with yellow and blue fletching.  Just sat still on a bucket on the ground.  Three deer came up and it didn't bother them, until one of those arrows started flying their way. Broad daylight.
I like this stuff.
DoC

[JeffG]

Hey Doc, Thanks for the compliment.  They actually tuned out better than I expected.  As for the colors, I figured if they work for Arctic Cat...

[Lawdog]

I use Easton XX78’s and I wish Easton would sell them without any camo design.  I do a full paint job in flat white, no shine that way, with my own color ring selection to identify my arrows from those of other archers.  Fletching is two flo. orange and one black.  Nock is flo. pink.  Sense doing this I have lost more arrows to rocks and trees than the under brush and grass.  Lawdog

[teeball]

Well, let me relate back about 25 years. Back when I started bowhunting. Back then the word was "CONCEALMENT". Guys I knew would take new arrows and paint them balck or dark brown so the deer couldn't see them. Then they would fletch them in black and brown. I was the outcast. I fletched my arrows with two white and one green, and put a white nock on it. Oh my God, one white fletch AND a white nock? I must have wanted the deer to see me. Then came the camo arrows ( by the way, I worked part time at Anderson Archery ) and this was the best thing since sliced bread. My buddies couldn't believe I didn't use these. I would ask, how many hundreds of thousands if not millions of animals do think were killed with the XX75 orange arrows? Now I use ACC arrows which only come in black. I dip them 6 inches in white paint, fletch them in two bright green and one white 4 inch vane, and add a florecent green nock. The white paint under the nock just makes it shine bright.. With this set up, I know when my bow is tuned properly because all I can see in flight is a little green dot. This set up has worked extreemly well for me for the past 10 years, and I don't think any deer have spotted me because of my arrows.
But that's just my opinion.

[ARMallardSlayer]

Arrows are hard to find in the grass and leaves, no matter what color you have.

I shoot two white feathers and a black............just what I like, not really to see better.

[JACKNZ]

Hey JeffG, I,m new to this forem so I don,t know how old your post is but I just gott,a say those are nice looking arrows.I also crest my own arrows.I like white an red with a bit of gold.Keep up the good work,I like it.....IT,S ALL GOOD....JACK. :grin:

[JeffG]

Welcome, Jack,
Yes! you are right, IT"S ALL GOOD!  :grin:  And bow season sis screaming down us!!   Only abount 60 shopping days left here in Wisconsin...

[01magnatec]

I would like to see that jig you made up.
I am very interested in doing this.

[JeffG]

Let's see if I can describe what I did.  I took a 6"x48" piece of marine plywood.  I chucked a field tip in my B&D cordless, with the arrow attatched, screwed into the feild tip.  I laid it down so that the arrow was straight across the board.  
I took a 1/4 inch bit ,and drilled holes around the  4 corners of the drill, and pounded dowels into the wood, so that the drill wouldn't move, the drill has to be picked up vertically to the wood to remove it. I used screw eyes and a small bungee cord to hold it still.
 I measured the height of the axis of the arrow, and made open-topped small blocks  for the arrow to lay in, as if it were a pipeline.  I drilled two holes in different places to have a pull out dowel peg, for different trigger settings, for different speeds on the drill.

 I made a paintbrush rest along the length of the arrow with  scraps of wood.  Once I got an arrow the way I liked it, I made up a chart of the colors, and taped it where I could refer to it.

I started with a white flat enamel background, Krylon, and placed my stripes on the white back ground.  To spray the arrow, rather than using masking tape, I used card board shields taped to the jig, and sprayed the arow as it spun on low speed.  Do the arrow s in batched of 5 or so, and don't be afraid to go back and do touch ups.  Hope this helps, if  can, I will grab the digtal and post some pictures...