Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: crumrw on February 28, 2009, 05:50:14 pm
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Hey guys,
Never made arrows before but I think I'm gonna give it a try. I'm down in Austin, TX and there is a lot of golden rod bamboo around here. If I find some dead stalks that already are dried can I use them or do I need to cut fresh stalks and let them dry in a bundle? Also, for fletching, how can you tell left wing from right wing feathers and which do you use? I'm sure these questions have been ansered before, but I've read a lot of threads on here and still am a little confused.
Thanks,
Rick
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You want to cut whatever arrow stock you use fresh, whether it be cane or hardwood shoots. If it is dead, fungi has already invaded it and is eating as we speak. ;D
It doesn't matter whether you use right or left wing feathers as long as you use the same side on each arrow. If you mix right and left on the same arrow it will not fly correctly. If you fletch 2 arrows, one with right and the other left, everything else being equal, both arrows should fly similarly. One will rotate one direction and the other the opposite though.
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Cut fresh ( live ) shafts and let them season awhile, remove the bark and let season awhile longer, straiten, finish and fletch.
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like said dont use dead ones. though if its dry down there i guessa ya never know till ya try it. but id cut the fresh ones and season em.
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ok thanks guys. My questions have been answered but don't be surprised when I come back for more!! hehe
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In my experience, the best arrow material that grows in the Austin area is Roosevelt weed. It grows all over the place and is MUCH stronger than goldenrod. It dries quick too, without checking.
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Jack
I don't specifically recall seeing any of that stuff before. Do you know a place I can start my search?
Thanks,
Rick
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Looks like Salt Cedar almost.....hey and they work for arrows too...so I have been told anyways........ ;)
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Crumrw, that weed grows along fencelines and in empty lots with poor soil. It grows all up and down Rt 360 on the sides of the road....especially where there are road cuts through the limestone. Look for it in ditches as well. It also grows all around the Dell campus in Round Rock. Tell me where you are (north, south, east, or west Austin) and I'll try to direct you to a patch close to you.
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I'm two blocks west of the UT campus. Thanks for the guidance.
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doesn't a good amount of yaupon grow around there of is it arther east of Austin.
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There's a little yaupon and maybe some roughleaf dogwood growing on the edges of private lots around campus....as well as Roosevelt weed. The Roosevelt weed is probably going to be small because it's cut quickly to prevent spreading. Check behind bldgs in the alleys...I bet there are patches of it all around you. The older apartment complexes around campus are also good spots.....when I was on campus, very few were well maintained and had weeds growing all over the place. You can also try looking in Zilker or Pease District Park.
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Ok I'll give it a shot
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Also, I didn't realize that yaupon was a good arrow wood. Doesn't seem like you would find it long or straight enough to make arrows out of. hmmm...
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Yaupon(Ilex vomitoria) growing in landscapes probable wouldn't have many shoots for shafting but in nature, in a shady area, you should be able to find decent shoots. Other hollies like inkberry(Ilex glabra)will work also.
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You might find good Yaupon shoots growing along the trails in the local greenbelts. There probably isn't much, though....there's a lot more if you go East. I have a friend who has wooded acreage in Lockhart and he's got a bunch of it.
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There is a yaupon growing in front of where I live that has turned into a small tree and it probably has a dozen arrows in its crown. Yaupon, when fully seasoned, makes a very hard dense arow. The Commanches routinely used yaupon as well as the Caddo.
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Totally glad I stumbled upon this thread. I would have never thought of using yaupon either and it grows everywhere round here!
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Any woody shoot material will make an arrow. Some are better than others. For hardwood shoot arrows I prefer sourwood and viburnum but have made arrows with maple, willow, spice bush, red osier dogwood, silky dogwood, gray dogwood, red twig dogwood and a few others.
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Pat B, Interestingly enough, the only wood you mentioned that Captyn Cron and I have available is willow and Maple. The only maple occurs in lost Maples State Park where if you were caught cutting a shoot you would be summarily skinned alive, disembowled, skin and bowls burned before you in a fire of the aformentioned Maple shoots, and then executed by lethal injection in our very active social justice machine.
