primitive archer magazine 04-2012

Apr./May 2012

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$7.99US&CAN

Display until May 28, 2012

Volume 20 Issue 2

“Passing It On” Since 1992

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In This Issue:

Take A Veteran Out Hunting...0

Building Selfbows and Flintknappingat the Tennessee Classic...Page 56

Bullstik Journey...Page 62

plus:

Steps In Making A New Bow String...Page 30

Hand-Crafted Shooting Glove...Page 38

In This Issue:

Take A Veteran Out Hunting...Page 10

Building Selfbows and Flintknappingat the Tennessee Classic...Page 56

Bullstik Journey...Page 62

plus:

Steps In Making A New Bow String...Page 30

Hand-Crafted Shooting Glove...Page 38

Primitive Archer Magazine Volume 20 Issue 2 1

Ins ide This IssueApr./May 2012Volume 20 Issue 2

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10 Take A Veteran Out HuntingBy ROBERT D. SMITH

16 Sinew-BackedYellow Birch RecurveBy MARC ST. LOUIS

24 Mulefat ShaftsBy LARRY CLEMONS

30 Steps In MakingA New Bow StringBy DUANE SPANGLER

38 Hand-Crafted Shooting GloveBy JIM DAHLBERG

42 For the Love of YewBy JOHN WETZEL

50 Cane or Bamboo Shaftwith a NockBy KAY KOPPEDRAYER

56 Building Selfbows andFlintknapping at theTennessee ClassicBy STIM WILCOX

62 Bullstik JourneyBy RUSSELL THORNBERRY

On the Cover“All-Time High”by Stacey Huston

2 Primitive Archer Magazine Volume 20 Issue 2

Pr imi t ive Archer Magaz ineA Wholly Owned Division of Bigger Than That Productions-LLC

PUBLISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monroe M. LutherPRESIDENT & CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael M. MooreMANAGING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed IngoldTECHNICAL EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marc St. LouisHUNTING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tony KintonEVENTS EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marie LutherEDITOR EMERITUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gene LangstonCOPY EDITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amy Staehr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marie Luther

ASSOCIATE EDITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bill Campbell, Ty Cunningham, Jim Hamm, Kay Koppedrayer& Mickey Lotz

WEB SITE MODERATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mark Baggett, Cipriano Rivera, Pat Brennan, Keenan Howard,Ryan O’Sullivan, Eddie Parker, Steve Parker, Justin Snyder,Marc St. Louis, James Parker, Marie Luther and Paul Wolfe

SOCIAL MEDIA MODERATOR . . .Nickki Wetzel & Marie Luther

DESIGN & LAYOUT . . . .Aaron Bergman/Bergman Graphics

PRIMITIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE strives for accuracy and honesty in its advertisements andarticles but assumes no responsibility for content. ©2011 by PRIMITIVE ARCHERMAGAZINE. No part of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced by any meanswithout the express written permission of PRIMITIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE. PRIMITIVEARCHER is published six times a year. Printed in the U.S.A.

SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIESFor fastest service, visit our web site for:

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Go to: www.primitivearcher.com or write: Primitive Archer, P.O. Box79306, Houston, TX 77279-9306. Or call: 713.467.8202.

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ARTICLE SUBMISSIONSManuscripts and photographs sent to Primitive Archer should be

addressed to: The Editor, Primitive Archer, 883 Taft Ct., Palm BeachGardens, FL 33410. Electronic submissions are preferred. Please emailmanuscripts in Word format to: [email protected]

Glossy prints or digital photos preferred. When sending prints, do notsend originals, as they will not be returned. Digital photos must be 300 dpiat full size. If you have any questions about the best way to submit yourarticle and pictures, please email the address above and a full list of criteriawill be sent to you.

Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials includingphotographs and manuscripts. All unsolicited photographs or otherlikenesses, text, artwork or other copyrightable materials submittedconveys the unrestricted absolute perpetual, fully paid up, royalty-free,transferable worldwide rights to this publisher and/or its successors.

ADVERTISING Write: Primitive Archer AdvertisingP.O. Box 79306 • Houston, TX 77279-9306Call 713.467.8202email [email protected] for ads and classified adsor visit www.primitivearcher.com.

D E P A R T M E N T S

Hunting Column6 Ramblings of an Antique

By TONY KINTON

A Closer Look8 Product Reviews

By TONY KINTON

Ask PA28 Hickory Warbow

By MARC ST. LOUIS

Bows of the Month34 From www.primitivearcher.com

By CIPRIANO RIVERA

Medicine Man®

46 White PineBy STEVE PARKER

Primitive Chef ®

66 Venison Meatballs with a Sherryand Sour Cream Glaze over SpaetzleBy BILL CAMPBELL

Poet’s Corner80 Miss Bowhunting

By RANDY STIVER

Backtrails 80 Where Lies the “Magic”

in Traditional Bowhunting?By MICHAEL T. HUFF

71 Calendar of Events72 Marketplace78 Classified Ads

Primitive Archer magazine (ISSN: 1089-4268) is published six times a year inFebruary, April, June, August, October and December by Bigger Than That ProductionsLLC. The annual subscription rate is $26.99 USD in the United States, $28.99 USD inCanada and $30.99 USD for all other foreign subscriptions. Primitive Archer executiveoffices are located at 8601 Jameel Road, Suite 150, Houston, Texas 77040. Periodicalspostage paid at Houston Texas and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Sendaddress changes to Primitive Archer P. O. Box 79306 Houston, Texas 77279-9306

getting involved in archery as a sport, a gift subscription might be just the thing.You can even gift a subscription to a club, boy scout troop, or business that setsout magazines for their clients to peruse while waiting. I am sure all wouldappreciate the gesture and the gift.

Be sure and look for our20th anniversary specials inthe magazine throughout thisyear.

Again, Thanks for thenotes and letters. Hope youenjoy this issue and keep intouch. Please let us know howwe’re doing. We really do wantto hear from you.

–Ed Ingold

irst, I want to thank everyone who took thetime and made the effort to send me a note. Asa result, we have material for our Letters to

Editor Column for the next issue or two. It is so niceto hear from our readers, and I hope it’s of enoughinterest to others as to what’s on their minds to makeit worthwhile. I encourage you to send a note for theLTE column if you have an issue about the contents ofthe magazine, or anything that you think others wouldbe interested in knowing. Often, there are questionsasked whose answer I suspect many readers would beinterested in knowing. Sometimes the questions aredirected to a particular article that appeared in themagazine, other times they are a general question toour readers. We try very hard to provide the answers;if the question relates to a certain article, often theauthor will respond. Other times we post thequestions hoping a reader will have an answer andrespond with a letter that we can post in the followingissue. If you have a computer and internet capabilities,it’s very easy to drop us a note. Just send an e-mail [email protected] and please list your givenname and, if you’re comfortable with it, your hometown. We make every effort to respect the privacy ofthose who write in. That being said, if you specificallyrequest a response we will post an e-mail address. Wewill not post phone numbers or mailing addresses. Ifyou want to send a written letter, that’s easy also, justmail it to: Editor, Primitive Archer Magazine, P.O. Box79306, Houston, TX 77040.

As always, we hope we have put together an issuethat merits your interest. If so, we encourage you toshare it with others who may have an interest. Theworld of primitive archery is expanding rapidly, fromraw beginners to those that are ready to make the nextstep and reach beyond the compound bow. Please letthem know about us. And there may be others whowould like to see what they can do with their own twohands, or in some way learn about making their ownarchery equipment. You may know people who,regardless of how they hunt or what equipment theyuse, might be interested learning about native cultures,ancient historical events determined by the use ofarchery, or things such as the World Archery Festival inKorea or horse archery around the world. There is amyriad of archery-related events and happenings,organizations and rendezvous, that take placethroughout this country and overseas that may be ofinterest. I know of several people who are not archers ofany sort but nevertheless enjoy the contents of ourmagazine. I can think of unlimited reasons a giftsubscription to Primitive Archer Magazine for a friend orrelative might be very much appreciated. If you know ofsome young person who might benefit from gettinginvolved in working with his or her hands, or just


F From the Editor

Deployment DownloadDear Editor,

I have been in the Navy since 1995 and havebeen a subscriber to your magazine since the late90s. I haven’t missed an issue (except for a shorttime while on deployment in Japan) since then. Ican’t begin to tell you how excited I am when Ireceive an issue in the mail or how many issuesmy wife has sent to me while I was out to sea,because she knows how much I love thismagazine! I’m like a kid at Christmas when Icome home and I see that magazine sitting on thecounter! I didn’t have a chance to build my firstbow until I was stationed here in Kings Bay, GA,and have built a few more since then. I have keptjust about every issue and usually go backthrough them once a year. You all have done anoutstanding job and I appreciate everything thatyou do! I only wish all the magazines wereavailable for download so I could take them allwith me on my submarine during deployment!!Keep up the great work!

–David Holt–HMC(SS/SW)–Submarine Independent Duty Corpsman–USS GEORGIA SSGN 729 (BLUE)

David,Have you looked into an e-mag subscription? It

sounds to me it may be exactly what you’re lookingfor as far as a magazine you can download. DropMike Moore at our Houston office a note([email protected]) or Marie Luther([email protected]) and I’ll beteither of them can fix you up with what you need.

–Ed Ingold

Learning LotsEd,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year toyou and your family. I enjoy your magazine andthe articles about hunting with primitiveequipment. I am interested in articles that sharetechniques/tips on building primitive gear, bows,backings, bow strings, quivers, arrows,broadheads, etc.

Keep up the good work!Warm Regards, –John P. Caster–Product Manager – Bufloc/Specialties Group–Buckman USA

Cheers to Many MoreDear Editor,

I would like to thank you for the many greatyears of reading and education Primitive Archerhas provided me. I can’t say enough great thingsabout the whole crew. I hope you have manymore years as good as the first twenty.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, andHappy Anniversary. Keep up the great work.

–Jesse Smith.

Count Me InDear Editor,

I just received my new issue of PA Magazine. Ican’t wait to read Kay’s article on bamboo arrows. Ialso enjoyed the article on the 1st Annual PrimitiveArcher Bow Trade (2011). I don’t want to miss outon the 2nd Annual. Please make sure the postingsare LOUD and CLEAR! Sign me up! By the way …Nice trade bow, Lee!

–Matt Wirwicki–Perry, MI

A Few RequestsHi Ed,

I got an email that suggested that you arelonely and that I should send you an email. So hereit is.

I live in Ontario, Canada, and subscribed toyour magazine when I developed an interest inprimitive archery. But once I read an issue, I gothooked on trying to build a bow, one as pretty asthe ones in the magazine. I did my internetresearch also, and learned quite a bit. But it allseemed so hard, like all first time things that youdo. I eventually ran across two established bowyerswho answered a ton of my newbie questions, can Iname the two gentlemen? Marc St. Louis, whomyou know well from his association with yourmagazine, and a top notch Ontario, Canada,bowyer. The second fellow, with whom I developeda lasting friendship, is Denny Mears ofPennsylvania. I think both men have been makingbows for over 20 years. And, both were alwaysthere to help me. I know now that I asked a lot ofquestions that seem stupid to me now, but at thetime, bow making was mysterious. My first bowswere little more than linen backed branches.

I do not live in an area with other primitivearchers, let alone anyone who builds their ownbows. I have had to develop my own methods,which work for me. In future articles, I would loveto see starting bowyers doing articles to show howthey are doing, the learning curve that they face,the help that they receive, etc. I would love to seephotos of unusual bows. I made a bow out of anold wooden waterski. That is a pretty neat bow.Anyone else ever make one from a waterski? I’dlike to see some survival topics, and an in-deptharticle on different methods for making Flemishstrings, and how to survive in the woods the waythe old Indians used to do it. Maybe to you, thesetopics are old hat, maybe they were in previousissues, but you always have a group of bowyerscoming into the hobby. I’d also like to seeinterviews of some established bowyers, like Marcand Denny. And there’s Clark Dennil of BritishColumbia who makes yew bows. Maybe howabout Bowyer of the Month?

I’d like to know how we can get moretraditional/primitive archers and bowyers. Maybewe can put Primitive Archer Magazine in some ofthe local bow shops? I’m sure once people start toread about traditional bows, primitive bows, theymight be hooked just as I am. I’ve made about 100bows so far since last year, and each has taught me

new things. I only make them during the summer,so that means I’m busy when I’m making them. I’msure the next 100 will be different and better. I havesome different bows planned now for 2012. I haveone wish for the New Year, and that’s for thePrimitive Archer to be monthly. But, I know whatthey say about spreading your butter too thin. Orif it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. I know 2012 will be agood year for reading.

Yours truly up here in Ontario, Canada,–Eugene Raymo–Canuck Archer

Eugene,Thanks for your e-mail—I do get lonely when I

don’t hear from our readers. That’s quite a Christmaslist, but we’ll do our best to fill it this coming year.You’ve chosen a couple of very accomplished mentorsand it sounds like they served you well. There are nostupid questions when it comes to bow building andI’m sure many others benefited from your requests. I’llbet if you ask either Marc or Denny, they’ll tell youthat they learn something every time they answer abow-building question. I’ve found the best way tolearn something is by trying to teach it to someoneelse.

–Ed Ingold

Made with CaneDear Editor,

I am new to your mag and enjoy reading it. Iwould like to see more on building arrows madefrom cane. When I was a kid my uncles used tomake them and they looked very long—aboutthree feet without fletching with a homemadebarbed point. Does anyone still make them? Iwould like to read more on them. I still rememberseeing the shafts after being cut hanging on a stringwith a weight on them to keep them straight andas the shafts turned yellow, making the points forthem from nails or whatever. If possible, could youwrite more on this subject?

–David Poole

David,You’ll be pleased to know we have a cane arrow

article in this issue. Since you’re new to the magazine,you may want to get a copy of our April/May 2009issue (17-2) that has an excellent article by BillyBerger on making cane arrows. You can find this issueand all other back issues under the “Back Issue Order”section of our website at www.primitivearcher.com, orcall the office at 713.467.8202.

–Ed Ingold

Goood ReadingDear Editor,

I have been a subscriber to the magazine sincethe first issue and still have them all. It just getsbetter with every issue. My wife bought me a copyof “The Raven’s Gift” because of the review in PA.It has been one of the best reads I have in mylibrary and have recommended it to many friends.

–Jim Dahlberg–Hot Springs, SD


To:EDITOR

Jim,Thanks for your note—I’m glad you liked it. For

me, the book inspired some very profound thinking asto where we, in this modern age, fit in the overallscheme of things when it comes to harmonizing withthe natural world. I suspect our ancestors acceptedthis much better than we do today. I loved the fact thata PhD research chemist/ science textbook author wasexposed to forces beyond what his academic and veryscientific brain would easily accept. I also like thatthere are still some mysteries that we can’t readilycomprehend.

–Ed Ingold

Picking SuppliesDear Editor,

I have a question on one of your articles inthe Dec./Jan. issue (19-6) and I’m not sure whoto send it to. On page 55 of “My Pickaxe HandleBow” by John Hoare. What is unbleached rawlinen cloth or natural silk, and where can I findthis material? Thank you,

–Tim Boshart–Glenfield, NY

Tim,Unbleached linen is the same cloth which is

used in the window cleaning industry as a finalpolish to the glass. In England it is called a scrim-cloth and can be bought by the yard or meter. Youshould be able to buy it from any haberdashery shopwhere new fabrics are sold by the yard in bolts. Thesame with natural silk in wide ribbon form on reels,which can be more expensive. The shop ownershould be able to order it or sell it to you.

I use it in three layers, which I put on one layerat a time as a safety net in case the bow is tilleredwrong and in danger of breaking when drawn intostack. These fabrics do take some tension if they areglued on when the bow is held in reflex, as shown inthe drawing in the article; it can be shaped as the100% waterproof PVA glue dries; it is smoothed orburnished with a pebble or small round glass bottleto expel the air bubbles.

I don’t think anything will compete withnatural sinew. I have never tried synthetic sinewthough, which could be another option. Where I amin Europe, natural sinew is hard to obtain, whereasin America it is much easier. My pickax handlebows I have had for years. The backing, whenproperly applied, should have the appearance ofrough ‘Bakelite’ but still show the fabric cloth

matrix within, which when dry can be painted withcolored acrylic paints with Native American Indiandesign motifs. I hope this helps.

