As you can see, we occasionally shoot at flying targets using our machine from ArcTrap. However, it works just as well to have someone act as a thrower during shooting sessions without a machine.

Regardless of whether you have a machine or a friend throwing the targets, you need one more thing: arrows that don’t travel too far. When shooting at flying targets, your bow is angled in such a way that it’s entirely possible for a regular arrow to travel about 200 meters. This can create numerous issues. Firstly, it’s a hassle to retrieve the arrows (although they are usually easy to find as they almost always stick straight up out of the ground). Secondly, it creates space-related challenges and can even become outright dangerous.

What you need is an arrow called a “flu-flu.” This is an arrow with either large feathers at the back or spirally wrapped full feathers to create air resistance. Given the unique circumstances and the fact that your targets aren’t far away, the requirements for shafts and tips aren’t particularly high. You can basically use any shaft. Even spine stiffness isn’t as critical in this context. Thanks to the air resistance and shooting angle, the arrows often end up sticking straight up out of the ground, making them almost always easy to find. The only risk comes if you use wooden shafts, as they very rarely might break upon impact, causing the target to fall to the ground at an unfortunate angle. Full feathers can be found, for instance, at Bågar & Pilar or Scandbow.

For archers who shoot with longbows in particular, there is one relatively important requirement that isn’t often mentioned in demonstration videos: make sure your arrows aren’t too light. If you shoot overly light arrows for half a day with your longbow, it could break. This is almost like performing several “dry fires” in a row. A good guideline is that the arrow should weigh about 10 GPP (grains per pound). For example, a very heavy longbow, such as a Black Widow 50# bow, should use an arrow weighing about 500 grains—roughly 32 grams. With standard lighter bows, this is usually not an issue, as the arrows typically reach a suitable weight regardless.

We’ve selected a video from the amazing archer James Jean, where he demonstrates how to make flu-flu arrows with spiral feathers, which provide the best braking effect. In the video, he uses something called “contact cement.” Regular contact glue available in Sweden works just as well. If you’ve chosen wooden shafts, it might not work as well with all the different types of oils you might use to treat the shaft. Test it on one shaft first.