Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Shooter_G22 on October 15, 2008, 12:21:18 am
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Ok gents,
i have a few pics id like to post here of some stuff that is all over the woods, that me and the kids hike and train in...
a couple of months ago the kids on the paintball team asked if i could teach the survival training and i said wed get to it and then we ran into an archery range in the wood we train in and soo i had a few fiberglass youth long bows and some arrows and we started workin on archery and of the boys asked if i could show them how i used to make stick bows when i was a kid so i did and we grabed some of this stuff and made some basic survival arrows and then i went ahead and made a primitive arrow out of one of the shafts we collected... and the boys were like WOW we need to learn how to do all this stuff sooo that's what lead me here to this sight...
anyhow...
i got off work today and grabed my daypack/hydropak... and my pit bulldog and went on a little hike to grab some of this Natural arrow material and some pics so i could post it and see if ya'll can help me figure out what the heck this stuff is..
our woods are infested with this stuff soo on a good week end with me and the team we could probably harvest a hundred or so of this shaft stuff with out hiking over a 1/4 mile... and we have a pretty good hiking trail and plenty of woods but i mean it if i told the kids to scatter out and harvest about a dozen shafts each then they could probably do it in about 10-15 min.. easily... we have alot of this stuff around...
so here are the pics i have quite a few pics so im gonna have to post several msg's bare with me... and please let me know if this is good stuff.. i feel that it is i made a fairly decant arrow with it but i cheated cause i coated it with polyerthan and i used modern glue on the tip and fletch tape on the feathers to hold them in place to wrap the waxed nylon sting i bought a few yrs back @ tandy leather to stitch my leather sheeths for my forged knives...
ill have to take a pic of that arrow ltr... here is the pics of what i gathered up today...
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That almost looks like Japanese privet. It makes good heavy shafts but checks easily if you strip the bark too soon. I would bundle a mess of shoots and store them in a cool dry place for a few months before working them. If it has cluster of small blackish berries then it is privet(Legustrum). Pat
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that was the wrong pic sorry these are waht im talikn about
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I'd still say privet. That seems to have a little bit different growing habit but the opposite leaves look like privet to me. Pat
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going to try again
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Dog and the last one was a KNIFE! ;D
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debarked
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last one !
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these i grabed look to be a little thin next time i go out im going to make sure i get some a little thicker..
ok but those are the pics and like i said i got lots of this stuff available to me i just dont know if its worth the harvest and dry time and work to put into them???
anybody know what this tuff is and how and what's the best way to work it???
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You're in Dallas, right? Looks like Yaupon holly to me...it grows all over central Texas. It makes excellent arrow shafts and was a favorite of NA's. Peel the bark off right away (the bark is really tough to get off if you let it dry with the bark on) and seal the ends with wood glue (or whatever) and dry them in a warm place. They don't check much (if any) and they dry in as little as two weeks. The wood is very white, light weight, and sands easily. They are difficult to straighten, so cut only the straightest ones you can find. It is very similar to privet.....but lighter in weight.
Here's a pic of Yaupon holly:
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I'll second the holly-either yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), or some other species that I'm not familiar with. I've made decent arrows from winterberry holly (I. verticillata).
PS-when asking for a plant ID, a location is quote helpful.
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I can see the serrated leaves that are common with all hollies. I'll have to change my vote to holly and probably yaupon. You can roast the leaves to make a strong, caffine filled tea that the Native Americans used for ceremonies. The specie name indicated the reaction from drinking the recommended dose. Pat
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Really now, Jack, you expect me to believe that? That's a bird. Even I know that one. ::)
possum
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Possum....heheh....since yer so smart, what kinda bird is it? ;D And don't say "A little bird".... ::)
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Looks like a female bluebird to me. ;D
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Yep, very good Pat.
