Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting do the vents in broadhead blades make them louder than unvented?

I’m fortunate to have a huge oak tree backing up my 30 yard target, as well as another big oak at about twenty adjacent to the “flight path” of our arrows. The trees are large enough that we can stand behind them and have another shooter shoot broadheads at the targets, judging relative quietness of the broadheads. In our admittedly unscientific judgement, vented blades do make more noise by a significant margin. It’s noticeable.

Some, you hear a hiss on their flight, while others sound like they are whistling Dixie the whole way to the target! It’s interesting in that some broadheads you can hear the instant they leave the bow. Others, only when they pass you by. Some are so noisy I feel like I could dodge the arrow! It’s no wonder why deer jump the string on some “perfect” shots….

The ones that generated the most noise generally were the vented heads, but their were exceptions.

what else causes hiss?
I have heard it on field points that felt like good releases, but others were silent so I was trying to figure if it was a bow tune factor, or something else.

Isn’t there a downside of not having vents, especially on a large surface area broadhead? I thought the vents were there to prevent the flat surface from becoming a “sail” or airfoil and ruining accuracy.