Loyle wrote:
I haven't practiced archery, nor am I particularly well versed in physics, but I imagine what would usually happen after firing a stick of wood at the usual forces one would do so to kill a thing, it would end up rendered in an unusable condition if not outright destroyed. In fact, I'm more certain it'd be easier to retrieve and reuse successfully fired arrows.
Again, not someone who has experience with launching arrows at things, or someone with command over the arcane numbers governing how the universe works. So take that with a grain of salt.
As someone who has experience launching traditional wooden arrows at things, there are a few ways an arrow can become irretrievable or unusable once retrieved.
One is to hit grass at such an angle as to tunnel under it - not burying itself in dirt, which would stop it, but between the grassbed and the soil, parralel to both, where you are frankly going to stand on and break it rather than find it unless the fletching is still exposed - this is one of the reasons we don't recommend green or brown fletching. Arrows can totally bury themselves in other ways, but this one is easy even with low poundage bows
One is that arrowheads often detatch, particularly in springy or dense wood. Getting arrows out of the wall in this comic without taking their heads off would be hard, especially as arrows want to be pulled straight back out of a surface without any lateral force on the fragile arrowshaft, which means the arrows high in the wall here will be a pain to retrieve intact.
One is another arrow passing to close and destroying your fletching or shaft, and the last is overpenetration destroying your fletching.
Allegedly, getting an arrow out of a shot animal is easier than getting it out of a tree, but harder than getting it out of soil or a good target, as animals are a bit like springy wood - muscle matter supposedly squeezes back around the arrowhead and makes it hard to retrieve if it isn't firmly attached, though if the thing you shot died you can cut the arrow out. Overpenetration is also easier on animals than on most archery targets, and more likely to ruin your fletching. Also, colapsing or panicking animals break arrows fairly often with their weight, or by slamming the arrow against a tree or rock to try and remove it.
So on the whole, you're mostly right.
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