Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: jhmonaghan on December 12, 2009, 03:08:14 pm
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I'm a stump shooter, although I've bagged my fair share of dirt, next to stumps...
I've lost arrows. I look around a bit, and then say "Gosh Darn It, I lost another arrow"... or something like that.
I'm wondering, given the time and effort to make an arrow... shaft selection and straightening, fletching, knapping the arrowhead and attaching same ...
How much time would a subsistence hunter spend to recover a lost arrow?
How much time do readers spend trying to recover a lost arrow?
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In practise it's all about having a good target set up that doesn't damage your arrows, and with a good backstop, or like me, shooting like Howard Hill....
Hunting is another matter, you just have to, well, let go-
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I can tell you that in the wilderness on a long hunt.. 30 days or more.. every arrow is valuable. I often live off the land and hunt what I eat on these trips.. points are easy to make for small game in the wilderness but shafting is hard to come by if you lose too many.. I look for lost arrows until I find them in these situations..when close to home and hunting birds on the wing ..say ducks.. I have been known to lose a dozen in one day.. :o all in good fun.. Hawk
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If I kind of know where the line is I will remove my shoes and walk across the line taking little steps up and down. That way you can feel the arrows under the grass/soil.
If you kind of just lose it, then walk back and forth not looking at any real thing and if you are lucky you will pick up the colour of the feathers or shaft.
Thanks for your time.
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The Indians of this area coveted the shaft much more than the points. You will always find the broken nocks of an arrowhead in a chipping ground. The point of that arrowhead could be miles away where the arrow was shot . I hunt for them and usually one of the Hustons will find it for me. Hawk can spot them! Joe
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Well, generally, if you find a perfect or near perfect point away from a village site (i.e. in an area with lots of pottery shards and other artifacts), it was a lost arrow. Not always, but many times.
There's a canyon here outside of town. Near Winona. Yes, the "Flagstaff, Arizona...don't forget Winona..." of the "Get Your Kicks On Route 66" song. (I'll settle everyone's curiosity who haven't been here---there's NOTHING in Winona!!!! A frickin' gas station---whoo-hoo! Take pics, tell the family, stop for souvineers! ::) )
Anyway, I could see my backdrop well beyond the other side of the canyon, so decided to see how far the arrows could go. Got some stumper arrows out of the quiver and let go. It cleared the canyon and landed on the other side. Well, now, when we crossed over to retrieve our arrows, I couldn't find one. About four months later, a co-worker who knows I'm into traditional archery comes to tell me he wants to show me this great artifact he found. He shows me that lost arrow!!! I said, yeah, seen it before. It's mine, but you can have it if it means something to you. Oh, and you might want to check with the museum, but I'm pretty sure the Sinagua tribe didn't have plastic nocks, steel field points, or Port Orford Cedar. To be fair, the nock was black, so he might have thought it was horn or something. ;) Oh, well, whaddya gonna do with people???
I generally look for an arrow for about 5 or 10 minutes. After that, it becomes an offering.
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I usually look pretty hard for them. I'm tighter'n the bark on a beech tree :-[
I sometimes paint the whole arrow white.
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Most of the arrows I shoot these days are either hardwood shoots or cane. Lots of time goes into either so I usually give a good look but after a while I just consider it a gift back to Mother Nature. After all, she gave it to me to begin with! ;D
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Most of the arrows I shoot these days are either hardwood shoots or cane. Lots of time goes into either so I usually give a good look but after a while I just consider it a gift back to Mother Nature. After all, she gave it to me to begin with! ;D
I like that.
Swamp
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i look untill they are found
i may give up for the day,but always relook when i am in the same area again.
i lost an arrow 2 years ago turkey hunting,missed the bird and the arrow went into an uncut/unused field.
this year when the wife and i were hunting there again,we looked in that same area again 3-4 differant times.
this time the field was cut and we found my arrow.i was shooting the back yard one day and lost an arrow trhu the fence(in the winter)
the house next door has been forclosed for 2 yrs now,i went back in ths spring and found it with a rake.
i am like sawfiler,way to tight to let them be gone.
granted i collect my own shaft material,so its more or less free.
but it figure my time and gas and the work has to be worth me to put in the time to find it.
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I look for a bit and then like Pat I figure I sacrifice it back to Mother Nature.
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I sacrifice noting till it Mother Nature has taken from Me... ;D...I carry a peice of Stainlees Steel Tubing (1/8") in my Quiver....it has a Shepherds Crook in one end...and I will drag it through the Grass or weeds ...where I beleive the Arrow may have stopped....and most of the time I will hook it within a few minutes...and it's back in the Quiver for another day!!
