Willow for arrows

[Otoe Bow]

The recent ice storm trashed a bunch of willow trees where I work.  They just got through cutting it up but I don't think they've hauled it off yet.  I was reading in one of my flint knapping books that willow makes good arrows but I've never seen it mentioned here. 

Anybody have any success stories or pictures of willow arrows. 

Otoe   

[DanaM]

No personal experience, but give it a try and see what happens.

[cowboy]

Glenn: I dried some out one time - they were light as a feather and seemed too weak, scared me off. Honestly don't have any real advice for em though...

[Pat B]

I have not tried willow but others have and I believe some of the Western Tribes and maybe Northern Tribes used willow for arrows. If goldenrod, horse weed and dog fennel work for arrows, why wouldn't willow.
   With any shoot arrows, I believe that you have to use second year growth or older. First years growth is usually light in physical and spine weight in most shoots I have tried. To determine 2nd year growth , look for small twigs growing along the shoot as opposed to just leaves. On first year shoots leaves appear. In the fall, these leaves fall off and next spring small twigs come out where the leaf scars are along the stem. Plus, by the second year a shoot has 2 growth rings to oppose each other instead of just one ring.       Pat

[mullet]

  I've made some and they seemed to work good when I was shooting lighter bows.Like Cowboy said,they were a little light for me.Most of my hunting bows are 60# and I prefer bamboo or cane.Before they dump it, get some and give it a try.You may like them.

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

i tried them too. i didnt like them.  too light spined for me aswell. mine didnt care for the srtaightening process either. they became very weak where i took bends out of them. i used one to hand drill a fire though. worked pretty decent for that.- Ryan

[Kegan]

A firend made some a while back for a bow I made him. He just made them thick, and when he was done they shot pretty hard. I think they were like 7/16" for a 60# bow. Can't recall. They worked well though. He took two squirrels with them.

[Pat B]

I just went out and collect 5 willow shoots to experiment with. I debarked one but the rest I will keep the bark on until they are dry.     Pat

[mullet]

 Otoe,you might try splitting shafts out of the trunk and planing them.

[richpierce]

They also shrink like crazy.

[Otoe Bow]

When I got to work this morning they were gone.....but there is a nice pile of trees and limbs across the street waiting for the city to haul them off.  Some even looked long enough for a bow and certainly for arrows.  I may find something usable out of this mess yet.

I got my bandsaw blades from VenisonBurger in the mail today.  Laid me out some points and ready to make some mildly primitive arrows. 

Thanks for the input.

Otoe