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Display until March 25, 2013
SWISS CONNECTION
Passing It On Since 1992
In This Issue:
Finding Arrowheads, Making Arrowheads Page 20 Off-Season Carp Page 44 Selfbows and Hand Tools Page 60
plus:
Milkweed Bowstring Page 46 The North Georgia Knap-In and Primitive Skills Festival Page 52
Volume 21 Issue 1
$7.99US&CAN
02
09128 46220
Feb. 2013/Mar. 2013
Feb./Mar. 2013 Volume 21 Issue 1
Primitive Archer Magazine
Inside This Issue

F E A T U R E S
10 20
When Hunters Go A-Warring

By NILS VISSER
Finding Arrowheads, Making Arrowheads

By KAY KOPPEDRAYER
22 34 39 44 52
Living in Guaran Land

By JOHN BORGESON
Milkweed Bowstring
By JOHN BYBEE
The Swiss ConnectionPart I

By JAY RED HAWK
Off-Season Carp
By TIM LEWIS
The North Georgia Knap-In and Primitive Skills Festival

By BILLY BERGER
60 64
Selfbows and Hand Tools

By RYAN GILL
The Triangle or Fitz-Rauf Target

By JOHN R. EDGERTON
On the Co er
Medicine Pouch by Tom Lucas www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1 1
D E P A R T M E N T S
Hunting Column
6 Vanishing Turkeys
By TONY KINTON
A Closer Look
8 Product Reviews
By TONY KINTON
Primiti e Archer Maga"ine

A Wholly Owned Division of Bigger Than That Productions-LLC
Book Re ie!
9 Straight and True: A Select History of the Arrow by Hugh D.H. Soar
By Ed Ingold
From the Pit$

18 Flintknapping FAQ
By PATRICK BLANK
PUBLISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monroe M. Luther PRESIDENT & CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael M. Moore MANAGING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed Ingold TECHNICAL EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marc St. Louis HUNTING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tony Kinton EVENTS EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marie Luther EDITOR EMERITUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gene Langston COPY EDITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amy Staehr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marie Luther ASSOCIATE EDITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patrick Blank, Bill Campbell, Tony Kinton, Kay Koppedrayer, Mickey Lotz, Steve Parker, Cipriano Rivera & Marc St Louis
Ask PA
32 Weekend Project: Target Bow
By MARC ST. LOUIS
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Mark Baggett, Cipriano Rivera, Pat Brennan, Keenan Howard, Ryan OSullivan, Eddie Parker, Steve Parker, Justin Snyder, Josh Baty, Marc St. Louis, James Parker, Marie Luther and Paul Wolfe
Bo!s of the Month

48 From www.primitivearcher.com
By CIPRIANO RIVERA
SOCIAL MEDIA MODERATOR . . .Patrick Blank & Marie Luther DESIGN & LAYOUT . . . .Aaron Bergman/Bergman Graphics
PRIMITIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE strives for accuracy and honesty in its advertisements and articles but assumes no responsibility for content. 2013 by PRIMITIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE. No part of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the express written permission of PRIMITIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE. PRIMITIVE ARCHER is published six times a year. Printed in the U.S.A.
Medicine Man#
56 Tulip Poplar
By STEVE PARKER
#
Primiti e Chef
66
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Poet%s Corner
80 Down Wind Danger
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Backtrails
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www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
nother year has come and gone and, with it, the milestone of twenty years of Primitive Archer Magazine. As 2013 is upon us, I guess our next milestone will be our 25th anniversary. Needless to say, a lot of changes have been made during this time, and one of the most apparent is the effect computers and the Internet have had on our business. A great deal of our readers may make bows and arrows out of trees, bushes, and rocks, but when it comes to communication many of them light-up cyberspace with their e-mails and website participation. Most of the Letters to the Editor I receive now come in the form of e-mails or comments in the Letter to Editor section of the Primitive Archer message boards on the Primitive Archer website, rather than the old snail mail letter writing that used to be the norm. As a result, Primitive Archer Magazine is now available as an electronic publication as well as, as my grandkids say, an old and fashioned grandpa printed media. While many of us still enjoy the printed versions laying around the house, there are several advantages some of our more up-todate readers enjoy, such as earlier access to the latest issue (our eMag version is released ahead of the mailed magazine), i-Pad or electronic reader compatibility for those on the go who want to access the magazine anytime from anywhere, whether it be between planes or waiting in the doctor or dentists office. As a matter of fact, you can now sit and read it by the campfire of your favorite hunting lodge or in your hunting blind if you have the right kind of telephone. It may not be for all of us, but its certainly something to consider, especially when you take into account that the PA e-Mag comes as a subscription for substantially less money than the printed version. Regardless of your preference, we strongly encourage you to consider subscribing to our magazine. In addition to costing less than purchasing it at any retail outlet, youre assured of receiving it on a regular basis without missing an issue. It is delivered directly to your home or office, whether its your mailbox, or downloaded
on your computer, phone, i-Pad, or digital reader screen. By the way, speaking of the digital versions, Primitive Archer is now available for subscription on Barnes & Nobles Nook e-reader. So all you Nook owners, here is one more benefit of your Nook. If you are already a subscriber, either electronically or through the traditional printed form, we want to thank you for your continuing support. We hope the wide variety of subjects youll find throughout this issue is of interest to you. We would love to hear from you as to how were doing. We would also love to hear some of you reminisce about your favorite issue or article and why. Please drop us a line and well post it in our Letter to Editor column. Ed Ingold
From the Editor,
To:EDITOR
Need my Medicine
Do you have the Medicine Man columns available as a packaged set? Or ... do you know of some way I may be able to contact the author? That is the one part of Primitive Archer I look forward to the most ... but the entire magazine is great. Adrian H. Glen, Burnie, MD Adrian, As of yet, we do not have Medicine Man articles as a packaged set, but we are working on putting together a CD. Stay tuned, and well let you know when it will be available. Ed Ingold one of those flakey rock knockers, I do appreciate the new column from Patrick Blank. Thanks for keeping the magazine fresh without slipping away from the core values. John Halverson John, Thanks for your note. Youre right, I do not get a lot of Letters to the Editor and Im grateful for every one I receive. Hearing from our readers is so important to us in our continuing effort to provide a product that is of value. Ed Ingold
Road Reader
To Primitive Archer, First I would like to say thanks for producing such a great magazine. Being a trucker I dont get the time I would like to practice the craft of bow making and arrow construction. However, a recent article on finding flint to make arrowheads was right up my alley. As I drive across this country I now look for possible flint deposits. Its very fun and makes my drives a lot more interesting. I do not recall ever seeing an article on how to process sinew for a bowstring, or how to split and process the wood for a self bow without using modern technology like belt saws, etc. You may have printed such articles, I just dont recollect any. Anywho, I just think a primitive bow should not include epoxy and exotic woods, although I do appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of such bows. I would like to see more bows made by a campfire rubbed over an obsidian edge and some guys knee. Either way, I really enjoy reading your magazine and keep the good work as you help keep tradition alive. Donald Gilbreath Kings Mt., NC Donald, I sent your letter to Marie Luther to ask her thoughts and this is what she sent back to me. In scanning our back issues, Volume 1 Issue 4 does have an article entitled Sinew String written by Mike Bare. You can find it on page 9. Also in Volume 15 Issue 2 there is an article by John McPherson titled Primitive Bowstring. In this article, McPherson discusses several different mediums for primitive string including sinew and says that it is his standard for bowstrings. As far as splitting and processing wood with only primitive tools, we have a few articles that can be helpful. For example, Bob Uptagrafft wrote an article for Volume 8 Issue 1 entitled Making Your Own Varnish. It can be found on page 17. Volume 7 Issue 2 gives instructions on black walnut stain in an article by Paul Hogue, page 12, and a great article entitled Laying Out a Bow Primitive Style by Bob Linksvayer, page 14. Volume 17 Issue 2 discusses Primitive Supplies for the Primitive Archer on page 14. This year
Within Range
Dear Ed, In the article Pestilence and Pleasure by Tony Kinton in the Oct./Nov. issue, there was a picture of a canvas tent used for hunting camp. Can you tell me/us where it is available from please? Regards, Steve Steve, That picture is of a David Ellis Range Tent. David can probably be reached by simply typing his name into a search engine like Google. The official website is Cowboycamps.net. David is from Durango, Colorado. Two of us here have the Range Tent. David built these for us a couple of years back, and we have kept them in regular use. We both love them. Im sure that is the case with anyone who has one. They go up in a flash and are highly weather-worthy. I was talking with Ellis recently and he says that he has made some improvements. That is hard to imagine! Those things were perfect as they were. I am not sure that he still makes this exact tent; it may have been replaced by the newer model. Yep, I love my Range Tent! Tony Kinton
Expanding the Subject

Dear Editor, I dont understand why you never feature arrowsmiths in your magazine. Im sure there is plenty of them to interview and expound their views as to what is a great arrow and why. The fanciest bow in the world is nothing without a good arrow. There are so many different ideas as to which is best for given situations. Wouldnt it be a great feature article in each issue? I thought that a magazine for archers would include articles about bows, arrows, quivers, strings and all the equipment that is used in the sport of archery. What are your thoughts on this? James Garoutle Grand Junction, CO James, If you peruse our back issues, you will find several articles regarding archery equipment including several on making arrows. This issue alone has an article on making a bowstring along with much information in our From the Pit and Ask PA columns. Just go to our home page www.primitivearcher.com. Then along the left hand side you will see a link that is titled Back Issue Overview it is the fifth link from the top. Once you click on that you will be taken to a list of every magazine from the past 20 years and the list of articles contained in each one. I know you will find a plethora of information on all of your favorite topics. Dont forget the back issue boxed set special we are running. Enjoy. Ed Ingold
Dont Forget to Write

Dear Editor, I heard you were concerned when you had not received any letters to the editor and were scrambling to find something for the upcoming issue of P .A. Most guys are happy they arent getting their butt chewed. By the way, even though I am not 4
WR I T E T H E E D I T O R
EMAIL: ed '#%@$% ! ' )ea%che%.c#! #% POSTED MAIL: The Ed '#%, P% ! ' )e A%che%, 4579 G#&h('e D%., R )e%'#", UT 84096-7761
in Volume 20 Issue 1, Mike Yancey discusses making your own hide glue. These may not all relate directly to your topic but are in that general area. We would love to hear how the readers process their wood primitive-style so send me a letter so that I can publish it in the next issue. All these issues are available as back issues and can be ordered. Thank you Donald for your interest and safe driving out on those roads especially during this Holiday Season. Ed Ingold
Building with Stone

Dear Editor, After hunting last season with an old Pearson recurve I bought on ebay, I was intrigued by the ways of traditional hunting
and picked up my first issue of Primitive Archer. It inspired me to try carving my own bow. I went for a pyramid/flat bow and, in keeping with the primitive spirit, only used hand tools (no machines). My dad assisted me in quartering staves from a hickory tree and after a year, Im finally done with it! It is 59" long and draws 50# @ 27". I cant tell you how nervous I was about it breaking and was ecstatic when I tillered it and shot it! I used many of your articles as reference as well as The Bowyers Bible and YouTube videos. A lot of my friends thought I was crazy, but now they are intrigued! I even have a little archer to practice with! Thanks so much for your amazing magazine and all the inspiration! Sincerely, Brian Stone
HuntingCOLUMN
or thousands of hunters, particularly here in the United States, this time of year points the hunting spirit in one focused direction and that is to the wild turkey. These grand birds captivate the mind and consume the efforts of those who pursue them like few other species of game can. Turkeys are regal, amusing, intriguing, and addictive. They are masters at evasion and can be one of the most frustrating creatures God ever created when it comes to hunting. Rareprobably nonexistentis the hunter who has not been made to look completely unskilled when dealing with these birds. Switch from a shotgun to a primitive or traditional bow, and life can become complex and cumbersome if you are expecting a turkey dinner. Oh, you saw them during deer season. Had one or two drift by your stand or blind and offer untold opportunities for a viable shot had the season been open. But in the spring, hunters are dealing with a unique situation. This situation is matching wits with a gobbling bird and doing your best to coax him into range. The script changes under such circumstances. But rather than dealing with how to do this and which call to use when, lets step back to the most rudimentary aspect of turkey hunting, and that is finding turkeys. You can no longer rely exclusively on those fall and winter sightings, for the turkeys may have vanished. Wild turkeys tend to have clear preferences for specific habitat, and those preferences, as well as the habitat, change with the seasons. This leads to a wandering bird that covers more ground than many would think possible. Reliable research has recently shown that in some areas the birds will have a total home range of six square miles. In locales of wide-open country to which the hunter has access, this may be a minor obstacle. But move that into more closed country such as the Southeast and add to it the fact that most hunters have limited acreage, and the hunting can get complicated, even Spartan. The primary routine for fall/winter birds is simple survival. Gobblers may be clustered together in rather large flocks. Hens and their young will generally be separate from these older males and can at times be collected into gatherings that are astounding in size. All these, whether bachelor groups of gobblers or family groups of hens and young, are simply seeking a measure of security and food near roosting sites. Prime habitat choices for these are hardwoods and other mastproducing trees. Stands of oak, beech, or pecan will likely hold turkeys because these trees are dropping mast that is to the turkeys liking. These are also the places that many deer hunters frequent, thus the reason for those sightings as winter begins to grab hold. Turkeys will generally stay close until the food supply dwindles and hormonal changes begin to dictate behavior. This occurs with the change of seasons from winter to spring. If that 6 www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
Vanishing Turkeys
B y To n y K i n t o n
winter habitat is in proximity to areas that meet the needs of spring-time turkeys, those deer-hunt sightings are viable. But with small tracts of land and restricted access, the turkeys can literally disappear from what earlier appeared a veritable storehouse of birds if habitat is not suitable for the spring regimen. Topography can also play a role. Turkeys may use bottomlands in fall/winter, but in areas where spring floods threaten, the hens will opt for more upland habitats, places where nests wont be destroyed by rising water. And like fall/winter ranges, spring turf will be chosen for its available foods. Grasses, insectsthese are high on the list of preferred foods. Potential nesting sites are also crucial, so hens will gravitate toward tall weeds and grasses that they would have avoided earlier. Such spots afford cover for the nest itself and for the poults shortly after hatching. And the gobblers lose their minds! They mingle with the hens and young. They strut and gobble and posture and fight. No longer are they a separate entity. They are now for a brief time part of the overall collection of turkeys, and it is these that we turkey hunters seek most often. There may be a brief window during this time of madness that stacks the odds in favor of the hunter. This will often be determined by how the breeding cycle coincides with the season. If it hits, it is magic. I refer here to those times when the hens have bred and are setting on eggs or tending their new broods. This takes the hens off the breeding market and puts them fully into a maternal mindset. That leaves lonesome gobblers still in search of companionship, at least until their own hormones cool to a manageable rage. These gobblers will at times practically run over a hunter who sounds even remotely like a hen. There are experienced turkey hunters who declare that such a gobbler will come to the sound of a squeaking gate or slamming truck door. Perhaps, but they surely will come to a call. So, what are you to do this spring if you go to your favorite deer spot, that place where you saw untold numbers of turkeys in November, and find there are no birds available? Do you stop hunting? Well, only if you have nowhere else to go. If there are options, do what the turkeys do. Look for suitable habitat, habitat with grasses that are beginning to green up. Habitat that has grown-up fields festooned with weeds and heavy cover. Habitat that is not subject to flooding. Habitat that, well, spring turkeys like. Maybe it is right there close to those fall/winter haunts. Probably it is not. Remain mobile; determine to explore; stay with the pursuit. Your turkey-hunting success can easily depend upon such flexibility. For more information about Tony Kinton, check out his website at www.tonykinton.com
CloserLOOK
B y To n y K i n t o n
Product
Reviews
CamoBands
body. Additional vents in the frame increase ventilation, thus assuring a cooling effect. Vegetation is placed under flex bands that are on the outside (front) of the frame. Frames come in medium and large and should fit most any users thigh, shin, or bicep. There is also a cap with bands attached. Those on the sides have a similar frame system to help hold everything in place and prevent sagging. The advantages are clear. Even when the user is wearing traditional camouflage clothing, CamoBands can add to the 3-D impact. If the user opts to dispense with camo clothes, CamoBands can easily serve as the first-line in this endeavor of becoming invisible. And scent is not to be overlooked. Fresh vegetation cut or broken off and placed on the body can help cover human odor. As a result, the user blends in with the environment of any given location both in the visual and olfactory elements. An expansion of a centuries-old tactic is now high-tech. A most useful idea, indeed! For additional information regarding CamoBands, go to CamoBands.com (see classified ad on page 78).
Every hunter or wildlife photographer knows the value of remaining undetected. It is practically essential if close work is involved. That is perhaps the reason that camouflage clothing in a whirlwind of patterns is so popular. All work with some measure of efficiency. But there is another approach to camo that can be employed rather than or in addition to clothing. This is the timehonored system of using natural vegetation as concealment. It is, after all, what the animals see daily and takes second place to nothing when it comes to hiding. CamoBands has introduced a clever and practical way to easily use vegetation. And, it allows that use to be fully portable. No need to wish that bush was a bit closer to the subject of the hunters or photographers interest. It can now move with the user. CamoBands hold vegetation on the user by a functional, rugged, and comfortable system. Two adjustable elastic bands are mounted into a high-tech rubber frame that has tiny follicles on the back. These allow air to circulate between the frame and users
With the cost of everything going up! you owe it to yourself to subscribe to P.A. Why subscribe? With the printed hard copy you" &% SAVE BIG BUCKS!!!!! '% Have the magazine delivered to your home or office (% Have it in your hands quicker than waiting on newsstand delivery )% Never have to worry about store availability and missing an issue Primitive Archer NOW offers an electronic subscription package that can be accessed not only by your home or laptop computer but also through smart phones! I$pads and I$pods# With the digital copy you" To Order: Use form on &% SAVE BIGGER BUCKS!!!!! page 69 or go to '% Have it instantly delivered from the PA website www.primitivearcher.com (% Have it available on multiple platforms Anyway you cut it! any type of subscription provides a distinct advantage over newsstand pricing# Our international readers will reap even higher rewards#
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8 www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
BookREVIEW
by Ed Ingold
hands of the cavemen to modern day aluminum and carbon fiber shafted projectiles. The history of the arrow through the course of the worlds civilizations is both interesting and educational. From tiny crossbow to giant atlatl darts, this is a comprehensive history from one of the worlds foremost archery historians. At some point in time, an ancient early man picked up a rock and threw it through the air at some particular object and thereby started the evolutionary thought process of what eventually became rockets sent through space to distant planets, deadly intercontinental ballistic missiles, and tiny projectiles shot from a .357 magnum handgun. They all have one thing in common: an object moves from one place to another from a particular launching point. The energy to do so may come from a variety of sources. In the case of archery, it comes from the large hand-held spring we know of as a bow. Westholme Publishing Archery arrows are what this book is all ISBN: 978-1-59416-147-6 about. It not only traces the history of arrows through the ages, up to and including modern Hugh Soar is one of the worlds leading times, but it also describes the various designs experts in the history of archery. He is the author and construction used throughout time by every of a number of archery books including The kind of culture and civilization imaginable. You Crooked Shaft, The Romance of Archery, and with dont have to be an archer to appreciate this Joseph Gibbs, Christopher Jury, and Mark comprehensive account of how archery and arrows have shaped our planet and brought us to Stretton, Secrets of the English Warbow. Straight and True is a history of the arrow that where we are today. The history of the arrow is traces its inception from a ballistic missile in the the history of mankind.
Straight and True:

