Visitors since August 2008
I have made many bows over the last 20 years but I am still not an “expert” and still feel I have lots to learn about wood and bows and arrows. On that note, I will say that I have probably made more bows than most our prehistoric ancestors did over their lifetime. This is due, in part, to the fact that my early work was largely unguided and I had to learn a lot through trial and error.
Now I make a handful of bows each year and sell or trade them to friends and acquaintances. I work mostly with shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) and Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) since it is readily available but I have used white and red oaks (Quercus sp) eastern red cedar (Juniperus sp), and mulberry (Morus sp).
I feel that the simpler a bow is, the better for me. However, I do occasionally back bows with rawhide or wood, especially if the staves are knotty.
This page shows some of my work. Most of my creations are traditional flatbows or D-section longbows. The handle section lies just below center placing the arrow at the true center of the bow. Since I have a relatively long draw, my bows tend to be on the longer side of average. This builds in a factor of safety as the limbs are not over-taxed when fully drawn.
Reagan is explaining the finer points of tillering a the Bois d’arc Gathering in the Missouri Ozarks.
Kids bows are a great way to use up smaller staves and practice your skills. A fifteen pound draw weight is far more forgiving to the bowyer than a sixty or seventy pound bow.
This is a great way to get kids interested in archery, wood, cordage, hunting, and prehistory.
It is great to pass on and preserve knowledge that was nearly lost in our culture.
The bow pictured here is eastern red cedar, backed with shagbark hickory. The string is plied from commercial hemp thread. The arrows are four fletched cedar shafts with plastic nocks for durability. This one has a rubber stump-shooter head for plinking. I use four fletches on some kid’s arrows so that they can be nocked either direction.
Here are a few archery web pages to check out:
Primitive Archer Online
http://www.primitivearcher.com/index.shtml
Asian Traditional Archery Network (ATARN)
Longbow-Archers
http://www.longbow-archers.com/
Building the Osage Bow
International Bamboo Arrow Society
Archery has been a passion of mine for many years. For me, it is a tangible link to the prehistoric past. After making my first bow from American Mulberry in 1984, I was hooked. The handle cracked through in the first day of shooting but it felt amazing to create something that actually worked. There wasn’t much in print to refer to at the time but I read Larry Dean Olsen’s Outdoor Survival Skills and a reprint of the 1911 American Boy Scouts Handbook. A poor beginning, but persistent whittling of bows and other things taught me more about wood than I could have ever hoped to learn from any books.
Some good archery books:
Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volumes 1-4
Packed with good information. Had these been around when I started it would have saved me from many mistakes.
Longbow: A Social and Military History by Robert Hardy
One of my favorites of all time. While it focuses heavily on the British longbow tradition, it is full of other useful knowledge and is told in a very readable manner.
North American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers: An Illustrated History by Otis Tufton Mason
A very comprehensive and important book by an early pioneer collecting information about archery.
Bows and Arrows: How They are Best Made for All Kinds of Target Shooting by James Duff 1927
My copy of this was stolen some time ago. He gives clear instructions for making a traditional English longbow. He was definitely of the old guard. Buy it if you can find it.
Traditional Archery from Six Continents: The Charles E. Grayson Collection by Charles E. Grayson, Mary French, Michael J. O'Brien, and Daniel S. Glover (photographer)
This new book highlights the remarkable collection now housed at the University of Missouri. It is very much a catalog of the collection, not a “how to” but the photographs and the wide variety of artifacts illustrated here makes it well worth the purchase.
Hunting with the Bow & Arrow by Saxton Pope
The absolute “must read” of archery, hunting, and stories about Ishi.
Witchery of Archery by Maurice Thompson
I really enjoy this book. Written by a late 19th century southern gentleman and chronicles the real-life hunting adventures of two brothers after the civil war.
Pages in this web site:
Archery, Bow Making, Osage Bows, Arrows, Spearthrowers, Hide Tanning, Boomerangs,
Gourd-working, Flint-knapping, Chicken-Raising, Soap-Making, Tools/Woodworking, Music, Furniture,
and other skills for simple living.