Primitive archers?

[wvfarrier]

Any primitive archers among us?......besides me

[gamekeeper]

Not too primitive but I occasionally used a flat bow just to keep my eye in.
Bow hunting in the land of the longbow is illegal here

[Bill in Oregon]

I have traditional tackle, and hope to build a couple of Oregon vine maple bows this winter. There's a wonderful buildalong on this over at Primitive Archer.
I enjoy making and using atlatls, as well. Red osier dogwood and hazel are abundant here and make excellent arrow and dart shafts.

[Ysabel Kid]

I enjoy it, but none of my long bows or recurve bows are handmade or truly primitive.

[Pitchy]

I shoot long bow and compound but haven`t for a while now.
Bill I didn`t know you were into atlatls, I made a few also, here`s the chief.





And some others.

[Bill in Oregon]

Pitchy, you have made some very handsome throwers there. The Chief reminds me of a Bill Clinton bobblehead from a few years back.



That Kuskokwim throwing board in my photo, third from right, is very uncomfortable to use. I need to try again, as this design and variants were very popular among the Inuit for hunting seal and walrus from a skin kayak.
I got that design from this excellent site:

http://www.thudscave.com/npaa/designs/

[Pitchy]

Thanks Bill, I never got used to the board style either, the chief is my best thrower.
I haven`t messed with them for quite a while since I tore my shoulder up it hurts to much.

[wvfarrier]

I never got into Atlatls but love handmade bows and arrows

[JerryB]

I have an osage bow I made a few years ago. I have never shot one of those bows with training wheels, I have several recurves and an old lemon wood long bow that I enjoy shooting. Got the old lemon wood bow at a yard sale for eight dollars no finish left on it and no string . I made a string and it shoots great.
Like I told Bill a while back to me traditional archery and lever guns seem to go together.

[KWK]

I have a flat bow and, sadly, a broken English style long bow. The latter was my first bow. I underestimated my draw length, and as my technique improved, I was over drawing it, so its failure was no surprise. I don't like the fish tailing the much wider flat bow makes. I need to order a new, properly sized long bow.

There's something rewarding about using a plain stick bow having not even an arrow rest. My son was annoyed I was more accurate than he was with his plastic recurve. I also enjoy the stares you get from the guys with the funny bows, mechanical releases, and optical sights. Yeah, they can make tiny little groups, but I figure that's what my rifle is for.

[t.r.]

I hunted with a recurve bow 1972-2008 and had good luck shooting cedar shafts with turkey feathers as fletching. I toppled many deer with the older style Bear broad head featuring replaceable razor insert. All my friends switched over to compound bows in the 1980's except for me. But a badly fractured elbow occurred during a fall. That ended my recurve shooting days for me. After that I bought a scope fitted Ten Point crossbow and never looked back. Since then, I've toppled 11 deer with it (mostly does) and have much confidence in this modern hunting tool.

The elbow injury never healed quite right. It was sad to have to give up my custom take down recurve bow, back quiver, and all the accessories but I had no choice.

TR

[Bill in Oregon]

Agree there something pure and joyful in a simple stick and string. For a while I shot Bear's Montana longbow, so light and trim it made a compound feel like a chainsaw.
TR, glad you could go the crossbow route after your injury. You're still in the game.

[rjohns94]

I have several. My preferred method of archery hunting is with long bow. This year due to injury I am using a modern Excalibur crossbow. One doe opening day. Nothing else other than squirrels this season. But, the season is young.

[Pitchy]

Yepper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOmIacDvpmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmohFCWAfzc

[Bill in Oregon]

Love that sound of a plucked string and a plunked arra!

[Pitchy]

Thanks Bill, myself I have to aim right and low looking at the tip of the arrow too hit, maybe that will help those that see arrows go over the target.

[Grizz]

just getting re-interested in archery and have a new hickory bow. also started a board bow, but not any progress since I first posted about it.

I took my Bear recurve to Alaska and never shot it there. But I like the stick flatbow with a finger for arrow rest.

[Mike Armstrong]

Atlatls! Now THAT'S primitive! But of course they served to get us thru an Ice Age or so--kinda the elephant guns of the Stone Ages. Gotta try makin' one although I suspect it's getting the "dart" right that is the key. And the release HAS to be crucial!

The Mexicans (Mexica) that we call "Aztecs" were still using them when Cortez arrived, to pierce their enemies' cotton "armor" which would stop an arrow at anything but very short distance. They found that the atlatl was good for killing Spanish cavalry horses but didn't penetrate their plate armor. The fault was in the obsidian "dart" points, which just couldn't stand up to Toledo plate steel. They had just invented bronze when the Spanish came knockin', but were a LONG way from steel.

The Mexica (and all the "civilized" cultures that preceded them) considered bows a weapon for barbarians who they called "chichimeca" ("dog people"). "Civilized people" fought first with a shower of atlatl darts and then closed in with swords for the serious killin' and prisoner takin'. When their empire needed to defend its frontiers from "chichimeca" trash, they employed local barbarians like the Otomi as mercenary archers. (If you've read any Roman history, this tale may be starting to sound familiar....).

I've made "stick bows" a few times and enjoyed shooting them at targets, but have to admit that I use commercially-made recurves when I'm serious. ( At least I shoot them "bare bow.").

[Old Ironsights]

I have traditional tackle, and hope to build a couple of Oregon vine maple bows this winter. There's a wonderful buildalong on this over at Primitive Archer.
I enjoy making and using atlatls, as well. Red osier dogwood and hazel are abundant here and make excellent arrow and dart shafts.

OK... I am now an official dope smoking hippie...

They all look like incense burners to me...

and..



That is just inappropriate for a family bullet killy explody black powder site...

And this is actually something I used in a D&D game...

[Pitchy]

It`s art man, it`s art.

[Mike Armstrong]

Heck, I'd say it's "Neolithic Classic Art"! If those old boys had started a corporation, it woulda been called "Johnson & Johnson"!