Hunting with the Bow and Arrow

are innumerable types of arrows, and an equal number of ways of making them. For an excellent description of a

the shaft. Having tested birch, maple, hickory, oak, ash, poplar, alder, red cedar, mahogany, palma brava, Philippine nara, Douglas fir, red pine, white pine, spruce, Port Orford cedar, yew, willow, hazel, eucaly

you should select these dowels yourself, to see that they are straight, free from cross-grain, and of a rigid quality. For hunting bows drawing over sixty pounds, the dowels should be three-eighths of an inch in diamet

p or split into sticks half an inch in diameter, and plane these to the requir

es, or an inch less or more according to the length of your arms. In doing this you should try to

inches of the rear end or shaftment so that the diameter is reduce

over a gas flame and then bent into proper line over the base of the thumb or palm. A pair of gloves will protect the hand from burning. If the deviation be slight, then mere manual pr

ing about an eighth of an inch wide by three-eighths deep; finish it carefully with a file. Thus nock them all and sandpaper them smooth throughout, rounding the nocked end gracefully. To facilitate this process I place one en

ar line, this is for the rear binding; five inches above this make another, this is for the feather; one inch above

rms with your butcher and have him save you a boxful of turkey wings. These you chop with a hatchet on a block, saving only the six or seven long pinions. Put them away with moth balls until you need them. Of cour

ng shooting. As he makes his shaft he wonders what fate will befall it. Will it speed away in a futile shot, or last the grilling of a hundred practice flights, or will it be that fortunate

ween your palms while with your fingers you separate the bristles at the tip. Pull them apart, thus splitting th

Now you have a sort of knee vise to hold your feather while trimming it. Place the butt of the rib in the jaws of the clip and shave it down to the thickness of a thirty-second of an inch. Make th

inches long, half an inch at the anterior end, an inch wide post

knife very sharp. With practice you shou

al jaws the size and shape of a properly cut feather. Having stripped his feather, he clamps it rib uppermost between the jaws and trims the rib with a knife, or on a fast-revolving emery ston

knife. James Duff, the well-known American maker of tackle, le

o such a temperature that you can just stand your finger in it. Soak your feathers in this hot solution, stir them for several minutes, then lay them out on a piece of newspa

stick, run a little liquid glue along the rib of each and lay it aside. Along the axis of your arrow run three parallel lines of glue down the shaftment. The first of thes

pins, some lash the feathers on at the extremities with thread, and then glue beneath them. We take the oldest of all methods, which is shown in the specimens of old Saxon arrows rescued from the Nylander

ght hand, start binding the ribs down to the arrow shaft. After a few turns proceed up the shaftment, adjusting the feathers in position as you rotate the arrow. Let your basting thread slip between the bristles of the feather about half an inch apart. When you come to the rear end, finish up with several overlapping turns and a half-hitch. Line

ribs to the pencil marks, leaving them about three-quar

ut a little liquid glue on the space reserved for binding and, while revolving the shaft under your arm, apply the ribbon in lapping spirals over the feather ribs. Cover them completely and have the binding smooth and well sized in glue. The ribbon near the nock s

es the

e them against moisture, to aid in finding them when l

ring the glue. If your silk ribbon binding is a bright color--mine is green--you can leave it untouched. We often paint the nock a distinguishing color to indicate the type of head at the other

ncy of the archer. The line between the various

le on its lateral face to hold the nock while rotating, the other having a groove on its upper surface. Clamp these on a bench, or on the opposite

ng put a drop of glue on the ribbon immediately above the nock and behind the cock feather, I affix a little white glass bead. One can fe

course, any contact with the feathers. In due time sandpaper the shaft and repeat the

ready for th

end of the shaft and inserting an inch round-headed screw. In place of soldered wire, one can use an empty 38-caliber cartridge, either cutting off the base or drilling out the priming a

t it with a hack saw into a blunt, barbed, lanceolate shape having a blade about an inch lon

nd bind the shaft with tinned wire, number 30, soldered together. The end o

stand much abuse. We use it for shoot

lar shank an inch long. Its weight is half an ounce. The blades are made of spring steel. After annealing the steel we score it diagonally with a hack saw, when it may be broken in triangular pieces in a vise. With a cold chisel, an angular cut is made in the base to form the barbs. With a file and carborundum stone, they are edg

et. Fixing a blade, barbs uppermost in the vise, this tubing is driven lightly into position, the filed edges of the beveled end permitting the blade to be held between the sides of the tubing. A small hole is d

king a steel broad-head requires about twenty minutes. Every archer should manufacture his own. Then he wil

nt, which can be had at all sporting goods stores, one can use chewing gum, or better yet, a mixture of caoutchouc pitch and scale shellac heated together in equal parts. Heat your fixative as you would sea

then with long-bladed scissors cut them so that the anterior end is three-eighths of an inch high, while the posterior extremity is one inch. I als

bola with a die made of a knife blade bent into s

, then shoot them to observe their flight. Number them above the ribbon so that you can k

entire length. Because they are meant for use in the brush, t

arrows is an acquired art. Don't forget the advice of Bassanio: "In my school days when I had lost one shaft, I shot his fellow of t

s pleasant work to make one. Dedicate it to the cause of archery with the hope that in future days some

of pliers comes in very handy here. If it is buried deeply we cut the wood away from it with a hunting knife. Blunt

shafts we call eagle arrows, because they are

fawn and lift it from the ground. Mr. Compton and I, having such arrows in our quivers, let fly at the struggling bird of prey. We came s

y close calls. For these we use a five-sixteenths dowel, feather it with short, low cut parabolic feathers and put a small barbed

dodges, swoops downward, flops sidewise, twists his head round and round, and speeds up to leave the country. He presents the comic pi

ons, to rout the chattering bluejay from the topmost limb of a

they called it by this euphonious name. This is made by constructing the usual blunt screw-headed shaft and fledging it with wide uncut feathers. It is useful in shooting small game in the brush, because its f

bed by the ordinary accidents of travel. Still this tightness should be at the entrance of the nock, while the bottom of the nock is made

ey should again be trimmed carefully to their final proportions. The heads

ave a serrated, meat-cutting edge. Even carrying arrows in a quiver tends to dull them, because they chafe each other while in motion. From ti

, a tube of glue, ribonzine, linen thread, wax, paraffin, sandpaper, emery cloth, pincers, file an

which has little superimposed racks on which

as to shoot it, and nothing so much harm as to

fe is sweet to the ear. The rush of its upward arc is a promise of perpetual progress. With perfect grace it sweeps onward, though less aspiring. Then fluttering imperceptibly, i