–John Hoare

Arrows in the MakingDear Editor,

Do you happen to have any arrow/shaft-building articles in the archives that could be usedor republished? I would love to see a few morearticles on arrow/shaft building.

–Chris Koenigsknecht–Perrinton, MI

Chris,We strive to publish arrow-making articles quite

regularly. Our Aug./Sept. (19-4) issue had an articleon small game blunt arrow making by Marc St. Louisand our Dec./Jan. issue (19-6) had an article onmaking bamboo arrows by Kay Koppedrayer. Therewill be arrow-making articles in this issue also. I thinkif you look back through some of our back issues you’llfind quite a few to suit your needs.

I have listed a few of the great selection we havebelow:

PA Vol. 4.4, Finishing the Poor Man’s Arrow byPeter Cool and Straightening Cane by Randal Jones

PA Vol. 5.2, Arrows for the Rain by Jim Williams

PA Vol. 5.3, “Sorta” Primitive Arrows the Easy Wayby Larry J. Meyer and Cane Insert by Ron L. Simons

PA Vol. 7.1, Weigh Matching your Arrows the OldFashioned Way by David Murray

PA Vol. 7.3, Tying off Your Arrows by KayKoppedreyer

PA Vol. 11.2, So Let’s Make an Arrow by KevenStatwick

PA Vol. 13.4, Consistency-Matching for WoodShafts by John R. Edgerton

PA Vol. 14.1, How to Make your Own LaminatedArrows by Marc St. Louis

PA Vol. 14.4, Making Arrows Naturally by MickeyLotz and How to Make a Primitive Arrow by JohnMcPherson

PA Vol. 17.2, The Art of Making Arrows by BillyBerger and Rose City Archery by Dave Cheney

–Ed Ingold

In Memory of Winston(The following came as a reply to an e-mail I sentWinston about a question I had regarding one of hisarticles.)

Dear Editor,Good Morning. I have some bad news. Winston passed away

in November, suddenly and unexpectedly. It was areal shock. But, he had been out in the morningwith his bow and arrow hunting in the forest.

–Linda MacDonald (Wife)

Linda,We are sorry to hear of your loss. Thank you for

letting us know. We will miss his involvement withPrimitive Archer Magazine. I know how much heenjoyed his time spent with primitive archery and hisenthusiasm in sharing it with us.

–Ed IngoldNote: Winston MacDonald’s most recent article waspublished in Primitive Archer Magazine 20.1entitled, Black Bear Gets a Haircut.

Reaching a PA MilestoneHi Ed,

My life has had some major changes lately (alittle for the better with a move to westernKentucky). I have not been doing a lot of archeryreading, but I want to congratulate you and the PAteam on attaining this 20th anniversary.

I know from the early and intermediate historyof PA that it was no certainty this milestone wouldbe seen. It took diligence and intense labor to makeit happen.

Best wishes for continued and expandedsuccess,

–Jim Davis

Jim,Thanks for your note, good to hear from you

again. Thanks to you and your efforts early- on forhelping Primitive Archer Magazine become what itis today. You helped out when things were a littleunsure and without your early involvement we mightnot be celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Again, thanks,–Ed Ingold


W R I T E T H E E D I T O REMAIL: [email protected]

POSTED MAIL:

The Editor,

Primitive Archer

883 Taft Court

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

all me an antique. To that designation I nod in deferenceand plead guilty. For I am an antique—both in practice andsentiment.

My bows are bamboo and osage; my arrows cedar. Mymuzzleloader is a Lancaster-style flintlock. My modern center fire isan 1874 Sharps, its thumb-sized brass cases stuffed with blackpowder and topped with lead slugs. And to add credence to thisreference of antiquity, I began regular treks into the hunting woodsin the late 1950s. Seems everything I am and know and possess anduse is old.

But save age, over which I have no control, all other ingredientsthat relate to practice, and to sentiment I suppose, are a matter ofchoice. There is pure magic in the feel and cast of a wooden bow.There is a euphoric aroma that rises toward heaven during theprocessing of a cedar shaft. There is romance in the clack, whoosh,boom of a flintlock. There is nostalgic mystique in the rumble of ablack-powder cartridge. No other contrivances of humanity, withwhich I am acquainted, have so completely locked me into theirunyielding spell as have those just mentioned. As a result, I practicethe old. Always will.

That practice often generates comment when I am in newcompany. Questions are common, all of which I am more thanhappy to answer if I possibly can. And there is often a quiet hint ofinterest that emerges, giving promise that another individual has

allowed an embryo of intrigue toenter some deep spot inside. It maygrow to maturity in the future. Butseldom during any of theseinteractions is there one who takesoffense to my mode of operation.That is as long as I keep myproclivity for strong sentimentunder control. It is this elementthat is most likely to put me inopposition to some of the moremodern among the hunting fraternity.

Sentiment causes me to struggle with many terms and behaviorsnow common in the hunting world. For instance, I wrestle with thenomenclature cull buck. I do support wildlife management and fullyunderstand the concept of removing specific animals from a herd,but cull, at least in my aging mind, carries the connotation ofinsignificance. There is no buck, no animal in fact, that isinsignificant. All are important, of value.

I have difficulty with high fives and fist bumping and similardisplays of gleeful abandon at the taking of an animal. There is joyand a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to be sure, but thereis also an ample supply of sobering sadness, enough in fact to reinin rambunctious frivolity in favor of quiet reverence. An animal,any animal, deserves nothing less.

Then there is the bad-boy, tough-guy, going-to-war approach.My dad’s generation faced battle in World War II. My generationfaced battle in Vietnam. Many others have faced battle since in othervenues, and there will be more in the future. These did and willindeed go to war. But, it was not and will not be that outing in thedeer woods.

Much thought and great care should also figure into theequation before hunting is viewed as a form of competition. Illplaced, it seems, is the thought of always having to win, whetherwith the animal or fellow hunters. It is natural and productive tohave a deer or other game animal slip away, the beneficiary of keensenses and instinct. And the drive to always take the biggest or mostseems a sinister demon that can rob a hunter of the true essenceafforded by the experience.

I say none of this to take away for those with a differentpersuasion. There is room for difference. But for me, I will keepmine on a level at which I find the reward I seek, and that is to usetools of the past and relish in the simple pleasures of a grand andglorious creation, a creation I have celebrated now for more yearsthan it seems possible. These are just my leanings when I considerthe situation.

So please, feel free to call me an antique!

C


HuntingCOLUMNRamblingAntiqueof anB y To n y K i n t o n

BushnellIntroduced with the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD binocular

product line in 2011 is a customer satisfaction guarantee—a no-risk, money-back, no-questions-asked policy. The BulletproofGuarantee assures that the company will buy the product back for upto one year from the original purchase date. That policy has now beenexpanded to cover a great many more items from Bushnell.

For 2012, Bushnell has expanded the Bulletproof Guarantee to cover the Elite, Excursion EX,Legacy WP, Legend Ultra HD, and Trophy XLT families of binoculars, as well as the Elite, Legend UltraHD, and Trophy XLT families of riflescopes and spotting scopes, and all hunting laser rangefinders.

For more information on the complete line of Bushnell products, go to www.bushnell.com or call 1-800-423-3537.


CloserLOOK

B y To n y K i n t o n ReviewsProduct

Strattec® Security CorporationNeed to lock something securely around camp? If so,

check out the BOLT® Cable Locks from Strattec®. TheBOLT® features a 6-foot cable of pin and loop design to

provide flexible length options. TheBOLT® Cable Locks are made from ¼-inch coiled cable with a 1/16-inch blackvinyl coating and are coil sprung forcompact storage. They feature

Breakthrough One-Key Lock Technology,which permanently programs the lock to the

owner’s vehicle ignition key. The first time thekey is inserted into the lock and rotated, the

cylinder is coded to that specific key. The BOLT®Cable Lock features an automotive-grade lock shutter tokeep out weather and debris and a six-plate tumblersidebar that prevents picking and bumping.

For more information go to www.boltlock.com.


Drink-N-PlateIf you are headed out for a day in the field and want to take along

a prepared meal in a convenient package, consider the Drink-N-Plate. This is a durable, reusable, dishwasher-safecombo plate and drink holder that fits perfectly inoutdoor settings. And it can be held with onehand. It is offered in a Family Pack of eightand a Party Pack of 24.

For more information and to view ofvideo of this product in use, go towww.drinkandplate.com.

GOJO Industries, Inc.GOJO®, well known as a powerful hand cleaner for truly tough jobs, is now

offering GOJO® Scrubbing Wipes in a convenient package that is easily carried forcomplete clean up anywhere needed.

Made of durable, dual-textured material that has been pre-moistened with apowerful cleaning solution, the GOJO® Scrubbing Wipes have an extra-large towel.The scrubbing side removes the toughest grime and the smooth side absorbs dirt.Skin conditioners in the towel help prevent dryness and irritation. The wipes areavailable in a 170-count bucket, a 72-count canister, and a 25-count canister.

For more information go to www.gojo.com/automotive or call 800-321-9647.


e moved quietly into the forest insingle file, late in the afternoon,expecting activity again as the

sun sank behind the mountain. There weresix hunting with longbows or recurves,dressed in muted shades of camo andstepping carefully to avoid making noise inthe dry woods. Of the six traditional bowhunters, three were combat veterans fromthe wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Two ofthem had been badly wounded in combatand needed some assistance on the hunt.Two experienced hunters would be buglingand cow calling. Several other combatveterans were hunting in other areas of theforest. For three years, we had been raisingmoney and we had raised enough toprovide combat veterans with a free elkhunt, including transportation, nonresidentlicenses, comfortable lodging in the stateforest, and gourmet meals. They were ourhonored guests, and we intended to getthem into elk.

This was the third year of our Colorado

Traditional Bowhunting Camp. My son,Chris, and I came up with the idea at theend of an enjoyable, albeit meatless, bowhunt at the Colorado State Forest inSeptember 2007, not long after his returnfrom Iraq. “Therapy for the soul” is what hecalls bow hunting, and I agree. From adifferent war I had found that the simpleact of walking quietly in the forest withbow in hand, enjoying the beauty of naturein a peaceful setting was an opportunity torebuild good memories. Almost like abalance sheet, the memories of goodexperiences need to outweigh the bad inorder for us to have a healthy life.Unfortunately, for recent combat veterans,the bad memories can too easily outweighthe good, and the pain inside is a dangerousenemy to health. As a society we welcomeour veterans back, thank them, and givethem a bit of a rest before we expect themto “get back to normal,” but normal isn’tnormal anymore for a combat vet. Normalis “over there,” in a much different place

where the very worst things happen, andour veterans usually don’t have anyone totalk with at home about those memories.Family and friends who haven’t been therecan’t understand, and the veteran isfrustrated by that while the bad memoriesare still fresh and strong. Traditionalarchery and bow hunting have been theanswer for my son and me. It was also awonderful way for us to participate in asport together while he was growing up. Iwasn’t just watching and cheering from thesidelines, I was shooting and huntingalongside him.

At the end of that hunt in 2007, Chrisand I decided to organize an informalhunting camp for fellow archers who enjoythe simplicity of two sticks and a string. Wereasoned that a lot of guys had dreamed ofhunting elk in the Rockies but did not havethe big bucks to hire a guide or outfitter,nor did they know where to go on theirown or what it would cost. We put pencil topaper and figured that if we all pooled ourmoney and rented yurts and cabins in thestate forest, chipped in for food andcarpooled from different parts of thecountry, even with the high cost ofnonresident licenses a guy could go bowhunting for elk for about a thousand bucks.Granted, the likelihood of success with aguide is greater, but the plain fact is thatmost bow hunters just can’t afford five toten thousand dollars for a guided hunt andthis would give them an entry level hunt toget them started. We also reasoned that if ahunter came out with us and got the elkhunting bug after hearing the big boysbugle, then they might want to find a wayto hire a guide. Chris and I are certainly notguides, we are not outfitters, and we don’tmake any money from this. We’re just acouple of guys who have benefited fromthis great sport and want to give somethingback to it.

The first camp was in September of2008, the week following themuzzleloading season. We thought we

Take aVeteran

OutHunting

W

B y R o b e r t D . S m i t h

Apache pilot, Chris Smith, discussesambush location with woundedwarrior, Gil Magallanes, Jr., for anevening hunt.


would be hunting during the rut, but as anyhunter knows, you never really know whenthe elk will be moving. Our plans were forabout a dozen hunters, including a coupleof veterans that we could raise money forand provide them with a free hunt, butwhen the word got out on a traditional bowhunting website, the interest built to thepoint that 32 hunters came out, includingsix combat veterans that we were able topay for. The first to volunteer his serviceswas Don Marston of Greeley, Colorado, afine traditional archer who had hunted withthe bow for many years. Mr. Grumpy, as hewas known on the website, volunteered tobe camp chef along with his little dog. Heset up his trailer on the shore of the UpperMichigan Reservoir, pitched a screened-incooking tent, and went to work feeding alot of hungry guys. Along with the feedingwent the stories and the fishing tackle andthe tips for new hunters in the elk woods,all adding good memories to the balancesheet. Don passed away in 2009 after a longillness that hurt his body but not his spirit.

The following year, we planned thehunt for the first week of the archeryseason, believing there would be lesshunting pressure at the start of the season.In a very tough economy, 22 huntersattended, including six more combatveterans. We raised money throughdonations and by raffling off archery tacklethat had been donated. The pine beetle killhad hit the forest pretty hard and the cabinson the reservoir were left out in the openafter most of the trees had been cut downfor safety reasons, so we reserved yurts forall of the hunters instead. The yurts are

large round tents built on platforms andthey contain comfortable beds withmattresses, wood stoves with plenty offirewood, large propane cooking stove withpots and pans and dishes and silverware,and a clean outhouse nearby. They arespread out in different locations in theforest and at different elevations rangingfrom 8,500 feet near the reservoir to 10,000feet approaching the Continental Divide.There is also a fine KOA campground in

Gould with cabins and sites for tents andtrailers.

I need to tell you about some of theveterans that we invited. Casey Capaz is aplatoon sergeant in the Army who had justreturned from his third deployment to Iraqone week before our hunt. Casey is a fieldsoldier and was deployed for more than ayear each time, fighting in some of the mostdifficult battles in the war. Sean Mathers isa squad leader who just returned from Iraq

One of the rented yurts in Colorado State Forest.

Don Marston, aka Mr. Grumpy, whoimmediately volunteered to cookfor the first camp in 2008. May herest in peace.

Low ceiling in the Medicine Bow Range.


with Casey one week before our hunt. Theyhad been following the progress of our huntplans all year when they had a chance to geton a computer and they looked forward tojoining us. When they returned, the Armybrass wanted them to go through somedecompression training, so we had to jumpthrough hoops and get a general’s approvalfor them to attend the hunt. They showedup with their war faces on. They were still“over there” in the bad places. Several daysinto the hunt, they came by after huntingall morning and I cooked them some lunch.While eating out on the deck of the yurt, Inoticed Casey smiling from ear to ear.

“Casey, what the heck are you grinningat?” I asked.

“I haven’t smiled this much or felt thisgood for over a year,” he replied. “Nothingcould be better for us right now than towalk quietly in these mountains.”

The Colorado Traditional BowhuntingCamp 2010 hosted five more combatveterans and twelve hunters who paid theirown way. Two more combat veterans hadplanned to come out, but they had to cancelabout a week before the hunt because of jobchanges. A great time was had by all whomanaged to attend. My sweet wife, Rita,worked for weeks preparing homemademeals and freezing them for the hunt. Shedid it in such a way that all I needed to dowas warm up the freezer bags in hot waterand serve her good cooking along withsalad, veggies, cookies, and other good fare.Her good friend, Pamela, baked hundredsof cookies and brownies for “the boys” andprepared special gift boxes of goodies foreach veteran. The previous year, ladies fromseveral of the local post offices got togetherand prepared many hundreds of cookies—so many that I had to put baggies of cookiesin their hands each time they came todinner. Such a simple pleasure it is to situnder a tree on a hillside, glassing for elk,and munching on cookies that have beenprepared by a lady who cares.

