A poorly executed shot at 35 yards forced the author to administer a 78-yard finisher on this fine pronghorn, stalked on the ground in western New Mexico. Accuracy at such range was once unheard of, but with better equipment and refined tuning skills the lines of "long range" have blurred.

New vane designs have gained newfound stability with engineering that increases spin rates. Like a rifle bullet, or gyroscope, the faster an object spins the more stable it becomes. New Archery Products' Quik-Spin vanes promise to increase arrow rotation by up to 300-percent over conventional vanes. They include patented micro grooves on one side to channel air over the vane for flatter trajectory, and rear spoiler lips to increase arrow spin for greater stability. They also stabilize arrows in less than half the distance of both vanes and feathers. They're available in 1.5-, 2.25-, new 3.125-, and four-inch lengths.

LimbSaver vanes also offer increased arrow stabilization. "Next generation" Navcom II material helps shorten settling time and vibrations in flight. This makes for a more accurate arrow and a stealth edge. Look for them in a four-inch length. Another departure worth mentioning is Bohning Archery's Blazer Vanes. This two-inch, five-grain (half the weight of standard four-inch vanes) wonder combines super-strong material, higher profile, and a precise leading edge angle to maintain control of even large fixed-blade broadheads. Lighter weight gives you greater speed, without sacrificing accuracy.

Remember, too, that today's fall-away rests allow archers to add more fletching helical or spin, without worrying about rest clearance. It seems some still haven't adjusted their fletching jigs since the days of shoot-through rests, still wielding the straight-fletch attitudes of yesterday. Drop-aways allow you to adjust your fletching jig for ultra-aggressive helical and maximum spin. If you're shooting a release and not utilizing a drop-away, you're missing out on a world of added accuracy, especially with broadheads.

Fletching type goes hand-in-hand with broadhead style. Large, one-piece-welded heads once so in vogue required big five-inch feathers, habits that carried over into the wide-cutting, 125-grain replaceable-blade heads and vanes that followed. Four-inch fletchings soon took over as standard when slimmer carbon came onto the scene, five-inch more difficult to maintain both complete adhesion contact and aggressive helical, and as 100-grain heads gained more favor. At the same time fixed-blade heads grew more aerodynamic. The nearly-nonexistent blade surfaces of modern mechanical designs soon encouraged many archers to choose fletchings as small as two to three inches without ill effects, while also picking up a speed advantage due to less drag.

When situations demand it--on bigger, tougher game--or if you simply prefer a wide-cutting fixed-blade head, fletchings up to five inches still make good sense. At average bowhunting ranges you're loosing very little, while drop-away rests simply make them retroactively more practical. The new mini head craze, heads with 7⁄8- to one-inch cutting diameters and abbreviated blade surfaces, makes four-inch fletchings perfect for fixed-blade heads, while some will try to push the limits with shorter lengths, especially feathers that add a bit more stabilization. Some of the special fletchings I've mentioned, as well as feathers, stabilize these aerodynamic heads especially well in their shortest offerings. Mechanical designs allow the very smallest fletchings, essentially anything that will also steer a field point. That said, bowhunting scenarios involve many more variables than target archery. Play it safe, even with mechanicals, by choosing the largest practical fletching for the job at hand--instead of the smallest you can get away with.

There are many factors affecting arrow flight and resulting accuracy. Properly-fitted and matched equipment, fine tuning, attention to detail in areas of shooting form, even the fletching and broadhead combination you choose, all make the difference between consistent groups or scattergun frustration. Today's high performance equipment has made every one of these factors more critical. Shooting faster, shorter bows well means even more attention to detail in every facet of your shooting. But it's still all about the magic of that brief moment in time--getting briefer every year!--when your arrow hurls through space, spinning and hanging in momentary suspension, cutting cleanly to a small point way over yonder, when we hold our breath and watch the flight of the arrow.