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Good a place as any for this joke:
Two guys are out hunting and they get lost. One tells the other: "I heard in hunter's safety class that if you're lost, to fire three shots and it'll bring help." So they try it. Nothing happens. They fire three more shots. Nothing happens. They try again and again. They hike some more and one says, "Ok, let's try it here. Fire three shots."
"I can't. We're out of arrows."
Bada-bing! Thank you! Thank you folks! I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress and try the house special----Linguine in Clam Sauce!
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:D :D :D :D
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I'll look for a really LONNNNNNGGGGGGGG time. The amount of time that goes into an arrow it kills me to lose one. The worst loss is if you ricochet one of the back of a foam 3 d target. I swear they pick up speed and go any direction at that point.
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they are made every day, thats the way i think now. and if you shoot as bad as i do you get good at finding them. so keep missing and you will get better at finding them, then one day you will get better.
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If it's tipped with a trade point then quite a bit of time but for regular arrows no more than 5 mins. Jawge
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With the sandy soil and St. Augustine grass down here, they bury themselves, often. My practice arrows have metal field points. I've got a cheapo metal dector that saves me lotsa time. With stone or bone, I just hope it sticks up outa the ground!
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I hunt for them a good bit, but I usually stump and hunt in the woods near my house, so I sometimes find one that I lost months prior. I have at least 6 spots in my mind that I still look around when I'm near them for arrows that are "around here somewhere"....
I need make me that shepherd's crook, thanks, El D!
Goodun', Tsalagi ; :D
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I have one of them hooks and it dose work good,I also use judo's for stumping,that also helps,any others like on a target range ,I will give it 5 minutes or so,then I get bored and move on.I don't usually go back and look later,all my arrows are wood of some description and left out in the weather and rain,they ant much good in a few weeks anyway. :) I will go for weeks and not loose any ,then 4 or 5 broke or lost in one day. :) I just wished I had a penny for every arrow I have lost or broke in my life,I wouldn't be here at work right now. :) ;D ;D I would be at the cabin making arrows. :)
Pappy
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I use white plastic nocs and one white feather then I concentrate real hard on the arrow when I shoot and I can usually find them in a matter of minutes.Ronnie
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Make them to break them. Shoot them to lose them. Thats what I was told by a old timer. But now they cost to much to use that advise. ;D
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If you are worried about loosing arrows you wont shoot as much. It only takes a few lost arrows improve your shooting or backstop.
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... The worst loss is if you ricochet one of the back of a foam 3 d target. I swear they pick up speed and go any direction at that point.
Yes, they do!
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JH, did you ever consider to use one of those? - Fluorescent fletching and Judo points??
[attachment deleted by admin]
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The problem with bright fletching is it gives you away,
I started using bright bands cresting below the top of my quiver so they aren't visible while
tucked in the quiver
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Fencepost, if you worry about losing them you won't shoot much? I agree, practice more, and pick your shots better.
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I'll look for 2-3 minutes. It does take some time to make a good arrow but I try not to get too wrapped up lamenting the loss. Its only an arrow after all. You can always make more. Besides, making arrows is fun.
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Im gonna start doing all my shooting in side the barn,that way I wont miss,& no lost arras. ;)
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Look on the bright side. The ones you find, which is most of them most of the time, you can re-use them. With firearms, once the trigger is pulled, there goes a dime or more and you cannot get it back! Yeah, you can reload the brass, but it's not like archery. We don't have to refletch the shaft each and every time we shoot! ;D
Man, once the cheap military surplus ammo ran out, I cleaned my rifles, put them away, and now do archery only.
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Most of mine that go wild I`m able to find after a short hunt, but those that decide to stay lost get their way.
I make more than I use most of the time so it`s not thet great a loss.
Speaking of cheap ammo, anyone know where I can find a brick of .22 WRF shells? they`re not LR`s, Longs, etc.
these things were like the original .22 Mag, but they won`t interchange with those things, they`re about 1/10"
shorter than Mag. ammo. I might be able to have the gun rechambered for Mag. but it was my granddad`s gun &
I don`t wanna change it if I can avoid it.
I know that this isn`t a gun forum, but since it was brought up, I thought I might get an answer here anyway.
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Yes, you can get it at Cabela's, new manufacture by CCI, JHPs in fact. The rise in popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting has led to the return of what used to be obsolete calibers. Manufacturers are making new ammo for a lot of old calibers now.
Hmmm....Cowboy Action Shooting....wish we could get a Primitive Archery Action Shooting thing started.
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Funny story...
