Feathers flying
Did you know?
When arrows are fitted with feathers , the feathers are called ‘fletches’ or ‘fletchings’. Someone who makes arrows is often referred to as a ‘fletcher’ – which is the origin of the surname ‘Fletcher’ we know today.
Traditionally, any feather large and stiff enough was used to make arrows – be it turkey, swan, bird of prey, duck, goose.
We’re lucky enough to have our very own supply of feathers on tap at ArcheryPlus. If you can see in the image, hidden in the grass along the bank by the creek, is a newly hatched family of seven or eight Indian Runner ducklings.
The mother is very noisy and of course ultimately protective. We’ve picked up a few cast off feathers from the adult ducks which (at a push) could be used to fletch an arrow.
Fletches need to be from feathers from one side of the bird because the left and right are mirror images and to mix them up really affects the flight of the arrow. Sounds crazy, but it’s true!
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