# Cock Feather Question



## timetohunt

I am new to bowhunting but I have traditional recurve,  longbow and a wheelie. My question is, when you fletch an arrow and you have a choice (this is for woodies for a longbow), do you put the cock feather up or out from the nock. And what is your reasoning. Thanks for your replies.


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## BGBH

I fletch mine cock fletch out.No particular reason for it,that's just the way I've always done it & my arrows fly fine fletched this way....seen no reason to change...


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## PAPALAPIN

The old theory, and the reason there is a cock feather, is that by putting the cock feather on the outside, the two hen feathers slide across the sight window with minimal effect.  If the cock feather were on the inside, it could cause a sligh kick out when it passes the riser.  Especially with a stiff fletch

I don't know that this is even important anymore, but if not, then there is no reason to have a cock feather (different color) at all.

When shooting matched arrows, it is best to have all things consistant.  With that said, it would be best to at least shoot every arrow the same, whether it be cock feather in, or out.  Modern nocks have a ridge on one side so you can feel when it is right.  The colored cock feather simply makes it visual.

It is not an issue with me because I alway use 4 fletch, thus making it of no matter how I nock the arrow...it is the same either way.  Instead of 5" fletch, I use  3.75" fletch, giving me the same full 15" of fletch that would be used with 3 - 5" fletch.

To each his own.


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## timetohunt

The reason I asked was I bought some woodies from Everything Archery south of Monroe. He fletched and glued on the nocks. These are the only ones that I have with the cock feather up instead of out. The inside fletching will hit the riser every time. I did not request them to be done this way. I asked the shop owner and he said they are all done that way that it is better. I am not sure about that.


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## timetohunt

Here is what I am talking about, I shoot right handed. The rightmost fletching is going to be hitting the riser.


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## RogerB

Cock feather out is most common and probably the most "traditional", cock feather in is second most common and proven in some tests to be more accurate, what ever shoots best for you is "right". Cock feather up, I have only seen commonly used with compound rests (several of the new capture rests use cock feather up)
But take heart, most trad bows have some portion of the fletching hit the riser, that is why we shoot feathers.


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## timetohunt

Ok I will give them a go. I was afraid that the flrtching on the inside woul start tearing loose.


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## markland

When I align my nocks on my arrows I usually have 1 feather pretty much straight up so the hen or inside feather will ride thru the channel of the shelf and side plate.  I normally just fletch all my arrows the same color and use the nock to locate them when I nock the arrow on the string, but sounds fine!  Mark


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## PAPALAPIN

If I remember correctly (now remember I am getting senile) some arrows were fletched with cock feather down for shooting off of compound double prong rests.  This would let the down feather ride through the two prongs.  In the case of compounds, the arrow really doesn't get close to the riser window because of the high tech arrow rests.

Is it possible that you had your arrows fletched by a guy that handles mainly wheelie bow stuff.  If so, that might be his standard.

I am open for correction here because It has been a long time since I shot a heathen wheelie bow, and when I did I never used a double prong rest.  I always used a NAP center rest which in effect was like shooting off of a Bear weather rest.

Just my thoughts...and I could be wrong.

AL...Sorry for talking about wheelie bows and elevated prong rests.  Maya Coulpa (3 times)


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## NumPls

Some rests for compound + release shooters are made for one of the fletches to be at 12:00 (up), while others are made for one of the fletches to be at 6:00 (down). There are probably others that work better with other nock-fletch orientations. It may be that the place where you purchased your arrows has their fletchers set up to the nock orientation that gives one of the fletches either up or down because they sell more to compound-release shooters. If so, they may not want to go thru the bother of re-setting the nock alignment of their fletchers, so they fletched your arrows the same way.

By the way, in the Traditional Archery realm, Black Widow recommends cock-feather (odd-fletch) at 12:00.

For myself (I shoot a tab, whether I am shooting a compound or a traditional bow), when I am shooting a bow with an elevated rest (like a flipper), I shoot with the odd-fletch out. However, when I shoot one of my traditional bows off-the-shelf, I turn the cock-feather IN. I found, when I was shooting cock-feather out, that I was getting a lot of wear on the outer edge of the shelf rest. So, I shifted to cock-feather in, and that excessive wear went away. Since that time, I experimented with cock-feather at 12:00, but also got wear on the outer-edge of the shelf. So, I am sticking with cock-feather IN.

I hope that I have not caused confusion by trying to say too much.

Ray


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## ccbunn

I like to shoot with the cock feather in . Been doing it this way for a long time and I always seem to get better arrow flight. This method prevents feather contact with the shelf which in turn allows a lower nocking point which gives better arrow trajectory. It is really helpful to us 3 finger under shooters who generally need to raise our nocking points to achieve good arrow flight.
Jack Howard did a lot of research on this and wrote about it in his "The Bowhunting Catalog".
I got the info. from this site:  http://www.arrowsbykelly.com/Other_Tips.html
Scroll down to last tip. This explains it much better than I can.


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## NumPls

timetohunt -

All those words that I burned and I just realized that I forgot to add on important thing.

