Natural Shafting materials in Northern Minnesota?

[Greebe]

Hey everyone,

I would like to start making arrows with my own harvested shafts and was looking for advice of what grows up here in northern MN that would work well for this.

I have a 40 acre farm with plenty of soft and hardwoods that could be cut, split, and planed down, but I would like to make arrow shafts in the more traditional format from shoots, river cane ,or wild rose like I have seen others do.

However I do not have any river cane  despite having a creek on the property, and while there is plenty of thorny stuff in the woods, I don't think it is rose. What else would grow up here that i could get good arrows from?

Thanks for your advise.

Greebe

[Pat B]

Cane doesn't normally grow that far north. If you have thorny things growing there study them and identify them. You may have wild rose. Red osier and other shrub type dogwoods grow in your area.

[tlow13]

If I remember correctly in your post under the bow section that you mentioned you had spruce on your family property. I know Sitka spruce typically grows on the coast, but I wonder if other kinds of spruce could work as well. I don't have experience with Sitka spruce I just know that it is mentioned in the Traditional Bowyer's Bible as a great shaft material, so maybe other spruce works well too.

[Pat B]

pine, poplar, ask, there are lots of trees and shrubs the will make good arrows.

[Comancheria]

And just a thought--look along public rigjt of ways--down here where I live, I am going to be able to get all the cane I want from the ditches along the highways up to the fence lines.  And if I wanted to mess with the stuff--all the invasive wild rose I want.  No dogwood to speak of, but as Pat says, you may have it up there.  My advice is to scan the roadside as you drive along--occasionally looking out for oncoming traffic.  😊

Up there you Yankees also have access to a lot more public land than we Southerners do--maybe talk to park rangers or Forest offices.

Best regards,

Russ

[Buck67]

Whenever I'm visiting friends in Wisconsin I harvest Red Osier.  I'll bet it grows near you as well.  Look for dense clumps of short straight trees near water.  Red Osier grows about 40" until the first branch.  It makes a good arrow.  It usually grows in clumps that may cover as much as an acre.

Another tree to look for is Basswood.  Basswood will grow in clumps around an old basswood stump.  Lots of straight shafts there.

[Greebe]

Thanks guys. There is tons of red dogwood around here. Not much on my property, but everywhere else.

For some reason I had thought that the dogwood made poor arrows so never really considered it.

What diameter at the large end should these be for arrows shafts for a 40-50 lb bow?

I went out an cut half a dozen, but they are probably a little on the big side. 1/2" plus or minus an 1/8".

Thanks
Greebe

[DC]

Take a 3/8" open end wrench with you. Slide the wrench down the stem til it stops and cut below it.

[Greebe]

Thanks. I think I can get 3/8" out of these and still have at least 32" to work with.

I will have to go out and do some serious gathering in the next few days. We have a neighbor that has many acres of red dogwood. I am thinking I will collect a few hundred before it its bitter cold and get them pealed and bound for seasoning.

One more question. If the large end is to be 3/8" what approximate size do I want the small end?

Thanks,
Greebe

[Pat B]

I use sourwood shoots and hill cane. My arrows are 30" long with the butt end being just under 3/8" and the nock end about 5/16".
 If I had red osier growing around here I'd use it more. It makes great arrows. We have silky dogwood here but it isn't as good.  If your shoots are a bit too big around you can reduce them with a small plane, a rasp or a scraper and sand paper.

[Greebe]

Thanks Pat. I went out and got about two dozen shafts that look good. Then a few days later I got pneumonia and spent the night in the hospital last night.

Anyways should I peal the bark before binding them to season, or leave it on. Also do you typically leave them a few inches long so that they can be trimmed if they check after drying?

How long should these dry for before making arrow shafts from them?

Thanks again,
Greebe