# 4'' left wing feathers



## kwhit (Jan 8, 2010)

Any right hand shooters out there shoot left wing feathers?  I have always shot right wing..then I found a tread by Outdoorsnow offering flecthed Gold Tips @ a very excellent price !!!!! He only offers a few colors and only LEFT WING ! Still would love to have him make up a set for me..kind of an of something to try. Just wanted some other input into the subject before I order ?!? I also may get back into making my own arrows up again sometime later this year (somehow my bitzenberger jig came up missing in the past 2 yr layoff from sport )


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## jtascone (Feb 27, 2007)

kwhit said:


> Any right hand shooters out there shoot left wing feathers?  I have always shot right wing..then I found a tread by Outdoorsnow offering flecthed Gold Tips @ a very excellent price !!!!! He only offers a few colors and only LEFT WING ! Still would love to have him make up a set for me..kind of an of something to try. Just wanted some other input into the subject before I order ?!? I also may get back into making my own arrows up again sometime later this year (somehow my bitzenberger jig came up missing in the past 2 yr layoff from sport )



I have been using left wing feathers for the past 19 years. Killed over 50 deer with them over that span. They work awesome. My pro shop fletches all his arrows left wing unless someone asks otherwise. The only thing you want to do is make sure your tips are very tight or put some lok-tite on them. Left wing spin your arrow counter clockwise (when viewed from the back) and tend to loosen your tips over time from repeated impact with the target.


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## 96720 (May 31, 2007)

*LW Feathers*

Been shooting LW feathers (4", 3" & Rayzrs) for the last 15+ years. Fly great for me and has better clearance than RW on my setups. Remember to index your nocks for the best clearance for your setup. :thumbs_up


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

I've fletched and shot left wing for the last 25 years. I think it gives a right hander slightly better clearance, especially if shooting with a selfbow off your fingers. I've haven't had any problems with points unscrewing themselves but maybe I just put them on well.


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## Unclegus (May 27, 2003)

It doesn't matter. I always tell people that they need to shoot left wing when they go south of the equator.


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## Finger_Flinger (Mar 25, 2009)

I recently bought a Bitzenberger jog and left wing clamp, only because the arrows I bought last year were fletched left wing.

I also recently bought 200 Gateway 5" left wing feathers for $25. Nice price!


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

I shoot left wing feathers and have for however many years I have been shooting a bow. I am a left-handed archer, but that is all just coincidence.:wink:


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## KStover (Jan 24, 2009)

Unclegus said:


> It doesn't matter. I always tell people that they need to shoot left wing when they go south of the equator.


Unclegus
Is that kinda like the toilet thing?

I shoot left wing, the jig I bought years ago is left wing. If I had to do over I'd go with right wing, it seems that left wing feathers are getting hard to find.

Keith


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## Unclegus (May 27, 2003)

KStover said:


> Unclegus
> Is that kinda like the toilet thing?
> 
> I shoot left wing, the jig I bought years ago is left wing. If I had to do over I'd go with right wing, it seems that left wing feathers are getting hard to find.
> ...


Yep, you ought to see the wheels start turning when I tell them that... Good feathers of any kind are hard to find anymore and the cost is getting ridiculous, but then again, what isn't ukey:  ukey:


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## Ack (May 13, 2005)

I've always shot left wing feathers too, but I agree they are getting tough to find in the shops.


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

I bought my first Bitzenburger jig about 26 years ago. I looked around at all my possible sources of fletching and they all had left wing feathers for a few bucks less per hundred than right wing, I assume because right wing was more popular. I was also dabbling with selfwood bows that had no shelf and you shot the arrow off your bow hand pointer finger. One of the draw backs of shooting this way is that the point of the quill, if not wrapped and/or glued flat to the shaft, can crease or even enter your finger at the shot. Left offset keeps the quill away from your finger better than right if you're right handed. Put an arrow on your finger and check it out. When shooting off the shelf, opposite wing appears to give better clearance, however, having shot both wings I've never been able to tell a difference in arrow flight. I now have 30 Bitzys and they're all setup left wing. Feathers have become obscenely expensive and both wings go for the same bucks but I still prefer shooting them - left wing, of course.


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## Finger_Flinger (Mar 25, 2009)

AKRuss, you have 30 Bitzenburger jigs?

Holy crap!!

I don't have 30 arrows!


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

*All Left Wing*

Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened. I started with one, then added two more and before I realized it, they're coming out of the woodwork! Actually I made arrows to sell for several years and geared up a bit. If you're selling the things, you really need both helical and straight off-set depenidng on the customer demand. I have WAY more than 30 arrows too, LOL ...


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## dragonheart (Jul 18, 2008)

*Feather*

I have heard that there are more left wing feathers because producers clip the right side. Not sure if that is true.


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

Guys....I could be wrong......but the feathers we use don't come from a "left" or "right" wing, they are opposite sides of the quill from either wing. The things are split and ground for our use. I have fletched a few arrows with wild turkey feathers just by splitting the feather and sanding the bottom of the split to glue it to the shaft I was using, they worked pretty well too!


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

Fletching from primary flight feathers do indeed come from the left and right wing of the bird - generally turkeys. You may be thinking of tail feathers that are propostional on each side but produce somewhat inferior fletching.


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## dragonheart (Jul 18, 2008)

Wing feathers are the primary feather in arrow fletching. They are indeed split and ground.


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## Ed Bock (Apr 1, 2006)

*And some rubber cement --*

yeah, left wing can tend to loosen up the points. I just use a dab of rubber cement on the treads before I put 'em on. And the rubber cement still alows you to remove them easily.


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## Robert58 (Oct 5, 2002)

dragonheart said:


> I have heard that there are more left wing feathers because producers clip the right side. Not sure if that is true.


Back when I started shooting Archery in 1957 all you could get if I remember right was Left wing feathers because Turkeys were raised in pens that they could fly out off if they didn't clip there right wing. And as was said in a post above Left Wing Feathers fly much better off of the shelf of a right handed Recurve. I got out of Archery in 1963 when my bow was stolen and didn't get back in until 2002 and I was surprized to find that everyone was shooting Right Wing Feathers.

Robert


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