tuning and primitive arrows

[ozy clint]

okay, so everyone has seen the youtube videos of people making primitive arrows but no one mentions tuning them.
to what extent do you tune your primitive (cane, boo, shoots, etc) arrows for hunting? do you tune each individual arrow with a field point then make a stone point to match the weight of the field point, or do you harvest 100's of shafts then go through and sort them into matched sets for spine and mass, etc ending up with less than a dozen the same out of a heap of shafts?
the videos seem to assemble the arrows with no regard to to tuning..........it just a matter of, put this head on this shaft and go hunting....

[Pappy]

If I am using bought shafting,like POC shafts I usually make them up a dozen at a time,when I use shoot shafts or River Cain I make them up 1 at a time. I tinker with length/tip weight and spine/no feathers until I get one that shoot good out of the bow I am working with, then try and match that with the other shafts,still only 1 at a time ,most times they are different length, then length and tip weight will effect the spine of the arrow,longer will weaken the shaft as will a heaver point,shorter and lighter point will make it stiffer.also sand or scrape till I get the spine like I want it. When I get them flying pretty good with no feathers I will fletch and try and match the head/either glue on broad heads/napped heads or trade points to match the Field tip point I was tuning with. You can't bare shaft
with broad heads. :)Its a little bit of trouble doing it like that but it will insure that all you hunting arrows will fly good and more important the same. Hope this helps.
   Pappy

[ozy clint]

that's what i figured. tuning each arrow is going to be painstaking.
i'll wear out my selfbow before i get to hunt with it going on how long it takes me to tune arrows.
thanks for the reply

[Pat B]

Clint, try not to over think your primitive arrows. You are not dealing with carbon or aluminum but a simple cane arrow. IMO, cane arrows take a lot of the guesswork out of the arrow making and shooting game. Their natural taper and quick recovery make them less spine sinsative. I use my spine tester only to find the stiff side of the arrow and that side goes against the bow. My arrows are 3" to 4" longer than my draw and IMO this also helps the arrow get around the bow better and recover faster giving better arrow flight.

[BowEd]

Totally agree with what Pat and Pap said.Takes a little time but it's a good feeling watching a cane or bamboo shaft fly like a dart with no feathers off your self bow.Usually I try to get mine to be right on windage wise and no leaning to the right or the left  slightly tipped up in the target.Later the feathers will drag that back end down.

[BowEd]

Oh yea I found I can really go down in length of my feathers too.Down to 4" at the moment.

[crooketarrow]

 I think PAT SAID IT ALL WHEN HE SAID DO'NT OVER THINK YOU PRIMITIVE ARROWS. Just hunt with them. If it shoots out of my bow and I shoot it ok I hunt with it.

[JackCrafty]

You are right about the youtube videos not mentioning tuning.  My own videos have not dealt with that subject either but I will address that issue soon.

The problem with trying to explain arrow tuning is that everyone shoots differently.  If I tell you how I tune mine, you might try the method and then say, "I'm lost.  I'm not getting anywhere near the same result even though I am following the method exactly".  This complaint applies to everything from hunting techniques, to flintknapping, to tanning leather.

Right now I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to tune an arow, kind of like I did with the arrowhead notching video I made.  It took a while to remove all the "chaff" before I could get to those little seeds of knowlege that work.