by Hugh D.H. Soar
A Select History of the Arrow
When
Go a-Warring
Hunters
By Nils Visser
magine for a moment that your country is in political turmoil, led by an inept and cruel leader whom you probably dont like but prefer to his opponents. Imagine that they have invited a foreign general to bring troops and take over power. Youre determined to resist but youre surrounded by country yokels. They mean well and are eager for a scrap, but your opponents are heavily armed and exceedingly well trained, and your lads are most certainly not. If you can imagine this then you know what it was like to stand in the shoes of
A depic#ion f!om a h$n#ing "cene in #he mid.#hi!#een#h.cen#$!( Maciejo&"ki Bible 0Mo!gan Bible1* Be"ide" #he $"e of longbo&") #he offe! being gi%en #o #he "ea#ed lo!d !eflec#" #he "#!ic# g$ideline" fo! #he di%i"ion of #he "poil" af#e! a h$n#* The dee! ha" been ,$ndone*10 www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
A scene of early- thirteenth-century warfare showing the aftermath of an encounter: dead and wounded combatants, victors, prisoners, and those fleeing. The projectiles depicted in the fleeing troops seem to represent both crossbow bolts and longbow arrows.
young William Kensham from the hamlet Cassingham in the English County of Kent, way back in 1216. The cruel leader in question was King John I. Why cruel? Well, besides repeatedly betraying his brother, King Richard the Lionheart, John wasnt kind to other family members either. He had his niece, Eleanor, Fair maid of Brittany, locked up when she was sixteen and ensured that she would spend the remainder of her life as a prisoner. His nephew Arthur fared worse. When his knights refused to dispose of the 14-yearold boy, John himself travelled to Rouen where Arthur was kept and shortly
thereafter the boy was never seen or heard of again. There is debate whether or not John had the lad castrated and blinded, took the murderers knife into his own hand, threw the boy off the high castle walls, or interned him in a very deep dungeon. When the Kings eye fell on Isabella of Angoulme, he divorced his wife, had
twelve-year-old Isabella abducted from her family home, and married her. According to contemporary accounts, he often stayed in his bedchamber until noon before emerging to run the country, so taken was he with his young bride. During both marriages he fathered many illegitimate bastards with his mistresses. In the meantime he fought a losing battle against
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www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1 11
A fo$!#een#h.cen#$!( "cene f!om #he famo$" F!ench h$n#ing man$al &!i##en b( Ga"#on Phoeb$"* Thi" ill$"#!a#ion "ho&" #he $"e of h$n#ing ho$nd"*
A medie%al depic#ion of a dee! being $ndone* All h$n#e!") f!om lo&l( fo!e"#e!" #o lo!d") p!ided #hem"el%e" on #hei! "kill" in fla(ing #hei! ca#ch*
the French, first in Normandy and later in England. He managed to lose so often he was nicknamed John Softsword. Moreover, wars are expensive and his brother Richards crusading adventures had already practically bankrupted the country. Nonetheless, John taxed and taxed and then some. Historians will tell you that this was all relatively normal behavior for a Medieval king. However, you and I share a gut feeling that it aint right, and so did many of Johns contemporaries, some of whom dared to suggest he was a relatively unsavory character, indeed a thoroughly nasty piece of work. In 1215 a number of Barons rebelled against John because of his refusal to honor the Magna Carta and invited the French crown prince Louis to come to England and claim the throne. This attempt to depose John was popularup to two-thirds of the nobles in England declared support for Louis. In Kent, only Hubert de Burgh held out against Louis, valiantly defending Dover Castle against all comers for the duration of the war which would become known as the First Barons War and was to last from 1215 to 1217. De Burgh was aided in his defense by partisans who disrupted French supply routes. These partisans operated from the Weald, a broad expanse of woodlands between the North Downs in Kent and South Downs in Sussex, parallel ridges that ran from east to west through these two counties for about a hundred miles. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon Wald (German Walt), meaning woods. It was William Kensham who led these partisans. Kensham was the owner of a small estate in Cassingham in Kent, legal records indicate 120 acres and some smaller landholdings in the area. This was sufficient for Kensham to be considered part of the gentry, but only just, from a snobs perspective he was an insignificant nobody stuck in the middle of nowhere. That nowhere, however, took on strategic importance, as the Kent and Sussex roads were busy with traffic from the channel ports on the south coast. Supply wagons headed east to the siege works at Dover or west to the strategically placed city of Winchester or north to London, where
A fo$!#een#h.cen#$!( "cene f!om #he famo$" F!ench h$n#ing man$al &!i##en b( Ga"#on Phoeb$"* Thi" ill$"#!a#ion "ho&" ho& diffe!en# elemen#" of a h$n#ing pa!#( &o!k #oge#he! a" a pack of ho$nd" cha"e" #he $a!!( #o&a!d" fi'ed "hoo#ing po"i#ion"* Men and ho$nd" &e!e &ell #!ained in #hi") and &e ma( p!e"$me #ha# Willikin+" men $"ed "imila! #ac#ic" again"# #he F!ench in%ade!"*
Prince Louis had set up HQ. Numerous chroniclers mention that Kensham set up bases in the Weald and gathered 1,000 archers around him. The successful resistance that followed earned him the nickname Willikin of the Weald and Wilkin the Wose. Though we know very little about Willikin of the Weald himself, we can glean something of an insight from his actions. In the movies, this would have consisted of the conscription of a philharmonic orchestra to play uplifting bombastic tunes whilst the peasant rabble entered intensive fast-track training. Within two weeks every last man of them would have been on a par with the professional warriors. In reality, however, professional warriors of the time began training as children. They rode war-horses trained for battlethe best ones worth more than Willikins entire estate. They wore body armor, either made to fit or collected
A !eminde! of #he po&e! of #he longbo&/e%en befo!e #he po&e!f$l Wa!bo&" of #he H$nd!ed Yea!" Wa!) #he longbo&" $"ed fo! fi'ed "hoo#ing po"i#ion" in h$n#" packed a %e!( po&e!f$l p$nch* Pho#og!aph b( Nil" Vi""e!*
When commone!" &e!e in%ol%ed in a defen"i%e !ole) like #he membe!" of #he ci#( mili#ia "ho&n in #hi" pic#$!e) #he longbo& &a" of#en #he &eapon of choice* Pho#og!aph b( Ch!i"#oph Wieka!#*
Reg$la! a!che!( p!ac#ice &a" impo!#an#* If an a!che! pe!fo!med &ell d$!ing a h$n#) he co$ld b!ing home po!#ion" of mea# and hide"* Pho#og!aph b( Ch!i"#oph Wieka!#*
across a host of battlefields that marked a career in dealing out death. They also had access to good weaponry. As we all know, if your life is going to depend on your equipment, buying it at the local five-anddime store is usually not the best option. For a medieval man-at-arms, life and livelihood depended on his skill with and the quality ofhis weapons. Willikins lads, on the other hand, were a motley collection of rustic rurals: colliers and smelters who worked the ore furnaces, verderers and limerers who concerned themselves with the game, foresters and famers trying to eke out a living in the High and Low Weald. They would have been armed with bows and staves, protected by leather aprons or jerkins, and for the most part untrained for battle. Willikin understood his men would not have stood a chance against the professional warriors in a set-piece battle and conducted a guerilla campaign instead. In this, he was remarkably successful. French chroniclers suggest that Louis tried to tackle Willikin but failed to bring him to heel. Instead the French learned to fear both Willikin and the Weald and were very wary of going there, even companies of knights preferring to 14 take long detours rather than facing ambushes and hit-and-run attacks in the Weald. How was this possible? Usually any attempts by medieval commoners to stand up to nobility led to their annihilation, simply because of the differential in equipment and training. In modern parlance, such a situation is akin to the security guards of a large shopping mall challenging the U.S. Marine Corps to battle. Hints offered by chroniclers form circumstantial evidence which, coupled with general historical knowledge, allow us to gain an overall picture of events in the Weald back in 1216. That in turn enables us to identify possible causes for Willikins success. The first cause we can identify is leadership. The Weald is a large place, some 100 miles long and 50 miles wide. Orchestrating operations along the entire circumference of that area requires skillful planning, the ability to organize a good communication network, and the ability to inspire men at a distance, because its unlikely that the 1,000 men under his command, a number repeated with insistent frequency, would have been gathered in one place. There are a few other examples of peasants tackling professional warriors successfully, such as Bertrand Du Guesclins achievements in turning Breton farmers into a formidable fighting force. In those cases, we know that men like Du Guesclin had the magnetic conviction to attract followers to his cause, the force of personality to inspire and motivate them, and the intelligence to deploy them there where they could and would succeed. It stands to reason that Willikin must have possessed these qualities to some extent. Willikin was obviously adept at making do with available means and turning every advantage he had into a strength. Several sources mention that he made the utmost use of the landscape of the Weald. A closer inspection of the geological features of that Weald allows us to make a pretty accurate guess how this was done and gives us yet another reason to appreciate bacon. A typifying characteristic of the Weald are the dennes and droves. The Weald used to be the most dense woodland in England. The original inhabitants of the Weald would have lived along its edges and used it as a natural resource. This included an autumn migration into the
Weald with the village pigs, so that they could feast on acorns which were in plentiful supply deeper in the woods. Its estimated that anywhere between 100,000 to 150,000 pigs trekked into the Weald annually and had done so for over a thousand years by Willikins time. The fixed routes these pigs followed were called droves. The clearings these droves led to were called dennes. Some of these droves connected villages with one another, other ran for miles and led only to a dead end denne. In other words, travelling through the weald was like travelling through a maze. From a military perspective, it is rather convenient when you know your way around and your enemy does not. Moreover, your enemy was bound to the droves. The woodland was either coppiced or deliberately unattended. In the former case, trees were cut close to the trunk so that they would spout lots of smaller trunks. This made it very convenient for harvesting and transporting to one of the 30 iron ore furnaces in the Weald. Although a coppiced wood seems less dense than a normal wood, there is actually a higher density of wood. The unattended woods were intended as safe havens for game, this is where game could breed and rest uninterrupted, during the breeding season these woods were strictly off-limits, and even outside of the breeding season you needed to have a pretty
An a""o!#men# of a!che!" in a fo!e"# con#e'#* Pho#og!aph b( Ch!i"#oph Wieka!#*