Rita visited the camp one afternoon,and the guys presented her with a custom

made knife for cooking as a token of theirappreciation. What did she make for them?Well, the menu included thick pork chili,beef bourguignon, chicken gumbo, pulledpork, chicken stew, spaghetti andmeatballs, meatloaf, and steaks. The boysate very well indeed, and Rita is alreadyplanning her menu for the next hunt.

Some amazing things have happened inthese hunting camps in addition to thegenerosity of so many bow hunters aroundthe country who have donated money andtackle for our fundraising raffles. At ourfirst hunt in 2008, Mark Schade, a custombowyer in Pennsylvania, donated abeautiful bow for the raffle, which we heldat the camp. The lucky winner happened tobe one of the hunters, Jabe Jacquart, apolice officer in Kansas. He went over tothe table, picked up the bow and admired itfor a moment, then told us he had noticedone of the veterans admiring the bowearlier. He walked over to a young Marinenamed Josh Coale and gave it to him. Folks,there were a lot of tough guys in that roombut not a dry eye amongst them.

This past year we needed more fundsfor hosting the veterans at the 2010 camp. Ireceived a generous contribution from theFort Collins Archery Association andseveral other clubs, along with privatedonations of money and tackle to raffle off.Some of the raffle winners told me to givetheir prizes to the veterans at the hunt, andsome guys bought raffle tickets for the vets.First day of the hunt, after a huge dinner ofchili and rice and black beans and maybe alittle beer, I put out all the prizes to bedistributed to the veterans, and then I hadthem draw a number to set the order inwhich they could pick a prize. We had quitea few things, so they could go aroundseveral times. One of the donated items wasa Howard Hill longbow, generously donatedby another Marine, Sean Murphy, whojoined the hunt from South Carolina. Thefirst veteran to pick a prize was AndyGraves of Alabama, who had been badlyinjured in Iraq. He walked over and pickedup a hunting knife, leaving the Howard Hillbow for Gil Magallanes, a Green Beret whohad been severely wounded in Afghanistan.Andy knew that Gil had wanted a HowardHill longbow for some time so he left it forhim. You might say that brothers don’tHome cooked dinner is served.

The graybeard author with son, Chris, farright, and six veteran guests in 2009.


necessarily have the same parents.Gil is a story himself. He served as a

Green Beret for twenty years, all that timein the 5th Special Forces Group Airborne,doing what Hollywood tries to portray butnever gets right. Soon after 9/11, his ATeam was deployed into Afghanistan. Inone terrible encounter, “Mag,” as histeammates called him was terriblywounded. His strength and determinationand the bravery of the other Green Beretsand the rescue mission sent into abattleground far from civilization was whatsaved him. When he woke up stateside atthe Walter Reed Army Hospital, he realizedthat two fingers of his bow hand weremissing. He told the nurse to hold out hisarm. Gil grabbed his wrist and said “ThankGod, I can still hold a longbow.” Herecuperated for a year and a half inhospitals and Gil still has serious physicalproblems today, but he bravely treats themas challenges. He actively works with otherwounded warriors to help them achievewhat they can with their own challenges.Not long after our hunt, Gil participated ina triathlon.

A few days into the hunt, sharing adrink after dinner, Gil told me that he hadalways liked patrolling while he was aGreen Beret and that day he had gone onhis first patrol since he had been woundednine years earlier. He told me that he hadtaken out his old compass, set an azimuth,and slowly followed it up the side of amountain. When he went as far as he hadplanned, he reset his compass to another

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Author’s wife, Rita, cooked meals for several weeks before the hunt and visited one day for lunch.


azimuth that took him across themountainside. Taking his time, movingslow and quiet, he then stopped at his nextplanned location and reset his compass totake him back down at an angle to hisstarting point.

“I went on my first patrol in manyyears, and carried my new bow,” he told mewith a grin. This made another positiveaddition to the balance sheet.

Did I tell you about the elk? Four of usspread out along a hillside that eveningwhile Mike Fields and Dave Puhl would becalling and hunting further up the hillsidebehind us. Mike is an old, no I better sayexperienced, Huey pilot from Virginia whoflies medevac for hospitals and has savedmany, many lives, and Dave Puhl is ahardworking farmer and Packers fan whobrings us fresh corn and homemade maplesyrup from his farm in Wisconsin. They’vecome out for each of these hunts and havegiven great support for our veterans. Wewanted our veterans to get up close andpersonal with elk, and these two wouldwork as a team to make that happen.

As the sun was sinking behind amountain to the west, a wonderfulsymphony of bugling elk began. The high-pitched calls of challenge and answer fromfive or six bull elk sounded through thewoods while we waited in our brushyhides, hoping for a close encounter withwapiti. For those who have not heard thecall of an elk, it is a sound that continues inyour mind. Some have even been driven

crazy by it, addicted by the memories of elkcalling in the clear mountain air. Thosewho have developed that addiction willsomehow find their way back to themountains year after year to hunt elk in theearly fall. To them, the rest of the year isonly preparation time.

The bull elk can make a lot of noise thatcarries for miles in the clear dry mountain air,but he can also slip through the woods innear silence. Chris sensed an animal behindand to his side. Carefully, so very carefullyand slow, he turned and saw a big bull elknear him but on his off-bow side. When hehad almost managed to get around intoposition for a shot with his homemade Osageorange selfbow, the elk spooked a bit andmoved off. Then he must have caught scentbecause he put his head down with antlersback and ran through the trees and brush,passing just behind Gil and too far from mefor a shot with my Welchman longbow. Thiswas a big wapiti, a big elk with powerfulstrides as he ran with head down through thewoods in the gathering dusk, adding yetanother good memory to the balance sheet.

Green Beret, Gil Magallanes, Jr.,chooses a Howard Hill bow in a rafflefor the veteran guests. Bow donatedby Marine, Sean Murphy.

At our first hunt in 2008, this marineveteran was presented a custom bowby Mark Schade and a dozen customarrows by Wayne Lemoreux.


Oh, there are plenty more stories thatcan be told, like the story of Ron Littlebugling in not one, but two bull elk withintwenty minutes of each other. Late in themorning when he was about ready to headback down to camp, when most hunters arealready back in camp, the first bullappeared and came to a spot only twelveyards away but did not present a clean shotbefore moving away in the trees. Ron is anexperienced deer hunter, but never havingbeen close to an elk before, he sat thereshaking and thinking about what he hadjust experienced when a second bull, evenbigger, came to the same spot! Withadrenalin flowing and hands shaking, Ronhad an opportunity to shoot when the elkturned broadside and looked away for amoment. Now, you’ve got to understandthat Ron is a good shot so it isunderstandable that he watched withamazement from just twelve yards as hisarrow flew straight and smooth over theback of that elk.

“No regrets,” he told me, “it was awonderful experience.”

I think Ron and some of the others willbe back in the mountains again and againwhen the elk are bugling and more stories

are being made.You can be part of those good stories if

you wish. Help us with the camp if you canor just reach out in your community and“Take A Veteran Out Hunting.”

Ron Little of California drove home in exasperation.


sinew-backed reflexed recurvegives nothing up to a modernlaminated glass bow. With the

proper design, they are a powerhouse,launching arrows at an impressive speed.Though they are more work to make, theycan in fact be fun to build, and you get agreat deal of satisfaction in buildingsomething that puts most modernlaminated bows to shame. This is how Ibuilt my … Speed Demon.

Materials and ToolsI chose to use yellow birch for a wood to

back with sinew. It is a strong and flexiblewood that is much underrated. The projectalso required some sinew. I had a quantity ofmoose sinew on hand—one large back-strapand some leg tendons, plus a bit of deer legtendons. For glue, I decided to be lazy andwent out and bought some unflavoredgelatin—essentially hide glue. The gelatin I

used has a brand name of Davis and is a veryhigh quality product with a nice goldencolor. Here is a list of the major componentsand tools that I used to complete this project.

1: Yellow birch stave2: Sinew 3: Hide glue4: Liquid plastic urethane (for a finish)5: Birch bark (decorative finish)6: Epoxy glue7: Drawknife8: Wood rasp9: Scraper

10: Spokeshave11: Sandpaper12: Hotplate13: Pot (with water)14: Wood vise15: Tillering string16: Tillering stick

To BeginThe first part of this project required

that I prepare some sinew. I got out mywooden mallet and a piece of hardwood topound the sinew on. I went to worksoftening the sinew so that I could take itapart. Moose sinew is very tough, and bythe end of an hour my fingertips werebeginning to protest from the effort. Withperseverance, eight hours later I hadenough sinew to back my bow plus a bitextra. I sorted the sinew in bundles accordingto length and then stored it between thepages of some magazines, ready for use.

Next on the list was the bow itself. Ihad a yellow birch stave that had beenharvested the year before. This came froman 8" tree that had been growing on theside of a hill, and the stave was clean andstraight with fine grained wood. I hadremoved part of the bark and it had been

Sinew backed yellow birch at full draw.

Sinew-Backed

BirchYellow

–Full Draw

A

B y M a r c S t . L o u i s


in one of my sheds since last year so it waswell seasoned. The design that I chose wasa stiff handle bow with static recurves.Since it was a white-wood, I didn’t want toput undo stress on it so I opted for alength of 62" and width of 1 7/8" at thefades (the place where the handle of a stiffhandled bow feathers into the workingpart of the limb).

I got my draw-knife out and started towork it down to rough bow shape. Becauseit’s a sinew-backed bow, I left the profilerough as I would clean it up after the sinewdried. I then worked the limbs down inthickness and made a preliminary check tomake sure they were bending just about thesame; I don’t like stressing the limbs verymuch before applying the sinew.

The last step in preparation wasbending recurves in using my bow blank. Ilike steam for bending the recurves and Iuse a simple setup for this: a hot plate, a potof water, and a wood vise to clamp the tip.In the vise, I screwed in a short piece of 2x4lumber that is rounded in the shape of thebend I planned to make. For bending, I leftthe wood a bit thicker and somewhat widerthan I needed. I followed one growth ringfor the length of the bend and also sandedthe edges round; I find this reducessplinters. I steamed the tip for half an hour,belly down, and covered it with foil with acloth over top of that. I then swiftly

clamped the tip in the vise, bent it aroundmy support and let it cool for about 30minutes; yellow birch bends very well withthe use of steam. I did one limb this way,then the other.

The SinewAfter letting the wood dry for a couple

of days, I started to get ready to apply thesinew. I cleaned the back of the bow,making sure no bits of bark or cambiumwere left. I then sanded the back withcoarse sandpaper and scraped someshallow grooves into the wood; this was toensure the glue would grab the wood. Thenext step was to put some reflex into thebow blank by stringing it backwards. Toreverse-brace the bow, I cut shallow nocksin the belly of the tips. I cut them in thereverse direction than how they arenormally done and looped a fairly strongtwine around them. I used a strong twine sothat it would stand up to the stress ofcranking in more reflex. I cinched thestring up tourniquet-style giving the bowabout 7" of initial reflex and tied it off. Ithen sized (brushed on some hot glue) theback and let the glue dry for an hour.

I apply my sinew wet and use slightlythicker glue when doing so. I, therefore,proceeded to wet a quantity of sinew andmake up about two cups of glue; I find thattwo cups is about the right amount for theamount of sinew that I prefer. Some may

want to make a bit more than this to besafe. My intention was to put down fourcourses, or layers, of sinew on the back ofthe bow. The tips, being static, did not needfour layers, as this would only weigh themdown and slow the bow, so they got onecourse. Also the grip was an area that wasnot going to be under any stress as this wasa stiff handled design, so it got one courseas well. For the limbs, the center of theback is where most of the tension work isbeing done so that is where most of thesinew was going to go. A section about oneinch wide down to the base of recurveswould get four courses of sinew. Next tothat would be three courses and the edgesof the limbs would only get two.

I then started to apply my sinew bysaturating the now limp bundles in glue,lightly squeezing out the excess, and thenlaying them out down the center of theback, making sure I got a bit of overlapfrom bundle to bundle. The next course onboth sides of the first was done the sameway but also with staggered joints from thecourse down the middle. I applied most ofthe sinew that I had wet down before, thentook time to wet some more. I also took theopportunity to clean my fingers with warmwater at the same time. It took me abouttwo hours to lay all the sinew as described.The wet sinew looked like a big lumpygelatinous mass on the back of the bow at

Wet sinew ready to be applied.


this point, but I knew it would dry to ahard, smooth surface with a golden color.

Over the next few hours, the moisturefrom the glue and sinew soaked into thewood making it more flexible, and I usedthis opportunity to introduce more reflex.By twisting the string tourniquet-style, Iintroduced a full 11" of reflex into the bow.I let the sinew dry for a couple of days in a

cool, low-humidity area that had a lot of airmovement until I could see the sinewstarting to form a dry skin. I then movedthe bow to a warm, very low-humidity areafor another two days, followed by five daysby my woodstove. The temperature near mywoodstove was around 30° C with relativehumidity of 20% and high air movement.After five days, the sinew was quite dry.

Tillering I then put the bow aside for a week or

so to season. Once the sinew had seasonedenough that I felt it was safe to startworking on the bow, I started cleaning upthe sides with a spoke-shave and a scraperin preparation for tillering (training thelimbs to bend properly). My preference isto leave the profile of the bow unfinisheduntil much of the tillering is done so only aminimum of work was done to the edges ofthe limbs at this point. A little bit of extracare must be taken when you tiller such abow out. The problem is that tip angle issteep and, with that much reflex, a greatdeal of energy is required to just get themmoving. Also, having the tips so far aheadof the back of the bow makes the bow quiteunstable until they have moved up to aboutbrace-height. The only way I was able tohold the bow down to check the tiller wasby clamping it sideways at the handle in mywood vise with the back facing out; it’sadvisable to protect the back of the bow

Sinew applied to bow.

Bow backed with sinew and reflexed.


from the steel while doing this. This way Iwas able to work each limb separately byhand and take off small amounts of woodwith my scraper where they were too stiff.Working the limbs like this also made thebow lose a bit of the reflex. I did this slowlyand cautiously at first to give the sinewmore time to season.

After about a week of removing smallamounts of wood and working the limbs abit, I got the strength down and the limbsto begin to bend properly. Once I had thelimbs flexing to where the tips came up tothe handle, I then cut shallow temporarynocks in the tips and switched to a longtillering string and my tillering stick, but Istill had to use the vise to hold the bowdown. I went to work on the limbsbalancing them up to brace height, losingabout an inch of reflex in the process.

Tillering was time-consuming and thehigh reflex made the bow much moresensitive to small amounts of wood beingtaken off; much more sensitive than a

regular flat-bow. I had decided before handon a draw-weight of around 50# for thisbow. Once I had tillered it to above brace-height, I did away with my tillering stringand made a string for the bow.

Bracing the bow for the first time wasquite an experience. I could not use thepush-pull method because of the tip angle,and the step-through method isunacceptable to me. I had to make astringer for it; I used thick pieces of wetmoose rawhide formed to fit over the tips.This I let dry overnight, then tied a strongrope between the two pieces—essentially aprimitive stringer. To brace the bow, Ihooked the rawhide on the tips, stepped onthe rope, then pulled up at the handle; afirm grip on the handle was a must. Oncethe bow was braced, I resumed tilleringusing my scraper, checking the emergingshape and the draw-weight often.

Initially, I kept the draw-weight fairlyhigh until I was well along with thetillering, but as I approached my draw-

Sinew driedand seasoned.


length, I started to bring the draw-weightdown to my target weight. At night I wouldleave the bow by my wood stove to drywhere the RH would hover around 30% andthe temperature stayed around 30° C. Bythe end of three weeks, the sinew wasstarting to season quite well. As Iapproached final tiller at my draw-length of28", I finished up the shape of the limbs outto the recurves. By this time, the bow hadlost 3" of reflex, but there was still morethan enough reflex left to make bracing itan exercise. From past experience, I knewthis extra reflex would give the bow somegood arrow speed. Draw-weight was now52# of pull at my full draw of 28", closeenough to what I was looking for. From thetime I sinew-backed the bow and finishedtillering, the process took a bit more thanfour weeks.

Tips and GripsI like to leave the tips and the handle

unfinished while tillering, preferring to dothis at the end. That way, I can make someadjustments if they are needed. As I came tothe end of tillering, I sighted down the stringto see how the tips lined up with the handle.I made some small adjustments to the stringuntil everything looked pretty good. I thenmade a line on the handle indicating wherethe string lay and a line on the recurves toindicate where the string was.

