Making wood arrows

How to's, questions, and build alongs for those traditional archers who are interested in building their own custom arrows.
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Captainkirk
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Re: Making wood arrows

#31 Post by Captainkirk »

dahyer wrote:SLOW CLAP for the Captain! Well said!!!


Jason and I have had this conversation...about the decline in hunting skill and woodlore and the use of "hi-tech trad gear" (what kind of oxymoron is THAT, anyway?) Seems like many people these days want the easy way around what ever it is they are doing, even if hunting with old-fashioned trad gear.
Not that I'm knocking anyone's choice or approach to hunting; it's a very personal decision that one has to make based on their own circumstances and set of beliefs. I don't need the meat, although I do enjoy it and am thankful when I tag out. There are far easier routes than the trad route, though...I choose that because it puts me the closest to level turf with my quarry, one-on-one. If I was hunting for survival you can bet I wouldn't be bow hunting at all. Even modern compound gear with lighted sights, levels, expandable broadheads and carbons with vanes can allow the modern bowhunter shots out past 40 yards. You lose something when you remove yourself from the playing field IMHO, much the way a sniper loses the feel and emotion of the battlefield. To be successful as a trad hunter requires you to up close and personal; maybe that's why I enjoy it so much.
Aim small, miss small!

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Shadowhntr
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Re: Making wood arrows

#32 Post by Shadowhntr »

I've got some thoughts about some of this id like to inject if I may?
I'm all for shooting woodys. I've loved them for many years and probably will the rest of my life. There are some advantages with woods you cannot get with anything else. There are some disadvantage with woods too. However every shaft type is the same way in having advantages and disadvantages. Of the 5 shaft material types I know of, Ive killed deer with all of the big 3. One thing I noticed, is I had to aim, hit anchor, get a good release, and follow through for all 3 of them to do their job. I've shot TONS of woods and also tons of aluminums and carbon too now. There are a few very minor details but I never feel like any are better at flight, or being effective at killing. I don't have to do a thing different to shoot any of them well.

Trad is a funny word. Honestly...where does it really begin? Let me State on the record that I have no issues with where anyone draws that line, provided they are shooting a recurve or longbow of some type. But here is where problems often arise in the differences that we as individuals see trad.
For instance...no disrespect at all Kirk I'm using you for an example, since I think we've talked about this some. In Kirks view, he likes woods because they give him that old timey feel he is looking for. It takes him AWAY from modernism. That's great that is why we do this! However at the same time, he and virtually every last one of us use bows with state of the art string material, and powered by the most advanced fiberglass limbs, and made with the most advanced designs we as men know. Why not shoot all wood self bows...with natural strings? Isn't that more trad and farther from modernism? It is all true...and that is why it's all up to each individual to decide what gives them what it is they seek out if this thing. Thanks Kirk for being patient with me. No intent on picking on you at all...just used you as a point maker bro.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Longbowfanatic
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Re: Making wood arrows

#33 Post by Longbowfanatic »

Thank you gentlemen for your insights and opinions. As far as my views concerning my joy of traditional archery, it runs a wide gambit. I shoot 3-d with an Olympic style bare bow, flipper rest, carbon arrows, and routinely shoot out to 60 yards and beyond during practice sessions, and most recently in NFAA Field rounds. I also own wood bows and love shooting woodies. When I hunt, my self imposed limit is 15 yards and in for a number of reasons. This year, I have hunted both with a metal riser, ILF bow with carbon arrows as well as a wood recurve with woodies. I get joy out of shooting archery, love watching arrows fly and strive very hard to improve my form/shooting with whatever bow I am shooting at the moment. That said, this is my archery journey. I respect everyone's choice of what bow & arrow they shoot, and whatever style of archery form each archer uses to shoot the arrow. I think one of the unique facets of trad archery is that each archer can shoot their bow with many different shooting styles and a wide range of bows and arrow components, some sophisticated, some primitive and a range in between. The choice of bow, arrows and technique employed by the archer to shoot that bow are a very personal thing.