convincing reason to be there. Going for a nice walk wasnt one of them. Both wood types were pretty inaccessible for men in armor and nigh insurmountable for knights on horseback. By 1216 over one hundred million pigs had traversed the droves, eroding the droves deep into the earth in the form of sunken lanes. Anyone familiar with the American Civil War will be familiar with the tactical importance of such battlefield features at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Shiloh. However, where the sunken lane at Shiloh was three feet deep, the Wealds lengthy myriad of deep droves could reach depths of up to ten feet. So picture this, armored knights riding single file or two abreast on sunken roads they are unable to leave, then, ten feet up, appear the men of the Weald, armed with bows. Bows which form Willikins next advantage. The type of bow that was available in England in 1216 was not yet the mighty Warbow which would dominate Crcy and Agincourt. Nonetheless, we need to be careful not to underestimate them. Often, references to bows predating the Hundred Years Warbows contain an air of dismissal. These arent the 120-lbs-plus Warbows of Edward III, theyre mere short hunting bows, is the suggestion. Added to this is
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15
H$n#ing "kill" &e!e ea"il( #!an"fe!!ed #o #ha# of defence* Pho#og!aph b( Ch!i"#oph Wieka!#*
the laconic comment that no early medieval longbows have survived for us to examine so we cant be sure. This very consistent with the English Trap, i.e., the assumption that if it isnt in England, its not worth examining. This is a shame, for at least two early medieval longbows have survived in the Netherlands. They are made of yew and follow a design that has been in use for some 5,000 years within the continental cultural area from which the Anglo-Saxons hail. Though some five to ten inches shorter than Warbows, these are definitely not so-called short bows and theyve been estimated to have a draw weight of 80-100 lbsno mean feat. Some hunting bows would have been lighter, specifically those intended to be drawn on horseback or kept partially drawn for a longer time during stalking. However, the hunting bows shot from a fixed position were heavy enough to warrant the warning never to shoot straight at a deers flank in order to avoid wounding hunters on the other side. In short, the bows Willikins men would have had were not the powerful Warbows of later years but with an average draw weight of 90 lbs and made of yew, 16
these werent mere toys, as anyone who has ever shot a similar bow will be able to affirm. We now return to the concept of training and tentatively identify it as one of the causes of Willikins success. Not the Hollywood fast-track training scenario, of course, but there was another form of training which Willikins men had received, their training as huntsmen. There were fulltime professionals who managed the game stocks and organized the hunts, but many extras were drafted in for the actual hunts, often involving most of the men in a local community. Their tasks were to drive the prey towards fixed locations, or man the socalled stable stands which were fixed positions behind screens where an archer could conceal himself, dressed in seasonal colors (instructions for color combinations have survived) and even camouflaged with leaves and branches. Hunting manuals often contain rules for the allocation of meat and hides as rewards for the extras, depending on their participation in bringing a deer or boar down. Foresters understood their roles in a hunt. Add to that their fluency in hunting calls and signals and theres an element of communication which will greatly help in
the pursuit of any quarry. Huntsmen communicated by means of a pattern of socalled moots on a hunting horn or by calls intended for the hunting hounds. They were able to convey to each other that a quarry: had been spotted going this way or that; had gone to ground and was hiding; was gaining headway; was being pursued; needed the leeway to flee in a required direction; was approaching a stable-stand; had been disabled by archery or by hand. They could also be used to instruct hunters or hounds to: assemble; return home; pursue faster; pursue slower; pursue more quietly; change direction; call off the chase; change quarry; converge on the quarry; move in for the kill; or surround an exhausted quarry. It doesnt require a great deal of imagination to grasp the disadvantages of this for the hunted, be they beast or man. For the latter, the understanding that his position was being continually broadcast to all and sundry must have added considerable discomfort. Furthermore, professional huntsmen were adept in positioning multiple stablestands so that a quarry could be driven further towards specific kill zones. This
included the use of packs of hounds in relay teams. A pack would funnel the quarry into a specific direction with another pack taking over at a fixed position, the so-called Chasse Titre. There are hints that hounds were used by Willikin. At one point, Prince Louis led an army of several thousands south and was ambushed by Willikin near Lewes. The French made towards Winchelsea and lost close to a thousand men during this flight, suggesting this was not an ordered retreat but a headlong flight, straight through the dangerous droves and dennes. A squire who accompanied the Regent William Marshal into the Weald after the French flight mentioned that he saw bodies which had been eaten by dogs. Seeing the care that was taken to maintain the harmony of the areas where game bred, it is unlikely that packs of wild dogs would have been tolerated, suggesting that these dogs acted on instruction and were hunting hounds. The corpses were either savaged by dogs as part of the pursuit or were an edible reward allocated after the pursuita traditional element of hunting called the Curee in which the hounds were served the neck, bowels, and liver on the hide of a slain stag. Interestingly enough, the same squire suggested that there were even worse sights to see than corpses eaten by dogs. More than one chronicler makes mention of corpses left to hang in trees or beheaded, but it is unlikely that a soldier, used to the horrors of war, would have singled out these relatively common sights as being particularly horrible. To add to this was the fear amongst the French occupiers, who became increasingly wary of entering the Weald. These too were professional soldiers. What were they afraid of? Is it possible that yet another hunting ritual had been applied to captured or slain enemies? Flaying a hide was an admired hunting skill. Skilled hunters took pride in not rolling up their sleeves whilst undoing the deer and showing all that they did not have a drop of blood on their clothing when the task was done. Flaying men was, in fact, one of the less savoury Anglo-Saxon traditions. In the forest of Dean, for example, not two centuries previously, three trespassers had been flayed alive, their skins nailed to the
doors of the Speech House. On occasion Anglo-Saxons would flay Danes, dead or alive, and hang the skins in places to serve as morbid scarecrows, as they did at Worcester where the skins were nailed to the cathedral doors. We cannot know for sure, but the skills and tradition existed. If Willikins men undid their foe, the foe undone and left to hang in trees would have provided a very grisly sight indeed. Such behaviour would certainly explain why Willikins other nickname was Wilkin the Wose, a wose being a savage wild creature that inhabited the woods. Willikin of the Weald remains an elusive figure. However, knowing that he made optimal use of the lay of the land and available weaponry, we are able to envisage the type of fighting that took place, especially as it is reasonable to assume Willikins men relied on their skills as huntsmen. This latter notion is supported by the use of hunting hounds in battle. Slain foes were left in a manner that caused revulsion and fear. Besides decapitation flaying is a possible culprit, implying that Willikin understood a thing about psychological warfare. To the French occupier, the Weald would have been a dark and savage place,
where he was lured or chased into deep roads that gave him no chance to fight back against archers who would suddenly appear over his head and drive arrows into his columns at point blank range. Upon fleeing he would be chased deeper and deeper into the Weald, pursued by baying hounds that fell upon and ravaged his comrades if they fell. Unrecognizable chunks of raw red skinless meat would have formed grisly decorations by the roadside, while the woods echoed with the sound of horns, the foe telling each other where their quarry was heading and telling him that there was no safe place to hide once hunters were on the scent. Words from Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness spring to mind, Kurtzs last words: The horror! The horror! Nils Visser teaches English at UniC High School in Utrecht in the Netherlands and in his spare time practices traditional archery with the Dutch Warbow Society as well as conducting historical research on behalf of the Bowmakers Guild of the Low Countries. He is currently involved in various projects related to the examination of the archery heritage of the Low Countries and Germany, focusing specifically on the Medieval period.
17
FromThePit
rom the Pit is a place for PA readers to ask questions about flintknapping and stone artifacts. I will do my best to answer your questions or point you in the right direction. My flintknapping experience is mainly producing Texas arrowheads using rock that I pick up locally. Ive seen collections from various parts of the country, but Texas specimens are what I have personally studied. I have some real artifacts of my own and a few of them I have found myself. Ive been knapping since 2007 but didnt get the hang of it until 2009. I have about equal experience with modern tools and abo (aboriginal) tools. Right now, Im developing my knapping skills in reproducing paleo points like Clovis and Plainview. I have a YouTube channel called AllergicHobbit where I demonstrate flintknapping.
FlintknappingFAQ
By Patrick Blank
Q: When positioning the stone, how do you judge whether to hold the stone neutral, or slightly upward, or slightly downward? What are the different effects each posture produces? A: Experience tells me how to position the stone. The different angles, along with different amounts of force, produce different lengths of flakes. There is also a bit of luck involved. Q: Is there any advice you can give to a new knapper that you wish youd had in the beginning? Ive been knapping on and off for a while and I still feel like a beginner. Are there any benchmarks that could tell me when Ive reached the next level? How do you know when you can start teaching other people, for example? A: When I was first learning to knap, I wish Id known about the various grades of stone and how to spot the finest grades of stone. When I tried to make an arrowhead (and failed) I didnt know if it was my lack of skill or if the stone was just hard to knap. Looking back, I spent hours and hours just breaking all kinds of stone that looked good and trying to feel the differences. Sometimes I spalled hundreds of pounds of stone without making a single arrowhead. I learned later that many of the failed attempts that frustrated me the most were the result of poor material or material that was not consistent. My advice to new knappers has always been to use the best material available. You can judge your progress much better when you dont have to deal with the extra hassle of hitting the rock really hard and/or working around cracks and pockets of concrete. Q: The hardest part about abo knapping for me is thinning the arrowhead. I cant seem to get the flakes to travel as far as I need them to and I end up with fat points. If I apply a lot of force, the tip of the tool breaks off. I can thin the points with a copper bopper or copper pressure flaker just fine. Im using antler mainly. Is there another material thats better? 18 www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
A: Whitetail deer antler and moose antler are the best materials for knapping, as far as antler is concerned. Various grades of hammerstones, from hard to soft, are also an essential part of your thinning toolkit. The striking platforms for antler and soft hammerstones dont need to be as rounded off as the ones for copper. On the other hand, platforms for hard hammerstones need to be stronger than those for copper. In addition, Ive found that hammerstones on the smaller side are easier to control and strike with than lager ones. When I first learned to knap, everyone was using large pieces of antler and large hammerstones. Your tools can be small as long as you strike accurately and with concentrated force. Tool breakage is part of the game. It cant be eliminated. It can be reduced somewhat by keeping your antler very dry and dressed. Stone has to be dressed as well. Striking with a crumbly or irregular tip or surface causes energy to be lost and dispersed. To get flakes to travel across the piece, youve got to be more careful about following the rules: use the best tools and stone possible, follow ridges, hit below centerline, prepare platforms, make sure the surface is convex, support the work piece, strike carefully but purposefully, and be mentally alert and focused. Imitate the successes and forget the mistakes.
Q: What is paleo flaking? Ive heard a couple of guys talk about paleo flaking as opposed to woodland flaking or archaic flaking. Whats the difference? A: This terminology has been used by some collectors who want to try and understand and identify real specimens. In my opinion, these terms dont have any value. I dont use them. The best way to describe a knapped artifact is on an individual basis. There are too many exceptions to any general rule or observation you may try to put into place when it comes to classifying knapped stones from a certain period in history. Q: What is the best shape for a stone knife? Im going to make some for gifts and I want them to be durable. A: The best shape for a stone blade is one that allows room for re-sharpening, has a length to width ratio of about 4 to 1, is thickest where the blade and the handle meet, has a strong tang, and doesnt have a tip that can easily break off when you are using the knife for its intended purpose. A slick or lustrous material also helps and is similar to having a polished surface on a steel blade. A leaf-shaped, non-serrated, bi-convex, bi-face seems to be the best all-around shape and has been used at one point or another in all areas where man has used stone tools.
Q: How did the Indians heat-treat rock? Ive seen that the heat should be between 300 to 450 degrees centigrade. Can you heat the rock inside the fire or does it always have to be buried under the fire? A: First of all, 300 to 450 degrees Celsius (the current official name for this measure of temperature) is way too hot. This is probably a typo in the article or book where you saw it. The temperature should be between 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, or a maximum of 320 degrees Celsius. Some stone will need higher temperatures but these are the exception. Rock was usually buried in dirt, sand, rock dust, or ashes when the Indians were heat treating their stone. It is possible to heat treat stone inside the fire itself, but the results are not predictable and the stone will not be heated evenly. The reason heat-treating works is because when the stone is heated and then allowed to cool slowly, the molecules inside the stone line up in a more orderly way than before the heat treating. Q: Im setting up my platforms slightly below centerline. I have them set up to follow a ridge and I grind them slightly to strengthen them, but I cant seem to get my flakes to cross the center. So I end up having a hump down the middle. The more I try to remove the hump, my point gets narrower and narrower. Any suggestions? A: Your platforms are not far enough below centerline, the surface is too convex, and/or the force being used is not enough to drive long flakes across the type of stone you are using. Be more aggressive until you are getting overshot flakes and then back off. Q: Ive been working on my thinning lately, and its really starting to come around (as long as I use heated rock). But now Im having trouble keeping the point weight up. Not sure what I should do to not make them so light. Seems like by the time I have the base thin enough to put in a cane shaft Im under 100 grains. A: Its okay to use lightweight arrowheads as long as they are not too thin. Real arrowheads are very light and they were undoubtedly
effective. Many modern hunters in the primitive community are hunting with very small and light arrowheads (where the law permits) and they have been successful. If you really want to increase the weight in the front of the arrow, you can make the arrow longer or add a heavy foreshaft/footing to the front. If you want to increase the weight of the arrowhead itself, you can make it longer, use heavier stone, or both. Q: I have been knapping for about two years now. Everything I know has come from trial and error. I can make a fairly good arrowhead, but they are usually small (none over three inches). How can I get bigger blanks and improve overall? A: When I started, I made very small arrowheads and then progressed to larger and larger pieces. This was mainly for economic reasons, but its a good strategy. To get good at making very large blades (six or more inches long), you need to obtain large nodules of stone and then proceed carefully. Big rocks become small rocks very quickly! Make the preforms much bigger than you need, use the smallest direct percussion tools possible reduce the preform to the correct thickness, and then finish off with heavy pressure and/or punch work to shape and notch the workpiece, followed by light pressure for final touch up and sharpening. Use a random style of flaking until you get the hang of it, then you can progress to the fancier flaking styles on future points. Make sure you prepare all platforms well! Of course, you can also use big, thick slabs of stone or glass, but the technique is basically the same once you have the preform made. If you have a slab that had already been ground into the shape of a lenticular preform and all you need to do is run flakes across the surface, that is, of course, the easiest way to make any blade, large or small. Its called FOG or flake over grind and many knife makers use it to save time and material. No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. Albert Einstein
19
By K ay Koppedrayer
Arrowheads, Making Arrowheads

Finding
s a kid, I used to like to look for arrowheads in the fields on the farm where I grew up. I didnt find all that much, usually pieces of flint Id show to my dad with the hope that this time Id hit it big. I never seemed to maybe once or twice, with a little imagination and a lot of wistfulness, we could suppose that what I was holding might have been a flint arrowhead. Those pieces went into a special box, the sort that all kids use to keep their treasures. Mine had arrowheadsthe few Id found, plus the ones I managed to get my parents to buy for me when we were on a trip somewhere, plus a piece of stone chiseled off the house in Genoa, Italy, where Christopher Columbus had once lived. The piece of stone was actually my brothers, given to him by a neighbor as a get-well gift after hed been hit by a car while on his paper route, but he didnt seem all that interested in it, so I confiscated it. As for the arrowheads I wheedled my parents into buying back then (way back then, over half a century ago), they came from the box of genuine Indian arrowheads that every tourist shop had. Exactly how many were genuine is hard to say. Certainly some of them were, but there are only so many that were made. In the parlance of collectors, you could call them limited editions or limited releases, though at the time men were making them, they werent thinking of them as collector items. They were just part of everyday life, implements needed for survival. It is us, centuries later, who look at the arrowheads with some sense of reverence or awe or fascination or something like that. Thats why even the bogus pieces held my interest. I wanted to believe they were real. I wanted them to take me to another time. Of the real arrowheads, a lot are stashed away in museum collections, catalogued and classified. Others are in private hands. Some of these arrowheads are in continual circulation, staying for a while with one collector, then moving on. Its like they are alive, still on the move, with lives of their own. I know they will outlive me. Long after I am gone, they will still be carrying on. I wonder just how many old arrowheads are in circulation. Over the course of a lifetime, how many
20
arrowheads did a single manone man produce? How many did the men of one family or of one generation produce? And how many were produced over the course of many generations? By my reckoning, there should still be some in the ground waiting for a kid to come along, unless of course an artifact hunter gets there first. Some people I know have strong feelings about picking up something. Rather, their strong feelings are that you shouldnt pick it up, that the piece of the past should be left alone, left to continue on its journey without interference. Professional archaeologists have very careful protocols about removal and excavation. Identifying the artifact in situ, in the place where it is found, is very important. On public lands, removal of any artifact is forbidden. On private lands it is a different matter altogether. If the artifact is on the surface, federal law allows you to pick it up as long as youre the owner or have permission from the owner. From state to state, however, laws
vary and are worth checking into; in some places it is okay, in others, not so. There is the legal question but also the moral one. To take or not to take, maybe you should, maybe you shouldnt. Maybe if you do, youll destroy some clues about the past. If you dont, youll never know. All I know is that the allure of a promising triangle of flint in a freshly plowed field is too much for a kid to bear. It beckons for the picking, but why? I know from experience that the finding is better than the having. So what is it that makes us treasure hunters? What makes an old arrowhead so valuable? My guess is that it has to do with making a linkage to what makes us human. In finding an arrowhead, the connection is both tangible and tactile and it comes to us like a gift from the past. We know there were people who came before usearlier peoples, first peoplesyet with all good attempts at reconstructing their history, we have but fleeting glimpses of it. But despite what we dont know, in a flint arrowhead, there is something we can
recognize. It is an implement, made by someone who understood how to use tools. It is a real thing brought to life by someones imagination and technical skill. In looking at it, we see a reflection of ourselves. Someone, somewhere crafted it, and in some ways our lives depended upon that action.
21
or seven days last November, my wife and I lived in one of the most beautiful locations of the Guaran Region in South America. We were at Iguazu Falls, which while we were there was declared one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. We walked in areas of the jungle in the Misiones Province that only the Guaran walk, and we spent one day in a Guaran village. We went to areas in Iguazu Falls where the water was cascading over us, and we walked areas of the Iguazu Falls that were used in the film, The Mission. Our seven days in this mysterious land was an unforgettable experience that took us into the jungle, allowed us to see close up some of the animals the Guaran hunted but most importantly allowed us to live the Guaran culture. The Guaran are one of the most important tribes of South America. Their story began in the 11th century according to documentation left by the Maya Indians. The Guaran territory during ancient times extended from the Amazon River bordering the northern portion of their territory to the Madeira River on the western border. About 3000 B.C., there existed three main ethnic groups in South America: the Andinos who were located in the western portions of South America, the Araukos who were located in the northern portion of South America, and the Tup-Guaran who were the largest group and occupied the largest part of South America. Since that time, the Tup-Guaran started to migrate from Central America to South
Ig'a-' Fall% f$"
&he A$ge!&i!ia! %ide
America. There is conjecture that a migratory movement occurred sometime before the birth of Christ and that this migratory movement created a rift in the Tup-Guaran causing the tribe to split into two main sub tribes. The two groups became the Tup and the Guaran. The Tup went eastward to the Atlantic coast following the Amazon River while the Guaran moved west and southwest, inhabiting the Rio de la Plata Basin formed by the rivers Paran, Paraguay, and
Guarani Land
By John Borgeson
Living in
Uruguay. One of the primary reasons the Guaran migrated was because they were looking for a land without evil. The areas they settled in were fertile and allowed the Guaran to live in a good and productive way. The first entry of foreigners into the Rio de la Plata, the estuary of the Paran or Paraguay, was made by the Spanish navigator, Juan de Solis, in 1511. Sebastian Cabot followed him in 1526, and then in 1537 Gonzalo de Mendoza ascended the
Old Je%'i&
22
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Ha&che&
Ca!!ibal ce$e "!,
Paraguay River to what is now the present Brazilian frontier. It was Mendoza who made the first contact with the Guaran. Until the arrival of the Jesuits, who reached the Guaran territory of Guayr, in what is now the Province of Paran, Southern Brazil. As was common in the Spanish/Portuguese colonies of that time, slavery was a part of life and the great center of the Indian slave trade was the town of So Paulo, located below Rio de Janeiro in the south of Brazil. Rio de
Janeiro was originally a rendezvous of the Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish pirates. These brigands became the larger portion of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies population and regarded it as a right, a privilege by virtue of conquest, that they should enslave the Indians. However the Jesuits, who came after the first Spanish settlors, assumed the dual role of civilizing and Christianizing the Indians and defending them against the merciless cruelties and butcheries of the slave traders and the slave traders employers.
Ba b"" i&ch $e#ella!& #la!&
De "!%&$a&e% a##lica&i"! "f $e ed,
I!%ec& $e#ella!& #la!&
G'a$a!i b"*
D$a*i!g "f G'a$a!i b"*

Pic&'$e "f &he G'a,'bi$a &$ee/ Thi% "!e fell d'$i!g a! elec&$ic %&"$ /
A )e!d"$5% di%#la, "f G'a$a!i b"*%/

The enslaving and selling of the Guaran is vividly portrayed in the movie The Mission. The Jesuits offered sanctuary to the Guaran, and they flocked to the Jesuits in such numbers, and listened so intently to these the first white men who had come to them as friends and helpers, that twelve missions arose in rapid succession, containing in all some 40,000 Guaran. Warrior Culture of the Guaran The Guaran were continually at war with other tribal groups surrounding them in order to gain more territory so they could develop their agriculture. The Guaran cultivated cassava, corn, tobacco, cotton, and vegetables and used slash-andburn methods of clearing the jungle to use the land for crops. They were skilled warriors; to initiate their attacks, the Guaran would rain stones and arrows on their enemies followed by an assault using lances and clubs. The conquered peoples were subjected to extreme cruelty. Some of the conquered peoples (they were called Tekoa by the
A'&h"$ h"ldi!g a G'a$a!i child5% b"* bei!g %"ld a% a 6&"'$i%& b"*/
G'a$a!i b"*% a!d &hei$ dec"$a&i"!%/ Ph"&"g$a#h b, Ja%"! R"&he