I've been doing an archery demo at Lecompton for the last few years. Made up some typical shoot shaft arrows,some with stone heads and some with metal trade points. Had some school kids there and they asked to see me shoot the "old time" arrows. I managed to miss with one of the trade point arrows and it went off into the "wilderness" by the encampment.
Kids were looking for it all weekend... I figure someone will find it someday and take it up to the museum in town. ;)
As for my regular arrows, I'll look for a few minutes and then just chalk up another offering to the arrow gods...
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I'm with Shannon, I'm tighter than a crab's a$$, and that is waterproof! I would look till I found it, or come back and look again, I have only lost a few, but it made me mad that I could not find them. I once lost one after missing a shot at a little fork horned buck, in a place called Brown's Farm, south of me. I had not practiced in some time, and I was in college at the time, and I used to practice at the college range, and I had the ranges down. I thought. Well I am following this path, and looking around, and I look up and there is this little buck feeding. I got excited, and, started to draw back my bow, he was about ten yd.s away, and he looks up and sees me, well I am shaking, and I let loose, and the arrow goes haywire, and hits in a Myrtle bush, and the deer says, crap, and bolts. Well I bleat, and he stops, and is standing broadside to me about 35-40yds, away. Then it dawns on me, now what was the height I used on the target at the college, at that range...... Well I will just aim an inch high, just behind the shoulder. Should be a killing shot, it hits the spine, or lungs, or lower. Well I am shaking, and I take a big breath, and calm down, and take good aim, and expertly in perfect form, release the string, and it is a perfect shot! Yep, one inch high just behind the shoulder. Well he bolts again, and again I bleat, he says something about my lack of parents, or something like that, and heads to Miami. Well I found the first arrow, and it is in fine shape. The second arrow, I can't find, so after an hour and a half, I head on back and walk up on a young doe, which is feeding on something absolutely delicious. Her little tale is just going 90 mph! So slowly walk up to her. She has not yet looked up, anyway, I get to within five feet or so, and I am standing there watching her. No, at that time you couldn't shoot does. They changed it the next year. Well she still hasn't looked yet, so finally I said, Is that really tasty? She swung her head around, and then spun her whole body around, and just stared at me. I said don't worry, you're safe, and walked back to the path, and I looked back, and she was following me, with this expression on her face, like " how the hell did you do that?!!" Well later on during gun season, I found my arrow. Not much good, but still had the satisfaction of finally finding it. I haven't bow hunted since, but I am looking forward to getting back into it now. And I will definitely be sure to practice before I go afield. I still have my old bear Grizzly, 45#, re curve. It is a really fast shooting little bow. I also have a 50# bow that Eddie gave me that I would like to take a deer with. Maybe from my front porch in Montana, as it wends it's way through the turkeys ::)......Eddie you are more than welcome to get your Merriam's from my porch.... ;D
Wayne
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Gotta use this great quote again:
"Arrows cost money!"
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Still cannot find that sweet tonkin boo arrow I bounced of my target into the rhododren patch two days ago. It snowed 16" last night. Might have to wait till spring. I'll keep looking.
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The nice thing about cedar shafts you can loose them under the leaves for a year or two and the wood is still good. The feathers are off and usually the field point is only rust but after a few days of drying and a little straightening it is ready for new fletching and point and to be shot again.
The arrows I put the most work into, sourwood shoots, are rotted in a few weeks under the leaves. >:( Cane rots pretty quickly too.
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Heckuva storm, eh Grunt? we got close to 20 up here in VA. hope you don't get the ice we're supposed to.
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Heckuva storm, eh Grunt? we got close to 20 up here in VA. hope you don't get the ice we're supposed to.
I've got little paths shoveled to the firewood pile, the garden shed, my others pottery studio, my studio and my targets. I'm standing closer to the target with all this snow. I'm also shooting some pretty worn arrows incase I have to go looking for another one. Got a little ice last night.
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For stump shooting I've been using poplar dowels sanded to proper spine, self nocked, and fletched with spiral flu-flu made from feathers from a craft store and tipped with a lead weighted .38special casing. The shafts get spray painted with flourescent orange. Hard to loose, but when I do, or when they break I'm out conisderably less money. Shafts are .59 cents to a buck a piece, .38 casings are ones that have already been shot and reloaded to the point that they are hardly serviceable. Lead shot is cheap and a bag will last darned near a lifetime for this purpose. A bag of 3 whole feathers cost a buck fifty and can fletch 6 arrows (3 right hand and 3 left hand twist.)
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Im gonna start doing all my shooting in side the barn,that way I wont miss,& no lost arras. ;)
I used to do just that. Instead of searching for lost arrows, I spent time digging field points out of beams.:-\ Wasn't so bad after I switched to bullet points.