Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: roofus on September 27, 2009, 02:17:02 am
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Just thinking out loud.
Since Port Orford Cedar and Hedge (Osage) Does not grow in Northern Colorado what do you suppose the Native Americans around here used for Bows and Arrows?
Rob
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rob good ol juniper elm maybe cherry which we have all around id say mostley juniper or elm and we do have some black locust around if you look close brock
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Anything dense and straight enough. Native Americans moved around quite a bit too and trade networks could bring staves from hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres away.
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I would assume most of those woods would have been backed. Sinew? Probably.
Cherry would make a beautiful bow. Could it be done from a board? (Billet) Or would I need to try to chase a ring?
As you know Brock, Good staves are few and far between around here, so I've found a couple of hardwood suppliers
close by that carry very high quality stuff. I have built some Oak and some Hickory board bows (Backed of course) and I
would like to try my hand at some other types of wood.
Do you think I could build a board bow out of any of the native to Northern Colorado woods? Looking for suggestions.
Thanls,
Rob
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The cherry that was suggested is probably choke cherry and not black cherry. There are many bow woods all across this country and the world. The secret is to design the bow considering the wood you have available. Each wood has a bow design that works for it whether it be long and narrow, short and wide, sinew backed, recurves or straight limbed bow. Find the wood first then decide which design works best for that wood...not the other way around!
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roofus i got some dieas get ahold of me and well go have a cup of coffee ill be workin down here a few more weeks and one good one i like here but aint a native is this russian olive brock
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The Native Americans of northern Colorado used. Green ash, chokecherry, serviceberry, wild plum, crab apple, mountain mahogany, mountain ash, Rocky mt juniper, mountain maple, even scrub oak was used by the Anasazi in south west Colo.
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The last post was bow woods. For arrows #1 was dogwood. they also employed, chokecherry, wild plum, serviceberry, and wild rose shoots. I grew up in Colorado and have used all these at one time. Dogwood and wild rose are my favorite. and for bows I prefer juniper, followed by green ash, then wild plum. All these woods work better when sinew backed.
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No yew in Northern Colorado?
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No Yew.