Anyone ever use arrows to distract guards or other enemies to open up routes?

I usually do this until I get access to the "Skeever Butt" shouts (if I do so at all with stealth characters)

"Skeever butt shouts"

edit: and yes i do use the arrows to distract enemies...and i prefer that to the "skeever butt" shout as the enemies always find me when i use that right away....

Yeah, arrow then a knife to the back

I do, mainly to get them in place for my next shot.

One thing I have noticed while doing this, is that if you don't move, or don't take down the enemy, they eventually figure out where the arrow came from and run in that direction. Not sure if this is a design "feature" of the AI, or just the way it works in practice (since the AI is so blatantly dumb in other areas).

I keep iron arrows just for this.

I'll direct them into a better line of sight or an area with better lighting by shooting an iron arrow. Then when they go check I equip a better arrow and kill them with it. I have yet to shot an arrow in a direction so I can slip by. I would imagine they return their pathing pretty quickly.

I find this tactic immensely useful for getting enemies to turn around so I can shoot them in the back. The AI is quite gullible, after all

I did for a little while, as a way of drawing enemies away from doors or rooms and then sneaking by. Once I realized it didn't make a lick of difference whether I engaged enemies or not---other than a lack of archery improvement because I wasn't actually fighting anything---I dropped any pretense of a pure stealth build. I was able to kill some tough vampires straight out of Helgen by luring them over pressure plates, so it isn't entirely without merit.

Same here. Except most of my sneaking characters avoid killing, so instead of leading them to an open area where I can shoot them, I usually try to direct them away from my planned path.

Ugh...I just realized this thread made me yearn for water or fire arrows.