24
Ha!dle dec"$a&i"!%/ Ph"&"g$a#h b, Fe$!a!d" S&a!k'!%
The b"* "! &he lef& i% a child5% b"*/ The b"* "! &he $igh& i% a! ad'l& ale5% b"*/ Ph"&"g$a#h b, Fe$!a!d" S&a!k'!%
D$a*i!g% "f e+ca)a&ed G'a$a!i S&"!e #"i!&%/
Ac&'al %&"!e &""l% &ha& *e$e e+ca)a&ed/ The%e a$e G'a$a!i a!d *e$e f"'!d i! B$a-il/
Guaran which means foreigner) were made slaves to the Guaran, while others were consumed by the Guaran in a form of ritual cannibalism. The Guaran believed that by consuming their defeated enemies, they gained power from their dead enemies. One of the rights of passage for Guaran boys to become a man and before he could marry was to kill an enemy in a ritual ceremony. Another interesting facet of the Guaran culture was once a Guaran man became a father, immediately after the birth of his child he had to fast for 15 days, during which time he was restricted from making any type of weapon.
Guaran Botany and Hunting Due to the semi-nomadic character of these people, the early Guaran left no evidence of their culture. However, they developed such an extensive base of knowledge of the flora and fauna that when the first Europeans arrived, they recognized the scope of this knowledge and relied on it extensively. An example of this is that the Guaran language is the most widely used to name flora and fauna, third only to Latin and Greek. Even today Guaran are sought out for their knowledge of local plant and animal life. My good friend Roberto Rodas who is the grandson of a Guaran chief, demonstrated
to my wife, Cecilia, and I the plants used to stop itching and to repel insects. Guarani Bows and Arrows The bows used by the Guaran were long, measuring two meters (about 78") in length. The war arrows of the Guaran were tipped with points made from human bones. Each Guaran bow was distinguishable from other Guaran bows because the maker marked his bow to be readily identifiable to the entire community. For example, no two Guaran bows were designed the same and neither were the arrows that went with a particular bow. Unlike Native American bows and arrows, for example, the Hupa bows which are paddle shaped or the Lakota bows which are readily identifiable because of their design, such was and is not the case with the Guaran bows and arrows. The favorite colors to decorate bows were black and white, black and brown, or all red.
T*" #h"&"g$a#h% %h"*i!g h"* &he fea&he$% a!d a$$"* #"i!& a$e *$a##ed *i&h #hil"de!d$"! )i!e
G'a$a!i a$$"* #"i!&%
A cl"%e1'# #ic&'$e %h"*i!g h"* &he #hil"de!d$"! )i!e i% &*i%&ed i!&" a b"* %&$i!g/ The !a e f"$ &he )i!e i! G'a$a!i i% G'e be1Pi/
25
A &*" e&e$ l"!g #iece "f #hil"de!d$"! )i!e
Side )ie* "f G'a$a!i b"* %h"*i!g C"%&illa de Ada! 3Ada % Rib4 2 &he b"* %&$i!g a!d h"* i& i% &ied/ N"&e &he &""l a$k% "! &he bell, "f &he b"*
The Guaran made their bows from a tree called guayabi or guayubira (Patagonul americana). The heartwood of the guayabira (which is an extremely hard wood) is taken to make the bow. The guayubira woods primary characteristics are that it is hard, flexible, and resistant to moisture. This makes this wood excellent for making bows and arrows. Also used to make bows was the palm tree called mbokaja. The bows were made so that they were always longer in length than the height of the man. There was no standard for measurement to determine how much longer the bow should be and this also meant that there was no standard size of
Back "f &he b"* %h"*i!g &he !"ck a!d &he b"* %&$i!g *hich i% ade f$" #hil"de!d$"! )i!e
Guaran bow because each man was of a different height. Shorter Guaran had shorter bows and taller Guaran had longer bows. The Guaran manufactured their arrow points from wood and stone. The drawing depicts some of the excavated stone arrow points that the Guaran made. However, as the Guaran moved further away from sources of workable stone, a shift in material to make arrow points was made to wood and bamboo. The bow string was primarily made from the philodendron vine (costilla de AdanAdams rib) by cutting a long piece of the vine and stripping away a part of it
M"de$! da, G'a$a!i de "!%&$a&e% ai i!g a b"* a& a "!ke,/ Ph"&"g$a#h b, R"be$&"
T*" G'a$a!i h'!&i!g i! &he j'!gle i! Mi%i"!e%/

G'a$a!i ha!dic$af&% A!i al%
C"a&i *hich i% h'!&ed b, &he G'a$a!i
A &,#e "f li-a$d h'!&ed b, &he G'a$a!i

and then twisting that piece either clockwise or counter clockwise (the owners choice) and making enough string so that there was at least an excess of 30 centimeters (about 12). The arrows used by the Guaran were made from the same wood as the bows, guayabira and alciren in addition to bamboo. An interesting facet of Guaran archery is that the arrows were carried in the hand and not in a carcaj or quiver. The arrow points for hunting were always straight-edged and had no barbs or serrations. This was so that the injured animal would rapidly bleed to death after being shot. For monkeys and jaguars they used an arrow point with teeth in it. The
O!e "f
a!, bi$d% h'!&ed b, &he G'a$a!i/
Guaran style of shooting was premised on how the bow was held. Guaran boys were taught to use a bow and arrow from the age of three. Guaran Hunting Hunting by the Guaran involved trapping as well as the use of bows and arrows. Their methods varied with the animal they were hunting. Their favored animals were peccaries, tapirs, coati, carpinchos (capybara), deer, turtle, iguanas, yacares (South American crocodile), and various birds. The arrow points used for hunting birds were blunts, and the Guaran often used their feet when shooting at birds. The children and young adults hunted with a stone-like pellet made from dirt
called arcillas (a type of clay). If the animal being hunted was only wounded, the hunter would finish off the animal using a wooden mallet or a spear. The Guaran also used arrows tipped with a toxin obtained from a type of frog endemic to the region to hunt monkey and other small animals. These hunting arrows were usually two meters long (about 78) with wooden tips. To lure animals, the Guaran imitated the noise of the animal being hunted. Their knowledge of animals was such that they created small wooden sculptures to teach the children about the animals and then later reproduced these to sell to tourists.
Yaca$e i! &he Ig'a-' Ri)e$
A &'$&le j'%& d"*!$i)e$
Si #le &$a# f"$ bi$d% "$ $"de!&%/ The !a e "f &he &$a# i% La A$i#'ca i! G'a$a!i/
C" #le+ &$a# f"$ #eca$ie%/ The &$a# i! G'a$a!i i% called M"!de G'a-(/
The Guaran traditionally hunted in groups of ten to fifteen men. However, nowadays, both men and women hunt together. Once the animals were killed, the carcass was returned to the camp and the women became in charge of cleaning the animal and butchering the meat and inner organs. Normally the woman roasted the meat over a fire so that it could be kept for a longer time period. To cook larger animals, a fire pit lined with stone was used. The fire was built in the pit and allowed to burn until the rocks were heated. Then the meat was cooked using the heated rocks.
M"de$! da, G'a$a!i. d$e%%ed a% &hei$ a!ce%&"$% *e$e *he! &he S#a!i%h a$$i)ed. de "!%&$a&e h"* &he, %e& a &$a#/ Ph"&"g$a#h b, R"be$&" R"da%
The traps used by Guaran were varied and quite ingenious. The trap could be a simple snare laying on the ground or a complex trap that took many people a few days to build. These traps are still used today. The trap used to capture a jaguar was baited with an animal (usually a monkey) suspended above the trap. The Guaran also fished using their bows and arrows. They primarily fished for surubi and sabalo, which are large fish primarily found in rivers. They fished from canoes made from the trunk of trees indigenous to the region.
The jag'a$ &$a# f$"

28
a di%&a!ce
The &$a# "#e!ed/ I& c"'ld be '# &" &*" e&e$% i! le!g&h/
Cl"%e1'# "f &he *""de! %#ike%
A G'a$a!i ab"'& &" ca&ch a! a$$"* d'$i!g X"!da$" #$ac&ice
29
Ma# de#ic&i!g *he$e &he Ga'$a!i a$e l"ca&ed i! A$ge!&i!a. B$a-il. a!d Pa$ag'a,/ The ligh& g$ee! a$ea% "f &he a# di%#la,% &hei$ hi%&"$ical h" ela!d b'& &he $ed b"+ed a$ea i% &he #$i a$, c"!ce!&$a&i"! "f &he G'a$a!i i! &he%e c"'!&$ie% &"da,/
Military Organization in Times of War Because the Guaran were continually at war, they were known as fearless warriors. Physically the Guaran were larger in stature than other tribes. Guaran tribal warfare was organized by either the Cacique, the political chief of the tribe, or by the Jefe General, the war chief. The Jefe General was elected by all the men of the
tribe to lead the tribe in time of war. Each time the Guaran went to war, however, they could elect a new Jefe General. This position was not secure like the Caciques position. It should also be noted that the Guaran were not completely unified and each sub-tribe could have its own political and war organization. During the preparation for war the whole tribe
A'&h"$0% *ife %&a!d% i! &he d""$ "f a G'a$a!ie% h"'%e &ha& i% $e#$e%e!&a&i)e "f h"* &he G'a$a!ie% li)ed f"$ h'd!$ed% "f ,ea$%/
30
C'$$e!& h"'%i!g "f &he G'a$a!i a!d !"& &"" diffe$e!& i! c"!%&$'c&i"! f$" &he h"'%e i! &he "&he$ #ic&'$e/ N"&ice &he la!d f"$ fa$ i!g i! &he f"$eg$"'!d/
participated in activities that included not only making weapons and weapon practice but also songs and dancing. Guaran Martial Arts The Guaran developed a unique fighting technique that was little known except to those the Guaran warred with. This martial art was called Xondaro. The movements of Xondaro are primarily based on the movements of certain animals which placed the Guaran in advantageous positions and allowing them to conserve energy and force the opponent to waste his. The practice of this martial art honed the participants sense of direction as well as his balance. Another primary focus of Xondaro was to teach the Guaran to catch their enemys arrows. The Guaran Today Today, the Guaran inhabit Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. In Paraguay, the Guaran language is the official language along with Spanish; in addition, Paraguayan money is called guaran. Today the Guaran in all three countries have a total population of approximately 100,000 and, most importantly, the child mortality rate for the Guaran is decreasing. Probably the biggest current impact on the Guaran is the deforestation and privatization of the public lands in the countries where they live. Programs in all three countries have reduced the area of Guaran land resulting in increased alcoholism, domestic violence, and suicide rates among these people. With time and the help of the Argentinian, Paraguayan, and Brazilian governments, the Guaran are adapting and entering into a new style
G'a$a!i kid% *h" ga)e '% &he i!&e$!a&i"!al %ig! f"$ g""d/
of life where they are able to maintain their culture, live on lands provided by the governments, and develop marketable skills and crafts to sustain them. The Guaran live now much as they did in the past. Their housing is very similar to what they lived in during the time period that the film The Mission portrays. They live in structures made of wood that are constructed by the owners, and each house has land surrounding it that allow the Guaran to farm and raise food. In addition, each house has some type of electricity and a TV antenna. In Argentina, the government provided each Guaran family with a concrete house. The Guaran refused to live in them and converted them to chicken coops.
O!e "f &he %ch""l% b'il& b, &he A$ge!&i!e G")e$! e!& &" hel# ed'ca&e &he G'a$a!i/
However, they have accepted other programs designed to help them assimilate into the outside world such as bilingual education programs and schooling. The Guaran are slowly adapting to the outside world. Their handcrafts are superb and provide much needed income to help sustain them. My wife and I wish to thank Fernando Standkuns and Jason Rothe (http://www.songexchange.org) for allowing the use of three of their photographs. But most importantly, we wish to thank the Guaran, especially Roberto and Carla Rodas for introducing us to these people and their way of life. Please visit Roberto at his website at: www.losguaguasdelyaguarete.com
Th$ee #h"&"% %h"*i!g ba%ke&$, a!d b"&&le%
ade b, &he G'a$a!i/

31
AskPA
Brent Macfarlane from Apsley, Ontario, asks:
: Im interested in making a selfbow as a weekend project, mainly for target shooting. I would be looking for wood in the Apsley area. Im wondering if you have a type of wood that would be well-suited for making bows. I think the forest is made up of cedar for the most part, but I havent spent much time looking. Ive also read for the backing of the bow to try and stay within one growth ring for durability. Im also wondering about heating and curving the bow and other tips in general. Im also wondering if it is better to use a branch, or the trunk of a younger tree to carve a bow? Last question for now is do I have to let the wood sit and rest? Or can I start working on it right away?
Weekend Project:Target Bow

By Marc St . Louis
I would like to back it with these salmon skins, as they are quite lovely. The first question is: what process would you suggest for processing and applying the skins to the bow? Is there any specific glue for laminating the salmon skins to the hickory bow? The second question is: outside of aesthetics, is there any value in applying salmon skins or any other fish skins to a bow? I know sinew backing and even some forms of rawhide backing to a bow can strengthen it, and I believe increase the draw weight a little. But is this possible with fish skin as well? They are tough hides for sure, but I am just interested in whether my desire for a pretty bow is of any extra value as well.
: I am a bowyer, consequently most all the wood I have is for making bows. Elm is a very good wood for making bows and fairly widespread throughout Central and Southern Ontario. Ironwood (hop hornbeam) is another along with sugar maple and white ash. They are all quite common in Ontario. The best wood is a stave from a medium-size tree, but you can make a bow from a small diameter tree or even a large branch. Once cut, you can roughly shape the bow but after that, it needs to sit and dry out before you can begin working on it. If you put the roughed-out stave in a warm dry area with a lot of air movement, then you should be able to work on your bow inside of a month. You have to be very careful when removing the bark so that you dont do any damage to the wood just under the bark. This will be the back of the bow. Any violation of the first growth ring can be disastrous. For a target bow, keep the bow length to a minimum of 65" on a 26" draw and add 2" to the overall length of the bow for every 1" of draw length. This will give you the best combination of durability and performance.
Caleb Musgrave from Southern Ontario asks:
: Ive seen your work in Primitive Archer over the years and have a great respect for your knowledge. Add that we are both in Ontario, and well I just had to look your email address up to pick your brain. First off, I am currently dealing with several salmon skins that I would like to add to my bow. I own a 40-45# 28" draw longbowflatbow made by the folks at Rudderbows Archery (I was new to selfbow shooting when I got it, and the price was right at the time).
: Are the skins fresh or dried? Assuming they are fresh, I would make sure that there are no flesh or fat deposits remaining on the inside by scraping them clean. Then I would wash them well in warm soapy water and rinse. The bow you want to apply the skins to must also be clean and free of any sealant you might have applied to it. Practically any glue will work but some of them make the process of applying the skins easier and less messy. Personally, I like TB3, but regular carpenters glue will work. You can use commercial fish glue made from fish skin; it has a fungicide, which prevents the glue from turning bad and/or rotting. You could even make your own fish glue from trimmings of the salmon skins or animal skins. This method requires a lot more work, not only in the making of the glue, but in the application. If you want to try making and using your own glue, then let me know and I can give you more detailed info on that method.
32
Once the skins are cleaned, cut them so they fit the limbs. This is easier done when they are dry, but it can be done when they are wet. Using TB or carpenters glue, apply a thin coat, doing each limb individually, to both the back of the bow and the skin; the skin should be wet for this. Then lay the skin down on the bow and run your finger down the skin to feel for any air pockets. If you find any just work them off to the side and out. The application of skins, whether fish, snake or animal is mostly aesthetic. They do provide a bit of moisture protection once dried. If they are thick enough, they will add some protection to the back of the bow against possible breakage. They wont add any noticeable performance to the bow.
Send your questions to: Marc St. Louis

