Hunting with the Bow and Arrow

x, spear, knife, and sling he protected himself or sought his game. To strike at a dista

kill wild animals for food; but still the hunting instinct persists. The love o

oors. The beauty of woods, valleys, mountains, and skies feeds the s

contest of skill and cunning. The true hunter counts his achievemen

oo easy; there is little triumph and less glory than in the days of yore. Game preservation demands a limitation of a

must draw every sinew to the utmost; his hand must be steady; his nerves under absolute control; his eye keen and clear. In the hunt he pits his well-trained skill against the instinctive cunning of his quar

his inheritance to which the bow appeals. A mere passing fancy will not suffice to make him an archer. It i

bush, the soft wind blows, and all nature welcomes him as she has the hunter since the world began. With his bow in his han

mpson. To Will and Maurice Thompson we owe a debt of gratitude hard to pay. The tale of their sylvan exploits in the everglades of Florida has a charm that borders

le Savages must be eternally grateful. Not only has he given us a reviving touch of t

te Will Thompson to join us. Because he is such a commanding figure in th

AR DR.

very fortunate to have won your archery triumphs where you could photograph them. I would give much indeed if I could have photos of the scenes of my brother's and my successes in the somber and game-thronged wilds of the gloo

the coming deer, roused by your entrance into their secret lairs. To see the soft and devious approach of the wary thing; to see the lifted light head turned sharply back toward the evil that roused it from its bed of ferns; to feel the strong bow tightening in my hand as the thin, hard string comes back; to feel the leap of the loosened cord, the jar of the bow, and see the long streak of the going shaft, and h

e puff of lifted feathers has marked the innocuous passage of my very best arrow! How often the roar of wings has replied to th

t and Stream and picked up by the Literary Digest and other periodicals. You will, I think, feel the love of the

now I should be pleased. Love to you a

THOM

me, broken in health, reduced in circumstances, and deprived of firearms by Government restrictions. They turned to the bow and h

Archery Association was established and held its first tournament at Chicago in the

rican archers and a poet of remarkably happy expression. Here I feel at liber

RROW

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f my broth

to birds. Not only did they hunt, but they stud

early training with Ishi, the Indian, he taught us to look before he taught us to shoot. "Little bit wal

means coffee, tea, sugar, canned milk, dried fruit, rice, cornmeal, flour and baking powder mixture, a little bacon, butter, and seasoning. This will weigh l

dozen arrows in your quiver, and your bow, the open trail lies ahead. There is always meat to be had for the shooting. The c

f fourteen he shot his first deer with an arrow. From that time on, deer, elk, antelope, birds of all sorts, and even buffalo fell before this primitive weapon. He later hunted with the gun until the very ease of killing turned him against it. So when he came to

t into the Cascade Mountains and cut yew staves with an idea of selling them to the English bowy

and departure. Then our serious work began. We found it not only a delig

is no better training than to stalk the wary ground squirrel or the alert cottontail.

ake a hunter. He must earn his right to take l

first. In killing these little pests we take to the open fields, approach a burrow by creeping up a gully or dip in the land, rise up and shoot at such distances as we can. I recall one day when Young and I go

nt skips briskly off, down his accustomed run, only to mee

als on the stand, or set, a sporting permit not granted to the

Counting all hunters, for every animal brought home with the gun, whethe

is he that to hit a squirrel in any spot but the head is quite unusual. In one day's shooting between himself and his young so

either the chest or abdominal cavity of a deer is invariably fatal in a few minutes; while a rabbit may carry an arrow off until the obstructing undergrowth checks his flight. It seems that their vital areas and blood vessels being smaller, are less readily injured by the missile. A bullet can crash int

larger game; but even on our more pretentious expeditions, we fill the vac

hered shaft. Both Compton and Young have shot ducks and geese, some on the wing. But we cannot compete wi

e was good, but his shot fell short. The arrow skidded and struck the bird in the tail just as he left the ground for flight. The two rose together and sailed off into space, like an aeroplane, with a preposterously long rudder, the arrow out behind. They slowly w

we took to shooting trout in a quiet little meadow stream. Having buried an arrow in the far bank, with a short run and a leap Young cleared the brook and landed on the greensward beyond. The succulent turf slipped beneath his feet and, like an acrobat, the archer turned a back somersault into the cold mountain water. Bow, clattering arrows, camera, field glasses and man, all sank beneath the limpid surface. W

m to have the idea that an arrow is too impotent to cause death; they conceive

ut we never used them. My physiologic experiments with curare, the South American arrow poison, aconitin, the Japanese Ainu poison, and buffogen, the Central Ame

ent of bamboo, heating this over a slow fire and gathering the exuded juice of the dessicated batrac

m the macerated skin of the common re

at our arrows were sufficient without these adjuncts, and we deemed

rattlesnake and having it strike a piece of deer's liver. This was later buried in the ground until it rotted, and the arrow po

lean knife-blade of our broa

ame with the bow and arrow are those

t small game flush varies with the country in which they live, the nature of their enemies, and the prevalence of hunters. Quail and rabbits usually will permit a man to approach them within tw

d watch on the qui vive. The arrow may find them there when it strikes, but often the very flash of its departure and the quick movement of the hand send

ior backs into his hole, then brazenly lifts his head and fastens his glittering eye upon you. The contest of quickness then begins; the archer and the marmot play shoot and dodge until one after the other all the arrows are exhausted or a hit is re

he himself makes a gallant mark for the archer. I saw Compton spit such a bird on his arrow at fifty yards, while a confused scurrying flock made easy shoot

the purpose of finding his shaft and avoiding accidents. Arrows have a great habit of glancing. Once when hunting quail in a patch of willow in a dry wash, Compton shot at a bird on a branch, missed it, and at the same instant Young,

ly safeguarded by game laws, test the woodsman's skill to the utmost. To learn the art of finding deer, or successful approach and ultimate capture, one must study life i

efore the rutting season. At this time they keep pretty quiet in the brush or seek the higher lookout points on mountain ridges. They browse mostly at night and are to be met wandering to water or back to their beds. The older ones lie very quietly and seldom move far fro

nvariably journey by rail or motor car from fifty to three hundred miles to do most of our hunting. We seek those regions that are most primeval. Here game is largely in an undisturbed condition. From so

nset are the favorite

they enter the land of suspected deer. Taking advantage of every bit of cover, traveling into the wind where possible, looking at every shadow, every spot of moving color, they advance

pot, gauges the distance, clears his eye, and nerves himself for a supreme effort. He draws his sturdy bow till the sharpened barb pricks his finger and bids him loose--a hit, a leap, a clattering fl

d let arrows fall about them without fear. An archer

e alarm. Most animals are ruled by curiosity till fright takes control. But some are less curious than others, notably the turkey. There is a story among sportsmen that describes

his legs. An ideal canine for an archer would be one having the olfactory organs of a hound and the reasoning capacity of a college professor. With him one could trail animals, yet not flush them; perceive the imminence of game, yet not startle it; run coyotes,

. And the sort of dog an archer needs for deer is one that

come to the ringin

the clean sweet wind, the mysterious murmur of the tree tops, all call the hunter forth. When he hears the horn and the baying hou