Arctic Inuit Otter Arrow (to go with the new cabled arctic bow)

[half eye]

Thought I'd post this otter arrow in case ya handn't seen one before. My book from the Smithsonian says it's the most complicated arrow they are aware of.

This how they work: the fore shaft is of ivory,bone or antler and is hafted onto the shaft with a mortise & tennon type splice. The foreshaft Ivory has a hole in the very front into which a bone or ivory harpoon (barbed) head is loosely fit (not secured). A sinew line runs from the head for a couple of feet and forms a "Y" the ends of which are tied to the shaft. This sinew kline is wrapped around the arrow shaft untill there is just enough to insert the head into the foreshaft and the loose bit is fed loosely back through a lline loop.

When the otter is shoot the harpoon head stays in the body, and as it darts away the line is uncoiled from the shaft. When the line is fully deployed the arrow sinks at the head with the fletch sticking upward ( just like a fishing bobber) The arrow acts like a "drag" and as a way of following the otter while it's underwater.

I didn't have any bone or such so I made the foreshaft and head from hardwood and painted it to look like bone. The other things to notice about the arrow is that the "shaftment" (under the fletch ) is flattened....which makes putting the original 3 fletchs on a bit of a problem.....also notice the bulbous knock and the shallow "V" nock, and the shape of the fletch.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.
Rich

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[michbowguy]

well done my friend.

[Lombard]

Good stuff there Half Eye.

[sailordad]

Rich, very nice arrow there
if you ever get to Mn. you realy need to stop in at the POPE AND YOUNG ARCHERY MUSEUM in chatfiled mn.
they have virtually every type of bow ever made,lots from the great founders of modern archery.
stuff from folks like Glen St.Charles,Fred Bear,of course Pope and Young,and even some stuff from Ishi,and many more i cant think of off hand
but they also have some arctic bows and arrows and such on display.and yes the arrows are bone/ivory tipped
just thought i would let ya know about the museum,very cool place.ive been there twice in tha last year,plan on going again
just so i can talk with the curator and get info on a few of the native bows.

[ken75]

dang nice stuff rich , glad the book is keepin ya something to do !!

[rileyconcrete]

Great job on that rich.  wish I had the talent you do.  I will have to round you up some bone.  Saw an elk leg laying in the yard the other day........ hmmmm I will have to go find it.

Tell

[half eye]

Thanks fella's, I just thought it was about the most different kinda arrow I ever seen. Know how it works and what it looks like but for the life of me, cant figure out how come they put them 2 flats on the shaft under the fletch.
Rich

[AncientArcher76]

Holey Moley Rich I am gonna have to get me a copy of that book!  Pm me the title if u would.  Exclent work my friend...

Russ

[Diligence]

Maybe the "flats" are the result of a mistake near the end of the original arrow making process?  If I had sunk that much time into an arrow and made an oops, I would still use that arrow.

[half eye]

Diligence,
       There are a high percentage of their different kinds of arrows showing the flatened shafts, not all but a lot. So that's why I wondered about it.
Rich

[Hillbilly]

That's really cool. I like the bow, too.

[half eye]

Thanks hillbilly, the "bent" Inuit aint the one .....made a 75# since then....with a more simple form of cabeling (still acurate)...a 50" straight ash bow with a cable cranked 10 turns..... I can only pull it about 23.....less I use 2 hands and hang the bow on the wall, guess I need to find a gorilla to give it to. I just thought the arrow was different and pretty cool.
Rich

[Parnell]

Very impressive stuff, again, really a gift to see something out of the ordinary like this.  It's a great contribution!

[Easternarcher]

Thanks fella's, I just thought it was about the most different kinda arrow I ever seen. Know how it works and what it looks like but for the life of me, cant figure out how come they put them 2 flats on the shaft under the fletch.
Rich

I was just thinking on this....if those flats are on arrows that would be used for otter arrows or seabirds, ya don't suppose they were put there to help with the drag abit? flat sides wouldn't allow the shaft to slip thru the water very easy right? They would have to be on the same sides as the tether cord I suppose too. Just thinkin'.......

[half eye]

That's why it's fun to post some stuff, Eastern.....that makes perfect sense to me....more drag (sounds real simple now that ya bring it up). Shows how smart I aint
rich