I proceeded to shave the tips down withmy drawknife, then I switched to a scraper,

and I used sandpaper to finish. For narrow-tipped static recurves I like to leave an extragrowth ring or two at the apex of therecurve to make sure they do not pull outand gradually taper them in thickness. Thetips were too narrow for conventionalnocks, so I wrapped some sinew soaked inhide glue around the tips and let that dryfor a couple of days.

While that was drying, I startedworking on the handle. I like a narrow deephandle. In addition, I rasp in an arrow passto get a more center-shot bow. Thedimensions at the arrow pass are in theneighborhood of 5/8" wide by 1½" indepth. I also like the fades to be a short 1¼"to 1½" to get more of the limb working. Ithen drew out the handle shape that Iwanted with a pencil and rough cut thehandle out. Next, I took my half roundwood rasp out and went to work shapingthe handle to get a good fit in my hand; Ifind that a wood-rasp is a great tool forremoving wood in and around the curvedareas of the handle and fades. Once I hadthe shape roughed out with my rasp, Iswitched to a scraper to get the tool marksout and, finally, to sandpaper of differentgrades to finish it. By this time, the sinew atthe tips had dried out and was ready to beworked down to shape, which I did using aDremel tool and sandpaper.

With this particular bow, I wanted to tryout bridges, or brush nocks. The bridges

would serve multiple purposes in my mind.First, they would allow me to lower thebrace-height slightly, taking stress off thelimbs, and allow more stored energy to beused. Second, by carefully shaping them,they would make the bow easier to carrythrough dirty bush; the bridges wouldallow the branches to slide out withoutgetting pinched. Anyone who has carried abraced recurve through dirty brush knowshow annoying branches are. Last of all, thestring groove shaped into the bridgeswould ensure that the string wouldn’t slipoff the narrow recurved tips. I had someblack cherry heartwood kicking aroundand thought it would set off the white woodof the birch. I shaped these with a sandingdrum on my Dremel tool and then I gluedthem down.

It was now time for a bit of sanding. Istarted out with 100-grit sandpaper on thewhole bow, excluding the sinew back. Ithen sanded the belly, the handle, and theedges of the limbs with finer grit paper,finishing up with 220-grit paper.

The FinishI was finally ready to finish her up. I

had, along the way, decided I wantedsomething different for the back. I had usedpaper birch bark as a decorative backing forbows before, and it made for an attractivefinish. Paper birch has nice-looking bark,and I had plenty of large trees growingaround nearby. I figured this would look

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nice on this bow. I went out and got somebark, but it was quite thick and would haveadded too much mass to the limbs as it was,so I began separating the bark into layers,which is how it grows. Birch bark is whiteon the outside but the color turns a nicecreamy brown inside. I got the bark downto about 1/32 of an inch of thickness andthe pieces were long enough to do onewhole limb with a splice at the handle.

I knew, from past experience, that birchbark was quite waterproof so I ruled outany glue that had a water base as I did notwant the moisture from the glue sittingunder the bark for the length of time itwould take to dry. I decided to use a slow-setting epoxy. I cut each strip of bark to theshape of the limbs, mixed up a couple oftablespoons of glue per limb, and laid thebark down, pressing out any air bubbles asI went along. To hold the bark down, I usedstrips of wax paper tied on the belly side.Once the epoxy set up, I removed the waxpaper and trimmed the excess bark and anyepoxy that had been squeezed out using asharp knife. I then gave the edges of thelimbs a final sanding.

It was now time for me to apply asealant to the bow. I used a plastic urethanefinish because it makes for a verywaterproof sealant. I sprayed on severalcoats using a small paint sprayer.

The last bit of work to do was makinga shelf and finishing up the handle. I likesoft leather for my hand, and I also usedleather for the shelf. I made a built-upleather shelf using heavy tooling leatherglued down to the bow with a waterproofglue. I then cut a long strip of soft leatherabout one inch wide and wrapped thisaround. I also glued it down withwaterproof glue. After this was dry, it wasthen ready for the last step.

Shooting the BowA bow is never really completed until

it has been tested, and this one was nodifferent. The first few shots I take areusually at a close-range target to see howthe bow behaves in the hand and how wellit launches an arrow. This bow shot verywell, and even with a stretchy dacronstring, was launching arrows at incrediblespeed with a very clean arrow flight. Beingalmost center-shot, this bow shoots avariety of arrows well. None of the arrowsI shot fish-tailed and even the heavyspined arrows shot in the direction I waslooking.

My next test was a distance shot forperformance, and I used a long field forthis. I used a 520-grain POC arrow with 5"straight fletch shooting at about a 40-degree angle. The bow shot arrows wellover 200 yards with some shots reaching

230 yards. A 630-grain arrow with thesame fletching style landed just under 200yards. The flight of the arrows was veryclean and there was no detectable hand-shock. My older brother has a 20-year-old50# compound bow and he shot somearrows to see how it would compare to mysinew-backed wood bow. My bow wouldconsistently launch arrows 10 to 15 yardsfarther than his old wheel-bow usingcomparable weight arrows.

My curiosity was piqued as to whatkind of speed I was getting with this bow,so I decided to try shooting arrowsthrough my chronograph. The 520-grainarrow would shoot at an average of 185 fpswith highs of just under 190 fps, and the630-grain arrow clocked at over 160 fps.Not to bad for a 52# wood bow and adacron string. Many years ago I used toown a 65# Browning fiberglass laminatedrecurve and all this bow could muster was185 fps with 500 grain POC arrows.

Even so, this type of bow is not foreveryone. They take almost twice the timeto make and stringing them is quite anundertaking, but if you like speed and youhave the time and patience, then youshould try this design. The satisfactionyou get from making a bow that givesnothing up to a modern bow makes it aworthwhile effort.

Grip all finished and ready for testing.Birch bark glued down and trimmed up.Recurved tip with sinewed nocks andbridges glued down.

Bow braced and ready to shoot.

ulefat or Baccharis salicifolia is alocally found shrub here in theSouthern California coastal area.

Its area extends from Baja to CentralCalifornia and out to the deserts up toelevations of 3500 feet. It can be found alongstream banks and in dry streambeds alongwith coastal sage scrub and chaparral. It getsits name from the days of the old gold rushperiod when the miners would tie up theirmules and allow them to graze through theday while they were busy mining or inpursuit of their daily activities.

I have always had an interest in the flightcharacteristics of wood shafts but havepredominantly used cedar due to itsconsistency. 11/32 parallel shafts, 11/32taper to 9/16 nock, and barreled 23/64 with11/32 tip, and 5/16 taper to nock have allbeen played with. I have found a taperedshaft to be more forgiving, especially whendealing with paradox. I like my arrows to beseveral inches longer then my draw. I seem

MShaftsMulefat B y L a r r y C l e m o n s

Initial test flight from 20 feet

Finished arrows and raw shafts

to get my best flight when they are spinedand group weighed and matched up withcorrect point and fletch.

Throughout the years of attending localtraditional shoots, I have had the pleasure ofmeeting some great people in the area whohave proven to be very talented self-bowyersand arrow smiths. Several of theseindividuals are from the Pasadena RovingArchers and are very active on the websitePaleo Planet. Conversations always provethought-provoking so it was just natural forme to start looking for alternatives to cedarthat I could shoot with a self-bow.

The nice natural taper of the mulefatbranch makes for a great arrow. I normallymake my initial shaft in the 40" range. Thisallows me to select the best and mostconsistent part in spine and weight. I try toselect and cut during the winter, looking forthe straightest and least amount of branches.After cutting, I inspect and begin handstraightening by sighting down the shaft andtweaking where necessary. The wood, at thistime, is moist and easy to work. I make mydecision on whether to leave the bark on orto remove it. If I decide to take the bark off,

Field point end of arrows

Fletching of arrows

Mid-point of arrows


I do so at this point by using a somewhatdull knife in a scraping peeling motion.Removing the bark makes an approximately80 grain difference. I let the shaft dry forseveral months all the while tweaking andstraightening. Once I feel I have reached thepoint where they are getting close to dry andstraight, I place them on my spine tester.This is the nice part of the natural taper, inthat I can now rotate the shaft and slide itback and forth and get close to dialing in thespine I’m looking for. I try to have a selectionof shafts to work with so that I can bunch ina consistent group with my goal being atleast a half dozen. As I rotate and slide theshaft back and forth looking for the correctspine, I’m taking into consideration thelength I want to achieve which for me is 32".After my selection and cutting to length, Ibegin sanding.

From the web site Paleo Planet, I pickedup a great way of making a sanding board,which helps me to remove a lot of the highpoints on the shaft and aid in straightness.Using two pieces of plywood approximately8" by 11", I hinge them together with ducttape and then apply a spray-on adhesive,placing a sheet of medium grit sandpaperacross both sections. After the adhesive is setup, I begin sliding the shaft back and forththrough the folded plywood, working off thehigh points and smoothing the overall shaft.I continue to hand straighten while in thisprocess until I’m satisfied with the endresult.

Finished arrows with test flight Osage bow

Sanding board folded for use Sanding board open


Prior to doing my tapers, I use aYankee drill and remove the soft core orpith down to about a one-inch-depth inthe shaft. I then use either roundtoothpicks or bamboo BBQ skewers withtight bond glue to fill in the ends of theshaft where I removed the soft core. Afterdrying, I do my point and nock taperusing a Wood Chuck Taper Grinder. Forconsistency, I find with the natural taper ofthe shaft I end up using 23/64 point witha 5/16 nock. Upon completion of mytapering I coat the shafts with numerouscoats of oil-based polyurethane until I’mhappy with the result.

I bring the spine tester back for myfinal nock placement. I re-spine all shaftsrotating in the tester looking for overallconsistency and taking note of nock tostring alignment. From here it’s a matter ofgluing the nocks, fletching, and hot meltplacement of the points. The overallweight with a 125 grain field tip with thebark on was in the 700 grain range andwithout bark in the lower 600s. I’m verypleased with the end result and find themto be a very nice flying consistent group ofarrows with nice eye appeal!

Author standing in frontof a mulefat bush Raw shaft on spine tester

Wood Chuck Taper Grinder and Yankee drill

Randy Peak from Virginia asks:

Q: I’ve been itching to make myself a warbow from a hickory staveI have but have been hesitant because I’m not really sure where to

begin. I was wondering what approximate dimensions you begin withfor starting width and depth at the handle, where you start your tapertoward the tips, how you taper thickness from the handle to the tips tobegin with? I’d like the bow to be 120#@32" and I was thinking itwould be cool to go as short as 74" if it would work but I could golonger. My best guess is to go 1.5" wide by 1" thick at the handle andkeep the width to mid-limb then taper to 1/2" nocks. Then forthickness, keep the middle foot at 1" and then taper to 1/2" at the tips.What is your opinion on the matter?

A: I’ve never made a warbow out of hickory but I have made severalout of HHB and it is close to hickory in density. The dimensions

for a HHB warbow should work well for a hickory bow. The 1½" widthis good for a bow of the draw-weight at draw-length you are looking for,but I would go with 1¼" thick instead of the 1" to start off with. I wouldalso go a bit longer than 74" though, maybe 76" instead. Hickory is notas elastic as HHB, so the extra length wouldn’t hurt. You would want tokeep the same width at the handle, or a very slight taper, for maybe 12"on each side, then start tapering a bit more aggressively for the next 12"to 18". After that, it’s almost a straight width taper to the tips, leavingthose about ¾" wide. For the thickness, leaving the middle 12" thesame thickness is good, but again it would be 1¼" thick rather than the1" thick. From that point on, you would to have close to a straight taperto ¾" thick tips instead of 1/2" thick. These are starting dimensions,and you would tiller your bow from there.

Petr Skarouplka from South Dakota asks:

Q: I admire your work and years of experience in the field as abowyer. A friend traded to me a black locust (robinia

pseudoacacia). It’s 56" long, about 3" wide, 3" thick and split in atriangular shape. It is about five years old and still got a bark. I have hadexperience with ash, Osage, and other woods, more or less, but blacklocust is a new experience for me. I have always made bows in GreatPlains style—short with gently recurve ears, sinew backed, coveredwith raw hide or snake skin, or just a plain bow. But I don’t know howblack locust works as a bow wood.

And here, I would like to ask you for your help. Do I have toremove sapwood or can I leave it with heartwood and how much? Or

is it better use just heartwood and back it with proper backing strip(bamboo, hickory...) or sinew? I apologize for so many questions as it’smy first letter to you.

A: It is quite easy to follow a ring with black locust, and the pieceyou have is more than thick enough to work the back down to

heartwood. BL sapwood is susceptible to rot and bug infestation, so tobe safe, I would take the sapwood off; this is what I have done with allthe black locust bows I have made. If the stave has nice, thick growthrings, there’s no need to back the bow unless you really want to. If thewood has very fine growth rings, quite possible with BL, and followingone proves to be to difficult, then you could back it with a backing ofyour choice for insurance. BL is very strong in tension and generallydoes not need a backing.

Wayne from Halifax, Nova Scotia, asks:

Q: I came across your article in the Primitive Archer, Oct./Nov. issueconcerning High Performance Deflex Recurves. I then came

across your web page and am very interested in building my ownsimple composite longbow. You said that your favourite wood is HHB(ironwood); would this wood be good for my longbow project?

I would like this longbow to be no more than 62" long and waswondering if you could give me dimensions for width and thickness toachieve this. At this point, I have two reflex deflex longbows, both at62", made by a local bowyer. Could I simply use the dimensions ofthese bows or does the fact that they are made up of several laminationschange the game?

Here are the specs I would be looking for: 62" or shorter. 50# @26". I have an ironwood stave that has been sitting around for about sixmonths and would really like to try a simple two-wood laminate bow.

I don’t have a lot of experience in building bows; this would be myfirst attempt. I was going to try and build a board bow for my first


AskPA

WarbowHickory

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project. I thought it might be a good idea to add a backing to the boardin order to make it stronger—what do you think?

After a bunch of googling, this is what I’ve come up with from“Board bow composite 101.”

1 piece of hickory (backing) 64" long by 1 3/4" wide by 3/16" thick1 piece of red elm (belly) 64" long by 1 3/4" wide by 1/2" thickTake 3/8" off the end on each side of the bow (nocks) and make

a straight line to the riser; that should be the taper of the limb. Gluethese two pieces of wood together with Titebond II using clamps. Toadd reflex place 2-4" blocks off the riser and clamp at the centre of thehandle (belly facing down), gently tighten.

Riser is 8", handle is 4 ½". I would like to make a modernlongbow R/D type but don’t have the knowledge or equipment.Adding reflex, will that increase hand shock? Are there any advantagesin adding reflex?

For all I know, these specs are completely out of whack and youare rolling on the floor laughing. If this is the case, please don’t hesitateto tell me that I should keep on googling this project (haha). Thisproject was to make a 50# bow @ 26" draw. As far as wood workingtools, I have a table saw, band saw, draw knife, files, sanders (belt,palm), and that’s it. How do the dimensions sound of the bow Idescribed to you? Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon.

A: If you are starting on a flatbow, using a board is a good idea; itwill give you some good experience. Modern RD bows can be a

handful to the novice, and it’s best you leave that for a future project.I would make some changes to those dimensions; plus, you will

have other issues making a bow like that. First of all, 3/16" thick for thebacking is way too much. That thickness would be all right at thehandle but by the time you get to mid-limb, the core would be aboutthe same thickness as the backing. It would be fine if the backing isquarter-sawn (edge grain) because you can use a scraper to thin thebacking down after it is glued up. If the backing is plain-sawn, then youwould have to find a way of thinning it on the side that is being glued

down. Your best bet is just to use a thinner backing (1/8" thick) with athicker core (belly wood). The other problem is that the thickness ofwood you are using will leave you with a weak handle area that will flexwhen drawn, especially at the fades. The consequence of this is that thehandle will want to pop off the core—perhaps not right away, but it willat some point. The easiest solution is to use a thicker core; there areother solutions, but they are more labour-intensive. The length andwidth is fine and the taper to the nocks will work also.