P.O. Box 1132 Mattawa, ON Canada P0H1V0 Or email: Marc@IronwoodBowyer.com You can also reach me on the Primitive Archer Message Board at:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php
Doug Graham from Huntsville, Ontario, asks:.
: I am in the process of fabricating a native-style quiver such as Jay Massey writes about in The Bowyers Bible, Vol. 2. My challenge is to fabricate, in this quiver, a means of protecting the bottom and sides from being cut by shaving-sharp two-edged broadheads. I have considered a heavy leather bootie for each arrow, or an arrow cup with lifting stick such as illustrated on page 179 of the book, Native American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers, Vol. 2. Do you know of any better way of protecting such a buckskin quiver, or any similar type of quiver for that matter, while carrying and withdrawing arrows? Should the bottom of the quiver be sewn straight across or fashioned into a rounded shape? Have you any thoughts on how to form a piece of heavy leather into a 5-6 inch deep cup to hold the broadheads? Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated. : The problem with leather boots over your broadheads is getting them off quickly in a hunting situation. Here is one method I use, though its not too primitive. I push a piece of dense foam into the bottom of my quiver and stick the broadhead into that. The foam holds them securely and keeps them safe and away from each other. A cup for the broadheads could be made by forming a piece of wet rawhide over a suitable shape and letting them dry. As to the bottom of the quiver, the shape is up to you. Either way would work; personally I think a round shape would hold your arrows better, a bit more difficult to execute though.
: For red oak, a length of 72" would be good for bows. Can you tell if they are flat sawn or quarter sawn timbers? Also can you tell if the growth rings run straight down the plank? If the growth rings are straight with no run off then you could get away without backing them. Seeing as how they have very fine growth rings, it would be hard to chase a ring if you needed to. If the growth rings do not run straight down your timber, then you would be better to back the oak. The first thing to do is carefully examine the growth rings to see if the timber was cut from a straight tree. For more advice you can become a member of the Primitive Archer message board (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php) and tap into a great deal of information from a large number of experienced bowyers. They can help you with a build-along.
Gerald Fitzpatrick from Windsor, Ontario, asks:.
: I have some old red oak that I would like to make a bow from. The timber in question was dug up from an old railroad building that was built in the early 1900s in Windsor Ontario. There are three pieces; the shortest is 62" with two 18'. All are a true 2" by 7.5". I would like to make a bow out of this if at all possible. I have the wood in the basement to preserve it, the growth rings are very close. I was hoping to cut them up in lengths of 72" or so to give to my son and family to make their own bows out of. If they should be backed (if possible) and any help with build-along would be great. This will be my first time bow making. I am thinking of a longbow. Really liked your work in Primitive Archer on the flight-bow and small game blunts; both were a great read.
33
Milkweed
make Osage bows from trees on my land, and I wanted my bow to have a bowstring built from organic materials located on or near my home here in southeast Iowa. My early attempts were huge failures due to haste and low quality fibers. I learned that building a complex corded milkweed bowstring requires a lot of attention to detail. The following is a description of my process, which is a combination of ideas from many sources and things that I have learned along the way. There are many techniques for making a bowstring, some more complicated than others. My technique is very primitive, yet time consuming and complex. In theory, the complexity of the design creates a stronger and lighter product by increasing the surface area and decreasing the material needed to create it. Before we begin, we need an understanding of how I use the following terms to describe the assemblage of fibers and related techniques. 34
Chasing a ring requires an eye. Building arrows, understanding why. But only complete with a string That brings it into the Ten Ring Bybee
Bowstring
By John Bybee
Terms: Simple Plies Fibers as described in the first article are twisted into a 1/32" string (not a cord) Cords An assemblage of simple plies rotating in the opposite direction of its constituent plies Complex cord An assemblage of both cords and plies Reverse wrap A technique used to create cords or complex cords constructed of simple plies or plies made up of two or more cords Serving a protective thread that is wrapped around a bowstring Scutching hitting fiber bundles to break the woody part of the plant so that it falls away When I first read how to make a bowstring, I was lost in the description and terms. I am going to try to simplify the confusion I found into a couple of basic steps that I used in making my bowstring. The bowstring I made is not a replica of any particular aboriginal group but rather a combination of primitive ideas much like you see in common bow building. There are many ways to assemble a bowstring; I am going to break it down into three steps. Step 1: Fiber Processing and Cord Production will create the 672 inches of cordage used to construct the bowstring. Step 2: Loop and Assemblage will cover measurements, weights, loop construction, and the building of the body of the string. Step 3: Serving will cover the where, how, and why. Step 1. When I began making my own bowstrings, I started by using flax. When I tried to apply those methods to milkweed fibers, it became apparent that my process didnt work. I used a common method for processing flax fibers that began with retting the fibers and scutching the flax to remove the woody stem. In this process, a bundle of fiber is gathered, and water is introduced during thread/ply production to facilitate fiber adhesion. This type of flax processing separates fiber extraction from ply production and becomes two separate operations.
I have combined these two operations when using milkweed, because fibers harvested during late summer have a sticky surface that facilitates adhesion during thread/ply production. If these fibers are left to dry, it becomes more difficult to process them into thread/ply and then into cordage. I begin by removing fibers and producing a 1/32" ply as outlined in the first article. Then I reverse wrap these two
plies, and continue feeding in plies as I process them from the stalk until I have 672 inches of cordage (see photos 3 & 4). It is important to control the quality so that the thickness remains consistent. To maintain this consistency, introduce tapered/feathered plies and feed in shorter lengths to fill thin spots (see photo 5). You may find that as you reverse wrap the two plies, some of the fibers start to unravel. I stop at this point and address this issue to 35
pounds at best, so a 9-cord bowstring would be required. This calculation will work, but know that the bowstring can be built lighter because reverse wrapped cord will become stronger with each reverse wrap sequence. Each cord will need to be 23 pounds to function safely. The additional 8 pounds is only asking for a 4% increase as the bowstring is constructed, which is not an unreasonable figure considering it could be as high as 10%. My numbers are as follows: 1 reverse wrapped bowstring (for a 46# bow) made of: 2 plies containing 4 cords in each (for a total of 8). Each cord (tested and broken at ~22#) was made from 2 plies that were 1/32 of an inch thick. I could have worked with the 9 cords in the following configuration. 1 reverse wrapped bowstring made of: 3 plies containing 3 cords in each. Each cord (tested and broken at ~22#) was made from 2 plies that were 1/32 of an inch thick. You will need to adjust your string to fit the needs of your bow. Now that you have determined the number of cords needed, a simple rule of eight should work for determining the overall length of each cord. Starting with 57 inches, add an additional 8 inches for the loop at the top and 8 inches for the knot at the bottom. Next calculate an additional 8% for shrinkages that will occur as you complete your bowstring. My figures are as follows: 57 + 8 + 8 = 73. 73 x .08 (or 8%) = 10.9 inches. 73 + 11 = 84 inches for each cord. 84 inches x 8 individual cords equals 672 inches of cord needed for making a 62-inch nock-to-nock longbow bowstring. These calculations may change for other bow styles (see photo 6). I have chosen a Flemish-style bowstring but will leave out the additional reinforcement plies in the loop. Toward the end, I will add serving to reduce chafing. My final string will have two plies. Each will contain 4 cords that will be reverse twisted into the final cord (see photo 7). I begin by setting up the loop end 8 inches from the top and start reverse wrapping the 2 plies (that contain 4 cords
make sure the ply is twisted well enough to continue. If you do not address this issue early, the unraveling will create a thick area in your cord (see video at PA Community Web Site post titled Milkweed Article). With good quality cord, you can make a good quality bowstring. The strength of this cord is going to set a series of events in motion. Make sure that the cord has the weight to produce the bowstring that you desire. Step 2. I needed to determine two key factors before building my bowstring. First, I 36
tested the break weight of the cord four separate times during Step 1. My cord broke at an average of 20-22 pounds. I placed them in a group of three and they it broke at 64-66 pounds. Second, I need to build a bowstring for a 46# bow that is about 62" long. This bow now has a modern Dacron b50 bowstring that is 57" long. With figures for the break weight and length, we can make some basic calculations. A bowstring needs to be four times the weight of the bow to function safely. My 46# bow needs a bowstring of 184 pounds. The cord I have is only 22
in each) toward what will be the knot end. You need to reverse wrap about 4 inches for the loop length. Photo 7 is the completed loop and the loop in construction of separate bowstrings. Now take the unwrapped end and feather the eight cords so that the plies taper to the top end. Now you are ready to make a loop. Reverse wrap the top 8 inches into the body of the string as you work your way toward the knot end. I enlisted help from the village to make the job easier (see photo 8). My helpers spun the plies one direction while I went the other. It is important to make sure that you are not wrapping one string in a serving type of manner. Keeping the twist equal is the key. Temporarily tie a knot in the end of your new bowstring when you finish. Step 3. The final step in completing your bowstring will be serving the loop, knot, and nock area. At this point, you are a professional thread maker, and those skills will be put to the test as you make the final yards of serving. Take time to make the highest quality thread for the serving, it will be the first line of defense against chafing. I use the longest threads from the milkweed, discarding the short ones. Before serving, wax the thread using beeswax. I start my serving by laying thread down the bowstring and wrapping over the line toward the end that is lying on the string (see photo 9).
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10
11
At the end of the serving, I take a separate piece of thread and fold it in half to make a loop. I place the loop of an inch past the serving and continue serving the thread over the loop. After 4 to 6 times around the end, it is fed through the loop, and the loop is pulled back through the serving (see image 10). There are better ways to tie the end of a serving, but I use this method because it is an easier method for me. I have dressed up the end of my string with a feather (see photo 11). Additional design work can be accomplished by dying your thread (see photo 10). My dye was made from the berries of staghorn sumac, blackberries, and wild black cherry. I placed the juices from these berries in a jar, added yeast, and allowed it to ferment for four weeks. Each day I opened the jar to release pressure. After four weeks, I placed the wine in a pan and added a teaspoon of salt. I heated the mixture on low heat. Then, I added the fibers and cooked for 15 minutes. Afterwards, I spread the fibers in the sun and allowed them to dry for one hour. After that, I twisted the fibers again to ensure a tight, quality thread. Then I bundled the threads and hung them to air-dry. 38
Words of Caution: Never twist a milkweed bowstring to shorten the length! You should always shorten it at the bowyers knot. The twisting of the string will cut fibers in the cord and create runs which will eventually lead to the failure of your bowstring. Never allow anyone to bend the string around this/her hand to test its strength because it will put undue stress on one side of the string. When storing my bowstring, I hang it on a peg and allow it to relax in a natural state. I used about 70 milkweed plants to
produce my bowstring. This may seem like a lot, but only the high quality fibers were used for the string, and the lower quality fibers were used to make additional items. These items contain about the same amount of yardage as the bowstring. My string was a labor of love and represents about 40 hours of spinning to produce the highest quality product that my hands can make. I have made bowstrings from deer hide with only a couple hours of labor and they weigh about the same amount, which is 290 grains. The bowstring I made from flax was about 150 grains and was very strong but also very time consuming. The upside to my milkweed bowstring is that it can handle changes in humidity and is resistant to rot. I also wanted to make my bowstring from available materials native to southeast Iowa. After this article is published you can view a video of this process and the firing of the bow by visiting the PA Community forum website and following the thread titled Milkweed Article. I have read many articles from various websites on milkweed and the traditional Bowyers Bible on string. I highly recommend that you read the section in the TBB on making bowstrings. I also would recommend reading Swamp Monkeys and Stringmans informative post on Primitive Archers Community Web Site. Time to Shoot! (see image 12) Final thought The Ropewalk Human spiders spin and spin Backward down their threads so thin Longfellow
12
Connection Part I
By Jay Red Hawk
t was the fall of 1875 within the Unceded Territory of Sioux hunting grounds as dictated by the 1868 Treaty, and the last big hunt on horseback of the season was taking place. It had been discussed for several days after a herd was spotted nearby and a plan was formulated by the older, more experienced hunters. Buffalo Runner horses were grazed
Swiss The
I
Fo!r Lako a arro#s circa */.)' Pri"a e collec ion of Chris Ra"enhead& So! h Dako a'
well and watered by the young men. Even these small, swift stallions knew what was about to happen. They pranced and snorted with excitement. Finally, they were brought to their riders by nephews and sons. It was a cool and cloudy day, excellent for running horses and keeping bison meat cool while butchering. There were no flies and there was no glare from the sun.
Men strung their bows, checked their arrows, and stripped down to moccasins and loincloths. They mounted up, some with lances and about two-thirds of them with short 60- to 70-pound horse bows. Many of them had trade riflesflintlocks and percussion cap, 54 caliberbut they preferred the old way. It was much more efficient. The herd of 200 or more bison were grazing in a draw when from behind them came a band of screaming young men flapping blankets and riding fast. The buffalo raised their tails and ran forward in a panic while the mounted Lakota came down on their left and right flanks riding hard and fast. Holding extra arrows points up, those with bows drew back short and released their deadly missiles into the sides of the Pte (PTAY buffalo cows) that would provide meat and new robes. The hunters blind-knocked as they reloaded from their bow hand, shooting their first four wahinkpe (wah-HEEN-kpay arrows) into their prey. Then reaching down to the left, where hanging quivers with quilled and beaded designs contained a dozen or more deadly, metal-tipped shafts, they reloaded until their quivers hung empty and light. They fired arrow after arrow, sinking them into the wooly hair and inch-thick hide of the 700-pound heifers and 1300-pound cows. Over the mile-long stretch the Spanish Mustangs were slowed down by their riders, their small, taut frames heaving to breathe, every muscle twitching from the excitement and rigor of the chase. Looking back, Mato Maza (mah-TOW mah-zah Iron Bear) saw
An original */,/ Karl Bodmer copperpla e engra"ing in he m!se!m'
Ano her %pe of flared nock %pical of Lako a Sio!$ arro#s'

Bo# and arro#s made b% he a! hor'

