Rcently I've been studying about wilderness survival and subsequently have become interested in primitive methods of hunting. Long story short, I would like to build a bow and some arrows completely from the materials that are to be found in New Hampshire and hunt with them. As it takes a year or so to season wood, I'm looking to actually do my hunting by next year. I was wondering if there are any other people out there that are doing this too. If so, I'd appreciate it if anyone could share their methods with me. Some of the things I could use help in are wood selection for the bow, (I'm thinking oak...), arrows (oak as well, maple?), what kind of stone to use for the arrow heads. I don't think flint or obsidian occur naturally around here, do they? Also, where would I find the stones? I have plenty of reference material on how to actually construct the bows and arrows, I guess my questions are more in the which and where to find them categories. If anyone out there could offer me any guidance, it would be greatly appreciated. I've also looked at the legal aspects. In NH the only restrictions are on the pull of the bow and the dimension s of the arrow and arrowhead. Thanks in advance.

I used to live in NH. Moved to Indiana a year ago for work. Went to UNH in Durham.

There were, of course, native americans in Durham. They manufactured points out of stone, but I don't know the exact type in that area. I found a point north of there that was out of quartz.

I believe it was quite common for native americans to trade in things like points and also raw stone materials, so points found in one area may be made from material that came from some distance.

There may be some good folks to talk to at UNH re. native americans in the area. Contact the archaeology dept. and tell them what you're up to. They'll probably help you out.

Oh yeah, I would consider ash and hickory as bow woods too. Turkey or goose feathers for fletch. What wood do you plan to make your arrows from? Are you thinking of making dowels from larger pieces, or cutting something like arrow-wood, and using it in its natural size.

I'd recommend reading 'Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans' by Jim Hamm and subscribing to 'Primitive Archer' magazine.

Oak is a fair bow wood. Not so hot for arrow wood though. Dogwood, wild rose, ash (also decent bow wood), tamarisk (salt cedar) and yaupon are some of the better arrow woods that grow in my neck of the woods. I don't know what you've got up yonder.

By the way, here is a website with a lot of good info on selfbows and such. He's from your general neck of the woods and prefers to work with woods native to the area.

http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/archer.html

I've seen arrowheads made from turtle shell and bone. The bone was from the femur of a cow, I believe--not sure what kind of turtle. Good luck!

Chad

I have made my own bows but no arrows yet. Osage is about the best bow wood there is but can be difficult to work with for a beginner. I find White or Red Oak to be a bit brash for shorter long bows but pretty decent for longer ones. Hickory is one you can't go wrong with in my opinion. It is tough and forgiving of small mistakes. Dogwood is another one but it can be hard to find a suitable piece of Dogwood. The tree usually grows all knarley and twisted and you need straight grained wood for a bow. However, if you do find a suitable piece of Dogwood, it is very elastic and tough and is a good choice. It is also extremely white wood and takes stains very well. Stay away from any species of Willow or Birch. They are not good bow woods in my opinion.

As I said, I haven't made arrows so my advice here is of limited utility but I would go with goose feathers for the fletching as they are naturally water proof. I would like to build my own one of these days but just haven't yet. I have looked into using bamboo or river reed shafting and that looks very promising; sort of nature's carbons if you will. They are very light and strong. I have read that wild rose bushes are a good source of arrow shafts as well as dogwood. The challange (at least for me) is finding a reliable way to measure the spine. Knapping arrow heads is another challange alltogether. It may take a while to get proficient at knapping. I do know that quartz can be used but it has to be heat treated first for some reason. I was told to build a good fire and place my quartz in the middle and let it heat for some hours. Things like bone can be used too. Bone heads are tougher but not as sharp. SOmeone above had a good idea with turtle shells. I imagine they could be processed more easily and could be made quite sharp. The shells of large freshwater mussels might be used too.

You're looking at having to master (or at least become proficient at) about 5 different things before you can go hunt with the gear you make:
bow making
arrow making
knapping
string making
shooting a primitive bow

I don't want to discourage you but next year may be a little optimistic unless you've got a lot of free time on your hands. There are folks that have spent years on just one of these subjects and still consider themselves beginners.

Grey, although hunting with it is the goal, the year timeframe is entirely flexible. Besides, it's not really the result I'm after, but the process. If I never get to hunt with this bow, that's still ok with me as long as I learn what went into the making of it and the arrows. I appreciate your comments, however and after looking into this project deeper, I realized just how ambitious it was.

That said, I had already decided to simplify this task. I've started by buying a hickory stave, back sinews and Dacron for making bowstring. For arrows, I'll start with dowels and cut the arrowheads from high carbon steel (I've made knives before, so I know what goes into this part). I tie my own flies, so I have ample turkey feathers with which to fletch the arrows. I've laid out the bow on the hickory and I make my first cuts sometime tomorrow once I've gotten ahold of a draw knife that has been promised to me.

I figure that once I have this experience under my belt, (assuming I don't break the bow in process or have any other unforseen failures), I can tackle the other aspects of primitive bow hunting one at a time. If I get a successful bow, I'll try cutting some shagbark hickory logs and seasoning to try doing it from scratch next year.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's help. I'm going to document my process from the perspective of a completely clueless neophyte. I'll post the page when it's live if anyone is interested.