You can shoot arrows with plastic vanes off the shelf. When shooting off the arrow shelf, you need to take note of a few factors, such as your arrows’ fletchings and bow. Before we dive into the question of shooting arrows with plastic vanes off a shelf, let’s first know what an arrow shelf is. An arrow shelf, or simply shelf, is typical in recurve and compound bows. As the name implies, this horizontal part of the bow is where you can put your arrow before you shoot it. If you want to shoot arrows off the shelf, you should consider arrows —one of the most significant factors. Feather and plastic vanes are the two most common types of fletchings for arrows. You can use either of the two to shoot arrows off the shelf. Yes, you read that right. You can shoot plastic vanes, even though it is not the best material for the job. Arrows with feather fletchings are the best option for shooting off the shelf. These arrows glide smoothly on the arrow shelf when you shoot them. They are even faster when shot, and archers tend to have better aim accuracy using feathers. On the other hand, plastic vanes have a high chance of bouncing off the arrow shelf, often resulting in an erratic flight and poor aim accuracy. However, there’s still hope for those who prefer plastic vanes! Some archers opt to fine-tune their bows to solve the issue of bouncy arrows and wobbly arrow flights when shooting plastic vanes off the shelf. One of the alternatives is padding the arrow shelf with extra fur. This way, you can still use plastic vanes to shoot off the arrow shelf without any problems.