Instead of a 1/2" thick core, use one that is at least 5/8" thick, a bitthicker wouldn’t hurt. From your description, it sounds like you areplanning on trying to glue this with the backing facing down. This isfine if you are gluing it straight with no reflex. Trying to add reflex toyour bow, the way you describe it, will present you with someproblems, such as a weak glue line. You would have to find a way ofsupporting the entire bow down each limb so that the backing getsadequate pressure against the core, perhaps small blocks of descendingthickness along the limb. Another option is to go to a building store andlook for a 2x4 that has a nice uniform warp in it; you could clamp thebow to this.

Adding reflex will not add hand-shock, poor tillering and poortiller shape will do this along with a few other things. Adding reflex cangive the bow a good boost in performance.

The Primitive Archer message board is a good resource with a lot ofgood and knowledgeable people. You can get on the PA message boardhere: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php but you will haveto register an account before you can post or ask any questions.


Send your questions to: Marc St. LouisP.O. Box 1132 • Mattawa,ON • Canada P0H1V0Or email: [email protected] can also contact me athttp://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php


efore you begin to make a bow-string, the first thing you need toknow is the breaking strength of

your string material. I use a spring scale forthis test. Your bow-string has to be fourtimes stronger than your bow. If you have a50 lb bow and your string material snaps at

B

It is important to keep the twist tight and closely

packed to make a good loop.

The thumb just rolls the twisted string over the

index finger.

Twelve to fifteen inches

are needed for all the

shortening that occurs

when Flemish twisting

the loops. A good solid

pinch is necessary to

hold the twist.

Steps

B y D u a n e S p a n g l e r

In MakingA New

BowString

1

2 3


30 lbs, you will need seven strands. To beon the safe side, I would use eight strands(= 240 lbs). You need this strength to resistthe vibrations that occur when the string isdrawn, released and suddenly stops atbrace height. This is also why a minimumof stretch is desirable in string material.To get the right length for your bow-

string, measure the length of the bow andadd 30 inches. The extra 30 inches make upfor the length used in Flemish twisting. Iuse two different colors of waxed string,which helps keep the strands separated.Let’s say you have four green and four pinkstrands laid down next each other. Measuredown fifteen inches from the end and starttwisting. Follow the photos. This will bethe start of your first loop. Note that thesedirections are written for a right-handedperson. If you are left-handed, reverse mydirections so that the right handinstructions are done with your left hand.At fifteen inches, squeeze the eight

strands between the thumb and the indexfinger of your left hand. With the thumband index finger of your right hand, givethe green group a strong twist with your

While finishing the long leg of

the loop, it’s doubly important

to keep the twist pinched tight

and close.

When you continue twisting the long leg of the loop, you have to

twist a short and long group of pink and do the same with the

green groups. Twist the same way you did while making the loop.

In some cases, you may not want this large a loop. It really

depends on the nock size.

Twelve twists will make a 2-inch string loop.

4

5

6

7


thumb and roll it over your index finger.Hold this twist with your left thumb andfinger. Grab the pink strands and do thesame. Always use your left thumb and finger

to firmly hold the twist. Keep these twistsas close and tight as possible. Keep twistingand holding to make this twisted lengthabout two inches long. This is theapproximate length of the loop that will fitover your first bow nock. Hold this loop asshown in the photo. Now you have twoshort and two long groups of string. Where

these four groups meet, pinch them verytightly with your left thumb and finger.With your right hand thumb and finger,grab one of the short and long strands. Itdoes not make any difference which colorsgroups you select, just make sure one isshort and one is long. Twist these just likeyou did while making the loop, makingsure you hold the twist tightly with yourleft thumb and finger. Continue twistinguntil you reach the end of the short group.

Because you are twisting the loop oneway, you are also twisting the entire bow

string the opposite way, so you will need tountwist that part of the string until it isstraight and separated. You may want tocontinue twisting the two long groups forfive or more twist. It looks better this way.These twists have been locked togetherunless you allow them to be untwisted.You have now finished the Flemish

string on one end. Put it on one of the bownocks. Pull the string tight (making sureyou don’t untwist the finished loop) downto the other nock. Pinch the string aboutone inch below the nock. This is where youwill start the other loop. You should haveabout fifteen inches of string to make thenext loop. Flemish twist this loop just likeyou did on the first loop.When you have finished but before you

Put the loop in one of the nocks and pull the string to the end of

the bow. Grab the string about one inch from the nock. This is

where you will start twisting your next loop.

This long leg is twisted down to the short group and another five or

so twists to finish it off.

This is now the finished string

minus the serving. Notice the

twist in the entire string. This

prevents the string from

unraveling. The more twist you

put in the string, the shorter

the string will get.

8

9

10


string the bow, twist the whole string aboutten twists. This will lock the two loops sothey will not become untwisted. You mayhave to twist it more times if some reversetwist is still in the string. Make sure you aretwisting in the same direction as your loopswere twisted. If you twist the wrong way,you will untwist the loops.

Now string your bow. If the string isnot at the desired brace height, you mustcontinue twisting the string to shorten itand raise its brace height. The last thingyou should do is to serve the string whereyou handle the string and the arrow isnocked. The serving prevents wear to thispart of the string. When the serving gets

worn, it’s easier to wind on a new servingthen to make a new bow-string.You really need to learn how to make

your own string in the field. You neverknow when a friend will need a stringbecause his broke or he lost it.

Serving protects the area

of the string that is most

subject to wear and tear.

If you need the brace higher,

just twist the string.11

12

he November Self BOM contest was an interesting,revolutionary, and awe-inspiring one. A proud father enteredhis five-year-old-son’s self bow named Proud Daddy in the

contest. As fortune and not luck would have it, Caedmon Andersonwon. His father, Mark Anderson, is a proud father, but I know Ispeak for all PA forum members when I say that we are all veryproud of Caedmon Anderson for his monumental accomplishment.

From Mark Anderson:

Well, I’m posting this for my son Caedmon; he just turned five.

I’ll give a bit of back story. About two months ago, my wife had to

go visit her sister for a few days and took our four-month-old with

her, and I kept our oldest two with me at home. We were shopping

one day and I saw in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart, Robin Hood with

Errol Flynn. It was $5 so I bought it and we went home and made

some popcorn and watched. Caedmon was in awe of the bows in the

movie and said, “Daddy, I know what I want to be for Halloween.”

So the Robin Hood adventure began.

This is what Caedmon wanted me to tell you guys in his own

words: “Hi guys. I want to show you my new English Longbow. I

made most of it. Daddy helped me on some of it. I want to be Robin

Hood for Halloween, so I had to make a bow. I really like all your

bows and the magazine and maybe you could show me more of

them. My daddy makes bows too. I had to do a lot of tilling and lots

and lots and a lot of sanding. It has horn nocks and deer leather on

the handle, and a skunk (Strunk) wrap. I wanted it to look like the

bow on the bow book.

I love all you guys. Love Caedmon.”

Those are his words, and he did do most of the work. All I did

was the band saw work and the horn nocks and handle. He did all

the tillering and sanding, and I might add I am mighty proud!

Many bowyers had much to say about Caedmons bow. Here are

just a few of their comments:

“Cool bow Caedmon, you da man.” –bubby

“Sweet! Ya did good buddy! I felt the same way about Robin Hood

when I was your age. Awesome job.” –Ifrit617

“Well now, that my friend is how it’s done! Great job on the bow

Caedmon, and great job Commadore on passing the love along!

Talk about a lucky boy and a proud pappy!” –Stixman

“Great, that’s put a smile on my face.” –Del the cat

“That is so cool. what a great kid—and a lucky one to have

a papa like you!” –sadiejane

“BRAVO!!! This post just made my day.” –Parnell

“Excellent job! The photo of Caedmon tillering, where he is

pointing out or marking the stiff spot, is priceless! As my wife,

who is a kindergarten teacher, always says, ‘Kids learn more by

doing than by filling out worksheets.’ Two thumbs up!!” –Matt S.

“Very cool!!! Good work Caedmon. Your bow looks great

and it is well tillered. Your Dad has good right to be proud of

you!” –Pat B

T

NovemberBOW OF THE MONTH


B y C i p r i a n o R i v e r a

ovember was another excellentmonth for our BOM contest. Allthe bows were fine examples of

craftsmanship and bowyerism, and it wasdifficult to vote for just one.Congratulations to Michael Weinbergerfrom Las Vegas, Nevada, for winningNovember Backed Bow of the MonthContest with his Breakthrough BBI!

From Michael Weinberger:

This is a milestone bow for me as I

finally was able to break the 170fps arrow

speed (with my heavy arrows) that had been

eluding me. I know this may not be much of

a feat for many of the people on this forum,

but for me it was a big deal!

The bow is a 64" (62"n2n) bamboo

backed ipe 67#@28". I tried to keep the

limbs as narrow as possible throughout the

length of the bow and made the tips into

knife edges on both the belly and back. The

idea was to have the minimal tips slice

through the air and the narrow limbs assist in doing the same. I

ended up shooting my 515g arrow (total weight including 150g field

tip) @ 174fps. Huzzah!!! If I do manage to take a hog with her, I

WILL change my PA handle from Almostpighunter.

Our PA forum members had a lot to say about Michael’s BBI and

here are some of their comments:

“Nice job on that bow, don’t let the chrono speeds get to you.

Release and drawing techniques probably have more to do with it than

the bow. The bow you are shooting there could likely hit over 200 fps

with an active release drawn fully to 28.” –Badger

“Congratulations! That is a great looking bow. Tiller looks right

on, and I always love the contrast with BBI bows. That is an

impressive speed with that weight arrow. Well done.” –Keenan

“Good looking bow.” –Justin Snyder

“Well done with your achievement, it’s very satisfying to set a

goal and achieve it when you use nothing but your skill. Make some

4-strand fastflight strings … still strong enough for a 65lber … mind

they sing a bit.” –mikekeswick

“Nice Bow! At that speed I’m sure it’s delivering the message

with authority,” –dbb

“You just can’t beat ipe and ’boo.” –mullet

“Super job, that is one slick shooter and I would not want to be

in front of that arrow.” –coaster500


N

ongratulations to Will Harrison from Joelton, Tennessee,for winning December Self Bow of the Month. Will, as ayoung chap, sure has proven himself as an artist with his

mediums being wood, hundred-year-old Osage fence post, rocks ofvarious kinds, and snake skins. Will is having the time of his life atTwin Oaks and enjoying hunting, knapping, building bows and,most of all, the great company. There is really not much that I canadd to the pictures of this fine work in wood, finishes, snake skins,and determination all coming together to create a great bow.

Here’s what Will had to say about Miss November:

I’ve had this bow finished for a few weeks now, shot it, and

hunted with it A LOT before I got her all slicked up. I finally got

around to taking a few pictures today while hunting and a few after

when I made it down to the cabin. This is the first bow I’ve had a

chance to make at the Twin Oaks bow shop. Working with the

advice from Pappy and a few others around the shop, I have to say

this is one of the best bows I’ve made yet! Thanks again you guys!

She turned out 66", 58#@27”, 1½" at the

fades tapering to 3/8" tips. 1½" reflex after

standing with Pappy-style “flipped” tips. I

used brain-tanned buckskin I made from my

first stone point killed buck for the handle

and went with an eight-strand D97 string for

extra performance. I used elk leg sinew to

trim out the skins just for looks, and the tips

are whitetail antler. As for the finish, I decided

to try helmsman spar urathane in high gloss. I

did seven coats sanding with 600 grit between

coats to get the skins glassy smooth, then

finished with a coat of satin in the spray can.

The wood was a gift/trade from Pappy

and Shannon, the beautifully matched

copperhead skins I received from Shannon as

well. I can’t thank you guys enough for all

your help and overwhelming generosity! Y’all

are really something.

Anyway, here’s “Miss November,” my

new sweetheart. Thanks for lookin’.

Here are some of the comments from forum members:

“WOW! What a beautiful bow. Everything about it is perfect. Well

done.” –osage outlaw

“That’s a nice one, Will. Well done!” –Cameroo

“Oh WOW, what a beauty!!! … and she will look even better at

age, when the wood takes the basic color of the copperheads; I know

because that happened to mine.” –medicinewheel

“Wow!!! That is absolutely amazing! I love this bow!” –Riounis

“Looks like a live snake in the grass there, Will, or leaves I should

say. Beautiful piece of work there! You TN guys can do no wrong. I don’t

care if you were transplanted from Arkansas.” –cowboy

C


decemberBOW OF THE MONTH

B y C i p r i a n o R i v e r a


ongratulations to Keenan Howard from Bend, Oregon, for

winning December Backed Bow of the Month. Keenan is not

new to bow making or to the PA forum, but his BOM wining

bow is new in all respects. With this bow, Keenan demonstrates his

abilities as a bowyer and as a man with great attention to detail.

Everything about this bow is beautiful and adds to the functionality

and durability of the bow.

Here’s what Keenan had to say about his bow:

Here is my latest. She is a 58" NTN sinew/carp skin backed

juniper bow. She is right at 60 lbs @ my 25" draw and has goat horn

tips. This was the topside of a large juniper limb with two light

courses of sinew and then the carp skins. Though I have used many

different types of fish skins, this was the first with carp. I am very

impressed with it and love the pattern. The skin was fairly thick, so

I sanded it down on the belt sander to the feel of snakeskin. I

wanted the sinew for the benefits, and the skins for decoration

without adding too much mass. There are 28 small pin knots in

total. I am very pleased with this one.

Here are some of the comments from forummembers:

“As usual great craftsmanship and detail, those

skins do look nice, I did some bowfishing and those

carp sure are ugly when sittin’ in the muddy water.

Amazing they can look that good on a bow’s back!

Always enjoy seeing your work.” –Hammertime

“Wonderful bow! Design, tiller, finish—all top

shelf. Tipi as background for full draw is a great touch.

I believe I could pick out a bow you made from a pile—

maybe even with my eyes closed. Thanks for

sharing.” –Shaun

“Outstanding craftsmanship, Keenan. Skins, tips,

finish work, and tiller all gorgeous.” –ErictheViking

“Keenan that is one sharp looking bow. The horn

nicks, finish, skins, handle and tiller are all top notch.

Now I understand why Patrick likes juniper so much.” –Cipriano

“This is one purrrrty bow. Heck, all of your bows are fantastic. You

can see the craftsmanship in the attention to detail, from the finish to

the tips. I am in awe of your work.” –Lemos

All of these winners, as well as winners from the past, can

be viewed online on our message boards. Go to

www.primitivearcher.com and along the left-hand side, half-

way down is a section called “Community.” Under that

section is a button that says “message boards.” Click on that

button. From there, you can find the section titled Bow of the

Month. That is where the winners are and the voting takes

place. Join the fun. The contest is run by Cipriano Rivera

(criveraville) with the help of George Stoneberg (gstonberg).

C


ost of us as primitive archerswould prefer to use handmadeequipment. Whether that

equipment has been fabricated by us or bysomeone else usually doesn’t matter,though when we make it ourselves, it seemsto feel more “right” and more personal.There is no better sense of satisfaction thanto have used a homemade bow or ahandcrafted arrow or a hunting point thatwe have designed to bring down an animalof our choosing. That same satisfactioncarries over when we begin to expand ourhorizons and craft other parts of ourequipment such as quivers, armguards,clothing, head gear, and even foot wear.Often we forget that even the small thingscan be handcrafted if we only take the timeto think about how to do it.

Several years ago, I realized that myfavorite shooting glove was probably goingto be discontinued by the manufacturer soI purchased several, thinking they wouldprobably last for years and years.Unfortunately, they didn’t. I was faced withfinding a new style of glove, most of whichdid not have the features that I liked. Beinga tinkerer, I began to consider thepossibility of making my own shootingglove. To piece together such an intricateitem with such small parts seemeddaunting—besides, wouldn’t I have to havespecial equipment to accomplish this goal?After trying out several new glove stylesthat did not meet my expectations, Idecided to tackle the prospect of craftingmy own.

