Nice arrow!
A word of caution though. I did run into a game warden a few years years ago while squirrel hunting with a couple of owl fletched arrows. I found them on a dead owl in the early stages of decay. He was polite and professional, but asked me to remove them immediately. Using, or even posessing feathers from Raptors is strictly prohibited in the United States. Here's an excerpt from the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act titled "Raptors and the Law":
“Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, any part, nest, or egg of any such bird, or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or in part, of any such bird or any part, nest or egg.”
It is unlawful to be in the possession of any part of a raptor for any reason unless you're Native American and have a specific ceremonial permit. A good little ditty for staying out of trouble with the law is "Bird of prey, Let it lay". I'm not sure about your state, but they take it very seriously here and I got lucky to be educated about my negligence by the warden rather than charged. They can actually charge you for each feather you have in your possession individually.
Penalties for "common violations" of the MBTA (such as possession) can reach $15,000 fines and 6 months imprisonment. The sale, barter or shipping of Raptors or their parts is a felony and carries a fine up to $500,000 and two years imprisonment.
We know you're not doing anything wrong by collecting feathers... harmless right? But to the authorities, there is no possible way to "prove" that you did not kill that raptor. It's best to admire the feathers while in the forest and then place them back where you found them.