over forty downed cows. As he rode back to identify his kills, family members rushed down to retrieve his arrows and women and girls with butchering knifes exhalted their Li-Li-li-li-leeee vocal trills of excitement. Iron Bears three sons retrieved 15 of his 18 arrows, and he put them back in his quiver. The arrows were marked with dark blue paint mixed with hide glue. Some were lost over the years, but they were a treasure kept by the family even when they settled onto the agency after returning from Canada in 1881. Iron Bear passed and in the 1920s a man from the Eya sica Oyate (German/Swiss people) came. It was during the depression when there was no work, especially on the remote and isolated Cheyenne River Sioux reservation. Crops were failing and times were hard. The man from Europe was looking for bows, arrows, moccasins, shirts, bonnets and other artifacts. He had $5 to offer for a set of arrows. That would buy a months worth of groceries for the family of eightIron Bears descendants. The man purchased the arrows along with clothing and beadwork and left the next day never to be heard from again. In April of 2012, I had the privilege to go to Switzerland and to stay with a very special family whom I am proud to call friends, the Gassmans. I taught Plains Horse Archery for the first time in Europe to 17 students over a two-week period. Jack and Sam Gassman, brothers, helped wrangle horses and give ground technique instruction to students. We used Spanish Mustangs only (from the Windcross Conservancy Herd) for the clinic; they 40 were the original horse brought to the Americas from Europe. During my stay in the small village of Buhler, my friends took me to one of the places I had wanted to visit, the Museum of St. Gallen. It was a marvelous house of treasures. During the 1920s, collecting American Indian artifacts was quite the rage in European countries like Germany and Switzerland. The oldest and quite possibly best examples of Native American artifacts can be found in museums in Europe, due to the fact that for 400 years prior to the 1920s, Europeans had been bringing back material items of every kind from the New World. Buyers would be given a bankroll and
A! hor #orking #i h a %o!ng Spanish M!s ang in So! h Dako a' Photo by Pam Keeley
sent to the United States to go around to reservations and buy items for museum collections. Sometimes, of course, that included bows, arrows, and archery tackle. Many of these items were postagency/reservation era. These are items made specifically in the late 1890s or early 1900s. However, a few older treasures seem to have wound up in the mix. Most of the buyers werent searching for specific items as much as they were on a trip for Indian stuff. However, Im sure weapons and clothing were high on the list. My friends' son had done volunteer work at the museum, through him and the family's connections in St. Gallen, an appointment was set up for me to view the collection. This allowed me the opportunity to help identify some of the items and give
Chokecherr% shaf & p!rple cher & flared nock arro# !sed b% he a! hor o do#n a +&)))(po!nd bison in Che%enne Ri"er #i h a *-(inch pene ra ion'
further insight and information about their "Indianer" collection. I spent the day examining the items with Nadine Zacharias, the researcher/curator in charge of Native American artifacts for the museum. I did come across some remarkable Lakota (Sioux) arrows: four war arrows and a matching set of buffalo hunting arrows from the late 19th century in exceptional condition. The museum had stored them for almost a hundred years and they are probably from the 1870s. For arrows that are likely at least 140 years old, the shafts were still straight on the hunting arrows, the sinew was still clear, the fletchings were in excellent condition allowing me to easily identify what birds they were from. The paint used to mark and identify two of the arrows was still bright and colorful. Green and red marked two of them, and dark blue marked an additional sevenall common colors for Lakota arrowsbut I could not positively identify the types of green and red paint. In my opinion, they were painted with commercial pigments acquired in trade. If you look closely at the blue painted arrows, you will notice a semi-glossy sheen with small bubbles, which is produced when pigment is mixed with hide glue. I believe that the manufacturers as well as the original owners of these arrows were two separate individuals. The points on the war arrows are shorter than the blue arrows. The shafts on the red and green painted arrows are not barrel-shaped, which they are on the blue set. The barrel shaping appears on chokecherry shafts because when you harvest the wood for arrow shafts, one end is usually thicker than the other. The thickest end will become your flared knock when carving. The thinner end will become where you fasten your point/arrowhead. Starting from the middle of the shaft with the edge of a blade, sharp bone tool or shell, one scrapes back towards the flared knock to take off excess wood and weight and achieve a barrel shape. On these arrows it is particularly subtle. The shaft is ever so slightly thicker in the middle which prohibits warping and create a stiff-spined arrow. Furthermore, ones chance of retrieving a stiffer-spined arrow after a
Close(!p of fle chings and pain '
Ligh ening groo"es appear on almos all Lako a arro#s and some Che%enne arro#s'
hunt are much better because the shaft is stronger and penetration deeper into a buffalo. A shaft with too much flex breaks easily and does not go as deep into a bison. I learned this from my own personal experience. (Note the photograph on the previous page of an arrow I used on a 2,000-pound, 13-year-old bill.) I read an article about Comanche arrows several years back in PA in which the author mentioned that laundry bluing was used to color the arrows. While this may have been true in later years and through trade, blue earth paint pigment occurs naturally and tribes often mixed blue paint with hide glue. I have seen many sinew wrappings on Lakota arrows painted this way and still do it myself when making arrows.
The average length of the shafts was 22", with the points being all about 3 to 4 inches. The points were vertical to the knock on the hunting arrows, and their length told me these were designed to go in between the 1" to 2" gap of a buffalo cows ribs. To me, these were obviously trade points and all of them had serrated tangs. The arrow heads most likely were made from mild steel, being more iron (with less carbon) and therefore not as strong as a knife blade or spear point but deadly to be sure. The pitting and patina on the war arrows told me the points themselves could possibly be much older and were recycled onto new shafts after repeated use and recovery. The four war arrows had the arrowheads placed differently and were 41
Odd bo#& bl!n arro#& and q!i"er combo in S ' Gallen m!se!m'
slightly shorter in length than the hunting arrows, their points being about three inches in length. When examining them and holding them as if to be knocked, they went at a horizontal angle to the knock, thus being designed to go through a mans ribs which are horizontal because we stand upright. The arrows are colored red and black, which appeared to be vermillion paint acquired through trade and deadly when used repeatedly as body paint due to its high lead content. The black appeared to be hardwood charcoal mixed with hide glue. The fletchings were worn down on these arrows, and the sinew wrappings dry and dark with age, again suggesting these four arrows could be a decade or so older than the hunting arrows, or at least suffered more repeated use. The buffalo hunting arrows had some points with broken-off tips. I have seen situations where of an inch of the tip of a mild steel point gets bent completely back from striking a rib, the skull, or the shoulder blade or leg bone. Sometimes you miss the bison and your arrow point hits a rock on the prairie. This can cause a bend that will weaken the tip; if it does not immediately break off, over time it can separate and fall off. To me, this indicated that these sets of arrows had been well used and then kept and stored by a family 42
on the reservation until the 1920s when the buyers came to purchase them and take them back to Europe. The fletchings are from 7 to 9 inches in length and are mostly from eagle and hawk feathers. The knocks are the typical flared knocks, and the shafts appeared to be mostly chokecherry with possibly a few made from ash saplings. They all had lightning grooves etched into the shafts which almost all Lakota arrows have on them. These are not blood grooves. These grooves do nothing in the way of letting blood flow faster from wounded prey. I have experimented with arrows that have grooves and arrows without and there is no difference. What matters is where you hit the animal and the sharpness of the tip you usethat will make the difference of how much blood flows. For example, as most of you bow hunters already know, most kill shots are in the lung; this will produce blood flow out of the side and nostrils with air bubbles in the blood. The pierced lung will fill with blood and the animal will stop running and die. The first time my research turned up lightning grooves called blood grooves was in a paper written by General Henry B. Carrington in 1874 (first published in Boston in 1884) entitled The Indian Question, published by The Geographical
and Biological Sections of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The arrow is shot with more precision than the pistol-ball and its blade is not, like a bullet, to be deflected by tendon, cartilage or bone. Its shaft has grooves, through which, as conduits, the blood of the wounded man or buffalo must continue to flow, if the victim escape capture as soon as shot. While his hypothesis may have sounded intriguing at the time, it holds no water, or blood for that matter. The lightning grooves are put on every shaft for the purpose of giving your arrows the power of lightning swift, deadly, powerful and precise just like lightning strikes. The Lakota have an origin story of the bow and the horse, which are gifts from the Wakinyan (wah-KEE-yah) or Thunder Being. This being is sometimes represented as the Wakinyanla or Thunderbird. It is described by some Lakotas in early 20th century interviews as a giant bird with no head and a long sharp beak, no body but huge wings, no legs but big talons. I live on the prairie and in spring and summer, at times you see ominous storm clouds coming at you from the west and with just a little imagination, you can see the Wakinyanla. There is even a song, one of the many my learned and scholarly brother in law, Chris Ravenshead, keeps in his memory banks, that is the Wakinyan singing to the people, and he states that the bow is mine. Heyokah ta Ollowan kola heyaya manipelo, kola heyaya manipelo, mahpiya kin sina wayelo heyaya manipelo, hey.....lo kola heyaya manipelo, itazipa kin mitawayelo, heyaya manipelo, hey.......lo Lakota to English translation: Friend I am coming walking, Friend I am coming walking, Friend I am coming walking, The clouds are my blanket, Friend I am coming walking, The bow is mine, Friend I am coming walking.
One of the things the Lakota elders would say twenty years ago when I would ask them about bows and bow wood was that if a man came across an ash tree that was struck by lightning, this was the ideal tree to make a bow from. It had power. To get back on point with the arrows, these are definitely lightning grooves. My brother-in-law Chris, and many of my colleagues and peers agree that these grooves also help to keep the shafts from warping to a certain degree, that the depressions made in them actually help to compress the wood so that it is spined in by those wavy lines and therefore stronger, like when you burnish wood. Burnishing smoothes and shines, but it also compresses wood cells and makes the wood harder, stronger, and less likely to warp. I enjoyed spending the entire day in the Museum of St. Gallen, especially examining the arrows and wondering who owned them, where they had been and what they had doneif only they could talk! In a way, they do talk if we listen closely and do enough research to understand them. That is, for me, one of the thrilling parts of being a perpetual student of plains archery. Of particular interest to me, besides the arrows, were the original 1838 copperplate engravings by Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, which I was able to view. Prince Maximillian of Weid had hired the 23year-old Swiss man to accompany him on his expedition to America and paint tribes while the Pince documented everyday life, customs, ceremonies, and buffalo hunts. The expedition took place in 1833 1834. To think that Natives were living in an aboriginal state at that time would be a mistake, however, as tribes had had European trade items such as guns, iron, beads, brass, and cloth for a century already. Like American artist and ethnologist George Catlin who embarked on his expedition a year earlier, Bodmer and the Prince witnessed, documented and painted many different tribes using plains archery/horse archery for warfare, for the hunt, and for games and gambling. There was an odd combination on permanent display, not in storage like the arrows. It included a quiver, arrow, and
Serra ed angs on rade poin s ga"e a be er grip #hen #rapping sine# o sec!re hem'
bow. The brain-tanned quiver had beadwork only on the side facing out that an observer could see, while the side which would face the quiver wearers back had no beadwork. Practically, such a quiver would be lighter and the beadwork would not get beaten, worn or rubbed off during use. This is, however, atypical for plains quivers. The blunt arrow, including the fletchings, was painted with a beautiful bright red vermillion. This is a typical plains blunt arrow. The bow, however, seemed out of place. It appeared to be sinew backed but looked more like a West Coast item. The wood was possibly western juniper or red cedar and the handle was sloppily wrapped with a long hide strip. This is something I dont normally see on Northern Plains bows. The tips of the limbs were not tapered but had diamond-shaped knock ends. The paint job seemed very ungraceful, and I didnt recognize the theme. This could have been an item manufactured during the reservation/agency era to be sold to tourists and trading posts. There are Lakota arrows inside the quiver (upside down) with the points sticking up, no doubt placed that way in a much earlier period so museum goers could see them. To find these treasures in such excellent condition, in a small corner of Switzerland, not far from the border of Austria, thousands and thousands of miles away from the prairie on which I live and where they were made a century and a half ago was truly a remarkable thing. Special thanks to the Gassman family, Windcross Conservancy for Spanish Mustangs (US & Switzerland), Achim Schafer, Assistant Director of the Museum of St. Gallen, and Nadine Zacharias in charge of the Indianer Collection, and to my favorite archery magazine of all time Primitive Archer!
Coming up in Part II of The Swiss Connection: the Seggesser Hide, Plains Horse Archery Clinic in Switzerland and a visit to the 1st Annual Swiss Horse Archery Festival in Baltenscheider! 43
Photos by Kali McKinney
A sit"on"top kayak provides a shooting platform and allows you to cover more water than when wading
nyone who has ever been bowfishing or who has followed it knows that the best time to hunt invasive carp is in the spring. This is when they are the easiest to find and shoot as they make their way into the shallows to spawn. There is no shortage of videos available showing just how successful a spring bow-fishing excursion can be, as literally boat loads of carp are off loaded at the end of the day. Unfortunately, just like the rut of the white-tail deer, the carp spawn seems to end too suddenly, and most hunters either put their bows away and grab a fishing pole or find a 3D shoot to fill their time until fall arrives. The carp, like other fish, prefer deeper and cooler water as the full heat of summer arrives, and the accepted wisdom is that they are too difficult to find to make bow-fishing for them worth the effort. This is not necessarily true, however, and if you do a little homework you may not have to lay your bow aside. The assumption that carp will eventually move into deeper water after the spawn is based on their ability to do so. 44
But what if they sometimes dont have that option? What if because of their unfortunate location they are physically unable to move into deeper water and can do nothing except swim in shallower water? It would follow that they could then be hunted using a bow and arrow. In fact, because of this captivity in shallow water, you can even leave the boat at home and pull on your favorite wading shoes! No doubt you are now asking yourself where is this magical land of shallow swimming carp? Finding the answer requires a little homework, the use of satellite maps found on the internet, and a little summer exploration on your part. Focus on rivers and tributaries that are too shallow for boats to navigate. An obvious
Off-SeasonCarp
By Tim Lewis
point to begin is with any river near you that passes through a hydro-power plant, because these rivers are typically shallow on the downstream side of the plant and can often be waded easily. This is particularly true when the water is being diverted in order to generate electricity. The sudden diversion of water leaves carp trapped in the deepest pools that they can find and wondering what happened to their river. Other areas of possibility are rivers or tributaries with sections of calm water with shallow riffles at the top and the bottom of that same area. This structure leaves the fish trapped in the center with no way to make it to the deeper parts of the river. In most cases, fish can be easily
spotted along the bottom of these funnel points by simply standing on a protruding rock and looking into the water with polarized glasses. A kayak will pay for itself in spades in these small pools, particularly the type that you can stand on. You dont even need a trolling motor! You can simply ride the current down stream, shooting as you go, or you can throw a small anchor in the water behind you and wait for them to come to you. No matter which tactic you use, the key is to elevate yourself as much as possible above the water so that you can see the fish at the bottom. I have often suspected that the best tactic would be a step-ladder placed in the water, which could then be sat on and arrows launched from the top of it. Perhaps a little cumbersome in practice, but it illustrates the importance of elevation. The higher you are from the surface of the water, the greater your field of vision in the water will be. The fish will be at the deepest part of the shallow water that they can find. There will be sunny, clear days when you might see a few sitting almost on the surface, but most of the time they will be trolling up and down stream, in the center of the water body. On sunnier days they can also be found schooling within the shade of over-hanging trees. This means that although they are visible, there is more water above them than you would expect to see during the spawn and therefore more water to be dealt with when you shoot. For this reason, heavier bows seem to work better. The more energy the arrow has, the straighter it will travel underwater before deflecting. Though the shots can sometimes come at a frantic pace with this type of bow fishing, they seldom come as quickly as during the spawn. As a result, a heavier bow is not unmanageable and aids greatly in hitting the fish. I should warn you now that this type of bow fishing is extremely addicting and is more akin to deer hunting than bow fishing. These fish will see you if you move a lot or suddenly appear in front of them but usually not before you can get off a shot if you are prepared and quick enough. A friend of mine bow fishes the same way
that he deer huntshe uses the same compound bow that he uses for deer, utilizing his release, peep site, fiber optic pins, and all. The only difference is that he attaches a reel to his bow and uses a fiberglass arrow. He is very successful and prefers to take longer shots at carp as they surface in the deep pools. I prefer to use a wide, flat bow that not only allows me to snap shoot at the fish as they pass but, due to the wide cross-section limbs, also allows me to mount a commercial fishing reel or bottle to it. In fact, my favorite is a red-oak bow I made from a home supply store specifically for this purpose. From a tactical standpoint, use the current to your advantage and look for underwater funnel points the fish likely use to get from one pool of water to another. Or if you are hunting from a rock over a deep pool, locate an underwater shelf that is visible just before the water deepens and you will often see fish expose themselves as they swim over it. Another very effective tactic is to stake out a spot where the bottom is light colored, due to a sandy bottom or pile of rocks, and wait for the fish to create a silhouette as they swim over it. If you fish a known collection point, such as shadows on the water and submerged logs, a good tactic is to position yourself just off the edge of the shadow or structure and shoot at those members of
Polarized sunglasses are a must for seeing through the water to the fish below
the group that stray away from the others. By not interrupting the main body of fish, the ones you miss will simply return to the group for safety as opposed to moving from the area completely. Carp are lazy creatures and will often place themselves at the bottom of fast moving stream in order to eat whatever gets washed down to them. This means that they sometimes collect at the bottom
A wide"limbed flat bow makes mounting a fishing reel easier
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These pools of water hold fish and can easily be hunted by wading
of the riffle, where the water begins to calm. They also like to sit in the quiet and often shallow pools next to fast moving water where they dont have to fight the current but are close enough to the dinner table that they can swing out and grab a bite when the urge strikes them. Though difficult to see through, dont rule out the faster water as carp are extremely strong and seem to find it a minor inconvenience to swim up and down stream in fast moving eddies and currents. The best days for bow fishing late season carp are cloudless, sunny days preceded by periods of little rain. This makes the water clear and the sun penetrates even the deepest of small pools ensuring that, if nothing else, youll at least be able to make out large shadows as they glide past you. I have found very few things as exciting as shooting at one of these shadows and, upon connecting, reeling it in to see how big or how small my prize is. As stated, I have used any bow I can get my hands on for this sport and have used everything from the kind of commercial bow fishing reels that you see on television to winding up the string in my cargo pocket and allowing it to feed out as I shoot. It is really a matter of how much equipment you want to buy or what your imagination can concoct. Of course, Fred Bear simply tied his fiberglass arrow to a line coming from a fishing rod and reel; when he got a hit, he would drop the bow and grab the fishing rod in order to reel in his prey. A kayak or a canoe can expose you to many more fish simply because you can move around easily and are elevated over the water. The river I hunt can easily be waded across as the water is not higher than my waist. However, I often take my kayak because I can stand up on it and use it for a shooting platform. A canoe might work even better since I suspect that when the fish spot me they are actually looking at my legs. Another tactic is to wade out to any rock protruding from the surface of the water, stand on it, and wait for the fish to swim past you (sounds like ambushing deer, strangely enough!). If you are fortunate to find an area with several large
46
rocks, you can easily lose track of the day as you wade from platform to platform, shooting at whatever fish may be in the area. Also, if you have a kayak or canoe, dont be afraid to wade alongside it to pull it over the fast shallow water and place it in the deeper pools beyond. These are areas you can be sure have never been bow fished by the larger boats. These tactics will seem second nature to you once you begin. You will find yourself perched on a rock and staring intently into the water below and looking for a shadow or the outline of a fish. I have waited as long as twenty minutes in this position before I giving up. From small watercraft, the shots will come more frequently as the fish meander around the bottom of the river and hardly expect to see anyone suspended in the middle of it with a tightly strung bow to welcome them. Make sure to check your local game laws and shoot at only fish that are legal.
The river in these photos is the Shenandoah River just before it joins with the Potomac in Harper!s Ferry
In my home state of West Virginia, only a fishing license is needed which makes this a great sport for young hunters who may or may not have a hunter safety card yet. Also pay attention to laws that may govern how the fish can be disposed of once you reel them in. My state prohibits leaving them on the banks of the river or stream. If you find yourself sitting inside and wishing it was hunting season, then stop! Throw a rig together, grab some shorts and old shoes, and get in the water. Even if you dont shoot a fish, you will at least get some exercise, practice your stalking skills, cool off, and (most important) have an excuse to carry a tightly strung bow in your hands.
47
September
By Cipriano Rivera
ongratulations to Cody misslemaster from Huntley, IL, for winning September Self Bow of the Month with his Buckhorn Character Bow! There is not much that I can say about this young mans ability to make a fine bow that his bows do not say for themselves. This bow has that primitive look. I am sure it feels ancient in the hand, and yet its a modern marvel at bowery. Here is what Cody had to say of his build: Hi guys. I know Im a little slow, but I finally got it done! A lot of you guys saw me building this and I figured I would post the finished product. Its buckthorn (I love it!), about 55# @ 27". 59" NTN. 1-1/8" at the handle, 1-" at mid limb, tapering to " nocks. She stands dead flat after shooting a bunch, and holds 1 reflex at rest. I was surprised how much wood I had to remove in order to get it down to poundage! It only weighs 15 oz.! Tips are bloodwood. This is my first attempt at a Strunk-style handle wrap. It turned out okay. This bow shoots a fast arrow (Im surprised at how tight the string is at brace!) and is quiet. In the braced photo, there appears to be a hinge just below the handle. I was worried when I first got a string on her! Its simply a natural deflex that is actually a little thicker there. I used eight coats of oil and a coat of wax. Enjoy! Here are the comments from some forum members: Man Cody that bow is sweet! Great character in that one, real nice bend and top notch workmanship on tips and handle, way to tame that rugged wood. I love it. Still have some buckthorn in my shop, it scares me, not quite up to the challenge yet. Great job on yours. Greg You did an excellent job working with the character of the wood. And your handle wrap turned out great. Well done! Godon
BOW OF THE MONTH
Really nice job! Great tiller and finish work. That grip looks topnotch too! Adam Man oh man, Cody! You just keep raising the bar. An excellent looking bow from a challenging piece of wood. mullet Cody you have propelled yourself to the list of top bowyers in the world. Your quality and attention to detail is seen in all the bows you have been making and this one is certainly one of the best. Congratulations, my friend, on another amazing work of art and lethal weapon. Keenan
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ongratulations to Ed Kleinhesselink Beadman from Corydon, Iowa, for winning September Backed Bow of the Month! This is Eds debut bow post online, and it is a dandy for sure. This is obviously not Eds first build, as you can clearly see the attention to detail and craftsmanship in his build.
Here are what some forum members had to say: You know Ive been waiting to see this one thru our messaging... and boy was it worth the wait. That thing is sexy as females curves from every angle. Thanks for posting it. Blackhawk Beadman, great bow! love that quiver too. Good luck this hunting season, you definitely got the bow to get the job done. Greg I think those are the sexiest photos ever taken! Amazing amazing bow and I got to shoot it this afternoon. This bow is smooth shooting. Once I matched an arrow to the bow, it was bullseye time. Great job, Ed, remember me in your will haha. iowabow Very nice, Ed. You did a great job with it. Marc St Louis Excellent...and sexy! Pat B
Hickory/horn/sinew here is what Beadman had to say about his bow: Hello all. I decided to make a bow with a high enough percentage of composite materials to give the bow more durability with a profile that would enhance performance. Ive seen Asiatic bows be very resilient after being strung for long periods of time. My percentages would be scaled down a bit compared to the Asiatic bows. Asiatic bows are generally made 33%, 33%, 33%. My thought for this bow was 20%, 60%, 20%. More time in construction, but I was up for the challenge. Wood of choice was hickory. I have a lot of it around me. A stave that I tillered a 25#@28" bow from. Composites were gemsbok horn, deer leg sinew, and something a little different, backstrap from a beef. After bending my recurves in and gluing my horn and sinew on, I waited two months. The long string told me I had a 75# bow in my hands. Mass weight was 22 ounces with a reflex of 7-3/8". My mission was on track. After tillering it to 58#@28" mass weight was 18.75 ounces with a resting reflex of 4-1/2". After shooting a couple hundred arrows, it shot smooth, sweet, quiet, and hit where I was looking. I noticed after unbracing the arrow was getting 3-1/2" reflex to it. It shot a standard weight arrow with 4" fletching in the low to mid 170s with a standard weight string. Not excellent but good anyway. It really by rights probably should be drawn to 29". The composite materials are doing at least 70% of the tension and compression work. The overall stats are 58-3/4" ntn 1-3/8" wide at the fades tapering to 1-3/16" then quickly down to 3/4" then to 7/16" wide tips. I finished it with some light brown dye, bulletshaped horn overlays on the tips and belly of the handle, a water snake skin, black silk wraps, and a blackish leather wrap handle. I gave it a lacquer finish for a sealant.
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october
By Cipriano Rivera
BOW OF THE MONTH
ongratulations to Simson Sie from Germany for winning October Self BOM with his Big elm flat bow!!!
Here is what Simson had to say about his bow: Lying in the bed with influenza attack, cannot do any work. I have decided to show you another bow. So, perhaps some of you are perhaps bored sorry for that. Here she is: Elm sapling bow, stave was about 5" in diameter. It was harvested in late spring, so the back shows after debarking the early grain / fibers as a wonderful landscape like a field with a lot of humps and dumps. Yes, I know the early wood is not the best as back, but I could not resist leaving it on. The piece had many little branches, which I also left on and cut off at about 1/4". The area just above the handle shows the relic of a dead branch (hollow stump) of about 3/4" in diameter and ca. 2" depth! The belly is flat and at some sections grooved, it shows a nice combination of the heartwood and sapwood. The stave has a propeller twist and a problematic side profile. The lower limb runs on the outside (back) of the grip, the upper limb to the inside (belly), because of the stump. The result is an unusual braced side profile, like a negative tiller. The arc of the
lower limb is higher than the upper limb. Crazy! No leather handle, no overlays just a stick and a string. String alignment is corrected with dry heat. The back is stained to show the nice surface. 70" ntn, max. width is 2.25" very light heat treatment. The bow came out with 74# @ 28", shoots very nice and fast. (I cant believe a flatbow so long is so fast). The hollow stump is filled with a whisky reservoir (in case of snakebites and so on. Simson Here is what some forum members had to say about: Cool! That is a real work of art! lesken2011 That baby is pure art Simson. Im just grinning ear to ear looking at that beauty imagining the dumbfounded look some hardcore wheelie bow guy might give you if he ran into you in the woods with that bow in hand. You could then offer him a snort of the whiskey to bring him back to his senses. Spectacular bow, I just love it. Greg Man i just love it!! That one is just too awesome, especially with the stump. Great job on a very difficult piece. Hope you get better soon! K-Hat I missed this one the initial go around. Just linked to it through BOM thread, and I have to say, this bow has a good shot at BOM. Honestly, your bows are some of the best I have seen on PA. It is very evident you take a lot of pride in your craftsmanship. Seeing your bows always inspires me to slow down and take the extra effort in the finer details of my own bow efforts. CMB I just have one thing to say...WOW..i didnt know elm was so pretty. john That is a beautiful bow with a beautiful tiller! Well done. Jawge Thats a fine bow Soy. Nicely done in execution and finish, really pleasing to the eye. On a side note I've done half a dozen black walnut selfbows, unbacked with sapwood left on, no problems with walnut sapwood. Yours is excellent man, well done. Greg
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ongratulations to Thad Soy from Faribault, Minnesota, for winning the October Backed Bow of the Month contest! Thad has been building bows and entering them religiously in our monthly contest. Hes a humble and unassuming Primitive Archer member who is not afraid to try a new method. Thad believes that winning is building bows and sharing his successes and disappointments with all of us. This month we all relish in this fine bow crafted by Thad. The owner of that bow is one lucky person! Soys Walnut with Sapwood
Here is what Thad had to say about his bow: Sorry to bore yall with so many pics of one bow, but I could not find just one that would tell the tale...So it is 66ntn 50# @27 black walnut from gundoc, linen backed with a couple of sapwood rings and covered with a pair of western diamond back rattlesnake skins I got from Cippy and the icing on the cake are the antler tips.... This bow is very easy on the eyes and a pleasure to shoot. I cant stop with the black walnut until Im satisfied I know how to make a bow with it. This is the first time Ive used any that was not the dead standing. It was really cool looking without the backing on it, but the new owner wanted skins so I figured why not put the insurance policy on it. Its too bad because it was really fetching without it. Hope you all enjoy. Also as always criticism welcomed as I am still trying to learn Forum members had a lot to say about Thads October Backed Bow of the Month win: Absolutely stunning in every way. That is as classy as it gets, and I already know how well it shoots. The tiller is perfect and the finish is exquisite! Well done, well done indeed! Josh
Sweet soy, great bend on that one. Bub Clean tiller, nice contrast of the wooda really fine bow! simson Now that is a beauty. Sweet bow and love the finish work also. Pappy
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Knap-In and
very spring in late April I get excited because I know one of my favorite gatherings will be coming soon. When the spring sun warms your back and the sweet aroma of honeysuckle and privet blossoms is carried on gentle breezes, I know where Ill be heading: The North Georgia Knap-In and Primitive Skills Festival. The North Georgia Primitive Skills Festival is held 45 minutes north of Atlanta in scenic Gatewood Park in Cartersville, Georgia. It is conveniently located within eight minutes of I-75, and the setting is absolutely beautiful: tall oak and pine trees surround the large grassy field where the festival is held. A portion of the park is bordered by Lake Allatoona, which was created when the Etowah River was dammed years ago. Admission is free 52
North Georgia
By Billy Berger Photo 1: A portion of the numerous vendors and patrons who attend the festival.
(photo 1). If you are there to buy finished flint knapping art, there are the stunning works by some of the worlds best flint knappers including Dan Theus, Steve Behrnes, Woody Blackwell, and Jim Hopper. These works command high prices, and the skill with which they were made is immediately evident (photo 2). If you want to buy finished work but dont want to break the bank, there are the works of less well known knappers and their pieces are much more affordable. If primitive archery gear is more to your liking, wooden bows of all different types are available for purchase. My good friend and bow maker Dan Spier is always there with an entire rack of bows for sale. His painting and creative skills transform these weapons into works of art which are as beautiful as they are functional. Dan also sells split staves of various woods if you would like to make your own bow. There are two large hay bales in the center of the field where atl-atl and primitive archery target practice can be done. Raw stone can also be obtained. Flint nodules fresh from the earth, sawed slabs, and even preforms are available. And the wide array of stone is staggering: translucent Novaculite from Arkansas, Sonora flint from Kentucky, colorful Agatized coral from Florida, Flint River jasper from Georgia, Root Beer flint and blue-gray Georgetown flint from Texas, rainbow colored Flint Ridge flint from Ohio, jet black obsidian from Oregon, and even exotic man-made materials like iridescent fiber optic glass of every color (photo 3).
The
Primitive Skills Festival
Photo 2: Colorful Flint Ridge flint points made by master knapper, Roy Miller.
Got the stone but need the tools? There are plenty to be found here. Large antler billets of moose and elk for percussion work as well as smaller tines for pressure flaking are all available. If abo knapping isnt your thing, there are more than enough copper boppers and pressure flakers to round out your modern flint knapping toolkit. This festival is your one-stop-shop for everything primitive. Stone carvings, leather crafts, gourd bowls, artifact cases, flint knapping tools, arrow materials, t-shirts, books, and even videos are for sale. There are plenty of items for the Misses as well, including beautiful necklaces, earrings, and jewelry. A colorful set of arrowhead earrings or an arrowhead necklace will surely get the attention of her friends at the office.
Photo 3: An example of the wide variety of stone available from vendors.