First, I needed a pattern. Using one ofmy worn-out favorites, I carefully removedall of the stitching holding it together andused the parts to draw outlines of eachpiece on stiff card stock. I am a two-fingershooter so I make a two-finger glove. Mypattern can be flipped over to make a three-fingered glove. (Photo 1)

Next, I needed materials. Several localoutlets including Tandy’s and Ben Franklinstores carried leather that I perusedthrough until I found the right thickness,finish, and consistency. Upholstery leatherremnants seemed to be the best for mytaste. The wrist band buckles I decided touse were also purchased at these stores.(Photo 2)

I have since discovered that some of the

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Hand-Crafted

GloveShooting

B y J i m D a h l b e r g

1

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best leather available can be found at thriftshops in the form of leather purses andbillfolds. These objects can often bepurchased very inexpensively compared tobuying raw leather at the outlet stores. Onebrand name I always look for is Fossil.Leather recovered from these products issome of the finest and will last longer thanany other I have used to date.

When it was time to put it all together,I laid out the patterns on the leather, tracedaround them, and then cut out the neededparts with scissors. (Photos 3 & 4) Nextcame the stitching. I used my plain oldregular sewing machine with a denimneedle—a leather needle can also bepurchased—and proceeded to put thepieces together with quality cottonmercerized thread. Sew the end of thefinger stall onto the back of the glove first.(Photo 5) Then sew the edges of the fingerstall to the edges of the glove. (Photo 6) Besure to backstitch the beginning and endingof each stitching to assure the thread won’tunravel with use.

I like to use the finished side of theleather against my skin with the unfinishedside of the leather out. Less sweat seems tobe absorbed into the leather this way.However, the finished side of the leatherneeds to be on the outside of the fingerstalls for a smooth sliding surface to releasethe arrow.

Since the wristband seems to always bethe first thing to disintegrate on myshooting gloves, I decided to use nylonstrapping. This can be purchased at most

3 4

5

6


fabric stores or at some of the outletspreviously mentioned. I determined thelength needed to wrap around my wrist andthen added 2". The extra is needed to sewin the buckle. Be sure to singe the ends aftercutting to keep the strapping fromunraveling. Burn a slot in the strapping forthe buckle tongue. (Photo 7) Place a smallnail in a pair of pliers and heat the nail redhot over a flame. Poke the nail through thestrapping and slide up and down to formthe slot. Be careful with this process as youcan create a larger opening than you needquite easily. Sew in the buckle. (Photo 8) Ifind it easier to hand sew this part since itis too tight to use the sewing machine.Wrap the strap around your wrist anddetermine where the holes for the buckletongue should be to hold the glove firmlyin place and burn holes. (Photo 9)Determine where you would prefer to havethe buckle when placed on your wrist; Iprefer just above the palm of my hand. Sewthe strap onto the glove back with theleather on top of the wrist strap. Make surethe buckle tongue is facing the rightdirection to latch properly. (I learned thisthe hard way and had to cut out the buckleand re-sew it!) (Photo 10) Note that in thephoto, the strap is sewn on for a left-handshooter so the buckle comes down over thetop of the wrist. Reverse for right handshooter.

I have used the glove on my hand in thepicture for more than two years, shootingmany hundreds of arrows with no sign ofglove wear or string grooves developing inthe finger stalls. (Photos 11 & 12)

You now have a handcrafted piece ofequipment you can use and replacewhenever needed. You can custom fit eachpiece to best fit your hand. Better yet, thecost is minimal, about $3 for each glove ifall purchased materials are new, less if using“recycled” leather! The time involved, startto finish, is about one hour.

By making your own glove, you candetermine the quality of the materials, whatsize and style works best for you, and havethe satisfaction of knowing you created ityourself.

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11 12


hen I walk into the Oregon woodswith its moist, moss-covered trees, Ifeel as though I am home. Even as

the fog eerily floats through the trees, I feelcomforted. I also get a sense of going backto the days of the late 1800s or early 1900swhen it was just you, your bow, and somearrows. It wasn’t corrupted by technology.

As I walk through looking for theperfect yew, I hear the squirrels chatteringin the background. I see tall Oregon pinesand Douglas fir and smell the crisp, cleanfrangrance they give off. My mind wonders,hoping to see a glimpse of the beautiful

blacktail deer when I see the yew. And as Isee the yew, I fall in love again.

In Oregon, the first step for harvestingPacific yew is that you need to go to yourlocal Forest Service Office and inquire abouta Pacific Yew Tree Permit. It will varybetween Forest Services, as some places saythey do not allow harvesting because they aretrying to protect the yew, but they do havepermits. Other offices will get you one rightoff with no hassle. Just make sure to do yourresearch first and know what to ask.

Once you have inquired about the yew,the Forest Service will give you an area to

scour. To find a yew suitable for bowmaking, you need to look for a sapling treethat is as straight and as knot-free aspossible. You want the bark to grow straightup and down, not twisted around the tree.Personally, when I am looking for a goodpiece of yew, I look for the diameter to beno greater than seven inches. I prefer twoinches to seven as the growth rings tend tobe tighter which makes for a better bow.Another factor I include in my selection iselevation. The best yew grows at elevationsof 4,000 to 4,500 feet. Now, I am not sayingthat you can’t get decent yew at lowerelevations, but you get better quality athigher elevations. The yew at lowerelevations will not have as tight of growthrings and limb thickness can varyconsiderably.

As soon as you find your perfect yew,you must do one of two things, either G.P.S.your tree location or flag your way from the

W

For the

Love of YewB y J o h n W e t z e l

Beautiful Oregon blacktail deer.

tree out. This way, the Forest Service will goback out and make sure that the tree isapproved for cutting. Make sure to givethem good directions so they can find itquickly in the hopes they will approve itquickly. Once they approve your selections,they will issue you a permit.

Once you get their okay, you can goharvest your yew. I recommend going in thefall or winter. The hotter the day, the morecracking and twisting you will get. When Igo to cut the tree, I don’t cut it at the verybottom, I try to cut it two to three inchesabove to leave a little bit of a stump. Thereason for this, in the high mountains ofOregon, is that you get a lot of wind stormsthat blow the trees back and forth whichcauses shake in the grains of the tree. Thatwill usually be in the base of the tree andyou don’t want that in a bow stave. I try toget as much length as I can as far as cuttingthe top part.

When you get the tree home, you wantto look at the end of your tree to find theheart-wood. What you’re looking for in theheart-wood is to see if it lies to one side oranother. If it does, the closer side will beyour best quality for bow wood.

As for splitting your tree, I prefer to sawas opposed to hand splitting becausesawing elevates heat cracks in the woodand stress. You will also have the capabilityof cutting out the heart, which is what driesout first in the tree and causes the crackingand checking. There is nothing wrong withhand splitting. Many people have done itfor hundreds of years, but hand splittingcauses more of tearing, cracking, andchecking. Also, you won’t gain as muchwood as when sawing. A lot of peoplechoose hand splitting, because they feel thegrain follows the contour of the wood. Youcan still follow the grains in sawing. It isjust up to you how you choose to cut yourpiece of yew.

On a personal note, a few bows I madeby hand splitting have had problemsbecause of tearing of the wood. It dictatedthe bow weight outcome. I find that sawinggives you more girth in the wood to workwith ensuring better results.

As soon as you split your yew, you needto glue the ends. You can use pretty muchany type of glue or polyurethane, I preferElmer’s Wood Glue. It is cheap and it

Markings showwhere to cut toremove a bow stave.

Good qualityyew—notice thetightness of thegrowth rings.


usually just takes one coat. Once it is glued,you will need to find an area that is cooland does not get hot. Your staves, or half ofa tree, should be laid down flat on theground or in a rack. The first three monthsof storage are the most critical because thatis when it loses the most moisture at thefastest rate. I will let a stave sit from sixmonths to a year before I touch it again.

Once it is dried, you are ready to beginto make your own yew bow. Yes, it requires

patience to let it sit so long, but it is wellworth the wait. Once it forms into a bow,you will fall in love all over again with thattree you saw in the woods.

When you’re making your bow, andeven when it is complete, you will get toendure the memories of the PacificNorthwest, of Chester Stevenson, and all ofthose who came before us doing the samething we just did. It is a feeling that you willnever forget.

As your first bow unfolds, I am positiveyou will gain a desire to continue with yewand also develop a love for this kind ofwood. My hope is that as you grow in yourknowledge, you will share with someone aswell. I am thankful to the man who taughtme and educated me about yew. Keenan,you are one incredible friend and yourknowledge amazes me!

Grading quality yew onthe right: it is straightand the bark runsstraight up and down.

Author sawing yew.Author sawing yew in Keenan’s shop.


Author grading a yew tree to make sure it will be good quality.Two bows and one stavecut from a four-inch tree.

he young hunter struggled with hisfiresticks. His cold-numbed handsdidn’t want to function properly, buthe knew that a fire literally meant

the difference between life and death for him.He took a deep breath, willing his mind toconcentrate on the task at hand whileignoring the searing pain in his leg. Hetwirled the horseweed spindle in thedepression of the hearth board, trying to pacehimself until smoke began to appear; then hespun the spindle with all the speed he couldmuster. As he bore down with the last of hisremaining strength, the spindle slipped fromhis hands and fell to the ground, but a thincurl of smoke still rose from the notch in thehearth board. He carefully transferred theprecious coal to the middle of the tinderbundle that he had prepared from a dry woodrat nest he had found in the back of the rockshelter. He folded the tinder around the coal,held it over his head, and blew gently untilthick smoke and then flames came forth. Hedropped the burning tinder bundle to the floorand carefully fed it with dry, dead twigs thathe had broken from the trunk of an evergreentree outside the overhang. He added biggersticks as the flames grew stronger, and, soon,the fire was blazing brightly, building a bed ofcoals. The heat reflecting from the rock wallsgradually drove the chill from his body. Hemanaged to roll a large section of dead logonto the fire, then collapsed in exhaustion andslept while cold wind howled through thewoods outside and snow swirled downthrough the treetops. As he slumbered fitfully,scenes from the last few days replayed in hisdreams.

He had started out alone a hand of daysearlier on an extended winter hunting trip

against the advice of his uncle, the MedicineMan. The hunter was young, but he hadproven himself in both the hunt and in war, sohe was an adult warrior in the eyes of thePeople and therefore free to follow his ownpath as he wished. Unlike most of the People,who generally preferred the company ofothers to solitude, the young hunter wassomething of a loner and often set out byhimself into the woods for long periods oftime. He had spent the last few days huntingand exploring, gradually working his wayhigher into the mountains.

Earlier that day, he had been forced toseek shelter as a fierce winter storm had sweptacross the ridge. Almost blinded by flyingsnow and half-frozen by the cold wind, he hadworked his way up the hillside toward a largerock cliff, hoping to find protection from theelements. He discovered a cave-like opening atthe base of the cliff and crawled inside. But nosooner had he offered up a prayer of thanksfor finding shelter from the storm, he realizedthat he wasn’t alone in the rock shelter. A bearwas sleeping in the back of the small cave androused itself at the entrance of the hunter.Hearing a growl from the cornered animal,the young man barely had time to pull hisdeer legbone stiletto from his belt before theangry beast was upon him. As the bear bitdown on his left leg and shook him like achild’s doll, the young hunter repeatedlyplunged the dagger into the beast’s ribs.Adrenaline coursing, he fought back indesperation. Finally, his knife found the bear’sheart, and the animal rolled off him anduttered a loud death moan.

The bear crawled toward the entrance ofthe cave and fell dead just outside. In shock,the hunter applied pressure to his torn leg andfought to keep from passing out. The pain wasalmost overwhelming. He lay on the floor ofthe rock shelter, drifting in and out ofconsciousness, until he finally became aware

of the intense cold that gripped his body. Herealized that if he didn’t act quickly while hewas still able to, he would not survive. Heforced himself up from the ground, fumbled inhis pack for his firesticks, and started lookingfor usable tinder.

The young hunter awoke to throbbingpain as daylight crept under the overhangingrock. The fire had burned down to scatteredcoals, and he pushed them together and addedsmall sticks until it was blazing again.Forcing himself to ignore the pain in his leg,he looked around and took stock of hissituation. The people of his village were usedto him staying out in the mountains for longperiods of time and wouldn’t expect him backany time soon, so he could expect no help fromanyone else. Besides, the fresh snow hadcovered any tracks that might lead someone tohim, so he knew that he had to survive by hisown wits and resources.

The rock shelter was small but kept himout of the weather. He had fire, and justoutside the entrance to the rock shelter was atangle of dead trees that had fallen from thetop of the cliff over the years, so he had plentyof fuel within easy reach. He had a bow andarrows, his deer-bone dagger, a small polishedstone axe, and a sharp flint knife. Thebuckskin bag of parched corn he had carriedfor trail food was exhausted, but the dead bearlying outside would provide him with food,and the cold weather would ensure the meatdidn’t spoil. Looking around the small cave,there wasn’t much to see. The opening in therock had served as a den for various animalsover the years, and a few old bones and ableached box turtle shell were scatteredaround the floor. He picked up the turtle shelland set it aside, then steeled his resolve andexamined his injured leg.

It didn’t look good. The leg was tender andswollen, so he cut his buckskin leggings backfrom the wound. The bear’s teeth had made


White PineMedicineMAN®

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B y S t e v e P a r k e r

several deep puncture wounds in his thigh andcalf. Also, as the bear had shaken him, fleshhad been ripped and lacerated. The flesharound the wounds was already feverish—itwas red, puffy, and inflamed. The pain wasgrowing worse as the day went on. He knewthat he had to find a way to keep the woundsfrom festering if he was to survive.Fortunately, the hunter had always had aninterest in healing plants, and in years past,he had spent much time observing andquestioning his uncle, the Medicine Man, sohe had a basic knowledge of medicine andhealing. With his injured leg, though, herealized he wouldn’t be able to go out into thewoods to collect any healing plants that hemight recognize, plus it was midwinter, whenmost plants were dormant or leafless and hardto identify. Suddenly, he remembered that justoutside the entrance to his shelter was ayoung evergreen tree that he had broken thedead lower limbs from to start his fire.

Searching his memory for what he knewabout this tree, he gradually realized that hehad a good chance of surviving hispredicament.

The hunter filled the bleached turtle shellwith snow and carefully melted it over thecoals of his fire. When the water began to boil,he pulled it back from the heat and let itsimmer. Meanwhile, he peeled the skin fromthe bear’s haunch with his flint knife. The bearhad a thick layer of fat under the skin, and hecut off a large chunk of the half-frozen tallowand set it aside. The he hobbled to the youngevergreen tree. Several thumb-sized branchesgrew within his reach. These were brittle andeasily broken off. He carried the branchesback into his shelter. He cleaned his woundsas well as he could with the hot water and apiece of clean buckskin that he cut from theempty pouch that had carried his parchedcorn. He put a chunk of bear fat into the turtleshell and set it over the coals to render. As the

fat melted, he scraped the outer bark from abranch of the evergreen tree. He stripped offthe inner bark and pounded it to a fine, pastyconsistency with a smooth stone. He mixed thepounded bark substance with the renderedbear fat to make a salve and applied it to hiswounds. Exhausted, he laid back and slept.

Many days later, the young hunter wasfinally ready to leave the rock shelter. Thebear carcass was by now little more thanbones, and his supply of firewood was almostexhausted. But his leg was mostly healed.Though still tender and slightly painful, itwas no longer swollen and inflamed, and itwould bear his weight as long as he wasmindful to not overload it. The healingmixture from the evergreen tree and the bearfat had worked to mend his wounds. He hadalso supplemented his diet of bear meat with ahealing and nourishing tea made from theneedles of the evergreen tree. As he left thecave and carefully made his way down the



mountainside, he stopped once to look back atthe place that had sheltered him for the lastseveral days and the tree that had saved hislife. The hunter smiled as he fingered his newbear claw necklace. Thanks to the healingtree, he would return to the village of thePeople and he would certainly have anincredible story to tell when he arrived. Hetucked his bearskin robe around him andslowly made his way down the mountaintoward home.

•••••••The healing tree used by the hunter was

the eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Thewhite pine grows in cool upland foreststhroughout eastern North America fromQuebec south to northern Georgia,Alabama, and South Carolina; and west toArkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, andManitoba. It is a very large, straight-trunked tree, commonly reaching over ahundred feet tall in good growingconditions. The tallest known tree in theeastern United States is a white pine knownas the “Boogerman Pine” growing inCataloochee Valley in western NorthCarolina. It was measured at 207 feet inheight before a large chunk of the top wasbroken out during Hurricane Opal in 1995.It is currently just shy of 189 feet tall—99feet to the first limb—and still growing.

