Product Review: AAE Max Hunter Vanes
For the past three months I have been shooting Arizona Archery Enterprises Max Hunter Vanes and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Originally, I was shooting Blazer vanes and while they work great, but the Max Hunters work better. For me they worked MUCH better.
In comparison, the Max Hunter is a different design than the Blazer. I first laid eyes on the Max Hunters while watching a hunting show and I couldn’t help think about how odd I thought they looked. Like they say, I really should never judge a book by its cover. Ever.
First off, you can get the Max Hunters in only one size. The specifics are 2.1″ long, .590″ high, .024 thick and they come in eight colors: Black, Bright Green, Fire Orange, Hot Pink, Purple, Sunset Gold, White, and Yellow.
The vanes themselves are a bit thicker than most, but I feel that this helps correct the arrow in flight much faster. When shooting these in a crosswind the AAE vaned arrows corrected faster than the Blazer vaned arrows and I was more accurate with the AAE vanes. There are other benefits with the vane being thicker than most. I shot more than one arrow through another vane, on more than one occasion. I then took the arrow with an arrow hole through two vanes and shot it at 60 yards. I hit pay dirt. Again. Even with holes in the fletching the arrow flew true. (It did have a nice airy, whistling sounds, but this was just for the field review). When I did this with the Blazers, my arrows flew erratically and were not consistent.
When fletching, they go on each properly prepared arrow securely and with the AAE glue, they hold extremely well. I never had any fletching tear off when shooting it through mesh. On the other hand, more than once, the Blazers (with their glue) did come off when shot through the mesh.
I hit the range multiple times in the past three months. The AAE Max Hunters corrected faster and my arrow groupings were tighter that the Blazer vaned arrows. Same arrows, same field points, just different fletching. I was more consistent with the Max Hunters and even some of the spectators at the range noticed.
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| These were shots 56-60 and my arm was fatigued. |
The Max Hunters fly true and are, in my opinion, the best vanes on the market. Let’s put it this way, for the first time ever, Sunday I decided to go out and shoot at 70 yards. So, I adjusted my pin to what I thought was close and shot 5 arrows. I hit the target , but wasn’t as close as I wanted. One adjustment later and I had all five arrows in the paper plate. At 70 yards! For many western hunters that’s not a big deal, but for this guy who has never shot anything over 60 yards, well, this was awesome. It felt great and I will continue to shoot the Max Hunter vanes on any arrow I shoot because I believe in them.
All in all, I give these vanes a 9/10. They are excellent. The only reason I didn’t give them a 10/10 is because they do stick a bit inside some of the fletching jigs because of their thickness. Other than that, they are superb and I’ll back them 100%.
Those vanes are different looking, that is for sure. It is impressive that you got a consistent flight pattern with a hole in one of 'em!
Do you find that one jig worked better than another with these vanes?
I would assume that you didn't notice in shift in your POI when switching to these. Is that correct?
For this review the jigs weren't much of a concern. I am utilizing one over another, but they both worked.
No shift in POI in either case. Good point!
Excellent review, Al! Pretty impressive to be that consistent at 70 with just minor adjustments.
Is there any helical with these vanes?
Nice job and thanks for the information!
Brian, the helical is up to you and how you have your jig set. I have a 3 degree helical on mine.
Thanks, Al! I was wondering if you put any helical on them. I like the durability factor. I've torn countless vanes either with other arrows or simply by them going into the target.