Photo 4: The parking lot is packed with cars from all over the country. Get there early to take advantage of the best items!
Photo 5: Archaeologist Carl Ethridge (seated) demonstrates the ancient art of making arrows from local river cane.
I even had a booth. It was amazing how many people recognized me from the Discovery Channel TV show, I, Caveman. And if they happened to miss the TV show, they knew me from my YouTube videos. Hey Billy, I watch your YouTube videos all the time was something I heard countless times. It was great to meet people who watch my videos and follow me on the internet. I find it pleasantly ironic that we use computers and the internet to spread ancient primitive skills to the world. The North Georgia Primitive Skills Festival is scheduled every spring during the last weekend of April and brings vendors from all over the country (photo 4). Vendor setup is on Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the two big days when numerous customers and the public wander through, but if you plan on doing some shopping I suggest getting there on Friday if possible because a lot of choice items are snatched up early. Vendors usually begin packing up and leaving around noon on Sunday. On Saturday there are free demonstrations all day long on topic like bow making, arrow making, basic flint knapping, making fire by friction, making cordage, and edible plants (photo 5). If you are interested in being a vendor or would like to receive literature and announcements about the next festival, contact Dave Swetmon at 770-304-8760 or e-mail him at deltaworm@charter.net, or Mike Blackston at 706-283-7143 at captmike03@hotmail.com. Or visit the North Georgia Knap-In website at www.northgeorgiknapin.yolasite.com. The festival is a place to meet new people and spend time with good friends (photo 6). Everyone is very friendly, and they are willing to help you out if you have questions (photo 7). And they enjoy spreading the amazing world of primitive skills to anyone whos interested. Its a great time and I hope to see you there next April!
Photo 6: The author (right) with his good friend Dan Spier enjoying the beautiful weekend at the festival. Photo by Karla Berger
Photo 7: Artist Dan Spier loves to answer questions and spread his knowledge to others. Here he shows some interested patrons the finer points of flint knapping.
MedicineMAN
s the sun was rising over the eastern ridgetops, the camp of the People was already astir. The fire had been rekindled, and a thread of smoke soon rose above the treetops as people folded their sleeping skins and began to prepare the morning meal. In the center of camp near the fire, two great logs lay supported off the ground by strong green poles and forked stakes amid piles of wood chips, bark, and charcoal. One was smoothed, squared at each end, and was almost hollowed out inside while the other merely had the bark stripped off and the ends still showed the ragged effects of being burnt to length. At this camp, the People had come together to make new dugout canoes. The rivers were the highways of the People, and the large dugout canoes were the main means of transport for war parties, trading parties, and cargo. Each canoe was constructed of the hollowed-out log of a great tree and could carry up to twenty or thirty men and their weapons and gear, or a party of traders and all their cargo. Building one was a group effort, and the canoes belonged collectively to the village whose people had built them. This camp was situated near a grove of the tall, straight-trunked trees that were preferred for canoe making. Felling a large tree big enough for a war or trading canoe was a dangerous and difficult task. The tree was selected and then girdled and scored around the base with stone axes. A fire was built around the base of the tree and was kept burning until the great bole fell to earth. The log was then trimmed to length by the same method of chopping and burning. After de-barking, the ends of the log were squared, smoothed and shaped, and then the work of hollowing the interior began. The People scored and chopped the top of the log and then built a fire on top of the flattened trunk. They used wet clay to control the spread of the flames and coals. After allowing the fire to burn several inches into the log, the People removed the
Tulip Poplar
coals, scraped the charred wood and chopped it out with stone adzes and shells; then, they replaced the coals and repeated the process over and over until the interior of the canoe was hollowed and smoothed, leaving only thin walls and a slightly thicker floor. The last step of the process involved filling the hollowed canoe with water. The People dropped heated stones into the water-filled canoe until the water boiled and the wood was heated and softened. Then, they wedged strong premeasured green poles between the walls of the canoe to spread and widen the center of the hull. This process often took many days
By Steve Parker
of hard work, but the resulting canoe could last for decades. The final tedious stages of hollowing a canoe demanded constant supervision by the more experienced men, as one moment of inattention could spoil days of work. The finished canoes had hulls thinned to less than half a finger-width: a single uncontrolled coal or an errant chop of an adze could breach the hull, ruining the vessel. This morning, the Medicine Man was one of those tasked with supervising the final hollowing of the first canoe. He gauged the heat of a cluster of coals near the bow of the craft, adding a few more
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handfuls of wet clay to limit the spread of the fire in a section of the hull that he judged to be almost thin enough. As he concentrated on the task at hand, he was interrupted by a tug at his sleeve. A young boy stood nervously, waiting for his attention. The boy told the Medicine Man that his mother had sent him to the healer for help. His little sister, a toddler, was stricken with a high fever. The Medicine Man turned over the supervision of the canoe to another warrior and followed the boy to his mothers camp. He entered the bark hut and found the worried mother anxiously cradling a small child. The youngsters forehead was burning with fever, and the woman told the healer that the toddler was also suffering from severe diarrhea. Being
in a temporary camp, the Medicine Man had no access to the many healing herbs that he had stored in his house in the village where he lived, but he thought he knew how to help the sick child. The healer hurried through the camp to the grove of canoe trees. Using a pointed stick, he dug around the stump of one of the felled trees until he uncovered a root and followed it until he found a smaller feeder root of thumb diameter. He pulled the root from the ground and cut it off with his flint knife. He took the root to the river and washed it, then returned to the sick child. He peeled the outer bark from the root, then scraped the inner bark into a clay pot, and macerated it with a clean stick. He added water and set it on the fire to simmer. Soon, a spicy fragrance filled the
bark hut. He strained some of the hot liquid into a cup through a wad of dry grass and allowed it to cool. He carefully held the cup of healing tea to the ill childs lips and let her swallow it sip by sip. He scraped more of the root bark into the pot and moved it away from the fire a bit. He instructed the mother to give the sick child a couple more cupfuls of the healing tea throughout the day. When he went to check on the toddler late that evening, he found her sweating heavilyher fever was beginning to break. He told the mother to continue dosing the child with the tea the next day. Two days later, as the first new canoe was being carried to the river for its maiden voyage, he saw the little girl running through the camp, playing with
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her friends. The canoe tree had provided the People not only with a means of transportation but also a healing medicine for one of their children. Perhaps one day, the girl would travel down the river in a huge dugout canoe, never realizing that the same tree had saved her life years earlier when she was a fever-wracked toddler. The healing tree used by the Medicine Man was the tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera.) This large tree of the magnolia family, also known as yellow poplar and tulip tree, grows in mesic woodlands throughout eastern North America from Ontario and Vermont south to Florida, and west to Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and eastern Texas. The tulip poplar is one of the few trees which is at once a pioneer species, colonizing disturbed soil and old fields, and a dominant woodland canopy species. It is both extremely fast growing and long-lived. Some of the largest oldgrowth trees in the eastern United States are tulip poplars. In areas such as the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, stands of virgin tulip poplars reach 190 feet in height and several feet in trunk diameter. One specimen in Virginia has a trunk that measures over thirty feet in circumference. The common name of tulip tree comes from the shape of both the flowers and leaves. The leaves are 4lobed in a rough tulip shape and grow alternately on the twigs. The bark is smooth on younger trees, becoming deeply furrowed in older specimens. The flowers, borne in late spring, are also suggestive of a tulip. They give way to a cone-like seedpod in the fall. The seeds are winged samaras. All parts of the tree have a spicy fragrance. Medicine: The tulip polar has a long history of medicinal usage. It has diuretic, febrifuge, vermifuge, tonic, and stimulant properties. Native Americans
and early settlers used an infusion of the root bark to treat dysentery, fevers, malaria, indigestion, rheumatism, infant cholera, syphilis, toothaches, and coughs. It was used externally as a poultice for headaches, cuts, sores, boils, gangrene, snakebites, and other wounds. A strong tea was used to expel pinworms. An ointment made from the buds was used to heal sores, inflammation, and burns. The bark was also chewed as a stimulant and aphrodisiac. One herbalist from the mid1800s said of tulip poplar: There is no root or bark, within my knowledge, that I consider more valuable, and during a long experience it has proved in my hands one of the most valuable of remedies, and may be given in every instance to restore the general health. I have found it superior to the Peruvian Bark (quinine.) Food: The tulip poplar has limited food usage. The flowers are a rich source of nectar and are a bountiful source of honey. The root bark has been used to flavor root beer. Other Uses: The tulip poplar is a commercially valuable timber tree. The wood is light, soft, and easily worked, but strong for its weight. The wood is used for framing, general lumber, and furniture frames. Tulip poplar wood was the most common wood used in much of eastern North America for building log cabins, due to its tall, straight growth habit, and lack of branches. It is also easily split. Many old hewed, dovetailed log cabins were manufactured by splitting tulip poplar logs into thinner sections. The heartwood was sometimes also split into roofing shingles. The wood is good for carving. Tulip poplar wood was the traditional wood used in Appalachia for carved dough bowls, spoons, and platters. Tulip poplar wood also has primitive uses. The split heartwood makes excellent arrow shafts and is one of the
best woods for friction firemaking. It makes superior hearth boards for hand drill fire kits and is good for both spindle and hearth board for bow drill fire sets. Tulip poplar trunks were the wood of choice for many eastern tribes and early European settlers for making large dugout canoes and rafts. The inner bark of tulip poplar contains strong bast fibers, which have been used for making cordage, rope, and woven textiles. Often, fallen poplar logs can be found in the woods which are naturally retted to just the right stage for extracting the bast fibers. The outer bark of tulip poplar easily slips from the wood during the growing season. It can be peeled off in large sheets and used for making lean-tos or roofing material. Many wigwams and longhouses of the Eastern Woodland tribes were covered with tulip poplar bark, as were the roofs of wattle-anddaub houses. Appalachian settlers made roofing shingles and siding for cabins from the bark. The bark is also easily made into folded berry buckets and containers, and can be cut into narrow strips and used for basket weaving or lashing. A yellow dye can be made from the inner bark. The tulip poplar is widely used as an ornamental and shade tree and is sold in the nursery industry. It is fast growing, easily transplanted, and adaptable to many different soils. Our ancestors lived intimately with the land and, over time, accumulated much knowledge of which plants to use for different purposes. Before industrial civilization, this knowledge was widespread and necessary for survival. Now, much knowledge has been lost. It is our duty and in our best interests to preserve useful plant knowledge and incorporate it into our lives as well as to preserve our environment and the wild plants that in the future may once again become our very means of survival.
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Selfbows and
hat is a selfbow? One solid piece of wood, carved from a tree and finessed into an arc. The journey to the final product is just as important to me as the finished bow. That is obviously the bowyer in me talking. Many people who shoot selfbows never see the bow in stave form or have any idea what tools were used in its construction. I dont consider myself a purist by any means. I use many traditional tools and techniques in making bows, arrows, and points, but I dont craft my bows with flakes of chert or sandstone blocks. There may be an undefined line between a Traditionalist and a Purist. In whatever category I may fall, one thing is for certain I love my hand tools! I see many pictures of folks building bows with band saws and other power tools. I dont shun or put down anyone for using a power tool. Im not arrogant enough to tell someone that they are not doing it correctly. That which is correct is that which best takes you down the road to success. I have seen many a fine bow cut out with a band saw and even a few cut laser straight on a table saw. For me, the best approach is through the use 60
Hand Tools
By Ryan Gill
The right hand side of the stave has been sawn straight while the left has been hand split. This is often the case with commercially bought staves. The straight line cut by the saw clearly cuts through the meandering grain leaving many places of grain run out and encouraging lifted splinters or broken bows.
than with a drawknife. Wood splits off where it wants to rather than being forced into compliance with hundreds of sawing teeth. A stave will tell you a lot if you take time to watch, feel, and listen. My favorite way to build a bow is by eye and feel. I measure a stave and mark center which can also easily be done with a length of cordage and dividing it in half. I like a center mark and that is all. The rest of the stave wont have any pencil marks when I start. I begin by removing the obvious bits and lengths that will not be in my bow. I use a sharp machete or a hatchet if the wood is extra tough. I take plenty of time to eye ball the stave from different directions and remove wood slowly. As the stave takes a closer-to-finished form, I switch to the straight handled drawknife. The slow pull of the knife should follow the grain well. Although a dull knife is a great inconvenience, I have found too sharp a drawknife will cut through the grain instead of following it. There is a happy medium between bluntly splitting the wood and cutting it. Nothing but practice will tell you where that medium is.
of a couple good hand tools, a hatchet, a machete, and a straight handled drawknife\scraper. Some would say, Sure, its easy to say you dont like a band saw until you have used one. Agreed. I do in fact have one and have used it a few times. There is something about the whine of the blade and hum of the motor that is very impersonal to me. The wood may have taken decades to grow, and in a few minutes I lop it off with little effort. Perhaps its out of respect for the wood that I work it by hand. I can appreciate the wood and the grain as I sweat through reducing a full stave into shavings and, eventually, into a floor tillered bow. The more bows I make, the more I realize that following the grain is ever important. Many bows are made with a perfect growth ring on the back, yet suffer greatly from excessive grain run-out. This is especially true with Osage. A good bow can actually be made with a fair amount of grain run-out, but a better bow would be obtained by following the grain as closely as possible. I have noticed that a bows expiration comes earlier when the grain is violated. For me, there is no better way to follow the grain
A fellow once asked me, How do you know what to remove if you dont have it drawn out? Every stave has a bow in it. Patience and a good eye will reveal the bow without a single pencil mark. Finding the bow without markings can be extremely risky and difficult with a band saw but, with a drawknife and a little practice, it isnt as hard as it sounds. I am not obsessed with measurements. Aboriginal peoples used various methods to measure bows and arrows mostly based on the size of the shooter. Some may have used a stick with markings or
Although I dont use a pencil when making a bow, photographs dont show the grain as well as in person viewing. Here, I used pencil marks to highlight the natural grain patterns. These marks are not where I decided they should be, instead they follow the grain and dictate where the edges of the bow should be.
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a length of cord with knots tied. None of these methods were extremely accurate or precise. The truth is, a selfbow doesnt need to be perfect in measurements. I have found it far more important to follow the grain than a straight pencil line. Next time you pick up a stave, notice how the grain doesnt follow any measurements. It weaves in and out and around knots and can easily expand and contract over a half inch in just a few inches in length. Simply put, my answer to that fellows question is, I remove all the wood that doesnt look like a bow. He didnt seem to understand what I was talking about. But some things just cannot be explained, I suppose. The approach I take to building my bows is quite simple. I never found it necessary to over-think or complicate an otherwise basic or primitive weapon. Primitive archery is named for what it is. Sometimes I see primitive archery starting to turn into
modern archery when the integrity of the bow is compromised because the lower limb is a quarter of an inch wider than the top limb. Neither you, the bow, or your quarry would notice that quarter inch if it wasnt for the tape measure. When it comes to finish work or non-structural work (grips and tips), break out the power tools if you wish. For the building of the bow itself, there is nothing like a pile of shavings to shovel into the wood stove. You may find your bowering skills will grow by leaps and bounds if you adopt patience with a drawknife and an eye for grain.
All three of these photographs show how cutting straight lines through a stave easily violates the grain. The correctly shaved edges, using hand tools, follow the grain on its natural course. Note that I didnt simply follow the drawn lines but rather the drawknife followed the grain that I simply highlighted using a pencil. Whether I drew lines on the stave or not, the end result would have been the same.
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DVD Only
Fitz-Rauf Target
rchers are used to targets where the highest point value is in the center of the target as in a concentric circle, the peg in a roundel target, etc. With such a target, if your aim is a bit off you still can get the next highest point value. The Fitz-Rauf Triangle Target, based on a medieval Asian example, is an equilateral triangle, with one of its points straight up, divided into three equal width horizontal bands, the highest point value is the top part of the triangle. Therefore, if you are aiming for the highest value and your aim is a bit high, left, or right, you can miss completely and receive no points. Those that try for the highest value have a greater chance of 64
The Triangle or
My addition to this target is to make it a bit more challenging for the highly skilled archers by drawing one additional horizontal line at the upper third of the top or head triangle. This would represent a visor slot and would be one forty-fifth the area of the horse. However, this would result in a point value of forty-five which would be too high because one lucky shot to it and five misses of the target would give more points than hitting the head with all six. A reasonable compromise would be to give it a value of fifteen points. However, slight errors in aim are even more apt to create a complete miss and zero points when attempting the highest scoring area. To fit on a 30-inch round target mat, the triangle should have a maximum of 27inch sides. The triangle may be made in any size suitable to the range being shot, the skill level of the archers, and the size of the matt or backstop. Bottom (horse)black = 1 point Middle (warrior)red = 3 points Top (head)gold = 5 points Visorblack = 15 points Lines count as higher score Ends may consist of any number of arrows. In the Middle Ages, ends were usually two arrows or sometimes three The gold section in this photo shows up as white. It is a 27-inch triangle on a 36-inch matt. The target was first used at a medieval recreation event by Jon Fitz-Rauf in Oregon in July 2012.
By John R . Edgerton
making no score if they miss than those that aim for the lower value areas. This provides a high scoring area for the better archers and still has a large lower scoring area for the average archers and is an interesting change from the standard concentric target faces. The three parts of the triangle target were said to represent a warrior on horseback. The top, high scoring, triangle was his head. The middle band was his body. The largest band, the bottom, was his horse. The area of the highest scoring part, the head, is one-fifth the area of the horse, and the warrior is one-third the area of the horse. A logical way of scoring is: head = five points, body = three points, horse = one point.
Above is a drawing of the target showing the three equal width bands and the visor area. I hope this target will provide some more variety to those used in current classical archery.
PrimitiveCHEF
Spaghetti Squash
Serves approximately 4
Primavera
with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Breaded Chicken
ello fellow archers, its time to share another recipe with you. The dish I have involves a couple of steps and a little knife work. I used chicken in this dish, but the flavors adapt well to other meats and seafood. The dish emulates a pasta dish using spaghetti squash as the pasta topped with matchstick cut vegetables, a fresh tomato sauce, and breaded boneless chicken.
FOR THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH: Preheat oven 350. Make a couple of slits in the shell of a 3- to 4-pound squash. Place it on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour until the squash is soft to the touch. When it is cool enough to handle, split it lengthwise, remove the seeds, and pull out the meat of the squash. Set it aside. FOR THE FRESH TOMATO SAUCE: 3-4 Roma tomatoes cut into chunks cup diced carrot cup diced celery cup diced onion 1 sweet red pepper diced 3 cloves garlic cup olive oil juice of 1 lemon cup red wine 1 teaspoon sugar teaspoon black pepper cup chopped fresh basil salt to taste. Method: In a sauce pot, heat olive oil on medium heat, add vegetables, simmer covered for 10 minutes, and then add lemon juice, red wine, and remaining ingredients. Cook until the vegetables are soft, then puree the mixture in a food processor or food mill. FOR THE PRIMAVERA VEGETABLES: Julienne or cut into matchstick-sized pieces: 1 zucchini 1 yellow squash 1 carrot 1 sweet red pepper 1 yellow pepper red onion 6 asparagus spears slivered FOR THE BREADED CHICKEN: 1 pound boneless chicken pieces cut in strips In breading bowl #1 combine the following: 3 cups flour, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon salt and a teaspoon pepper. In breading bowl #2 combine the following: 2 cups milk and 2 beaten eggs.
66
In breading bowl #3 combine the following: 3 cups coarse breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, the grated peel of 1 lemon, and teaspoon grated nutmeg. Dredge the chicken in breading bowl #1, then #2, shake off any excess, then roll in breading bowl #3. Set the breaded chicken aside. Preheat oven to hold chicken after frying. Fry the chicken in your favorite cooking medium until golden brown. To assemble the dish, warm the sauce, saut the spaghetti squash with butter or olive oil, a splash of water, salt and pepper to taste until hot. Saut the vegetables in the same fashion. Then assemble individual plates or serve family style. Top with parmesean cheese and fresh chopped basil. I hope you find time to give this batch of recipes a try. Until next time, eat well and shoot straight. Chef William E. Campbell
67
continued from page 80