The white pine’s long, flexible needlesare arranged in bundles of five. Unlike mostpines, the leaves have a bluish color whenviewed from a distance. The branches growin whorls around the trunk, a new whorl oflimbs being formed with each year’sgrowth. The female cones are long andslender, and the seeds are a favorite food ofred squirrels and many birds.

Medicinal UsesThe white pine has a long history of

medicinal usage. The resin and inner barkcontain powerful natural antiseptics andwere much used by Native Americans toheal wounds, sores, burns, boils,inflammation, and other maladies. Whitepine has a reputation as being one of themost effective natural antiseptics and haseven been credited for healing gangrenouswounds. The needles are rich in vitamins Aand C, and a tea made from pine needles has

been used to cure scurvy. Teas or infusionsmade of the bark, needles, and twigs havealso been used to treat colds, coughs, sorethroats, and inflammation, as well asrespiratory, kidney, and digestive disorders.The inner bark was once a commoningredient in cough syrups. The bark hasbeen used as a chest poultice to relievecongestion, and the needles have beensteamed and the vapors inhaled for the samepurpose. Bark tea is emetic in large doses.

FoodPine trees are not commonly thought of

as a source of food, but the white pine hasseveral edible parts. The inner bark, whilenot extremely palatable, is very nutritiousand serves as an emergency food. It can beboiled or dried and ground into flour. Theyoung pollen-bearing male cones are edibleand nutritious. A pleasant beverage tea canbe made from the chopped needles. Theseeds, like those of most pines, are edible.But unlike some western pine species thatbear large “pine nuts,” the seeds of thewhite pine are too small to be a very viablesource of food.

Utilitarian UsesThe white pine historically has been

one of the most valuable timber trees ofNorth America. The straight-trunkedgrowth habit, strong but lightweight wood,and large size made it one of the first targetsof early loggers. In many areas, the whitepines were the only trees harvested in thefirst wave of logging, and the search forvirgin white pine timber fueled theexploration of many parts of eastern NorthAmerica. The tall, straight white pinetrunks were especially prized for masts ofsailing ships. The straight-grained woodhas been used commercially for practicallyeverything from dimensional lumber to finefurniture to toothpicks.

Like other pines, white pines wereexploited heavily for the production of pitch,tar, turpentine, creosote, and other chemicalcompounds. The production of these “navalstores” was a major industry in earlier times.

Other than commercial uses, the woodof the white pine makes high quality,lightweight arrow shafts, comparable to

cedar. It burns hot but fast and is excellentkindling. The dead dry branches and twigsthat are persistent on the trunks of youngertrees are a reliable source of fire-buildingmaterials in the woods even during wetweather, and the resinous cones are alsoexcellent fire starters.

The resinous pitch of the white pine haslong been used for many things. NativeAmericans used it as a caulking, sealant,and waterproofing agent for bark canoes.The pitch, often mixed with otheringredients such as beeswax and powderedcharcoal, is useful as a mastic for haftingarrowheads, attaching arrow fletchings, andwaterproofing sinew bindings.

Leafy white pine branches have beenused to thatch the roofs of shelters and tomake comfortable temporary beds. Thebark of young trees can be peeled off duringthe growing season and made into buckets,boxes, and containers. The roots areflexible and can be split and used for roughsewing, stitching, lashing, and binding.

Horticultural UsesThe white pine is a valuable ornamental

tree and is commonly grown in nurseriesacross the country. It is shallow-rooted,easily transplanted, and grows well inalmost any well-drained soil. White pinesare often planted as shade and specimentrees, windbreaks, and screens. The treesare fairly tolerant of heavy pruning, andyoung trees can be kept sheared and trainedas hedges. Sheared white pines are alsocommonly sold as Christmas trees. Whitepine needles make excellent mulch forflower beds and shrubs.

•••••••Our ancestors lived intimately with the

land and, over time, accumulated muchknowledge of which plants to use for differentpurposes. Before industrial civilization, thisknowledge was widespread and necessary forsurvival. Now, much knowledge has been lost.It is our duty and in our best interests topreserve useful plant knowledge andincorporate it into our lives as well as topreserve our environment and the wild plantsthat in the future may once again become ourvery means of survival.

50 Primitive Archer Magazine

magine that you’re out walkingsomewhere in the Americansouth, and you’ve just come across

a bonanza for a primitive archer. You’vestumbled upon a stand of nice-lookingriver cane with lots of mature shoots readyfor harvesting. Or maybe, it is a stand ofnaturalized yadake, a type of arrowbamboo that was introduced from Asiadecades ago. You take one look and knowthat you can fit yourself up with arrows forthe next while. So you get to work harvesting.

Dutifully, you cut nice shafts, you dry themby letting them stand where air cancirculate around your bundles of arrows.Then, after they’ve nicely aged, you get towork at straightening them. It’s hard going, but you don’t begrudge

your time because you’re hungering to tryout your found bounty. Finally you get towhere good is good enough, straight isstraight enough. You’re ready to getcracking and get an arrow finished off. Youreally want to shoot one of these littlesweethearts. But then, it hits you. You wonder how

in the world you’re going to nock and tipthese hollow tubes. You can’t taper the endsand glue on a plastic nock. That wouldn’tlook nice and, besides, it probably wouldn’twork. So what to do? You can either cut ina self-nock or insert a nock made fromsomething like bone, horn, or even hardwood. Neither process is all that difficult,but knowing a few tricks helps. Here’s howto fit a nock in place.

Inserting a bone, horn, or hard wood nock

Step 2: Square off the end of thebamboo shafting. Use a sharp knifeto get the edge of the shaft perfectlysquare so the seat of the nock sitsflush in the shaft.

Step 1: You want to obtain a supply ofnocks that have a tang. The tang is needed tohold the nock in place. You can either makethe nocks or pick them up from one oranother archery supplier. Because bamboo isa natural material, there can be somevariation in both the inner and outerdiameters of shafts. You’ll find that you’llwant enough nocks so you can sort them outto get a good match. Also, you might have toshave or grind a little off the nock so it willsit flush with the shaft when you’re all done.

I

Shaft

Nock

Caneor

with aNock

Bamboo

B y K a y K o p p e d r a y e r


Step 4: Wrap the end of the shaft with cord or thread. It doesn’t matter what you use, just something that you can wrap tight. Bring thatwrapping up close to the edge of the shaft and make sure it is tight. This binding will keep the bamboo from splitting when you insert the nock.

Step 3: Take a tiny edge off the inside of the shaft. This helps when you insert the nock.


Step 8: While you’re doing this, holdthe nock between your lips to moisten it.The glue needs some moisture to create abond.

Step 6: Take the blunt end of your knifeand use it to work the nock into the shaft.Wiggle it back and forth while applyingdownward pressure. The cordage or threadprevents the shaft from splitting while you’redoing this. The bamboo fibers on the insideof the shaft compress allowing for a tight fit.

Step 5: Take the nock andput it in place at the edge ofthe shaft. Do not press yet.

Step 7: Notice that we haven’t saidanything about glue yet. You’re first getting agood fit in the shaft. Now it’s time to applyglue. Gorilla glue works well here. Put someon the inside of the shaft.


Step 11: You are now preparing towrap the nock end off. Use a pen tomake a line a little distance down theshaft. This line marks the end of thewrapping. When you’re making a setof arrows, you’ll want them all to havethe same length of wrapping.

Step 10: Remove the cordage. If necessary, use a sharp knife to make the end of the shafting flush with the nock end. You can also usesandpaper to even it off. Make sure the joint area is nice and smooth, with no rough edges.

Step 9: As you’re fitting the nock in place,make sure that you’re aligning its slit with thelast node on the shaft that is closest to the nock.The node should be facing up and in directalignment with the slit. Arrows aligned this wayare able to withstand more vibration when theyhit a target.


Step 12: Start wrapping from the lineupwards towards the nock. By workingyour way up to the nock, you get a moreeven finish and a tighter wrap. Usewhatever cordage you want. Flat silkworks really well.


Step 15: Sit back and admireyour work. Now you’ve only goteleven more shafts to go.

Step 14: After the glue has dried,cover the wrapping with urethane.

Step 13: When you get to the end, cutyour thread and use a typical white glue tohold it in place. Work the glue really wellinto the thread.


hen you arrive at the TennesseeClassic, near Clarksville, Tennessee,you drive down into a beautiful

wooded valley with ample camping space,three sets of 3-D targets, vendors witharchery equipment, and a rather amazingcentral core of workshops. For myself, theextensive workshop area for making bowsand flintknapping was the main reason Icame to the event.

W

Gary Davis, in overalls, instructing

Pappy’s workshop

Pappy, in the orange shirt,

a bowyer and the organizer

of the event.

Building Selfbows

and Flintnappingat the ClassicTennessee

B y S t i m W i l c o x


I had never been to an archery eventwhere the primary focus was buildingselfbows, laminated natural-wood bows, andflintknapping. Generally, bow building andflintknapping have been relatively smallcomponents of events I’ve attended. That’sfairly common. At the Tennessee Classic,though, bow building and flintknappingwere primary features, in addition to thetournament for traditional-primitive archers.

While I was quite impressed at seeing somany participants making bows andflintknapping, I was even more impressed atthe quality and number of bowyers willingto share and pass on their knowledge. Infact, I was, as the saying goes, blown away.The friendly atmosphere and people meantno one felt like a stranger for long. Allow meto share the history of this event and how allthis began.

The Bowyers“Pappy,” a.k.a. Mark Baggett, loved

making and shooting selfbows, and he builta workshop on his farm near Clarksville. Heended up spending most of his weekends

there. His workshop attracted local bowyersand flintknappers, who also began using theworkshop. You could show up ready to workon bows and usually others were there doingthe same.

Meanwhile, Gary Davis from Michigan,had developed a method of introducingstudents to later stages of bow making,meaning that they started with a previously-developed bow blank made with a caul andwent through the tillering stages in a

workshop. Gary has been presenting classeslike that at a number of events. He andPappy met in Cloverdale, Indiana, becamefast friends, and Pappy invited Gary to jointhe Tennessee Classic as another instructor.The rest is history.

During any year now at the TennesseeClassic, there are approximately eightinstructors: Pappy and the local bowyersas well as bowyers from all over theUnited States.

Facing us, at left Keenan Howard, from Oregon and a

bow teacher, on the right Dave Reed, from New York,

a prior student of Gary Davis and now a teacher,

show students how to set up a bow stave with a

curved caul, clamps, and a heat gun.

David Knight demonstrating tillering in his class on

making bamboo-laminated natural wood bows.

Gary with Al Gosnell, a Canadian friend and bowyer, taught by Gary many

years ago; the bow in Al’s hand was built 16 years ago; the bow in Gary’s

hand was started from a tree growing 16 days before the event.


The EventWhen I saw the scene for the first time

in Tennessee, it looked like cooperativebedlam. The scene resolved into aninteraction between students andinstructors, one of questions and answers,demonstrations, and bow building. It was abeautiful interaction of giving and sharing,a companionship among a large number ofstudents and a large number ofinstructors—a sense of enjoyable peacefocused into a concerted effort in a familyatmosphere. And the workshop was busyfrom dawn to long after dusk, each day. Atthe end of the event, students could taketheir new bows and compete for scores onthe excellent 3-D targets set up in thesurrounding hills. It was a remarkable bowmaking and shooting event.

The Boy/Girl Scout Students Before the event, Pappy was dealt a

difficult situation: the only time a group ofboy/girl scouts could participate was on theSaturday of the event, a time when the

Pat Brennan (with beard), of North

Carolina, checking the final tiller of

a bow made by the student.

Al Gosnell, left, and Dave Reed, right, check the tiller, above and below

the handle, on a bow.

Students working on bows

Students on right beginning to

tiller the curve of a bow.


normally registered students were stillthere. But the instructors handled it. All thescouts made bows, in a whirlwind, in oneday. As the saying goes, the system worked.

Breaking Rock—The FlintknappersAnother major scene of the event was

the flintknappers. There were several of

them making beautiful objects from flint,obsidian, and other materials, withstudents working alongside. I understandthat the flintknappers tend to wander fromevent to event, helping others. At theTennessee Classic, the flintknappers had amajor presence, with people coming and

Boy and girl scouts working on bows.

Greg Bagwell, of Clarkesville, TN,

showing tillering technique.

Pat Brennan, of North Carolina,

and scout with finished bow.


going throughout the day. Again, the scenewas of quiet concentration, with helpalways available.

A Hatchet Bow DemonstrationA demonstration of how to make a bow

using a hatchet in a half hour, was given by

Stim Wilcox (your erstwhile writer). Ibegan by showing how if you are in asurvival situation, you don’t actually haveto make a bow per se as long as you have abowstring (like your shoelaces). A cured,but unworked, serviceberry branch shot anarrow quite well. Then I used a hatchet ona cured hickory branch, ending up with a45 lb bow at 28", and shot it.

The SponsorsPrimitive Archer Magazine was a major

sponsor for the Tennessee Classic.

The General SceneThere were excellent 3D targets in the

hills by the camp and good food, showers,etc., available. On Saturday evening, therewas a potluck dinner, with excellentattendance, plus some pickin’ and grinnin’after the delicious meal.

A number of vendors and instructorswere at the event including bowyers,blacksmiths, and those selling wood-working devices, wood, and a variety ofgeneral archery equipment. Again, thescene was of cooperation and enjoymentand learning, an unusual event in ourworld. The 2012 Tennessee Classic will

Jesse Wright showing one of his

beautiful blades.

Brad Harrison, Jesse Wright, his dad Drew Wright, and Patrick Blank.

Brad Harrison instructing students.Patrick Blank and students

practicing flint knapping.


be held May 4–6, 2012. You can contactthe organizers on the internet atwww.TwinOaksBowhunters.com (see adon page 57).

About the Author: Stim Wilcox sellsselfbows and teaches classes in makingthem in his workshop on the coast ofMaine. He is the author of the book The ArtOf Making Selfbows and has a website atwww.wilcoxbows.com (see ad on page 64).

Author demonstrating making a bow using only a hatchet and then

shooting it.

On the left, Primitive Archer

publisher, Monroe Luther; and

on the right, Mike Moore, the

president and CEO, holding a

bow he made at the event. In

between is Gary Davis on the left

and Dave Reed a good friend and

fellow bowyer.

Participants lined up for the

Saturday evening Bar-B-Q


ou’ve undoubtedly heard the oldadage: “Getting there is half thefun.” In this particular journey, it

certainly proved to be true, even if painfullyslow and challenging. It has been aboutfour years since I got the bug to try to makemy own Osage self-bow. With the help of acouple of books, YouTube, and some sageand generous telephone advice fromexperts Mike Yancey and Gary Davis, I tookthe plunge and quickly learned that I was inway over my head. I even remember askingone of the experts how long it should taketo make an Osage self-bow from start tofinish. His reply said it all, “If you’recounting hours, you’re not going to likemaking Osage bows.” Understatement! Ihave come to understand that makingOsage self-bows is all about the journey.Making the bow is as challenging andfulfilling as the hunt for which it isintended.

That first bow showed me how little Iknew, but it was one time that beingbullheaded was an advantage. Three bowslater I finally had one that I believed I couldhunt with. I added rattlesnake-skin backingand was pretty proud of the finishedproduct. I managed to take a javelina, awhitetail doe, and a pretty nice buck with itthat year. From then on, I was gut-hooked.

My bow-building learning curve was at

the point (and still is) where each bow Imake tells me what I want to do differentlyand, hopefully, better next time. And so thejourney continues.

Two years ago I bought an excellentOsage stave from Mike Yancey of PineHollow Longbows in Arkansas with theintent of backing the finished product withsinew (another study altogether). Because Iwas retiring after my 24-year stint as editorin chief of Buckmasters Whitetail Magazineand moving from Alabama to Alberta, mybow project was put on hold for the betterpart of a year. I promised myself I wouldhave the sinew on the bow no later thanJuly of 2011, in time for elk hunting, and Idid. Then there was the matter of shootingand shooting and shooting until I wasconfident enough to hunt with it. My onlyconcern was that the bow pulled only 46pounds at 28 inches, and I really wanted tohunt elk with it. I questioned whether itwas enough bow for the task.