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Like I said, any hardwood shoots, not just the ones mentioned. How about salt cedar, an invasive exotic in the western states. They might reward you for helping to eliminate these plants. Also, check your State Cooperative Extension Service or State Forestry Commission. They may have a list of multi-stemmed plants, invasive or not, that you can use for arrows. Another source would be landscape contractors or tree farms or landscape shrubbery growers...or a midnight run through the neighborhood yards! >:D
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the problem w/that is you can still get shot in Tx for trespassing.....woulda cut down that straight as hell maple down the road otherwise :)
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You don't get shot if you ask permission first. Bring along your bows and arrows to show the owners. If they let you cut some shoots, pay them back with a sample of your work. ;)
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Captyn Cron, I hear ya. People in other states just don't understand how it is here. Asking pemission is just fine however the likelyhood of it getting you anything is nill. I once asked the owner of a lot, a neurosurgeon, if I could cut a couple of pieces of Osage before it was thrown in a large fire that was already burning some nice Osage. He wanted to know how much i was willing to pay and i offered him a bow which he declined in favor of cash at which time I declined and departed to the crackling of a huge Osage fire. I guess he needed the cash since it was a two million dollar house.
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:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Too bad most ppl nowadays don't want to help folks out even if it is something trivial. I mean if someone asked me for some wood I was BURNING I'd give it up without asking for anything. He must of had a couple lawsuits on him he needed to pay off
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Xin, the surgeon, must've been from California. :P We have a few like that starting to come into Montana. Got a few like that down here in Fla. also. >:(
Wayne
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Most of the people in tx live in or near a half dozen population centers. If you go to some rural county and inquire about rock hunting or gathering natural material for bow and arrow building you will almost certainly be turned down. If you were a long time resident of that rural county and known by reputation or personally, you will probably gain access to trees and rock. Being a stranger, will usually get you zilch.
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Most of the people in tx live in or near a half dozen population centers. If you go to some rural county and inquire about rock hunting or gathering natural material for bow and arrow building you will almost certainly be turned down. If you were a long time resident of that rural county and known by reputation or personally, you will probably gain access to trees and rock. Being a stranger, will usually get you zilch.
You are soooo right....these Texans will not let you have CRAP!!
I have lived in Hutchinson County for 26 years and still can not get permission to look for Flint or Osage any where....I have to grab mine off of one little Ranch that the Old Man will allow me on....and I know that when He passes away...there will be the End of the Rock Hunting Totally....unless I want to get Busted on Federal Charges for getting it from the Alibates Flint Quarry National Park!!!
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Man, I will have to make a note to stay out of Texas. :(
Wayne
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Stickbender, I don't mean to make Texas sound like a bad place;but, people here seem to be more sensitive about property rights than in other states. I guess that probably stems from the way property was originally acquired and retained here. Just a little over one hundred years ago the six gun settled a lot of property disputes and I think there is a lot of carry-over from that era. Squatters beware!!!!
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Most of the true Texans...those that have had families here for generations...are the worst ones. Take my fam for instance, the Leathers family (mom's kin) came over with Sam Houston and the original 200 from TN way back and they can be some of the stingiest ppl you will ever meet. Stuck up too boy lemme tell ya. I mean my great uncle is one of the richest men round here...for an old timer anyhow...and he has been sharpening the same crosscut saw for years and won't buy a truck younger than he is,lol. lil exagerating but you get the point.
Thankfully the Emory side(my pop) thined that out in me!
Tx is a great place though and friendly overall but you get more and more A**es seems like
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Texas is the Biggest State in the Lower 48....and it has the Least Public Land of all of them....Michigan has over twice the Free Public Land to use for Hunting or Recreation than does Texas....it's Sad....and here in the Panhandle.....if it's not the Johnson Ranch....it's the Arrington....or the 6666 Ranch.....and you ain't getting near any of it!! Not even to lease for Hunting....No Exceptions....Period..all We have is a Pittance of Federal Land around a Drying Up Mud Hole called Lake Meridith to hunt.....and there is 10-20 thousand others trying to do the same....and don't pick up a Rock....or a Turkey Feather....or stump shoot at anything....or they will fine the Pants off of You....it is Sad....
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After learning the hard way, the best places to get materials in Texas is trash piles....the only problem is many people want you to take the WHOLE pile. Still, they look at you funny "if yer pokin' around", regardless if it's trash or not.
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Eldestructo, I concur with everything you said and do believe you have hit the nail on the head. It is even difficult to gain access to most waterways and if, while boating, you heed the call of nature and step on land and not some sandbar in the middle of the river expect be arrested if you're seen. I know of several arrests on Red River for such benign behaviors. I'm fairly sure the Texas obsession with property rights goes back to the nineteenth century and the big cattle ranches and the way they were put together. Texas is filled with nice people and is a good place to live, but is far from an Eden. Crafty, Trash piles are a good source of materials. I used to get almost all of my Osage from them, but I'm afraid to now. I'm just afraid of getting arrested, and usually finding who owns or is in charge of the trash pile is more trouble than it is worth. Even then, you're never sure if you got permission from the right person.