Like many passionate bowhunters, I spend a great deal of time honing my shooting skills on the practice range.
Typically, I don’t shoot at the same spot with multiple arrows. Stacking several often damages my fletching, especially with broadheads. Even when aiming at different places on the target, sometimes a stray arrow will clip a vane.
When a situation arises to re-fletch (plastic vanes), there is no easier, faster or safer tool than an ordinary kitchen tool: a potato peeler.
Every bowhunter who fletches his or her own arrows has a fletching device, but few own a fletch removal tool. We end up using a pocketknife and spend a lot of time scraping glue and plastic. But everybody has a potato peeler.
I line the peeler up on the arrow’s shaft so it sits about a half-inch in front of the damaged vane on the shaft.
Gripping the arrow shaft firmly with one hand, I swipe along the shaft toward the vane and nock as if I was peeling a potato.
Usually, it only takes a few passes to remove the vane cleanly — cresting, too. Once I am down to a clean, bare arrow shaft, I can re-fletch as I see fit.
As long as your peeler is sharp, there’s no worry about nicking or gouging your arrow the way a pocketknife can.
And here’s a nifty trick for glueless emergency fletching in the backcountry: Pack some quick fletches and your potato peeler. If you damage a vane, remove all three and use boiling campfire water to apply the pre-positioned quick fletches. Now your arrow is fully fletched without glue, and you are good to go!
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