Fortunately, I had done some extensivebroadhead penetration studies years ago,

which were enlightening. To sum up mystudy, I found that a two-blade cut-to-the-tip broadhead would penetrate the hidebetween the ribs of a 200-pound freshlykilled wild boar with an average of 1¼pounds of pressure. Conversely, it tookfrom 52 to 86 pounds of pressure toaccomplish the same task with othermulti-blade, non-cut-to-the-tip commercialdesigns available at that time. Yes, you readthat right! My conclusion was that a razorsharp, 2-blade, cut-on-contact broadheadburned up so little energy slicing into ananimal that a 46-pound bow wouldprobably be pretty deadly—even on an elk.I should also mention that the bowmeasured 46 pounds in the warm days ofJuly but pulled 52-54 pounds in the coolerfall days. The colder the stronger—that’swhat sinew does. I chose to tip my cedarshafts with 175-grain, Bowyer, single bevel,glue-on broadheads.

My scouting efforts resulted in a jewelof a discovery: a time-worn elk trail on anarrow timbered ridge that ran through the

The author’s first shot at a big

game animal with his self-made,

sinew-backed Osage longbow

produced a wonderful trophy and

a bowhunting memory to match.

Y JourneyBullstikB y R u s s e l l T h o r n b e r r y


middle of a small lake. It was obvious thatelk were crossing on this trail rather thanwalking all the way around the lake. At thenorth end of the ridge where the trailempties back into the boreal forest, therestood a large cottonwood tree begging for atreestand. It was obvious to me that if I putmy time in in that cottonwood, an elkwould eventually walk right under me.Utilizing classic whitetail tactics saved methe folly of trying to stalk close enough fora shot in dense, noisy timber.

This would be an afternoon set-upsince getting to that location in the darkwould be counter-productive. On the firstafternoon of my hunt the wind was out ofthe west, blowing my scent out over thelake, which was perfect. The problem Ifaced was that the only place I could hangmy treestand was much higher than Iwould have liked, probably ten feet higherthan elevations from which I had practiced.

I’ll be the first to admit that a longbow in atreestand is a little ungainly and one has tothink through their potential shotdirections and angles so as not to gettrapped in an impossible position. I took afew practice shots just to get the feel of thesteep downward angle. I asked my buddy totoss his cap on the ground for a target and,amazingly, I hit it twice in a row. After thatmy confidence was back.

By 4 p.m. I was in my stand, preparedto sit it out until dark. All was quiet andstill as the sun sank slowly toward thetreetops, and it appeared that the day wouldbe chalked up to another nice day ofviewing the world from a tree. It was 7:15when I heard the solid footfall of a heavyanimal behind me. “It’s show time,” Iwhispered to myself.

I had arranged my treestand so that myback was toward the ridge trail. It wouldnot serve me well to be facing an oncoming

elk. Better that it should walk under andpast me rendering a close going-away shot.I craned my neck to the right and watchedthe bull walk casually up the trail until hewas no more than two steps behind mytree, where he stopped abruptly in histracks. He sensed something wasn’t right,but he couldn’t figure out what. It was adeja vu of countless whitetail hunts where Ihad watched wary bucks do the same thing.The question was whether this bull wouldcalm down and walk on or blow up andhightail it into the surrounding timber.After a tense and breathless pause, the bullbacked up a step, turned away from me,and walked eastward through the thickwillow shroud along the lakeshore.Eventually, he disappeared into the aspensand my heart sank. It was sooooooooooclose!

An hour elapsed as I strained to hearanother footfall behind me, but there wasnone. Shooting light was fading fast, and Ihad already resigned myself to tomorrow’sevening shift when I saw something move

Thornberry used both moose

leg sinew (left) and leg sinew

from white-tailed deer to back

his Osage bow.“Making the bow is as challenging and fulfilling as the hunt for

which it is intended,” says Thornberry.


in the timber to my right. A quick studythrough my binocs revealed new hope. Itwas the same bull coming back my way onanother trail that passed directly in front ofmy stand, perpendicular to the trail he hadbeen on originally. If he maintained hisheading, he would walk broadside right infront of me at less than fifteen yards.Suddenly, I was grateful for my additionalelevation, without which I would havebeen within hand shaking distance of thiselk. He was twenty-five yards away andstill on a perfect heading as I rehearsed myshot routine in my mind: grip—anchorpoint—release—follow through. Thiswould be my first shot at an animal withthis new bow, and I knew from my practicesession that if I let my adrenalin overridemy attention to detail, this elk would be assafe as a day in jail.

As his head passed me by, offering me aquartering away shot, I drew the arrowback under my right eye and touched mycheek with my fingertips. Even though my

arrow left my string at the paltry speed of160 feet-per-second, it seemed to reach thebull with lightning speed, burying itselfinto his rib cage. Instantly, I knew he was agoner. He made one bound upon impactand stumbled forward another five or sixsteps and collapsed within thirty yards ofme. My arrow clipped a rib on its way in,passed through both lungs and the top ofhis heart.

My reaction was one of amazement andrelief. “Who gets a ten-yard, quarteringaway shot at a bull elk from a treestand?” Isaid—audibly I think. All question ofwhether or not my bow was enoughmedicine for an elk were answered forever.In fact, as I review my bowhunting shots atelk, which have all been with compoundbows from 70 to 80 pounds, no bull hasfallen faster to my arrow than this one onthe ground before me. It was one of thoseglowing highlights in my hunting career,which now exceeds 55 years. I still love itwhen a plan comes together!

To order,call 888-330-3822 or visit

www.horsefeathersranch.com

A razor-sharp, 2-blade, cut-on-

contact broadhead burns up so

little energy slicing into an

animal that a 46-pound bow is

plenty deadly—even on an

animal as large as an elk.


ello fellow archers, it’s time to share a couple of recipeideas with you.

In this batch, I put a different spin on the humblemeatball. Just about every culture on the planet lays claim to someform of meatball or fritter. Part of the fun of cooking today is thecross over blends of cultures you can use to create interesting andflavorful dishes.

The rice blend I use emulates Middle Eastern and Moroccandishes with the addition of fruit and nuts and incorporates theEuropean touch of serving game meat with fruit sauces. Finally, thesherry sauce is creamed with sour cream which results in a flavorsimilar to the Swedish style and the starch of the dish is the Germannoodle. The spaetzle, which I cook in broth, can be served hot outof the broth or sautéed in butter, which is my favorite.

I use ground venison and pork sausage with the addition offinely minced almonds, golden raisins, dried cherries, and driedcurrants in a rice blend. This all adds flavor and moisture.

I make the rice blend first, then cool it before mixing it with themeat. Once mixed, I form the balls, roll the balls in coarse breadcrumbs, and then bake them twice, once from raw and then in thesauce to glaze them well.

PrimitiveCHEF®

H

Venison Meatballswith a

and Sour Cream Glazeover Spaetzle

Sherry

RICE 1 cup rice 2 cups chicken broth½ cup each finely diced celery, carrot, and onion¼ cup toasted almonds, chopped fine1/3 cup each finely chopped golden raisins, dried cherries, and driedcurrants ½ stick butter1 teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon white pepper

Combine the above ingredients and simmer covered until the riceis tender and the liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

MEATBALLS (yield: 16-24 depending on size of scoop)2 pounds ground venison8 ounces pork sausage2 eggs 2 tablespoons fresh parsley¼ cup breadcrumbs½ cup half and half3-4 cups rice from recipe above

Blend the above ingredients, then form into uniformly sized balls(I used a small ice cream scoop with trigger to help with this step).

Finally, roll the balls in coarse breadcrumbs, place on an oiledbaking sheet, and bake in a moderate oven for 30-40 minutes.

SOUR CREAM SHERRY SAUCE3 cups good quality beef broth½ cup sherry wine1 tablespoon chopped garlic

Simmer the above ingredients for ten minutes. In a bowl, mix onecup sour cream with a half cup flour. Drizzle the hot broth mixtureinto the sour cream/flour mixture and then put the combination backin the pot and simmer on low heat until it is thick. Salt and pepper totaste.

GLAZING THE MEATBALLS Place the meatballs in a casserole dish, cover them with sauce,

and bake about 20 minutes, turning them once to make sure they arewell glazed. Sprinkle with dried currants.

SPAETZLESpaetzle is found in most grocery stores these days. Check the

ethnic food aisle. Bring six cups of salted water or broth to a boil, addspaetzle. Simmer until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain and servehot or brown in butter and then serve.

I hope you find time to give this batch of recipes a try with friendsand loved ones. The meatballs without sauce will freeze well foranother day. Have fun, experiment, and make the recipe your own.

Until next time, eat well and shoot straight.

–Chef William E. Campbell


the truth and discounts the realities ofthe sport including the intimacy. Everydeer I ever shot with traditionalbowhunting has died within less than aminute. Every deer I have ever hit with mytraditional bow and arrow has died, nonehave been wounded. How lucky would weall be to avoid the suffering and lingering ofdeath in the same way animals do? Theydie quickly and humanely to the sharpbroadhead launched from the wooden bow.Most humans endure the much worse fateof lingering death than the prey of thetraditional bowhunter.

Killing with traditional archery is notsterile. It is up close and personal. It is nota cocked and locked bolt launched from atrigger 40 or 50 yards from a deer. Nor is itthe humane kill from a bullet fired from200 yards with surgical precision and abang flop. There is a well-deserved placefor rifle hunting in game management, andit has my full support. However, it istraditional bowhunting that gives me themagic of that up close and personal

intimate encounter that fully involves all ofmy senses. It is my intent to kill the deerthat comes within my effective range and Ihave no apologies to the deer or anyone. Itis the cycle of life and death, of predatorand prey, of omnivore and herbivore. It ishow I believe God intended.

Traditional bowhunting is not foreveryone, just the same way that golf orcomputers are not for everyone. However,traditional bowhunting is magic for me,and my life would be much less complete

without it. I want to be in an intimateencounter with the animal I kill. I want tofeel the tension of the string on my fingersand hear the impact of my lethal arrow. Iwant to own the kill and respect theanimal and God who provided it to me.When I sit down and serve venison to myfamily, I thank God for the animal and forthe magical intimate encounter thattraditional bowhunting provided. Theintimacy of traditional bowhunting isindeed magic for me!


c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 8 0

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Making Bamboo Arrowsby Kay and Jaap Koppedrayer

A bamboo arrow is a thing of beautyThis booklet offers you guidance on how to workwith bamboo to craft your own arrows. It covers:

• Arrow Bamboo• Harvesting Bamboo• Choosing Raw Shafts• Straightening the Shafts• Shaving, Skinning, and

Smoothing the Shafts• Inserting Nocks• Tying off the Fletching• Fletching Using Natural Feathers

The price is $9.00 +S &H

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VHS & DVDs by John McPherson

VHS: $29.95 + S&H / DVD: $32 + S&H

VHS: $24.95 + S&H / DVD: $27 + S&H

In Lettin' Loose you'll follow a dedicated traditional bowhunter through one season across five states as he "Lets Loose" on elk, mule deer, whitetail, antelope, turkey, big horn sheep, javelina, hogs, and small game. Watch the arrow fly to its mark again and again as over 30 animals are harvested under fair chase conditions with a traditional bow. Come experience the heart-pounding intensity as we stalk, hunt, and harvest a variety of North America's wariest game.• 2 hours• Over 30 huntsHarvested animals were used to feed hungry families25% of DVD profits will go to charities that help disabled and terminally ill children experience the outdoors.

To order, call 888-330-3822or visit www.horsefeathersranch.com

Price $17.95 + S & H

The Crooked Stick

-A history of the

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Through a remarkable command of

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Figures in the past like William Wallace,

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C L A S S I F I E D A D P L A C E M E N T I N F O R M A T I O N

BOOKS & VIDEOS

Full Circle Primitive Hunting & Skills DVD

Whitetail Deer hunting with primitive bow

and arrow! Come Full Circle with Thad,

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making cane arrows, sinew backed bow,

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RENDEZVOUS & SHOOTS

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hat is it that makes us lovetraditional bowhunting sodeeply? Have you ever

pondered this question? While daydreamingin the Pennsylvania countryside waiting tosee if a whitetail will approach my set up,sooner or later this question consistentlyenters my mind. I think it is only naturalfor many of us to ponder this question.After all, there is nothing on this earthquite the equal to many of us as traditionalbowhunting. We think about it all yearlong, ache to do it in the off-season,practice as much as we can, and spendhours planning our hunts and trying ourbest to figure out our prey. We are indeed aunique breed our loved ones may notunderstand.

I have asked many traditional bowhunters why they love traditionalbowhunting so deeply. As you mightimagine, I have received many answers.However, ask enough people and you findthat most of the reasons repeat themselvesinto a few core answers. I guess, in the end,each person has to find their own answer.Perhaps there are many out there like mewho need years and years to find that onetrue answer.

Most of the reasons many folks whofind the magic in traditional archery followa few core paths. Some love the connectionstretching from deep into the past tomodern day. This history of the sportstretches from a long lineage, fromprehistory through the Ice Man, to Ishi, toFred Bear, and to our modern day stewardslike the Wensel brothers.

Other folks find their love oftraditional bowhunting in the challenge.Certainly, the greater the challenge, thesweeter the taste of success. After a longdry spell, with animals just out of range or

missed shots, the connection of a well-placed shot is pure sweetness and joywhen it finally happens.

Others might find their magic in thedistinction of stepping away from themasses and enjoying a passion with amuch smaller following compared to otherforms of hunting. The small tent instead ofthe “big tent” mentality. Certainly, theseare all very understandable reasons why somany of us find the magic in traditionalarchery. However, let me challenge each ofthese reasons and say that perhaps themagic in traditional archery lies within therealm of intimacy.

When humans hear the word intimacy,thoughts naturally turn to sexual intimacy.While sex is certainly intimate, it is not thistype of activity to which I am referring—unless there exists some connectionbetween traditional bowhunting and sex,which if exists, would probably be fodderfor another magazine! No, what I havefound that makes traditional bowhuntingso magical is the intimacy of the actinvolved. I mostly hunt whitetail deer withmy recurve or longbow. I am limited tofifteen yards to kill my prey. At thatdistance and oftentimes closer, I am verymuch up close and personal with the deer.

When luck shines down on me and abeautiful whitetail deer enters my killingzone, I observe the deer intently, stare intoits eyes, see its muscles working as it takeseach step, sometimes even see the breathescaping from its nostrils. As the animal iscalm and broadside, the time arrives and Iloosen my fingers on the taut string andwatch the arrow spinning through the coolautumn air en route to my prey. Then, Ilisten for that beautiful sound as themystical flight of the arrow strikes. At theintimate range of fifteen, ten, five yards, Ihear the sounds of broadhead breakingbone and slicing through tissue. Finally, Ihear and see the dash of the animal andwatch as it humanely dies usually mereseconds later. This is the intimateencounter that sets traditional bowhuntingapart and makes it so magical to me.

To many of the masses, bowhuntingwhether traditional or otherwise isconsidered cruel. This false understandingis sad and misguided. This notion evolvesfrom a view of bowhunting that is far from

W

80 Primitive Archer Magazine Volume 20 Issue 2c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 6 8

BackTRAILS

Poet’sCORNERMiss Bowhunting

by Randy Stiver

I miss bowhunting deer, my dear.

I miss the quivering arrow near.

I miss the archer’s challenge,

that one good shot of feather-

whistling broadhead bolt

that carves its atmospheric groove

o’er fields of corn with deer amove.

I miss so much bowhunting deer.

I miss mostly though my whitetails and my

mules,

my sitka, blacktail, elk and moose,

and long before my yeoman bowing’s

through

I’m sure I’ll miss my caribou.

I miss the sundown-shadowed flight

of bow bullets launched against

descending night.

I miss the singing, cedar-scented shaft

that slices cleanly morning mist.

I must admit that, yes, you’re right I fear,

I’ve mostly missed bowhunting deer.

Where Lies

B y M i c h a e l T. H u f f

in Traditional bowhuntingthe“Magic”

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Advertising Information Available FromPRIMITIVE ARCHER ADVERTISINGPO Box 79306 • Houston, TX 77279-9306(713) 467-8202 phone (713) 467-4979 faxEmail your listings or advertisements to Marie [email protected]

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