(I wouldn't have known it myself...I cheated...the original image was taken from a wikipedia article)
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sorry gents,
Yeah im in Dallas TX, oak cliff area.. close to Mountian Creek Lake... i havent seen the berries on the small bush tahat we have been ussing but i have two big bushe's in front of my t/home / apt.. that has a small tree growing out of it.. the tree is maybe 14' and that one producess the berries... i never noticed the bush and trees in front of my house was the same stuff becuase the bush is big and round cuase the apt landscape crew allways keep it trimed and the treee is soo big i didnt realize that it was fro the same stuff i'll have to take a pic of it latr but its raining now and thats why i'm home and not working ;D ;D ;D
Wow! Cafine Tee out off the leaves???? i must know how to do this??? that wuold be Awsome to teach the boys on the team to do since it would be a lession on how not to waste the extra...
how do i do make this Tee???
all the boys are issued Canteen cups soo we could easily boil water over a fire while we are out there in the woods...
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Your arrow wood is chinese privet.I live in east Texas and I make arrows from the same plant.They make a tough arrow,albeit,to get a 60 # spine,you'll probably end up with a 600 grain shaft.I killed a buck last season with a 700 grain privet arrow. I cut mine,let em dry about 5-6 weeks,de-bark em, let em dry a couple more weeks,then straighten,and build arrows.You can barrel taper to reduce weight. Privet is an introduced pest gone wild,so we ought to take advantage of the great supply of this weed. God Bless
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I agree that Chinese privet makes good arrows, and that it is a horribly invasive plant, but that ain't it. Privet has opposite entire leaves and a different braching pattern/growth habit. His plant has sub-opposite crenate leaves, and a stiff growth habit that fits Ilex but not Ligustrum.
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I just went out and cut some privet this morning. At first glance, I thought they were the same thing, but once I look closer, they do appear to be different.
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im looking at that bird and thinking that bird is there for the berries...
if the bird can eat the berries would it be safe to say that those berries were eatable for human???? if you can make a cafine tea from the leaves could you eat the berries in a survival situation???
and i'm thinking there are two differant opinions of what the plant i have is...
its either privot or yapon holly...
i wish i knew more about this subj.. but i do know that it does dry out pretty fast and when you cut it and debark the same day the bark almost just peels off...in fact i have peeled off a shaft or two to loan my knife to one of the boys so he could skin his... and when you debark the shaft is very wet... soo wet it feels like it was in water but its not sticky just very fresh...
and the wood when it dries it's very white and stay's white for the most part and it sands very smooth with 400 grit automotive sand paper.. but the shaft itself is not hollow or softer on the inside or in cener in fact i have had the boys just sharpen there tips on the day of cutting and they have shot them that way on the same day just to fool around but the tips are soft and beak easily but if they leave it sharp when wet the next day the tip is fairly dry and kinda hard and very sharp.... and i told them that this would work in survival mode for small game like rabbits and squirles... and even bird... i have one of the temp survival arrow that the boys made, here that they left behind and its been drying for about a month and it was sharpend the day it was cut and teh tip is very hard and verysharp... it lookd to be very good as is for rabbit...
soo i dont know if that helps but that is kinda what this stuf acts like..
oh also the shafts are very straight for the most part in that they dont curve very much but they are kinds snakey.. and i meant that the shaft is very straight but bumpy or wavy in like inch or 3/4 intervals but it is still very naturaly straight and i shoot the "one" that i made and it shoots very consitant... but its not very light at all... i mean i dont have a scale but its noticably heavirer than my cedar arrows..all though i did spray poly on it like four coats and the nylon string i used to wrap the feathers and tip migh have added wieght to it...
but even a bar drie shaft with about the same thickness of lets say an 11/64 cedar shaft its going to be heavier... and the survival arrows the boys made with no feathers and just sharpend points fly fairly straight...
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I agree with you Hillbilly,but the picture I"m referring to is the one with the knife.This plant definitely has opposite leaves.
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Looks just like the privet here in south MS. What i collect has a lot of taper unless overshadowed by heavier folage. I also find it slow drying and requiring a lot of repeated straightening until it is dry. Just my observation, I'm sure others can help ypu more.