Even though I prefer cock-feather in, you should be able to shoot these arrows cock-feather up. And, again (I did remember to say), Black Widow recommends cock-feather up, so you should not feel as thought you have a weird setup.

Ray


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## trad bow

I have seen some bows shoot better with cock feather in but a different shooter with the same bow shot like crap till he went cock feather out. It has more to do with how you release an arrow and form more than anything. Try it several different ways till you find what is best for your set up. Four fletch arrows purely much nulifies any problems other than spine issues but that set up is not that popular. Most people use three fletch because it is somewhat easier to fletch. Hope it works out for you.


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## trad bow

I just realized you are shooting woodies. There is a difference in the spine of a wood arrow due to the grain of an arrow in relation to where the nock is glued on. Even with 4 fletch you need to be aware of the grain if you want consistant arrow flight. Glue the nock on wrong will cause an underspined arrow. Most people align the cock arrow with the strongest grain to make sure everything is the same and the strongest spine of the arrow is against the rest. If you choose another setup with your fletching you still need to be aware of the grain of the arrow. One side is always stronger than the other in most cases.


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## PAPALAPIN

I don't shoot woodies.  I shoot strictly aluminum and fiberglass.  '60's style.

I have shot four fletch since 1967 when I ran the NFAA Tournament ciecuit with nothing but good results.  "IF" it is more trouble to fletch with 4 rather than 3...it has been worth the extra trouble.  Nothing wrong with a little extra effort for the right results.


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## PAPALAPIN

Well, with all of these different  cock allignments, it is probably the reason they came out with tuable knocks.


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## timetohunt

Man...a lot of info! I guess I will just shoot them for a while and see what happens. I have been using a shooting glove and one finger above nock and 2 below. The other day I started using 3 below trying to find the best combination. I do have some carbon arrows that are fletched with feathers with the cock feather out. I will try them too. The bow is a Martin stick longbow so the shelf is very very small. I kind of wish that I had one of those woodies with a nock that is not glued on so I could turn it and see if it makes a difference when I settle on a draw style with my fingers.
CCBUNN that was an interesting article, I didn't know that you had to consider wood grain too when fletching and nocking woodies. A lot to learn about flinging sticks.
Thanks agin for all the in put.


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## markland

1 up and 2 down should shoot just fine off your bow and if you are shooting carbons, you can easily turn the nock and try different positions to see which shoots the best, but with different arrows you are dealing with different spines as well and that can affect your flight more then fletch orientation.  In fact if your arrows are spined correctly you should be able to shoot your arrows with the nock anywhere and get good flight as the paradox of the arrow leaving the bow should have the fletching away from the shelf as it clears the bow.  Maybe more of a tuning issue with your then fletch orientation.  Mark


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## returntoarchery

As other's have said I shoot cock feather out and like to have a different cock feather color cause it's purity.


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## PAPALAPIN

"I kind of wish that I had one of those woodies with a nock that is not glued on"

To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as a woodie with a nock that is not glued.  It wouldfall off the arrow when shot.  Tunable nocks are on aluminum and carbon arrows. 

In the old days I experimented with using a nock permanantly mounted on the string at the nocking point. I ahd a dozen arrows with no nocks, just the nock insert.  I would push the nock insert into the nock and draw and realase as normal.  The arrow would shoot, leaving the nock on the string.  It worked pretty good and you could "tune " the arrow into the nock any way you wanted.

Hang out here.  Read a lot. Ask lots of questions.  No such things as "Dumb Newbie questions", If you don't know...you don't know.  Better to ask "Dumb questions" than make dumb mistakes.  That is what we are here for...share the knowledge.  I have been into to it for about 53 years and I still learn something new here every day.

Welcome to the campfire.


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## timetohunt

Thanks Paplapin. BTW that was a great idea to put the nock on the string and not on the arrows.  I pulled out my old Bear Kodiak recurve today because I was a little frustrated with the bad groups I was getting with the longbow (still getting used to the Martin) and did much better I was using the carbons with the cock feather out. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't drifting from my anchor point or getting sloppy with my form. Tomorrow I will try the longbow again with those woodies. Practice, Practice, Practice.


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## SOS

I've had better luck with cock feather in......


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## Jack Ryan

timetohunt said:


> I am new to bowhunting but I have traditional recurve,  longbow and a wheelie. My question is, when you fletch an arrow and you have a choice (this is for woodies for a longbow), do you put the cock feather up or out from the nock. And what is your reasoning. Thanks for your replies.



Just put four feathers on them and forget about all that cock feather balony. The feathers line up right with the rest no matter how you put it  on the string.

That's what I do.


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## ccbunn

I never glue the nocks on before fletching woodies. I firmly push the nock on the arrow and proceed to fletch as usual with my Bitz. After fletching the arrow I put glue on the nock taper, lightly press the nock on and put the arrow on the string. I then turn the arrow to line up my fletching for best shelf clearance and then push the arrow against the string to seat the nock well on the taper. Let sit about 30 seconds and then push on the back of the nock to release from string. I'm not worried about riser clearance since the arrow is going to go through paradox anyway, but I don't want feathers hitting and bumping off the shelf.


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## PAPALAPIN

TIMETOHUNT

Your last three words are the key.


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