Captainkirk
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Re: Making wood arrows

#34 Post by Captainkirk »

Shadowhntr wrote: Thanks Kirk for being patient with me. No intent on picking on you at all...just used you as a point maker bro.
That's perfectly OK, and you make a very good point. If I had the time and resources, I would very likely be constructing selfbows with obsidian points...and it's entirely possible I will get there some day. For now, I have chosen the Golden Age of Archery as my target goal, 1950-1975, and I think I'm pretty much 'there' with the exception of my Sage. If someone handed me a Border Covert Hunter along with handful of expandable BH carbons to launch, I would probably be giddy with excitement to try it out. Same with a selfbow and cane arrows. I guess I settled on my 'era' because it reminds me of what I saw and read in my youth, and it's coincidentally the heyday of my hero, Fred Bear.
We all have our 'thing' and should live it out, no matter what anyone else thinks or has deemed 'better' or more proper. Only YOU have the right to make that decision, nobody else. Yep, I'm guilty of living in the past. And I like it there! 8-)
Aim small, miss small!

stumper
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Re: Making wood arrows

#35 Post by stumper »

Captainkirk wrote:
Shadowhntr wrote: Thanks Kirk for being patient with me. No intent on picking on you at all...just used you as a point maker bro.
That's perfectly OK, and you make a very good point. If I had the time and resources, I would very likely be constructing selfbows with obsidian points...and it's entirely possible I will get there some day. For now, I have chosen the Golden Age of Archery as my target goal, 1950-1975, and I think I'm pretty much 'there' with the exception of my Sage. If someone handed me a Border Covert Hunter along with handful of expandable BH carbons to launch, I would probably be giddy with excitement to try it out. Same with a selfbow and cane arrows. I guess I settled on my 'era' because it reminds me of what I saw and read in my youth, and it's coincidentally the heyday of my hero, Fred Bear.
We all have our 'thing' and should live it out, no matter what anyone else thinks or has deemed 'better' or more proper. Only YOU have the right to make that decision, nobody else. Yep, I'm guilty of living in the past. And I like it there! 8-)
Awesome post... I love that era! Personally, I am all over the place but I definitely love me some Fred!!
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

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Shadowhntr
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Re: Making wood arrows

#36 Post by Shadowhntr »

Yup....for some folks Fred was the beginning of trad....others Howard Hill. Still others think Ishi is that line....and still others Otzi was the beginning....

It always depends on what we perceive trad to be.

Me? I don't even think about it much. I do what I do because its what I like doing and it's very effective and all I need. I enjoy watching the arrow hit...something sight bow users dont experience often. I've always knew no matter what bow or arrows I use...im staying with 20 yards or less for whitetail. That being the case I can use a wide variety of weaponry and projectiles. I'm the limiting factor in this thing not my weapons. I don't see how or why people of today hold this trad thing up on a pedestal as if it's some thing only attainable if you are special. Not very long ago it was all there was and was considered the normal average thing to do . Now people believe it to be some guru thing with a touch of wizardry. I love trad, but in the end it's a chosen path that should feel normal and natural . It's worked for thousands of years...how can I think I'm anything but normal when my life of trad is but a speck in archery time.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

stumper
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Re: Making wood arrows

#37 Post by stumper »

For me getting back into archery consisted of the magic of the video hunts of Fred Bear..... I would watch youtube after youtube and drool over that grizzly bow I wanted so bad..... It has truly become and obsession. I love it all.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Captainkirk
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Re: Making wood arrows

#38 Post by Captainkirk »

Well said, Jason and Dave both! It's guys like you that make me know this is where I want to be in my chosen 'affliction'.
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
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Re: Making wood arrows

#39 Post by Captainkirk »

So, with all the above information, I think we have all come to an agreement (to answer the question posed earlier) that no, dead-nuts spine, weight and straightness are not 'necessary' requirements for the wooden hunting arrow shaft. Naturally, tuning to the 'nth' degree can't hurt...but with shots being limited to 20 and under, any reasonably straight, reasonably spined and weight-matched arrow with a sharp broadhead will get the job done...within the range limitations of a non-sighted, bare bow of legal hunting weight. Is that a pretty fair assumption and agreed upon? If not, please elaborate as to WHY not.
Aim small, miss small!

stumper
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Re: Making wood arrows

#40 Post by stumper »

in total agreement!
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

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