Arrows

Earlier in the year I made this batch of arrows so I could stump shoot, hunt, and shoot at targets without worrying about losing arrows.  This is a problem that I have always had, and is just the nature of archery.  I made them out of river cane, and privet shafts.  There is an assortment of arrow heads, including metal broad heads I bought, homemade broad heads, and bone that I fashioned out of cow bone I found in the woods.  For the fletching I used Trueflight full length fletching that I cut myself for the right shape                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

One of the bone arrow heads I attached to the shaft with deer sinew I harvested from a deer last fall. 

 

 

 

After selecting a piece of sinew,  I leave it in some water for a few minutes to soften it up.  Then I use it to attach the arrow head to the shaft.  The sinew will harden, shrink, and glue itself together as it dries.  So you don't even have to tie a knot, and I did this one without any additional glue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The set contained twenty two arrows.  The cane arrows are my favorite because they stay straight, and are easier to process into shafts.  The privet is alright and is a good choice especially where I live, but it will tend to bend and stay that way until you heat or steam straighten them.  I cut nocks right into the shaft, and the fletching was seven inches long, and cut in a medieval  style.  This may be quite long by most peoples standards but it worked well for  me,  and it gives it a really cool sound when an arrow is sent through the air.

 

 

 

Here are some of the bone points.

 

 

 



 



 

The finished set.

Camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Well I have not posted much lately, so here are a few things related to woodcraft and the outdoors that I have been doing.  The pictures are from a camping trip I took back in November.  I wanted to test out some new  equipment, build  a shelter at my camp site, and camp in colder weather.  I started out late so I ran out of daylight quickly, but I was able to build a shelter before dark.  The main idea behind the shelter was to use some cedar tree tops that I knew were in the woods.  So I tied a cedar pole across the two trees at the camp site, and leaned the cedar tops end first on the cross piece.  Then I trimmed all the twigs from the inside and made sure I could get in.  Then I covered the top with leaves and branches as needed.  During the night it kept the cold wind from coming blowing in, all except for a spot that had not been covered, and that kept my face cold.  I will need to improve this shelter in the future,  but it was not bad for being built in a short amount of time.  My fire was very cheery and was easy to start and easy to keep burning, this is not usually the case.  The fire kept heat coming into the open side of the shelter and made it very comfortable, if I had built the shelter a little higher it might have been even warmer.  It got quite cold and there were deer running around my camp all night long.  At one point I heard two raccoons chattering in the dark very close.  Deer were all over the place and I could see them in the moonlight.  The next morning I sat by my fire drinking cups of hot tea warming my insides and watching wildlife, the deer did not seem to notice my fire and walked by quite undisturbed.  A little later a group of turkeys came within just a few yards, it turned out that my shelter acted as a blind and concealed me very well. 

 

I have also been making alot of spoons, forks, and other utensils. This has kept me very busy. 

 

I have also been experimenting with a short bow that is attached to my back quiver.  I use it as a back up for any other bow I take out.  Well that is a little bit of what I have been doing in my woods, I hope you all have a happy new year.

 

 

 

 

Fresh meat

Well I finally got some meat for the table.  I shot this little 8 point buck the evening of opening day of the rifle season, at about 30 yards with my 30-30 lever action.  My brother and I had been hunting all day long and it was nice to finally get this deer at the end of a long and hard day's hunt. The Lord was very good to me with providing all of this meat.  It will be very good eating.