Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
Has anyone hunted with short native american style bow?
half eye:
Hey Dogwood,
I have hunted with my Ottawa 48" and Chippewa 52" and most of these are between 45# and 50# and all of them draw at least 25". I shoot bare-bow and off my hand.
I shoot in the NA style except that I have to use 3 fingers because of a crippled right (string) hand. I've killed more than a few deer with these bows (I will not shoot at more than 20 yards, and if for any reason the shot doesn't "feel" right I wont shoot either.)
If you practice the NA style you will learn to use your left brain.....that is the bow will not be upright, you wont use any aiming guide (I cant even see my arrow or bow while drawing, such is the concentration on my "spot") All that ya see with this shooting method is the arrow fletch will appear on the spot then dissappear as it passes through) You will also notice that spine of the shaft has little to no effect on the flight path either.....
They are good bows, they shoot accurately at reasonable hunting range.....just learn to take advantage of their attributes. As to draw weight 45# is plenty and most of my deer kills were through @ through....but really all the arrow has to do is penetrate both lungs and you have a quick and clean kill, likewise an arrow only has to penetrate 5-7 inches to sever the liver which will kill nearly as quickly.
Can't speak for noone but me....I shoot them, I like them. By the way since Ishi was mentioned.....his favorite hunting bow weight was 45#. If you would like please call me at (231) 587-8542 and I will relay to you what I was taught by a couple of Ottawa Elders.
Rich
billy:
I have a 56 inch osage self bow that pulls 40-lbs at 28 inches. It even has a sinew string. I have racked up a surprising number of kills with it (small game and one raccoon) despite the relatively few times I've used it. I tell ya, I really like the lower weight bows. They are easy to draw, and their effortless draw means you can focus on your target much better. With practice you can be quite accurate with them. I am surprisingly accurate with mine.
But it isn't just for small game. I used this same little 40-lb bow and tested the penetration of very small stone bird points on a dead deer and had no problems getting those points to the far side of the chest wall. I wrote an article about the test and it was published in the June/July 2008 issue of Primitive Archer. If you want to see what a low-poundage bow can do to a big game animal, order that back issue and read the article. It'll make a believer out of you...it certainly did me.
Below is a pic of my latest kill with that little bow, taken this past winter. I aimed right for the shoulder of that squirrel and.....well....you can see where I hit him. The stone point cut his right lung completely in half, and when he fell outta the tree and started struggling, it almost cut the lung into thirds. The arrow is reed, foreshaft of dogwood, small stone point of Burlington chert. All wrappings were sinew.
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half eye:
dogwood,
Will be posting a couple of bows here shortly 46" and 45" native bows that have draw weights of 46# and 44#......most all of mine will draw 26" and use hardwood arrows. So, I made up some 5/16" carrying stone heads. Shot them at a regular broadhead butt and here are the results. I was checking for penetration. The arrows were only 500+ grains and not my usual 700-750 grain stuff, so I figured these would not penetrate as well, but there is no doubt they would humanely kill deer, if not pass completely through.
Oh ya, the range to target was 15 yards. Trajectory was flat out to 20 yards (that's as far as I shot (didn't want to screw up any of the finely knapped points, made by Riley Concrete)
Rich
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Traxx:
Actually,
Ishis preferred hunting weight was 40 lbs,at his 25" draw.His arrows were about 380 grns with a small "Bird" point on the deadly end,made of Glass,collected along the Lassen Trail.When Pope had Ishi Test the effectiveness of his setup,on a Recently killed Deer,they witnessed the same type results,that Billy found.
wodpow:
the floor tillered hickory paddle bow I bought from rudder bow I finished pulls 55#@21" I backed it ,with young deer rawhide. I hunted with it from a stand then I bought a harness and lean out farther and can use the longer bow now but the little paddle bow will put a arrow just as deep into a 3D target as the longer bow as long as I shoot the same arrows. I cut a center shot rest and built up the handle area and put on some beaver ball that were like short haired that I got from 3 rivers for a bigger bow and kept them instead of sending them back looks kind of neat and shoots good was going to check the speed at the bow shop but they already look at me strange enough the way it is with my hand made self bows.The only reason I don't shoot it more is the shooting styles change over is a bite and the string will pinch your fingers really bad at 55#@21.
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