sure that neither will mind my greeting the other. Why I came here is a mystery even to me. I just decided to climb this mountain today and am glad that I did. Sometimes the climb is rough, but when the summit is underfoot all that matters is the view. My bow and arrows have no need up here, but down below the elk are calling. I place an arrow in the crevasse between the ancient rocks and say a prayer for those who have gone before me and for those still to come. The wanderer in me is restless as I begin my descent to the heavy timber below. Down there the elk are rutting hard, and I know the meadow where they might be. One last wave to the eagle, and a nod of respect to the Creator of all this, and I climb back down through the clouds of my youth to the meadows where the pungent smell of rutting elk bring me back to my adult self, even while I still dream of standing among clouds.
68
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EventsCALENDAR
57 6 1321 1921 2021 2021 2528 2528 Twin Bridges Mountain Man Springdezvous (West Plains, Missouri) Museum Monthly Knap-In, visitors welcome (Lehi, Utah) Hart Canyon Rendezvous (Bakersfield, California) Beaver Creek Free-Trapper Spring Rendezvous (Sterling, Oklahoma) South West Louisiana Knap-In (Vinton, Lousiana) Old Greenville Rendezvous (Greenville, Missouri) Anasazi Free Trappers Rendezvous (St. George, Utah) North Georgia Flint Knappers and Primitive Arts Festival (Cartersville, Georgia)
February
2 8 810 1517 2224 2224 Museum Monthly Knap-In, visitors welcome (Lehi, Utah) ISAC at Seminole Canyon State Park (Comstock, Texas) Annual Frozen Butt Rendezvous (Blue Rapids, Kansas) Withlacoochee Living History Primitive Art Festival (Dade City, Florida) Pre-Spring Arrow Fling (McCalla, Alabama see ad pg. 17 Ochlockonee River State Park Stone Age and Primitives Arts Festival (Sopchoppy, Florida)
March
13 13 2 13 13 911 916 1718 30-31
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2013
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April
57
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VHS & DVDs by John McPherson
Rattlestick: A Selfbow Tutorial DVD

B3 Ga,3 S. Da0#-
$24.95 + S"#**#(! & Ha(d&#(!

Master Bowyer and owner of Rattlestick Bows, Gary S. Davis shares his 27 years of bow building passion in this all encompassing 2.5 hour DVD!
VHS: $29.95 + S&H / DVD: $32 + S&H
VHS: $24.95 + S&H / DVD: $27 + S&H
Covers Osage and White Woods Selecting a Tree Reflex Bow Forms Bow Layout and Cutout Steaming/Straightening Tools Snakeskin Backing Tapering Finishing and Grip Tillering +BONUS MATERIAL
Visit www.HorseFeathersRanch.com or call 888-330-3822 to order!
The Primitive Bow and Arrow

By John & Geri McPherson
DVD: $32.00 + S"#**#(! & Ha(d&#(! VHS: $29.95 + S"#**#(! & Ha(d&#(!
A Prairie Wolf Video 115 minutes The McPhersons are internationally known as experts in the field of Primitive Technology. From tree to finished bow and arrow, the authors guide you from obtaining and curing the log to final tillering and shooting. All steps covered. Most importantly the physics explain why and how a stick bends. Included is the making of a primitive arrow.
The Sound of the String

B3 B,ad I-"a'
$18.95 + S"#**#(! & Ha(d&#(!

Traditional bowhunter Gordon Bradford embarks on a series of safaris with an open mind and heart.
An African bush country novel that transcends definition, Brad Isham's debut is a meditation on respect and reverence, life and death, and the balance and challenges of the African bushveld for its people, predators, and prey. 248 pages
The Crooked Stick

-A histor" of the longbo! b" H gh D. H. Soar
Onl": $14.95
To order, call 888-330-3822 or visit www.HorseFeathersRanch.com
Thro gh a remarkable command of man script and printed so rces and a j dicio s se of material e!idence, incl ding his o"n important collection of rare longbo"s, H gh Soar establishes the deep connections of this bo" to England, Scotland, and Wales. Fig res in the past like William Wallace, Ed"ard III, and Henr$ V appear alongside detailed descriptions of bo"s, strings, arro"s, and arro"heads, "hile the rise of instit tions and craftsmen de!oted to the longbo" are presented to sho" ho" kno"ledge of this "eapon "as carried for"ard across the cent ries. Toda$, those in the sport of archer$ and militar$ historians "ill find that The Crooked Stick "ill enhance their o"n interests in a "eapon of legendar$ stat s. In addition to the ill strated te#t, the book contains appendices detailing the histor$ and design of bracers, tabs and tips, q i!ers, and arro"heads associated "ith the longbo".
red e f f O r e No Long
ClassifiedADS
ARCHERY SUPPLIES
Send for a free catalog of traditional archery supplies We are a full retail dealer of the finest traditional archery supplies available THE FOOTED SHAFT 5510 North Highway 63 Rochester, MN 55906 (507) 288-7581 SHAKLEE INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR We are pleased to offer you Shaklee Corporations complete line of all natural nutritional supplements for all the members of your family Shaklee has been in business for over 55 years Contact Herb Wright Ref. Lisa Kaminski 713-960-9869 www.shaklee.net/thewrightchoice CamoBands Real-time adaptive camouflage system to hide you, your shape and scent better than ever before Visit CamoBands.com. or call 801-893-CAMO Bamboo Arrow-making Supplies Raw & finished shafts Horn, bone nocks & tips. Damascus reproductions of Japanese arrowheads Bamboo for bow-making Call Yumi (912) 586-2763 yumibows@gmail.com LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO SHOOT UGLY ARROWS! True custom hand crafted arrows Douglas Fir Port Orford Cedar Carbon Express If you can dream it we can build it! BACK PORCH TRADITIONAL ARCHERY www.backporcharchery.com 334.725.1709 patsbackporch@gmail.com. CUSTOM SHAFTS Sitka spruce, cedar, fir, mahogany, maple, jatoba, leopardwood, teak .All sizes SPINED 40 TO 130 LBS FORRESTER WOODS 425-318-2209 kf571_2000@yahoo.com Washington State "If God had meant us to use fiberglass bows, He would have made fiberglass trees". www.chiefosage.com Osage recurves sinew back horse bows Yew longbows laminated recurves Staves, Osage, Yew, Hickory, Maple, Laminations (203) 2282235 email: chiefyew@hotmail.com PRIMITIVE LONGBOWS, Lakota, Modoc, English all wood custom made, tapered wood arrows, quivers. Call/write for a catalog: Miller's Longbows 25 Cordwood Divide, MT 59727 (406) 832-3195 VISIT BOWSKIN.COM Fully Tillered "U-Complete" bows start @ $70.00 Nice Selection of Finished Backed and Self-bows. Made from Ipe, Hickory & others. R/D Longbows, ELB's, Bowmaking materials, plus more. Call Joshua (614) 638-2914 Email: joshua@bowskin.com
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ARROWS & FLETCHING

ARROW SHAFTS Ash, Laminated Birch, Fir, Hickory Purple Heart Footings and Nocking Inserting Pieces We can run your material Call Toll Free (866) 274-2281 Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods PO Box 582 Coudersport, PA 16915 www.arrowwoods.com
BOWS
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BOOKS & VIDEOS

STRING MAKING DVDs Start-to-finish Flemish and Endless instruction Covers making your own Jigs, Stretchers and more How to Build a Great Bowstring filmed and produced by Traditional Vision Quest of the Masters of the Barebow series: $25.00 Our original Doin the Twist DVD is only $20 Both for $40 for the most complete and detailed string making information available Contact information at: www.recurves.com e/m chad@recurves.com Phone: (662) 231-4817
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79
BackTRAILS
W!e)e
By Mike Huston
Ea $e* a&d G'd*Roam

L
arge white clouds sliding across a blue sky on invisible wings always take me back to my childhood. I recall staring up at that great expanse and imagining myself up there, floating among the white billowing clouds as free as a bird. Now here I am, a grown adult, high in the Rocky Mountains, actually standing amongst those clouds. The reality of being here amidst them is far different than my childhood dreaming. Wet, cold wind bites at my skin as the fog settles around me. Wind dances around the clouds, moving them with ease amongst the trees and boulders. I see brief glimpses of towering peaks, then the white veil shrouds the landscape again. The clouds dance around me as I work my way higher up through these rocky crags. My lungs beg for more air, and my legs burn with each step I take toward the summit. Large pieces of talus rock slip from underfoot. Each step becomes harder and more labored as I climb up through this canyon toward the top. Why is it that the last few yards of a climb always seem closer to the eye than they do to the body that is doing the climbing? With the last of my strength, I reach the summit. I stand above the clouds in a realm few ever have the privilege of touching. White billowing clouds collide with one another as they race on mountain winds to places only clouds go, directly below my feet. One cloud actually sails right through me, leaving me engulfed in its wet chill. Breathtaking vistas surround me as far as the eye can see. Peaks thrusting up through a living mass of white cloud, all topped off by a bright sun lighting everything from the top. A golden eagle slides through the sky a thousand feet above me. I wonder at his view and wave a greeting, not feeling the fool in doing so because no one will see. The only view is from above, where eagles and gods roam, and I am
PoetsCORNER
Down Wind Danger
By Homer Luther
Death has its nose up in the wind. Its red tongue is tasting your sweet scent as it rides upon the breeze. Death is coming in so quietly while you graze and drink your fill, while you sun and play and sleep. Death may lose your tracks just briefly, but it always picks them up again. Death has its nose up and its coming. It is tasting your sweet scent as it rides upon the wind. 80
continued on page 68
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Marie and all the PA bunch, I just wanted to thank you for all you have done to help promote our event, the TN. Classic. I had a great deal of response from our ad, and with PA as a sponsor it added credibility to the event. It has been a pleasure for me to work with P .A. and hope in some small way it has helped the Magazine. I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship between us. Anyone that has a chance should take advantage of what PA has to offer. Mark Baggett aka Pappy

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Display until March 25, 2013

Passing It On Since 1992

Feb. 2013/Mar. 2013

Feb./Mar. 2013 Volume 21 Issue 1

Primitive Archer Magazine

Inside This Issue

When Hunters Go A-Warring

Finding Arrowheads, Making Arrowheads

Living in Guaran Land

The Swiss ConnectionPart I

The North Georgia Knap-In and Primitive Skills Festival

Selfbows and Hand Tools

The Triangle or Fitz-Rauf Target

Primiti e Archer Maga"ine

From the Pit$

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